15 minute read
My Pulpit Message Notes:PERSEVERE IN GOD’S LOVE
from TT 188
by TIMES TODAY
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When talking about persevering in God’s love, persevering in faith, walking with Christ for a long-term, we have to ask ourselves what does that mean perseverance in light of a young continent and contemporary issues that we are facing today?
What is this persevering in God in a world today that is claiming that you cannot hold for long?Whatever you are doing, this world today is instant, do it quickly before the next thing comes. To the extent even marriages, the world is saying just hold briefly because the field is greener on the other side.
What do we mean by perseverance when the world is saying you don’t need long process, the end justifies the means? Process doest matter today. Nowadays we have instant coffee, porridge, salvation, backsliding, wife, money etc. Tat is the world today, instant riches.
How do we engage perseverance when we are in a world where the other side is greener and you are safer when it is short, quick, casual contracts and commitments? How do we engage in perseverance, walking with God when the world is telling you not to put all your eggs in the same basket? Pursue multiple parts, it is a world of pluralism, relativism, atheism, secularism etc. How do we persevere when the world is telling you, enjoy it now maximally, tomorrow will sort itself out?
I raise these issues because most of us have a responsibility for the next generation that is coming after us. We have to ask ourselves how will Christianity Africa be in the next 50 - 100 years. Most of us are rejoicing over what God has done in Africa in the last hundred years. Some of us are products of East African Revival. We thank God that it trained us to persevere and we see people in their 70s today are still passionate for Christ.
I met one veteran preacher in the country at the universities who was a CU chairman in 1975 at the University of Nairobi and we had tea together two weeks ago. Te man told me, from January to February, out of eight weeks, he had preached in six universities and colleges in this country on Sundays. He is in his seventies and he is still passionate. I looked at him and asked, how will the generation of my children be in the next fifty years? Will they still persevere?
Mine is to encourage us that where you are, you hold on until the end, but that you have a responsibility to ensure that this concept/virtue of perseverance is passed over to the next generation because if you don’t we will fail the global Christian agenda. Yes we would have issues with Europe because of how they did it, but you and I know for above 500 /1000 years they were faithful in their own ways. They sent missionaries across the world, not because they had so much money. Some of them we know they carried their caskets and carried them to Africa and died here, persevered here until the seed has grown and now we are the continent with most Christians globally.
So we have the two responsibilities, finishing well regardless of the age you are in, but ensuring the virtue of perseverance is passed on.
As we pass this virtue on, I find perseverance is like the old phone booths in Nairobi. Te other day, I asked my children if they know the phone booths and they said, they have never seen it. One answered they saw it in the museum. Tat struck me. Te other day they were so common. Now we have to go to the museum to see them.
The same is with the virtue of perseverance. Some years back, perseverance whether you liked it or not, you were forced into it. You had to persevere walking to school, some had to persevere walking without shoes. There was a time I told my son I had to go to school without shoes, and he asked me, did you have socks? Because it is a new concept. He thought I was the one who chose to walk to school without shoes and so I would put on sock. Ten the other child asked, did the bus pick you?
Then we were in a culture where perseverance was forced into us. You had to endure whether you liked it or not. You had to endure the pain that was natural. And because of that, skills and virtue of waiting for long was created in you. Today that is becoming scarce like the calling booths. You have to introduce it because today’s generation there is nothing to suffer much, there is nothing that brings perseverance. Te staying power is reducing.
People are coming to Christ in throngs. Last year alone in all our universities / campuses, through the evangelism that we were doing in our Christian Unions 7700 students got saved. Tat is a nice thing. But I am worried, in three years will they still be saved? In 30 years will they still be holding Jesus?
Eugene Peterson explores discipleship in an instant society. Through his book, ‘A Long Obedience in the Same Direction’ cause some of us obey, but in different directions. Five years we are following Christ in one direction, the other four years we are not sure, the other two years we get revived. This book explores a long obedience in the same direction. And that is the cry today. How can we nurture a long obedience, persevering obedience in the same direction? How can we nurture Calebs today who can say I was 40 years, now I am 86, I am as passionate as I was those years?
I remember when young we used to go to two keshas the same night. It is only 30 years down the line, are you still vibrant in prayer? Remember the days you used to read the Bible cover to cover, the day no one could speak to you for more than two hours without hearing the word of Christ, even in the bus. Woe unto you if you neighbour was going to Mombasa, they will get saved along the way. Where are you? Are you still persevering in those virtues?
Defnition
Perseverance is to hold, or to persist. Te dictionary description says, ‘continued effort to do or achieve the same thing or something despite difficulties, failure and opposition.
Persevering in God’s Love
What does God’s Love mean?
Jude 1:20-21
- God’s love means assurance of salvation. How do you persevere? How do you hold on to the salvation that you have?
- God’s love could also mean intimate walk with God, where you persevere despite the difficulties and challenges, you hold on.
- God’s love also means service to Him. Persevering in God’s service to Him. You know well you were called to reach out to the children. You had that call and started, but because of difficulties you gave up. Or you were called to do business for missions, where your work is actually to do business and support missionaries, but somehow along the way you did not persevere enough.
- God’s love could also mean passion for God.
The Bible is littered with characters who persevered long enough and have left us a testimony for our commissioning and inspiration.
- Job. Jobs story is like a movie. When you are actually doing something and within a span of an hour you get messages your buses were going to Githurai and instead went to Kasarani and have crashed there. You cows in the village, a wind came from Mount Elgon and carried all of them, and before long, your children who were celebrating in another house in the other side of the city , something just came. What made Job hold on?
- Joseph. What is it, other people like Joseph with a dream when he was young was thrown into a pit and by God’s mercy is rescued by his brother Reuben and is sold and goes to a foreign land. Tis look nice, he has a job in Potiphar’s house, but before long he is in prison. What is it that make Joseph not give up? How different is Joseph from a young person today who is giving up so fast because a girlfriend got late and they are calling of a relationship, or because a boyfriend cannot afford chips of 100 bob, he only has 20 bob.
- Caleb. What made him to keep passion /zeal for God for those many years?
- Ruth. What did Ruth see in Naomi that told her to say, I will not leave you, I’ll hold on to you and persevered in that?
3 Critical Things That Help Us Develop Perseverance
1. The Foundation - Matthew 7:24
is quite unique in setting a foundation that can make a house in the future despite the storms and winds and whatever beats against it to stand.
I’ve been looking for other things in the Scripture that can hold this house, and I’ve realised the Scripture is very clear, it is the foundation. Reading Matthew 7:24 talks about a wise and a foolish builder.
Everyone who hears this words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Te rain came down, the stream fowed, the winds blew and beat against that house yet did not fall. Why did it not fall? Because it has its foundation not he rock.
- This is a description Jesus is giving of knowing God through the Word, valuing the Scriptures, knowing the Word of God and commitment to do the Word of God.
- We have many Christians today who know the Word, but they are not committed to doing it. They want pretext that favour them. They want to pick texts that are nice. But those that say, forgive your neighbour, or housemate who wronged you, that text becomes difficult.
- Foundation is actually helping people know the Word of God and be committed to do it.
- Know the character of God, know His ways and commitment to obey.
- If we don’t have a strong foundation, perseverance will be difcult.
- The things I have gone through over the past 29 years, if I didn’t know the Scripture well, If I didn’t know who I am and who God is, most likely I would not still be pursuing ministry.
- The reason why many people are giving up, chances are the foundation is weak and that is a call to all of us. Keep checking your foundation, keep checking how is your interaction with the Word of God. How do you process the Word of God? Are you willing to obey every verse of the Word of God?
- How do we help the young people? How can we be sure that in 50 years they will still be holding on to Christianity well? By the foundation. How can you help your children and grandchildren? Please let them know the Word of God. The styles could change from how you used to do Bible study those days, but ensure that it is nice, but let the content of the Word of God still remain. Whichever way, let the Word of God be at the centre because that is the foundation.
2. The Disciplines. Jude 21
To have a strong foundation we need disciplines of perseverance. Jude 21”keep yourselves in God’s love…” Who is keeping who?
- ‘Building yourselves’, - most of us want to be built by others. - Keep yourselves -
- Those two terms, ‘build’ and ‘keep’ simple means self-discipline. What will make you persevere all through for Christ and remain in His love is by building yourselves (spiritual development). Having a plan to develop yourself. It is your responsibility, not necessarily the responsibility of the pastor.
Yes the pastor will help you, but by the end of the day it is your responsibility. It is your responsibility to build your marriage. Build your spiritual stamina because the day of evil is coming. Build your prayer life, nurture it. Build your Scriptural engagement. Look for mentors - people who can help you. But after you build yourself, keep yourself, this simply means self control.
- The self of today is becoming rogue. The self wants all the money and yet eat one plate at a time, the self wants all houses yet it can sleep in one bed at a time. The self wants to marry even the same gender. It’s becoming queer.
- Self control is a fruit of the Spirit and I have checked through the Scriptures. It is talking about having self control so that you can pray. Praying requires self control. Reading the Word requires self control especially against the gadgets that we have. The day you want to read the Word of God on the phone, that is when the pop ups come and before long you have forgotten what you wanted to do on the phone.
- Self control means, you say phone for the next one hour stay far, TV stay far, food stay far so that I can seek God.
- Disciplines will help us.
- Self leadership - mental resolve, making up your mind.
3. Hope - Jude 21
- “As you wait…” What makes us persevere as we wait is hope. Hope is the anchor of the soul according to Hebrews 19. Hope is critical. We are having a generation that is becoming hopeless. There is nothing they are looking forward to. Depression cases are on the rise because of hopelessness.
- Hope is critical for you to persevere. Regardless of what you are going through, could be a challenge at home, could be a sickness, please have hope that Whoever has promised is faithful and will come through. Do not give up.
- Hope helps us to wait and not give us. Job 14 says even when a tree is cut, there is hope it will sprout again. ‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for the One who promised is faithful, - Hebrews 10:24.
Friends, how do we persevere in this generation that is crooked and evil? As Timothy tells us, ‘It will be perilous times”.
I propose to us, we must make up our minds to persevere. I am aware in a post-modern era, ideologies, post-modernism is putting everything to self; feelings - we want to feel Jesus, we want to feel saved. What happens the day you wake up and you don’t feel like you want to love Jesus? You have to know, you have to be driven by convictions.
- I like what Daniel 1:8 says, “Daniel resolved in his mind not to defile himself. What will keep you in that workplace where you are persevering because everyone is persecuting you because you are a believer? They don’t want to go with you for trips because they like ‘cooking’ receipts. And because you are truthful you are messing up their plans and are isolated. You must make up your mind not to be defiled. Make up your mind to follow Jesus.
- Make up your mind not to give up. The ministry God has called you to may not be easy. There are many struggles, they could be financial struggles. Make up your mind that your destiny is heaven. Te temptations and the sin could be choking you. Make up your mind to fight on.
- Keep fighting on. Do not give up. Te Bible predicted that we are soldiers of Christ. We are at war. So the battles that are coming, they are supposed to because you are a soldier. Fight on. There are spiritual, mental battles that you need to fight on. Do not give up.
- A few of us, we give up so fast because we have not burnt our bridges. Like the story that is told of this army in a small town that used to go fight and there was a huge river in between. And there were boats that they used to cross over to the other side of the town. And every time they would get defeated on the other side and the army from that town could run back, until the commander realised, what can I do to help this guys win. He ensured that they crossed over, then burned all the boats and the bridge and for the first time they won.
- Some of us don’t persevere because we have too many options, including ourselves. We know that God will help us, but we also help ourselves. WE have too many options and we have to burn them and say, “I have decided to follow Jesus and I will persevere. I will hold on until the end.”
