Men's Ministry: Perseverance

Character Trait: Perseverance.

In the Greek: ‘upomonh’
- steadfastness, constancy, endurance
- in the NT it is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.
- a patient, steadfast waiting for
- a patient enduring, sustaining, perseverance
Definition: Perseverance is when you keep doing what you're supposed to be doing, no matter the circumstances. Maintain a godly character and stay focused, even when life becomes difficult.

Quote: “Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it.”

Adding to Our Faith Perseverance:
2 Peter 1:5,6; “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance“
Biblical Perseverance Doxology:
Jude 1:24,25; “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Question: What is the purpose of perseverance?

Character & Hope: Romans 5.3-5 says: "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Question: What does hope and perseverance have to do with each other?

Quote: “"Do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end". Hope is a spiritual grace quite distinct from faith or love. Faith casts me upon God. Love causes me to cleave to and delight in pleasing Him. Hope sustains under the difficulties and discouragements of the way. It supports the soul when the billows of trouble roll over it, or when we are tempted to despair, and give up the fight. That is why, in the Christian’s armor, Hope is called "the helmet"(1 Thess. 5:8), because it wards off the sharp blows or bears the weight of those strokes which befall the saint in trials and afflictions. Hope values the things promised, looks forward to the clay of their realization, and thus is nerved to fresh endeavor. Hope views the Promised Land, and this gives alacrity to the weary pilgrim to continue pressing forward. Hope anticipates the welcome and the glorious fare awaiting us at the Heavenly Port, and this gives courage to go on battling against adverse winds and waves. There is the test.
Many pretend to the possession of a good hope who yet have no faith. Others make a profession of faith who yet have no real hope. But real faith and real hope are inseparable. A spiritual faith eyes the Promiser, and is assured that He cannot lie. A spiritual hope embraces the promises, esteems them above all silver and gold, and confidently anticipates their fulfillment. But between the present moment and the actual realization of our hope lies a rugged path of testing, in which we encounter much that wearies, disheartens and retards us. If we are really walking in the path of God’s appointment, there will be oppositions to meet, fierce persecutions to be endured, grievous troubles to be borne. Yet, if our valuation of God’s promises be real, if our anticipation of their fulfillment be genuine, the comfort and joy they afford will more than offset and over-balance the effects of our trials. The exercise of hope will alone deliver from fainting and despondency under continued afflictions.” Christian Perseverance by Arthur Walkington Pink
For Further Study: http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Hebrews/hebrews_028.htm
Perseverance in Faith Produces Gods Results:
Caleb & Joshua believed God. Numbers 14:1-38 gives the account of the 2 spies who went into Canaan and returned with a good report. They persevered in their faith despite the present of the descendants of Anak and a host of enemies. As a result they were the only ones of the 12 spies that ever saw the Lord’s promise fulfilled.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, 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 5:1-5 ESV.
Perseverance Increases Our Strength:
Increases us, not depletes us. Job 17:9; "Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.”
Perseverance in Prayer Brings Gods Response:
There is the account of Daniel in chapter 10, where he has been praying for 21 days straight. Upon the 21st day Gabriel reveals himself to Daniel with a response from the Lord. His delay was due to apparent spiritual warfare. As NT believers, we have His Spirit indwelling us and so consolation from the Lord can be immediate. Whatever length of time we must endure the OT scripture warrants our attention; those who persevere will see the Lord’s faithfulness.
Ephesians 6:18; “Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).” 

Perseverance in Hardship:
Luke 21:19; “By your steadfastness and patient endurance you shall win the true life of your souls.” AMP.
Scriptural Perseverance:
James 1:12; “Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor's] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.”

Question: How Do We Persevere?


1. Have complete faith in God. It is very important for us to remember that our relationship with God is personal and one-to-one, NOT dependent on anything or anyone or any other factors that happen around us. The fall of any Christian leaders or any person close to us or the bad experience we may have with other fellow Christians should never be the reason for us to give up on our perseverance to rebuild, renew and be revived
2. Focus on God NOT the problems. Even when everything else is collapsing around us, God is always there for us and to help us no matter what the situation or crisis is.
Hebrews 13:5; “Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]“
Hebrews 12:3; “Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.”
Rewards Of Perseverance:
Hebrews 12:1; “[ Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith ] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” ESV.

Quote: “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”; Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Question: Why Should We Persevere?


1. God Will Fulfill His Promises. Romans 8:37-39; “Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“


2. Our setbacks are temporary. We must focus on God and put our faith in God to help us overcome the trials in our lives. Our faith in God and His ability to help us in times of crisis and trials in our lives should not fluctuate with the times but to remain strong and steadfast at all times.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18; “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”




3. Develops our faith. ”Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”;
 James 1:2-4 NIV.


4. Blessings From God. James 1:12; “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”


5. Honor From God.
2 Timothy 4:7; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”


6. Perseverance produces results. Luke 8:15; ”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.” NIV. (Contributions by Paul Hata.)
Murmur or Praise: Which are you?
Romans 5:1-5; " Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, 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.” ESV.
Persevering Saints
Jacob, in prayer 
Genesis 32:24-26
Caleb and Joshua, in representing the land of promise 
Numbers 14:24,38
Daniel 10; 21 days of prayer.
Paul; 2 Timothy 4:7
Remember Godly Character is Like Building a House:
In order to be successful, a builder must know the fundamentals of house building, what materials to use and very importantly how to interpret blueprints so that in the end one will build the house he has been contracted to build. Not any old house will do.
1 Corinthians 3:9-11; “You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.“
Here we discover that our chief blueprint to study and conform or build to is Jesus Himself. This speaks of what kind of foundation we must lay. This is the only foundation that will endure.
Luke 6:48; “he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.”

Responsibility to God:
God calls us to exercise our faith through perseverance.
1 Tim. 6:12; “Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.”
Hebrews 12:1; “THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,”
Responsibility to Family:
Our responsibilities as fathers, husbands and men place us in a unique and challenging position. With so much today vying for our time and resources, many men feel overwhelmed and conflicted. So much of our life seems to exist under the control and constraints of other peoples agendas. For the Christian man the scriptures are clear about our responsibility to family. 1 Timothy 5:8; “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Part of this provision is godly leadership as the priest of the home. Deuteronomy 6:4-9; “ 4"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8(I) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” One of the most effective disciplines you can practice on behalf of your family is prayer. Colossians 4:12; “Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. [He is] always striving for you earnestly in his prayers, [pleading] that you may [as persons of ripe character and clear conviction] stand firm and mature [in spiritual growth], convinced and fully assured in everything willed by God.” AMP.
James 5:16b; “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
Responsibility to the Lost:
Our witness outside the church is important to God and in fact a good testimony goes far in facilitating the gospel. As believers we need to walk out our faith responsibly. 1 Timothy 4:16; “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
Responsibility to Lead & Mentor
“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”

Question: Who has history provided for us as our mentors?
- Martin Luther King; dreamed a dream.
- Abraham Lincoln; abolished slavery.
- Jesus; Hebrews 12:2; “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Our Mission:
What then is our primary mission according to scripture?
Aspire to be conformed to the image of Jesus through diligent pursuance of godly character. As James tells us, perseverance produces a victors crown.
Seek God. Know God. Show God.