Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation that speaks to you as to sons:
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives (Heb. 12:1-6, nkjv).
DEFINING ENDURANCE
Endurance is not the mere acceptance of trial and suffering but triumphing in it. It is not the patience of fatalism, but the patience that masters things. Endurance halts neither for discouragement from within nor from opposition from without. It is the steadfastness that carries on until, in the end, it gets there. Endurance is not the fatalistic acceptance of circumstances but the steadfastness that carries on until the end.
Endurance is not the way of salvation, despite one or two verses that seem to say so. “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13). Here the subject is the Tribulation Period. Believers should not think that safety lies in yielding to the enemy. It is those who endure who will be saved to enter the Millennium.
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:62). The subject here is service, not salvation. Quitters are not fit servants.
AREAS IN WHICH WE NEED ENDURANCE
We need it in family life and in raising children. We need it in getting an education.
We need it in the local church where “the normal condition…is difficulty” (J. Alexander Clarke). We need it on the mission field with its constant inter-personal conflicts. And we need it in days of illness and disability when the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak: “The Christian life must not be an initial spasm followed by chronic inertia.”
ENDURANCE
• A wrong love affair or a marriage not made in heaven.
• Sin in one’s life: “The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the Lord” (Prov. 19:3). Or as Today’s English Version puts it: “Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the Lord.”
• False profession as seen in the four soils of Matthew 13. The seed that fell on the wayside, the seed that fell on stony places, and the seed that fell among thorns are all false professors. Only the seed that bore fruit was genuine. Today people turn aside because of materialism, covetousness, false expectations, disappointment in people, discouragement, and persecution. The cost is too great.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF ENDURANCE
Job suffered more material loss in one day than any other person in the Bible. He was not always patient but he did endure.
When we read of Paul’s afflictions, dangers, persecutions, and sufferings for Christ’s sake (2 Cor. 11:23-28), it is easy to wonder if we ourselves are Christians.
Jesus, of course, is the prime example of endurance (Heb. 12:1-4). The worst testings that demons and men could heap upon Him did not deter Him from going on to the cross.
EXAMPLES OF PHYSICAL ENDURANCE
Robert Bruce had suffered six military defeats in his efforts to make Scotland independent. Hiding in a cave, he saw a spider trying to connect the web from one point to another. Six times it failed, but the seventh time it succeeded. This spoke to Bruce and encouraged him to try again. This time he succeeded.
Five fishermen from Costa Rica were caught in a storm. Their boat was badly damaged. It took on water so that constant bailing was necessary. The radio went out. After days they ran out of food and water. At one time a tanker drew near and gave them water, then pulled away. When they were finally picked up, they had set a world’s record for drifting at sea. They survived 142 days living on water, fish, and an estimated 200 turtles. They had traveled over 3600 miles and crossed four times zones.
Although he is a paraplegic, Mark Wellman climbed El Capitan, the world’s largest monolith. It took him seven days and four hours to climb the 3000 feet, six inches at a time. Sometimes strong winds blew him out 10 feet from the face of the cliff. Then he climbed up the face of Half Dome, also in Yosemite National Park. It took almost two weeks to climb the 2200 feet.
These men were like Timex watches—they took a licking but kept on ticking. The Christian life is a marathon, not a hundred-yard dash. Remember the words of Winston Churchill. “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Coleman Cox said, “Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts.”
And a prominent leader said, “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.”
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must—but don’t ever quit.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
Press on. (Author unknown)
There was a man who failed in business. He ran for a seat in the Legislature and lost. Then there was another business fiasco. After finally getting elected to the Legislature, he suffered a nervous breakdown. During the next ten years, he failed in elections for Speaker, Land Officer, Elector, and Congressman. He was finally elected to Congress, but was defeated for re-election. He tried for the U.S. Senate but lost. A year later he was defeated in a bid for the Vice Presidency. And once again he failed to reach the U.S Senate. Finally, after all these reverses, he was elected President of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
The Lord Jesus endured untold contradiction of sinners against Himself (Heb. 12:3). He endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb. 12:2). He finished the work which His Father had given Him to do (Jn. 17:4). There was never the slightest thought of turning back. It was like nourishment for Jesus to finish the work the Father gave Him to do (Jn. 4:34).
If we would be like Jesus, we must have endurance. We must have the spirit of Amy Carmichael when she wrote:
My hand is on the plow, my falt’ring hand;
But all in front of me is untilled land.
The wilderness and solitary place,
The lonely desert with its interspace.
The handles of my plow with tears are wet;
The shares with rust are spoiled, and yet, and yet,
Out in the field, ne’er let the reins be slack;
My God! my God! keep me from turning back.