Equipped to Endure
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Intro: Old House
Intro: Old House
Mike is a longtime friend
We possess the same sense of humor, sending each other reels on Instagram
I want to thank you.
Your coffee ministry has helped 25 youth go to camp for last two years
I have pastored the Village Chapel in Vandenberg Village for last 15 years
I also get to serve on the Board of Enduring Word, the ministry of David Guzik
I am also the author of the Daily Walk Devotion website which produces devotionals based on God’s Word 5 days a week
My family lives in a house that is 100 years old
It’s wonderful house in an historic district in the heart of Santa Maria
We have had the same neighbors for over 20 years
Having an old house has it’s challenges
Two months ago we were experiencing a back up in our shower drain
I called our plumber who knows our house inside and out
He came and cleared the drain but it took some extra effort
The hair was catching where the new pvc was attached to the old galvanized pipes
Unbeknownst to him and us, the drain pipe became detached just below the shower and started spilling all of the grey water into the dirt beneath our raised floor
About seven days later my wife started smelling something
By day 10 our house smelled like it had a mold issue
Our plumber came out and reattached the pipe and improved the drain
The smell was supposed to go away but it didn’t for over a month
It was causing my wife headaches and burning eyes
We had numerous people out and finally a mold guy told us we needed more vents under our house
We got a contractor our to install the vents and when he got under the house he discovered that the header that supported the flooring under our kitchen was cracked and sagging
Read Matthew 24:9-13
Read Matthew 24:9-13
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Transition:
The word Endure occurs 27 times in the New Testament
It was a favorite word of the Apostle Paul
Jesus uses it twice
Both in association with the persecution that will come on Christians
In the Greek it simply means “to remain”
When everything else is gone, you are still standing
It also gives us the idea that some of those who start with Christ won’t finish
There will be those who stand before Christ and He will say depart from me, I never knew you
The church’s job is to equip you to endure until the end
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
You need to be equipped for what is to come because it is going to take some endurance
I. Lead with Grace vs. 10
I. Lead with Grace vs. 10
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
If you are going to endure to the end you need to lead with grace
I think you will agree that we have become a divided country that is highly critical
The church hasn’t been impervious to this divide
One of the best ways that the church can share the Gospel is to lead with grace and serve those who don’t align with our views
You can love those who malign and talk down to you
The first way to do that is to choose your battles
Not every mountain is worth dying on
When you respect someone and resist the urge to win or be right it soothes the feathers
Over the last two years I have seen people so angry with each other within our church
Battled over
Meet online or as a church
Mask or no mask
Vaccinate or not
None of those issues have a right side, just a preference
But when we draw battle lines over these issues the Gospel is diminished
The next way to lead with grace is to hold your tongue
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
The tongue is difficult to control
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
That’s why we need to pray to be slow to speak and anger and quick to listen
What’s the best way to bridle that tongue
The armor of God
The belt of truth girds us and the shield of faith extinguishes fiery darts
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Someone attacks your faith
Don’t retaliate, but stand firm in your faith
II. Be Discerning vs. 11
II. Be Discerning vs. 11
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
If you are going to endure to the end you need to be discerning of what voices you listen to
In the midst of political strife and the COVID crisis, Christians started embracing voices that were popular but not always good
Voices like Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan, and Tucker Carlson all became popular with Christians
First off these are not God’s spokesmen
They are not prophets and are not necessarily godly men
Their fiery rhetoric hits some good points but they don’t come from a Biblical perspective or with an attitude of love
The danger is that it has taken Christians eyes off of the Gospel and onto topics that became distractions
We have had people leave our church because we weren’t political enough
Last Summer I spent 3 days in the hospital with COVID
Then I got it again in January
Both times we had to take the church online for a couple of weeks
I had a long time family chastise me as they left because we gave into the fear of COVID
I told them our whole staff and volunteers for one Sunday came down with COVID
We didn’t have people to even put on a service
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
III. Increase in Love vs. 12
III. Increase in Love vs. 12
And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
If you are going to endure to the end you need to increase in love
Love is not an emotion, but its like a muscle
Use it often and it becomes lean and strong
Ignore it and it atrophies and becomes flabby
With all of the wickedness that is going unchecked I see a lot of Christians love growing cold
They are developing an attitude of “What does it matter?”
When a disciple of Jesus love grows cold it reduces their capacity to endure to the end
How do you recover?
Ask the Lord to restore your first love, the joy of your salvation
I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
The church in Ephesus was full of good works and fighting the good fight but the love for Jesus had grown cold
They needed to rediscover the joy of their salvation
The restoration comes from the renewing fire of the Holy Spirit
That’s called revival
Many have grown cold in their love because they are fruitless trees
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Next you need to put it into practice
To increase in love you have to give that love to others
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Finally, that love needs to endure
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
The way you quip yourself to endure is to develop an Agape love the endures all things
My wife and I have a crazy relative
She portrays herself as super spiritual and fancy’s herself as a guide to leaders
She is in the process of making some questionable decisions
We aren’t gonna kick her to curb
We are gonna keep loving her