HOW CAN SAINTS PERSEVERE?
Written and Preached By: Pastor Shawn Shockley
Associate Pastor, Key West Church Of God
{All Scripture References from the Authorized King James Version}
1 Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
INTRO:
I want to start by asking 2 questions:
1. Can a Saint of God persevere to the End?
2. How do these Saints persevere unto the end?
>>> Perseverance, What is perseverance?
Persevere - To persist in any purpose or idea; To strive in spite of difficulties or obstacles.
Saints persevering to the end is possible, and this possibility must become a reality in each of our lives
We Must Persevere.
We understand that we must persevere, BUT how can Saints persevere.
I believe the answer to this question is found the same place every other answer is found. That answer is found in God. God is the answer for every question, problem, and circumstance.
How can Saints persevere? Our text hold the Answer
Saints persevere, Because GOD is Faithful.
- Now the apostle here does not say
You are Faithful, therefore, you’ll make it.
You are Faithful, therefore, you’ll find a way of escape.
No, he say’s GOD IS FAITHFUL
You see the Faithfulness of Man is very unreliable we like to think that we are faithful,
but to many times our Faithfulness is conditional.
As long as things are going like we want them to go, and as long as everybody does things like we want them to do them, then we’ll be faithful.
> I’m ashamed to have say that if we had to depend upon our Faithfulness to get us through that there would scarcely be one to persevere to the end,
AND I believe the Apostle understood that’s, why he wrote this passage for in this passage he
basically say’s you better know who you are and what your capable of
1 Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
- He also does not connect our perseverance to the Faithfulness of even Preachers of Pastors.
Nowhere does he say you have Faithful ministers to lead you and guide you therefore you will be safe and you will persevere to the end.
No, For if we are kept by man, we shall be Ill Kept.
The apostle say’s in our Text: the one that is Faithful is God
God is faithful,
He is Faithful in Love
He knows no variableness neither shadow of turning.
He is Faithful to His purpose for my life.
He did not begin a good work in my life to leave it undone.
He is Faithful to His promises,
He will not allow one of them to fail to a single believer.
He is Faithful to His covenant,
which He made with us in Christ Jesus, and ratified with the Blood of His sacrifice.
You see, the Faithfulness of God is the cornerstone of our Hope of final perseverance.
The Saints Persevere in forgiveness, because God perseveres in Grace
The saints shall persevere in holiness, because God perseveres in Righteousness
The Saints Persevere in Blessing, because God Perseveres to Bless
God’s Faithfulness is what upholds us and keeps us and will one day enable us persevere to our Eternal reward. In other words, our perseverance is a direct result of God’s Faithfulness to us.:
Psalm 12:7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psalm 121:7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Psalm 145:20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him:...
You see David could record these words because He knew about God’s Faithfulness to keep Him and preserve him , for I read in 2 Sam 8:6, 2 Sam 8:14, 1 Chron 18:6, 1 Chron 18:13
“...the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.”
David was persevered to the end not because of his faithfulness to God, but because of God’s Faithfulness to him.
Are you saying David’s faithfulness to God was not important? No, it was important, as is ours.
Our Faithfulness to God is of the utmost of importance, but God is so faithful
that even when we are not Faithful He still is.
I believe This Fact is also clearly illustrated for us in the Children of Israel.
God meant to Bring them out of bondage and into His promise.
Some of the people wavered, and rebelled, But God was Faithful, and that which God promised surely and
absolutely came to pass. There were those that lost out. There were those that didn’t make it,
BUT GOD Faithfully came through, and those that had a desire to make it
and persevere experienced God’s promise in fullness.
Job understands that his resilience had nothing to do with who he was, but rested exclusively in God.
Job 7:20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men?...
Job 10:12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
Look at what Paul knows about God and His Faithfulness.
2 Thess 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
1 Thess 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
2 Tim 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
How can we hold fast, How can we persevere? Because God the Promiser is Faithful.
Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
If we want to achieve and succeed for the Kingdom of God. Church, if we want to persevere,
then we will For GOD IS FAITHFUL.
when God saved me, He meant for me to make to heaven. He meant for me to persevere to the end,
and He is faithful to this cause
What does our text say?
1 Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way
to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
I understand the word used here is temptation, but I also know that Temptation also represents trials or times of testing, and what I am telling you tonight is that we can persevere through all that this world throws at us because we serve a faithful God that will make a way of escape time and time again. God is determined and faithful to the task of bringing His people through.
E-mail Pastor Shawn Shockley