Notes of Faith January 6, 2023
The World of the End
When we consider topics like endurance or perseverance or steadfastness, it’s easy to think of them in the abstract or to project them into the future. When I face opposition out in the future, I’ll make sure to endure rather than falter. Or, When I’m old and at the end of my life, I’ll be sure to remember the importance of finishing strong.
That’s not how it works. The determination to follow Christ regardless of the cost isn’t something that just flashes into our souls at the moment of crisis. It starts now and takes a lifetime to develop. It’s a day-by-day process.
This is a choice you and I need to make now, at this moment.
There are some practical ways to get started and to sustain our progress, regardless of what’s happening to the World of the End.
Determine to Run Your Race
First comes a God-given, incontestable, undeniable determination to live for Christ whatever the cost. Jesus said,
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. — Luke 9:23
Sometime the Lord grabs our ankles, turns us upside down, this way and that way, until we come to our senses and decide to follow Jesus. Still, we have to say, “No turning back.” We have to say, “Though no one join me, still I will follow.”
Make up your mind that nothing will deter you from God’s will, that no one will draw you from His path, that no foe will defeat you, and that no sin will stop you.
The world behind you, the cross before you!
I mentioned earlier that followers of Christ must be prepared to endure trials of various kinds as we seek to finish that race. Jesus Himself promised we would face tribulation.
But here is a principle and a promise that can help us keep striving: those trials and tribulations can actually become fuel for our endurance. No matter what the world throws our way, we can recycle those experiences in such a way that, through the power of God, our pain is transformed into power.
The world behind you, the cross before you!
Don’t believe me? Let’s see what Scripture says:
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4 ESV).
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3–5 ESV).
Yes, trials and suffering can make it more difficult for us to run the spiritual course set before us — but they don’t have to. With God behind us and beside us, suffering becomes steadfastness. Pain becomes perseverance. And trials are transformed into a blessed hope that can carry us even toward perfection and completion, where we lack no good thing.
So, how will you handle the bumps and bruises you receive in your efforts to follow Christ? Will you allow them to slow you down, or will you use them as fuel for your faithfulness? According to Scripture, the choice is yours.
Determine to React with Radiance
Speaking of choice, it’s important that we address our own actions and attitudes when we encounter difficult circumstances. In many ways, how we conduct ourselves throughout our spiritual walk is just as important as how we finish the race.
What do I mean by that? Well, I’ve known some lemon-faced Christians in my day who were high on endurance but low on love. They were determined to persevere in the midst of persecution, but they made sure everyone around them knew how miserable they were in the process — and they made life miserable for many others who happened to encounter them in the middle of their race.
Such an attitude is not befitting for servants of the King. As Christians, we are called not only to run with endurance and finish the race but to do so in a way that encourages others to follow us. We have been commanded not only to be disciples of Jesus but to make disciples. And for that to happen, we need to reflect the love and grace and goodness of the One we follow.
My point is this: when we are confronted by all the ugliness Jesus predicted for the World of the End, we can respond by radiating the love of Christ.
We can live, as Paul commanded, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer” (Romans 12:12).
Remember Peter’s commission to the earliest believers, which also applies to us:
What credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. (1 Peter 2:20–23)
Developing perseverance as a believer in Jesus does not have to be a bitter experience. Yes, each of us will need to endure unpleasant seasons — and this will be especially true as we move closer to the World of the End. But we can use those seasons as opportunities to radiate the love and light of Christ.
Excerpted from The World of the End by Dr. David Jeremiah, copyright Dr. David Jeremiah.
John 16:33
33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
NASU
In Christ, we overcome the world and the tribulation it brings. Let us focus our lives more and more on becoming like Jesus living out of this world, citizens of heaven, being perfected for the glory of God. May you truly know and experience the peace of God today and every day for the rest of your life!
Pastor Dale