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Sunday 15th November .
Pastor Ann Strickland; “Bite off more than you can chew”.
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Sunday 18th October. .
Sam Letchford; Inspire. sam-sun-am
Hannah Hocking; New York Trip and Music ministry. hannah-sun-18-0ct
Wendy Bolton from “AoG Expansion”; Ministry from the Word of God. wendymovplus
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Sunday 11th October. Pastor Alan Hocking; “Getting ready to win”
Now also available in audio; Click here; getting-ready-to-win
This message is linked to the Bible Studies we are currently doing on “God’s Glorious Church”. In each of the letters to the churches in Revelation, Jesus finishes by saying “To him that overcomes….” ie to the one who finishes the race, who doesn’t give up.
A man driving down street stops at red light and sees two boys fighting. One bigger knocking smaller guy down. He’d get up and go again only to be knocked down again. The man thought he ought to intervene. He ran over yelling at the big boy to stop beating up the little boy. The little boy replied, “mind your own business, I ain’t got my second wind yet and when I do, I’m going to clobber this guy.” You can’t lick a guy who won’t stay down.
Proverbs; 24;16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:KJ
Don’t interfere with good people’s lives; don’t try to get the best of them. No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; Soon they’re up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces. (Message)
We wrestle not against flesh & blood. Eph 6. We’re in a fight.
NEVER GIVE UP. (Winston Churchill at Eton.)
All been there?
Rom 15;3-5 “we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
We’ve all got lots of experience! (Lit. We’ve proved it works) We’ve proved Gods Word over and over. Because of that we have a ‘blessed hope’. Not sure we glory in tribulations though!
But this morning I want to look at that word Patience. There’s more to it than meets the eye.
How often have we prayed, “Lord I want patience – NOW!”
Hupomeno It comes from two Greek words that mean “to remain
a) to tarry behind to stay when others have left
2) to remain i.e., not flee
a) to preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ
b) to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments
It is translated as, Patience, endurance, steadfastness, perseverance.
It’s not simply a matter of “hang in there” and barely hold on. “Hold the fort for I am coming…” Hupomeno is a stronger word than that. It’s the spirit of defiantly hanging in there – not giving up – because you’re determined to win!
Unlike the KJV “patience”, many translations use the word perseverance or endurance. This is the endurance of the Christian not only to sit tight in the situation but to fight in the situation. Not only to sit there and take the punch but in Christ to realize that victory is at hand as you persevere. That’s why I called this message this morning, ‘Getting ready to win’. That’s the meaning of hupmeno.
When you ask God in prayer to remove a burden He has one of two options in answering it. He can remove that burden or He can give you the added strength to carry the burden.
And Hupomeno Is the added strength God gives to go through a crisis. You would like to see the crisis instantly dealt with. But God in some situations says “No, I am going to give you the perseverance to go through it instead.” Paul experienced this.
2 Cor 12;7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
So what’s so important about Huponeno?
It occurs numerous times in the New Testament. If you are going to be a real Christian, you’re going to need hupomeno. To stay. To endure.
2 Thes 3;5 May the Master take you by the hand and lead you along the path of God’s love and Christ’s endurance. (Message)
May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. (living)
So whats so special about hupomeno? Without perseverance we will only follow the Lord when it’s comfortable. We’ll only follow the Lord when it’s convenient. Endurance keeps us following the Lord when it’s not comfortable and when it’s not convenient.
John writing in Revelation 13 says this “He who has an ear to hear let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed. This calls for endurance – hupomeno – and faithfulness on the part of the saints.”
We don’t like to hear this. Today there’s too much triumphalism being preached. Sure, we’re going to win eventually, but John is saying, some of you are going into captivity. Some of you are going to be killed. There’s going to be no dramatic rescue. Superman isn’t going to dive out of the sky! It’s not going to be comfortable; you’re going to go through it. What you’re going to need is endurance. Without endurance you can’t live the Christian life in that context.
The writer of Hebrews writes to Christians many of whom who had served God initially with great diligence. Now the times are tough and they’re thinking about quitting. That’s why he wrote Hebrews. Heb 10; 31-34 “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light when you endured (hupomeno)? Remember in the earlier days when you persevered? In a great contest in the face of suffering sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions”NIV. [that’s hupomeno] but now it seems as if they’re in danger of giving up. So the writer tells them in verse 36, Now you have need to persevere hupomeno so that when you have done the will of God you will receive what he has promised. (NIV)
It wasn’t enough to simply have endured in the past. It’s up to them to endure now that they might receive the prize that has been promised. He goes on to quote from Habbakuk, Heb 10;38 Now the just shall live by faith but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
You cannot get endurance in your life without things going wrong! Without endurance we’ll falsely expect overnight solutions for complex problems. We’re great on this. Paul writing to the Romans 12:12 admonishes them, “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation (Thlipsis – affliction – when things go wrong.); continuing instant in prayer; Like us, the Roman Christians experienced some situations that did not have simple solutions.
When we long for life without trials and work without difficulties we need to remember that oaks grow strong in stormy winds and diamonds are made under pressure. Without endurance we falsely expect overnight solutions for complex problems. The caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly demands that he spin himself into a chrysalis. What a strange way! Once the chrysalis is finished nothing must touch it. When the newly formed butterfly starts to emerge he must struggle and fight to push himself free. If there’s any help from the outside he will never fly. Only through the agony and struggle of cracking the chrysalis can the butterfly’s wings spread. Thank God the Lord helps us!
Without endurance we could never handle injustice. 1 Peter 2:20 writes to persecuted Christians “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it. But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it this is commendable from God.” Peter’s saying, if you’ve broken the law and you get punished that’s understandable. You don’t get any credit for that. But if you have not broken the law and yet are punished because you are a Christian and endure it, that is commendable from God.” You know as well as I that there is great injustice in the world today even in our own lives. You can find it in your own house many times.
So; How do you handle injustice? Endurance says you stay there. You wait. Not passively but trusting the Lord. You believe that even if you don’t see the resolution to the injustice, that God does and God ultimately will take care of it and God will ultimately work it out. You hold on. (My own experience – lost thousands of pounds – some to so called Xtns!) You persevere while waiting for the answer which may not even come in your own lifetime.
And that’s real faith! Not the nonsense which has been preached by some so called ‘Faith preachers’. Habakkuk faced this problem. He complains to God at the beginning of his book, He says, God! Why aren’t you doing anything about sin? When are you going to judge the sin of my fellow countrymen! And God says, “Habakkuk stop worrying. Of course I’m going to judge sin. I’m going to send the Babylonians and they’re going to punish my people”. Habakkuk said, “Good grief! The Babylonians! They’re worse than us! And you’re going to send them? What kind of justice is that?” God answers back to Habakkuk, “You can’t understand everything. I’m going to ultimately judge the Babylonians too but you’ll never live long enough to see that. But in the interim, while you’re living, you must know this truth: the just shall live by faith.” The righteous live by faith in believing that God will ultimately set all things straight. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a guarantee that ultimately that day will come.
Without endurance we can’t handle injustice. Without endurance we will never finish our course as Christians. Because of the increase of wickedness Jesus said Matt 24;11-13; And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Many men’s love will grow cold. But he who hupomeno to the end will be saved. Jesus says to the end. Eternal Security??? Oops. Claire & I have remarked many times that some so called Christians don’t seem to have the same experience we’ve had!
Emerson said, “The hero is no braver than the ordinary man. But he is braver five minutes longer.” That’s hupomeno. Einstein said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” Incidentally, he was asked to drop out of school because he did so badly in everything except maths!
Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (Gold mine in Oz)
Let’s look at some scriptural examples
There’s the apostle Paul. He names himself as an example of endurance. 2 Corinthians 6:4 “Rather as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way. In great endurance [in hupomeno]. Paul is writing to the Corinthians appealing to them to keep going on. In one sense he could be said to be ‘blowing his own trumpet’. What is really interesting is what he puts at the front of the list. He doesn’t put faith. He doesn’t put love. He doesn’t put hope. He doesn’t put gentleness. At the front of the list is this word hupomeno. Before he lists 17 things he has done, hupomeno is first. He says I put this before you as an example of the Christian life.
Then there’s John. He writes to the Revelation churches, 1:9, “I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and hupomeno.” I, your companion in hupomeno. I, your companion in perseverance. And endurance. “We’re not giving up!”
John is in exile for being a Christian, but he’s not sitting there moaning. He’s looking to the future when Jesus Christ is going to reign omnipotent. So what does it matter that he’s in exile. We know who’s won the battle. It’s absolute defiance in the face of Caesar and everyone else.
Some of the New Testament churches are examples of endurance. Thessalonica, Ephesus, Thyatira and Philadelphia are commended by Jesus for their endurance.
The writer to Hebrews 11 talks of those who hupomeno. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
The prophets; what about Isaiah who when he was called God told him, “Isaiah, the end result of your mission is nobody’s going to believe you.” Isaiah had to preach for about 50 years with the prospect that he’d be a failure in terms of his own generation. Today people expect success. If you haven’t got a church of several hundred you’re a failure. We’ve known men who have pastored half a dozen faithfully. Were they failures?
Ezekiel, exiled. Jeremiah, held in the land going off weeping into Egypt. These men persevered. And they were blessed.
Then James goes on to say, “You have heard of Job’s hupomeno and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. Job is held up as an example of endurance.
There are some preachers who have said that he doubted God. That what came upon him was because he said “What I feared has come upon me.” That’s pretty much what his ‘comforters’ said against him. God Himself declares that Job was a man in whom He found no fault. “A perfect & upright man”. And God didn’t qualify that by saying, “except for the fact that he feared the worst would come upon him”. It’s simply, “I find him blameless”. Job wouldn’t give up. “Though He slay me yet will I trust .him.”
Job said “nothing’s going to dislodge my defiant hold on God. Lose my kids, lose my family, lose my house, lose my possessions, lose my health. I don’t care what it is. Though he slay me, yet I trust him.” That’s defiance, that’s endurance hupomeno.
1 Timothy 6:11 Paul says “Pursue endurance.” That means really chase it!
Men and women of faith don’t just happen. Faith must be acted upon. Endurance demands we do something. Phil 3;14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Ie. I’m not going to give up!
Endurance and faith go together. One aspect of faith is believing God to do the impossible and change the circumstance or the situation. The other aspect of faith is like Job, endurance which believes God even if the circumstances don’t change. It’s the part of the iceberg of faith that is underneath the waters. The active faith that believes God to change the circumstances is often what is visible. But what so often is underneath the waters and is the greater part of Christian faith is endurance. It’s the active dimension in faith that says, God, no matter what, I will trust you.
Endurance is also linked with love. 1 Corinthians 13:7 “Love endures all things.” You can put up with a lot if there’s love in your heart and you sense the love and support of other people. Love is an aid to endurance.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 puts them together – love, faith and hope. But in Titus 2:2 he uses these terms “Teach the older men to be sound in faith, in love and in endurance.” Notice faith and love are the same in Titus 2:2 as in 1 Corinthians 13. But in Titus 2:2 written a bit later than Corinthians, Paul substitutes the word “hope” with the word “endurance.” Endurance. Really, love, faith, hope and endurance are connected. Because without endurance faith is tempted to give up, and without love, faith is just an empty shell. (though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.)
Hope directs our gaze to the future. But endurance encourages us to continue to stand steadfast in the present. Putting them all together, you cannot have love, faith or hope without endurance. How can you ever demonstrate love if you don’t persevere? Your love will simply be illusory. It’ll be emotional. It’ll be romantic. But it won’t be real, solid love. That’s why so many people get divorced these days. For love perseveres. It endures. It involves commitment.
How can you ever have faith if when you pray and it doesn’t come to pass right away you give up on God and walk away angry and bitter. How many times have we prayed and not seen the answer? Faith perseveres. Endurance is the undergirding of active faith.
A few years ago our lovely daughter Joy was taken ill with cancer. Because of our connections, hundreds of people were praying for her to be healed, including well known ‘healing evangelists’. Yet, in spite of everything, she died. It was a tremendous blow to us. But we didn’t give up. With Job we said, “Though He slay me (or Joy), I will trust Him”. And He gave us the grace to come through. It was hard. It was difficult. We hardly knew how to pray or believe any more, but we ‘endured’. We ‘persevered’. And God brought us through.
How do you ever hope if you don’t believe and continue to believe in spite of the evidences, that God is going to come through.
Paul writes in Romans 15:5 “May the God who gives hupomeno…” That means that endurance comes from God, He gives it. It’s not self induced. Like saving faith, God gives it to us. Colossians 1:11 “Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you might have great hupomeno.” How do we have great hupomeno? By being strengthened with His glorious might.
Jesus promises to be there for us. Revelation 3:10 to the church at Philadelphia. The Lord himself speaking, “Since you have kept my commandment to hupomeno I will also keep you.” Remember He told his disciples; I will never leave you nor forsake you. You are mine. I will keep you.
Then there is the support of others. 2 Corinthians 1:5-6. “If we are comforted it is for your comfort which produces in you hupomeno of the same sufferings we suffer.” Paul is saying, He gave me endurance. Because that’s happened to me I can now comfort you. It’s quite one thing to hear about how to get through when things go pear shaped. It’s another thing to talk with somebody who’s been through it. That is why as Christians we need more than simply paying attention to the Word of God as it is taught. We need the communion of relating to one another where we can share what God is doing in our life so that we can comfort one another and strengthen one another.
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” The writer of Hebrews is talking about running a race, and the grandstands are full of spectators. And we’re the runners. He’s saying, as you run remember the great theatre of spectators that is the role call of Hebrews 11. They’re watching you. There’s a crowd of people in the grandstands watching you run your race. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the Red Sea people, invaders of Jericho, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Samuel, and the prophets. They’re all cheering.
Since we are surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses let us run with hupomeno. That describes the Christian life as a long distance run. It’s not a 20 yard dash. It’s not a 100 yard dash. It’s a 26 mile marathon. “We run with endurance the race marked out before us.”
The very essence of saving faith is that it perseveres. Saving faith is faith that finishes. I don’t think the New Testament knows anything about a faith which doesn’t finish. The Christian life is not predicated on the basis of works. It’s the gift of God’s grace. As I said, God gives saving faith. He also gives endurance. The two work together to take us through this life into Eternity. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. There will be ‘tribulation’. Jesus in Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13 (same words) – “All men will hate you because of me but he who hupomenos to the end will be saved.” Not who drops out. He who endures.
2 Timothy 2:12 “If we hupomeno we will also reign with him.” Hebrews 10:36 “You need to hupomeno so that when you have done the will of God you will receive what he has promised.” James 1:1 “Blessed is the man who hupomenos under trial because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life.” All these metaphors speak of finishing.
Life has been described as a journey, a pilgrimage, a battle, a race – select your own metaphor. But the necessity of finishing is the same in each. If life is a journey it must be completed. If life is a battle it must be won. If life is a pilgrimage it must be finished. If life is a race it must be won. The reward is for endurance.
It’s not just jogging around the track innocently and getting tired out. It’s the joy that is set before you. There’s someone waiting for you at the end of the track. There’s a finish line.
Character development is another result of endurance. Romans 5:3 “suffering produces hupomeno. Hupomeno produces character. And character produces hope.”
What is happening when you’re going through suffering or adversity of any kind. What is it producing in your life? It’s producing hupomeno. Staying power. Enduring power. Persevering power. What does that produce? It produces character. The word for character is a word that is used to describe metal that has gone through a test and has been approved. It has been through the fire and you know its character. You know its worth because all of the impurities have been smelted out. It has stood the test. Its real character has been revealed by the fire. And since your real character is revealed then hope is the natural consequence.
As a young Christian, often we don’t see this. You get into suffering for the first time as a Christian, persecution arises or some sort of adversity and you say, “What’s happening to me? Has God left me?” Not at all. There’s a second thing that’s coming into focus. Steadfastness in your life. Staying power. What’s that going to produce? It’s going to produce character in you. It’s going to produce hope. We can look back and say, “Thank God! I know that certain things have been worked out in my life. Hope is the end result. How does hope come? Through easy wishful thinking? No. It must pass through the fire of adversity which makes endurance, which forms character, which then produces the hope.
Paul is saying that the effect of endurance is it refines our character. It’s character development. He knows what we need. James 1:3-4 “The testing of your faith develops endurance. Endurance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything.” The assumption is if you don’t have endurance you will be immature and you will not be complete. What a description of Christian maturity! Don’t develop endurance, never go through struggle, never work it through and you can’t be mature. The price of maturity is endurance.
What about the oyster. Irritations get in its shell. He doesn’t like this. He tries to get rid of them. But when he cannot get rid of his irritations he settles down to make of them one of the most beautiful things in the world – a pearl. He uses the irritation to build the loveliest thing that an oyster ever has a chance to do. An oyster is ugly! But the loveliest thing an oyster does, from our point of view not his, is to produce a pearl. If there are irritations in our life they are to be made into pearls.
A final thing that endurance produces is productivity. Luke 8:15. The great parable of the sower and the seed. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. The farmer doesn’t ever produce a crop unless he perseveres. He’s got to keep at it. Day by day. Gal 6;9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
You don’t plant potatoes today and dig them up tomorrow for dinner. Not a lot of miraculous things happen. Just a lot of hard work, cultivating, weeding, nurturing. But if you’re going to produce the good crop – persevere.
2 Peter 1:5-8, a list of Christian graces – faith, goodness, knowledge, self control, hupomeno, godliness, brotherly love, kindness. Verse 8 “If you possess these qualities in increasing measure – endurance can be something that increases – they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Do you want to be kept from being ineffective and unproductive? Then hupomeno is a part of that. It’s developing that defiant staying power that says with Job, “Though he slay me yet will I trust him.” I’ll keep pressing on towards the mark. I will remember Christ who endured the Cross so that I might be saved. I’m going to keep on to the end.
I’m getting ready to win!