ARE YOU PERSISTENT IN YOUR WALK OF GOD?-

TENACITY

JOHN 11:16

MATTHEW 3:16-17

MATTHEW 4:1

ACTS 9:5-6 Paul was converted. He immediately preached in Damascus

Not failing to Preach

The quality or fact of being VERY DETERMINE; DETERMINATION

Someone with persistent determination, grit, and unwavering focus.

Who refuses to give up on their goals despite difficulties

Obstacles, or setbacks

Viewing Challenges as Temporary Hurdles

Rather than reasons to quit

They demonstrate “stick-to-it-iveness”

Showing resolve and mental toughness

To see things through to Completion

Making them highly effective

At achieving long-term objectives

The Characteristics of A Tenacious Person

Persistence: They keep working at the task until it is Done.

Determination: They have a strong, firm purpose and commitment to their Aims.

Grit: They possess the mental and emotional toughness to endure hardship. 2 Tim 4:5

Resilience: They don’t let obstacles faze them; they bounce back from failures.

Focus: They tune out distractions and outside opinions, concentrating on their main goal.

Forward-Thinking: They see difficulty as a challenge and focus on what they can control.

The Gospel according to John (King James Version) Division XI: The Revelation of Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, 11:1–12:11

8. Purpose 7: To stir the disciples’ courage & loyalty

The Gospel according to John (King James Version) (A. The Death of Lazarus and Its Purposes, 11:1–16) 8 JOHN(11:16) Courage—Loyalty:

the seventh purpose of Lazarus’ sickness was to stir the disciples’ courage and loyalty.

Note that Thomas took the lead here.

He showed great courage and loyalty to Christ,

a dynamic example for every believer.

He demonstrated … • a deep love for Christ, a love that was ready to die for Him • a willingness to stand and to die with his fellow believers in the Lord’s work • a knowledge that to die for Christ is better than to live without Him “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God” (Jn. 16:27). “Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” (Ep. 6:24). “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pe. 1:8).

Thomas, whose name means “twin” in Aramaic

and appears as Didymus in Greek,

was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples

1. Though he receives minimal attention in the Synoptic Gospels,

Thomas becomes a prominent figure in John’s Gospel1,

where his character emerges through several defining moments.

When Jesus announced his intention to travel to Judea,

Thomas declared, “Let us also go that we may die with him!”1

—a statement that interpreters debate whether to read as pessimism, courage, or both

1. Later, when Jesus spoke of going to the Father,

Thomas confessed his ignorance about the destination and asked for directions,

apparently assuming the disciples would need to travel there themselves

2. His question prompted Jesus’ famous declaration: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

2 Thomas’s most memorable episode involves his response to the resurrection.

He alone among the remaining eleven disciples

was absent when the risen Jesus appeared,

gave them the Holy Spirit,

and commissioned them for ministry;

when told of this,

he refused to believe without seeing and touching the wounds himself

1. A week later,

Jesus appeared

to the disciples with Thomas

present and invited him

to examine the nail marks and his side,

to which Thomas responded,

“My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24–29)

The epithet “doubting Thomas”

unfairly isolates him,

since other disciples initially exhibited similar skepticism

2. His encounter serves as a paradigm for all believers

called to trust without tangible proof,

prompting Jesus’ blessing

on “those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

1 Little is known of Thomas

after the crucifixion beyond

his presence in the upper room

after the ascension,

where he presumably received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

1. Later tradition identifies him

as a missionary in Parthia or India3.

1Philip L. Shuler, “Thomas,” in The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated), ed. Mark Allan Powell (New York: HarperCollins, 2011), 1039.

2Eckhard J. Schnabel, Jesus in Jerusalem: The Last Days (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018), 24.

3Allen C. Myers, “THOMAS,” in The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 1000.