Sermon Perseverance

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[2] The title of the sermon: “PERSEVERANCE.”

• We’re going to talk about perseverance of saved people.
• There a huge number of false doctrines being taught out there about perseverance.
• What is perseverance?
• Perseverance means to persist in something or to continue pursuit when it is difficult.

“Perseverance of the saints,” in Calvinism, means that you must continue in faith and works to be saved by God.

• This false doctrine teaches that you can’t ever turn your back on God or you lose salvation.
• Or, they will say that you never had salvation.
• This is the P in their TULIP acronym. What does this mean exactly?
• They will teach that you that a saved person will continue doing good works the rest of their life.
• They also say that they will believe in God and have faith until the end of their life.

In other words, they teach that a saved person will never have a moment of unbelief.

• They will never have a moment of turning their back on God.
• They will always do good works the rest of their life until they die.
• Is this the truth? No, this perseverance of the saints that they teach is a lie.
• But, actual perseverance of the saints is a Biblical teaching. We should persevere.

What do we believe here? We believe what God teaches us in the Bible.

• We see God’s people, such as Job, persevering through very difficult times.
• We believe that a person is saved once they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
• We believe that once you are saved you are always saved. You cannot lose salvation.

We believe that a person may go the wrong way even after being saved.

• There are examples in the Bible, such as Solomon, that prove this.
• We believe that you can’t know for sure if another person is saved. You can’t see their faith.
• Their works will not prove to you that they are saved.

The only way to show another person your faith is through your works.

• But you don’t know for sure that another person is saved.
• They can know, and they can tell you. But only that individual knows for sure whether they are saved.
• So, let’s look at the only verse in the Bible that uses the word perseverance. There’s only one verse.

[3] Ephesians 6:16-18 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

• Let me repeat this part: “And watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
• All perseverance and supplication or petitions and requests for all saints. Prayers for the saved people.
• I choose to pray with all perseverance and supplication for the saved.
• Do I still pray for the unsaved? Yes I do, but I pray for the saved with all perseverance.
• We keep watching, asking, and praying for these people. We go to God and make our requests.
• We can only do this through our Mediator, Jesus Christ. We pray through the Holy Spirit.

We watch out for each other. We ask, “Hey, is everything okay? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

• “Do you need some help? What can I do for you? Can I pray for you?”
• And we keep watching and caring and loving all of the saints. We pray for ALL OF THEM.
• We help people who we believe are saved, but we don’t know for sure.
• Sometimes we will be tricked, but we can’t give up and quit. That’s not perseverance.
• So, do we want to be quitters, or do we want to persevere until the end of our life?

We know for sure that persevering doesn’t save us because this is a work. It takes hard work to persevere.

• We are not saved by works, but we are saved by faith. And this happens in a moment.
• Sometimes we want to quit when times are tough, but we don’t quit.
• We keep going. Must we keep going to be saved? What MUST I do to be saved?
• Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved. Perseverance is not a requirement to be saved.

[4] Genesis 32:24-26 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

• This is perseverance. “Hey, I’m not quitting no matter what.”
• Even when your thigh is out of joint or your knee is bad, you keep going. And I know people who do that.
• When we get sick, we keep going until we nearly pass out. We don’t stop.
• We don’t do what God says for a short time and then quit. We keep going.

When people, who we thought were saved people, do us wrong, what will our response be?

• Will we persevere through tough times? Will we jump into a bunker and fight everyone else off?
• Will we run away and get away from the entire world? Or will we take the hit and keep on going?
• Some of those people may have been truly saved people who we should have helped.
• But we allowed an unsaved person who acted as if they were saved to get to us.
• This is just an example of perseverance from the Bible. I want you to see this today.

[5] 1 John 2:18-19 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

• Not everyone who has told me that they believe in Jesus Christ have actually believed in Jesus Christ.
• How do I know this? They leave here, and they start teaching false doctrine.
• For example, one of them started to teach that we must endure to the end to be saved.
• In other words, he starts teaching perseverance of the saints as a Calvinist would teach.
• He says that we must keep the faith and continue doing good works until the end or we will not be saved.
• In other words, he leaves and then teaches a works based salvation.

While going here, though, he acted as if he believed on Jesus Christ.

• Now, please don’t get me wrong. If someone leaves here, it doesn’t mean they weren’t saved.
• But if someone leaves here and starts preaching another gospel, they were not of us.
• Let them be accursed because they are teaching a different gospel.
• Some saved people simply do not persevere. They go the wrong way.
• But they are saved because they have believed on Jesus Christ. In a moment they were saved.

Now some people will say that a saved person will never stop believing in Jesus Christ.

• They say, “NEVER.” Personally, I think that is a lie. I believe we all have moments of doubt.
• And this would be reality. I would love to say that I never doubted for a moment in my entire life.
• There have been moments of hard times when I have doubted just a little.
• This is in my flesh. Some people would say that I am not saved.
• But, I really don’t care what they say or think because I know I am saved through Jesus Christ.

Some people will teach that you will always have faith once you are saved. You will have faith to the end.

• Does this have to be all moments, even in the toughest of times, for us to be saved?
• Seriously, are you joking me or kidding me? We are not perfect people.
• There are plenty of examples within the Bible too. Peter would be one of these examples.
• He denied Jesus Christ three times.

The disciples couldn’t understand what happened when Jesus died. They ran away.

• They turned their back and ran away for a little while. We all do these things at times.
• I don’t care what any pastor or preacher says. This is reality. Is it okay to do? No, it’s not.
• But nothing good dwells within our flesh. And we allow the flesh to win many times. Not good.
• But, overall, will a saved person continue to believe in Jesus Christ? Yes, I believe so.
• But I think there can be moments where unbelief can and will come in.

[6] 2 Timothy 2:12-13 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

• Once we are saved, there’s nothing we can do to lose salvation. Moments of unbelief are forgiven.
• We are already in Him. He cannot deny Himself. There is no perfect man who keeps the faith at all times.
• I believe that saved people sometimes might go into a false religion but still believe in Jesus Christ.
• Many saved preachers and pastors will preach the opposite of what I just said.
• But there’s proof and examples within the Bible.

[7] 1 Kings 11:1-2 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; 2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

[8] 1 Kings 11:3-4 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

[9] 1 Kings 11:5-7 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

[10] 1 Kings 11:8-10 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. 9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.

• Now, listen, if king Solomon isn’t a good enough example for you then I don’t know what would be.
• Obviously, Solomon didn’t persevere in his faith and in his works. His works here were evil.
• The Bible says that he went not fully after the Lord as did David his father.
• The Bible says that his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel.

Do you not believe a saved person can be deceived? In the end times, the antichrist won’t deceive the saved.

• The Bible directly says that the elect will not be deceived, and they will not take the mark of the beast.
• But do you really not think that Solomon was a saved man at this point in his life?
• The Bible says, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods.”
• But some saved preachers will say that this is not possible. The Bible tells me that they are wrong.
• If Solomon were living today and did these things, we would think he was unsaved. We would be wrong.
• Was this okay for Solomon to do? No. He paid dearly for these mistakes that he made.

There are a lot of saved people out there who believe in many false doctrines such as the pre-tribulation rapture.

• Obviously, they can be deceived. They think I am deceived. But the Bible teaches us the truth.
• Did Solomon continue to believe in Jesus Christ? Yes, as a whole, but he didn’t go FULLY after God.
• I hope you understand what I mean. We all turn our backs on God at times, especially when we sin.
• We have our moments. We don’t always persevere, but we continue to believe on Jesus Christ.
• But, because of examples from the Bible, we can’t say that we 100% have faith at all times.
• If we were always faithful, we wouldn’t sin. Right? If we always feared God, we wouldn’t sin.

When other do us wrong, we must keep going. We can’t let them pull us away from God.

• We need to go FULLY after the Lord God Almighty. Jacob wouldn’t stop until Jesus blessed him.
• We can’t stop going after God. We need to continue to seek Him. Don’t allow others to stop you.
• If you get stabbed in the back by a saved person or one who acts like they believe, keep going.
• We have to continue seeking the lost. We have to continue to help others as much as we can.
• We can’t stop. We can’t quit. We could and still go to heaven. But that’s not what God wants us to do.
• Let me continue to show you why this happens to us. Why do we get betrayed by so-called “Christians?”

[11] John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

• Think about this. Why would Jesus choose a devil to be one of His disciples? He already knew.
• He knew before anyone else knew. He knew before the foundation of the world.
• It’s in the Scriptures long before it happened. It’s in the Book of Psalms.

[12] John 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

• Judas Iscariot never believed in Jesus Christ and betrayed Him. He never believed.
• Peter denied Jesus Christ three times, but he was a saved man. Jesus knew this too.
• We don’t know. Jesus Christ knows. God knows. Why would Jesus choose Judas Iscariot?

He’s teaching us a lesson. We will get these same type of people here. And we have before.

• And they aren’t here anymore by their choice because I didn’t know they were unbelievers.
• Because of them, they have brought me down, at times. It hurts.
• In moments, I’ve wanted to quit. I didn’t want to persevere. Those were moments.

But, I’ve kept going, and now you are here. And I hope you’ll keep going with us.

• And because we persevere through tough times, we’ve helped to save more people since then.
• And of course, it was always my fault according to these people who leave and blame me for something.
• But, God knows. We keep going. They have almost taken me down, but they didn’t. We do not quit.
• We persevere. We need to understand the Bible and we’ll know this is not out fault.
• We preach the word of God. We are not perfect. But we don’t allow false doctrine to deceive us.
• Perseverance, in works OR even in faith 100% of the time, is not a requirement to be saved.

If you have troubling moments, you already have everlasting life.

• If you’ve chosen wrong after being saved, you’re still saved.
• Do I hate those people who stabbed me in the back? No, I don’t. Could they be reprobates? Sure.
• But I don’t know for sure. I hope they are saved, but are having a moment like Solomon had.
• I would guess they aren’t saved, but I could be wrong.
• If someone teaches a false gospel, especially a works based salvation, they most likely aren’t saved.
• But, again, there are examples in the Bible.

[13] Galatians 2:11-13 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

[14] Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

• Was Peter agreeing with a works based salvation?
• They walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel? Who? Peter and Barnabas.
• This is what the Bible says. They had their moments of not persevering.
• This was after the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was given. Will you ignore all of the examples?
• Will you continue to say that saved people will ALWAYS do the right things?

When I get stabbed in the back by someone, does it mean I don’t have the wisdom of God within me?

• Some false preachers will say these things. Jesus got betrayed too. He chose Judas Iscariot.
• And Judas Iscariot betrayed him. Did that stop Jesus from doing what He had to do? No.
• Do we allow these things to stop us? We do. We aren’t perfect. But it’s time to learn this today.
• Jesus chose Judas Iscariot to teach us. We’re going to suffer through these same things.
• I cried on the floor over the man who stabbed me in the back. I had no idea why.

Then he called me a liar and said I clearly don’t have the Holy Spirit because I wasn’t even convicted of my lies.

• This is the guy who lies constantly and supposedly knows when I am not convicted by the Holy Spirit.
• Did this hurt? Yes it hurt. Did I not want to deal with people again? No, I didn’t.
• I would rather go down into a bunker at that moment so it doesn’t hurt again. Too bad, though.
• I’m not going to let someone stop us from persevering through tough times.
• Jesus teaches us this. The disciples didn’t even know Judas Iscariot was the devil amongst them.
• Even after Jesus told them, they still couldn’t get it.

[15] John 13:23-25 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

[16] John 13:26-28 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

[17] John 13:29-30 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

• Even after Jesus directly showed them it was Judas Iscariot, they didn’t think it was Judas.
• You have examples in your life too I am sure. None of us are better at discerning than the disciples.
• Jesus taught them directly, and they still didn’t know. He even told them, and they didn’t know.
• We follow Jesus Christ. He keeps going. We keep going. We persevere through tough times.

When someone is saved, and they want to get baptized, many times, they will be attacked in hopes of stopping them from following Jesus Christ.

• Satan doesn’t want someone to follow Jesus Christ. He doesn’t want others to be saved.
• He wants you to stop doing what Jesus says. But you can’t stop. You must keep going.
• Or, others may die and go to hell because you didn’t persevere. We don’t want people going to hell.

We take the hits, and we continue. The Apostle Paul kept going.

• He was saved later in his life, and he persevered through these tough times.
• When Peter wasn’t walking upright according to the Gospel, that probably hurt Paul. He kept going.
• Barnabas allowed lies to take him the other way. Be like Paul. Get hurt and keep going for God.

When you’re saved, life doesn’t get easier. It gets tougher. But, we hope for better one day.

• If we suffer with Christ, we reign with Christ. Remember that. The world wants everything to be easy.
• We don’t. We ask God to teach us through trials and tribulations. We ask Him to make us stronger.

Another example of perseverance is parenting. Listen, if you don’t want your children dead, you better persevere.

• You either get it right, or you don’t. If you don’t, you will suffer. Your children will suffer. And it will hurt.
• If you think your way of parenting is better than God’s way, it’s going to hurt badly.
• You’ll watch your own children suffer throughout their life.

[18] Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

[19] Proverbs 19:18 Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

[20] Proverbs 23:13-14 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

[21] Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

[22] Proverbs 29:17 Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

• Raising children God’s way is not easy. YOU MUST PERSEVERE. If not, you’re going to have issues.
• You can’t be lazy about it. You can’t ignore things. You must watch. You must listen. You must act.
• A father is the leader and must lead, but the mother has this job too. It’s time for all us to do our jobs.
• If you don’t listen to God’s words about raising your children, you and your children will suffer.
• If a wife doesn’t want to stay home, teach her children, and raise her own children, they will suffer.

Do you how many women I’ve heard say that there’s no way they could teach their children at home?

• Why not? It’s like someone saying: “But I just can’t stop doing this or that. I must do it.”
• “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.” When we go to memorize a Scripture each time, I’ve heard people say:
• “This is just too long. I can’t do it.” Hey, you’ve already lost.
• The truth is you could memorize the entire chapter. God gave you a powerful brain.
• But people continue to say, “I just can’t do it.” YES YOU CAN. I don’t ever say that I can’t do it.
• I know I can do it. SO WE DO IT. We persevere. We keep going. We keep reading the Bible.
• We keep studying the Bible. We keep preaching the Gospel. We keep teaching all things in this Bible.

We, as parents, don’t give up and we don’t give in. We stick with God’s ways. We don’t follow the world.

• We are different. When most people would quit, we don’t.
• When people stab us in the back, we keep helping others. We people betray us, we keep going.
• Our flesh tells us to stop. Our flesh tells us to just worry about ourselves.
• Our flesh tells us to not preach the Gospel. Our flesh wars against us. We lose some.
• But we’re going to win. We have bad moments. But let’s have more good moments.
• Make sure you understand this parable.

[23] Matthew 13:24-26 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

• I can’t see the tares from the wheat. God knows, but we don’t know.
• I do know some, though. My wife is the wheat. My Dad and Mom are the wheat. I know this.
• I’ve known them my whole life. So you could ask me who I trust in my life? GOD. My wife. My parents.
• But I know for sure that God will never betray me. So, for all the other people, do I not trust them?
• Would I have trusted Judas Iscariot? Yes, I would have. And he would have gotten me.

Do I trust all of you here? Yes, I do. I can’t stop loving and trusting because I might get betrayed.

• I can’t stop doing what God asks me to do because I might get betrayed.
• I can’t stop knocking on people’s doors because I might get yelled at or the door slammed on me.
• Some of the people slamming the door might be the wheat.

Remember that the enemy is sowing the tares. And we don’t know which are the tares until we get betrayed.

• It’s not our job to determine the wheat from the tares. If you come here to betray me, you’ll get it.
• It won’t be me getting you. It will be God. Just know that you won’t stop us here. We keep going.
• The tares are among the wheat. They will always be among the wheat. So be very careful.
• And don’t be surprised to get betrayed by someone close to you. Jesus did. He gave us this example.
• And make sure you really see this next part in the Scriptures.

[24] Matthew 13:27-29 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

• The servants were going to remove all the tares. Is that we try to do? If so, we shouldn’t.
• For example, we might try to stay away from the tares, but we might lose the wheat.
• We might try to dive up the wheat from the tares, but we might lose the wheat.

I might try to determine who is a tare when they come to this church, but we might lose the wheat.

• Why? Because we truly don’t know.
• “But he said, NAY; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.”
• Some people will say, “You just aren’t good at discerning the good people from the bad people.”
• You might get rid of all the tares, but you’ll lose the wheat too. That’s not what you want to do.
• Give people some time. Give them a chance. Some people just don’t know God’s words as you do.

For example, a man with long hair might not understand that it’s shame for a man to have long hair.

• A man like that might come here. Do we just get rid of him because we “know” he’s a tare.
• The truth is that we don’t know. Maybe he just didn’t see that Scripture.
• Maybe you haven’t see this parable in this light before.
• If a teenage girl is wearing really short shorts, maybe she just doesn’t know. No one has taught her.
• Maybe we should give her a chance. Are you going to sort out the tares from the wheat?

[25] Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

• God will take care of it. That’s why all these people are still alive right now.
• He says, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” He will divide the wheat from the tares.
• We must live in this world. Jesus didn’t want us taken out of this world.
• He doesn’t want us to run off and live in the mountains. I’ve thought about it before.

He wants us to be around people so people can be saved.

• This doesn’t mean we are yoked together with the world because we live in this world.
• We can be around people for periods of time so we can talk to them about Jesus Christ.
• This doesn’t mean we are yoked together with them.
• We don’t just shut off everything to others who don’t believe like we do.
• We try. We keep going. We give them the Gospel once, twice, three times.
• We give it to them 100 times if they’ll listen. Why? Because we don’t know.

Now, if someone departs who is wicked, thank God! They were a tare. That’s why we preach how we preach.

• Many times the tares will leave. That’s a good thing.
• If someone departs who is saved and wants to find a place that fits them better, then we pray they find a good church.
• We can’t let these things stop us. We can’t let these things hurt us. May God bless those people.
• We pray for the saved with all perseverance and supplication.
• Getting betrayed by a wicked person can’t stop us. Think about that.

As a saved person who has believed on Jesus Christ, you’re going to have problems, trials, and troubles.

• You’re already saved so perseverance doesn’t save you. Even if you believe not, He abideth faithful.
• You have everlasting life, and He doesn’t break His promises to you.
• But make that you truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You should persevere in faith at all times.
• You should do good works in faith at all times. DON’T ALLOW THE TROUBLES TO STOP YOU.
• Don’t allow troubles to stop you from being baptized and following Jesus Christ.
• You should keep going until you die. Finish the race. Don’t quit.

[26] Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

• Run your race with PATIENCE. If you’re having a lot of trouble, pray and have patience.
• Wait upon the Lord. When you can’t do it yourself, you must wait upon the Lord anyway.
• And you can’t do it all on your own. You know that. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.
• RUN YOUR RACE WITH PATIENCE.

[27] 2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

• Paul kept the faith. He finished his course. He took a lot of beatings, but he kept going.
• He’s a good example, but there is a better example, and that is Jesus Christ.
• He’s been going forever. There is better race runner than Jesus Christ. He is the patient one.
• He was patient with all of us. Let’s have patience through the tough times.
• Let’s pray for each other with everything that we have. Let’s do this right.

And, at the end, we can say: “I have kept the faith. I have run my race. I have preached the Gospel.”

• “I have won people to Jesus Christ. Now, I’m ready to go.”
• Hey, listen, me? I’m not ready to go. I’ve got work to do. I am not finished.
• Hopefully, you aren’t finished either because I don’t think you’re finished. None of you.
• It’s time to work for God and do His work. Let’s win people to Jesus Christ.
• Let’s baptize them. And let’s teach them.

[28] Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

• Let’s do this for the rest of our lives. Persevere. And don’t quit.
• No matter what comes at you. Don’t quit.

Let’s pray.