Endurance

Well, brethren, happy Sabbath once again. Today, this is a very special Sabbath. We are here to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the UCG Cleveland congregation. I'd like to give a brief history of what led to the development of the Cleveland congregation of the United Church of God.

Actually, I could give probably two or three sermons on this history with all of the gory details, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to try to give a brief recap of what led to us becoming a congregation in 1995. We were, originally, parts of two different congregations of the worldwide Church of God. One was called Cleveland West, and because we didn't have our own church building over the years, we met in Aleria, Lorraine, Bermeleon. We met in all kinds of different locations. And the other one was called Cleveland East, which was the much larger congregation.

And over the years, they met everywhere from Beechwood, Ohio, and a Jewish temple for a while, to Strongsville, to a number of different locations throughout Greater Cleveland. I remember they were congregations of the worldwide Church of God. The worldwide Church of God was very hierarchical, very command and control structured. As a matter of fact, where they were centrally located was referred to as headquarters, which isn't a term you hear much anymore.

Even most businesses have abandoned the term headquarters, meaning that all intelligence, all thinking, and all command comes from this one central location. It was located in Pasadena, California. In January of 1986, the original founder of the worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, died, and he designated a man named Joseph Tkach to be his successor.

Well, in the mid to late 1980s, Joseph Tkach actually did a number of very good things to balance some of the Church's doctrines. One classic example is that the Church at one time taught women could not wear cosmetics. Wearing cosmetics was a sin. Mr. Tkach correctly realized that the Bible does not discuss cosmetics, and he changed that doctrine. College accreditation was once considered a doctrine. The Bible does not speak on college accreditation, and Mr. Tkach corrected that.

He also promoted a less judgmental and more inclusive attitude. So certainly early on, after he took over for Herbert Armstrong, he actually did a number of very good things. Eventually, he brought his son to church headquarters in Pasadena, and over a period of time promoted him to be director of the ministry. By the early 1990s, it was obvious that the Church was shifting away from some of its traditional core doctrines.

That was an agenda they had. There was a clear intent to do this very, very slowly so that they could maintain as many members as possible. These changes were led by a small group of powerful individuals who had influence over Joseph Tkach, including his own son, and a handful of others who had a lot of influence on him. Remember that the toxic problem with autocratic leadership is that an autocratic leader can change anything on their own whim.

On a dime, wholesale changes can occur on a single command. There are no checks and balances. Something, by the way, the founding fathers of the United States recognized, and that's why they created so many checks and balances even in our secular human government. Well, in the early 1990s, a minister who was for these changes, actually the pastor of a congregation in Atlanta, he grew impatient for these changes because he wanted to push them.

So he gave a series of sermons in Atlanta that eventually forced the worldwide Church of God to become more open and honest about their intent to change our core doctrines regarding the Sabbath, holy days, and nature of God. On January 7, 1995, Joseph Tukach gave a sermon, and that sermon was sent to all the congregations for viewing, and in this sermon he publicly declared that the worldwide Church of God was a new covenant church, which I found interesting because I always believed that from the beginning, and therefore was not bound by the terms of the old covenant.

We in the ministry received a copy of a magazine. They said, this is where we're heading. You need to read this, and it was called The Verdict. So we received that. It was sent to us from headquarters. It was clear, as I read the magazine myself, that the worldwide Church of God was changing rapidly and was basically going to become a me too, Protestant-type church, frankly, with a liberal orientation.

And not that I have a great problem with any church that does that. It just happened to be a big problem for me because of all the emotional resources, and I had invested my life in the worldwide Church of God and felt that it was being stolen from the people who had built it, and the overwhelming majority of people who wanted to continue to observe the core doctrines is taught in Scripture. I wasn't a minister at this time, but as an elder, but I was not a pastor.

However, I did receive the magazine, and I read it quite thoroughly. It became disgusted. About this time, a few of our regional pastors and other leaders in the worldwide Church of God went to the leaders there in Pasadena and had a discussion with them and said, Look, can we continue within the worldwide Church of God in our own individual congregations, keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days and the things we know to be true?

We don't want to leave the organization. Just leave us alone, and you can do your thing, and if congregations accept that, that's okay, but we want to be able to preserve a sanctuary within the worldwide Church of God and keep the Sabbath and Holy Days and things that we believe, and the answer was no. So in our wildest dreams, we could not have imagined that the worldwide Church of God would abandon its core doctrines.

As a matter of fact, groups today study that the change was so rapid, groups today study what happened in the worldwide Church of God to learn from it. Here is an article from Christianity Today and what it said. The quote changes, as they are referred to by insiders, are truly historic. Never before in the history of Christianity has there been such a complete move to Orthodox Christianity. That's how rapid it was. Another article by a gentleman, Vern Burlow, who writes for The Free Inquiry, said this, quote, The shedding of almost every doctrine in the worldwide Church of God that it once clung to is almost without parallel an American religious history, end of quote.

That's how sudden, that's how dramatic the change was in the worldwide Church of God. And obviously, for those who lived through those times, the memories can still be very painful. I know mine are.

In the spring of 1995, a special ministerial conference was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. I attended it along with my wife, BJ, and it became the foundation for the United Church of God and International Association. Our first Sabbath here in Cleveland was on April 29th, 1995, 113 individuals assembled at the Brunswick Community Center to worship God in peace and the worship God with a good conscience. Kind of an interesting thing happened a day before our first Sabbath service. It was cobbled together. There wasn't a whole lot of thought in it. After the Indianapolis conference, we just realized we needed to do something different, and we no longer had a home in the worldwide Church of God. So we went to the Brunswick Community Center, and they had to sign a contract, and everything's fine. And then about a day before, they realized we were a religious group, and they said, well, this is a community center. You're not going to, like, sing or pass snakes around or anything, are you? They said, well, we do sing. We're really afraid that people in the community will hear, like, the name of God and be offended, so can you please not sing? So for that service, we opened up the hymnals, and we read the hymns together as a congregation, rather than vocally singing them, just so we didn't upset the apple cart. By the next Sabbath, we had a hall of our own, and we were fine. But that's an interesting thing that we had to do the very first Sabbath that we met. Our pastor was out of town, and I was asked to give the sermon on that day, and I spoke on how the Seventh-day Sabbath pictures the kingdom of God. So in a nutshell, that is a recap of how this congregation came to be formed on April 29, 1995.

I know a few months ago I asked those of you in the congregation who had recently been baptized to stand. Well, now I would like to ask anyone who was there for the original Sabbath that the United Church of God had in April of 1995. If you were here for the original Sabbath 20 years ago, I would like to ask you to stand at this time and be recognized. Even if you were a child at the time, I'd like you to stand and be recognized. Thank you for your commitment and service to God's people. Look at the pioneers of this congregation, those who were standing. Today, I would like to talk about a quality they have that is necessary for all of us to be in the kingdom of God.

It's a quality that is necessary for salvation that they have. You may ask, what is it? What is this quality that they have? Well, actually, the reason it's so essential and so important is it's a quality that God has. And God obviously admires anyone who imitates him and has a godly quality that God himself has. And what is that quality? The quality is they have endured. You see, brethren, in a world of quitters and complainers, and I don't mean churches, I mean every part of our western culture, whether it's sports, the media, the neighborhood, in a world of quitters and complainers, they have endured and kept the faith. Endurance is a godly quality. And I'm so appreciative for each and every one of you who demonstrates endurance in your life. The reason, again, it is so important is that it is a godly quality, as David wrote in Psalms 9 and verse 7, but the Lord shall endure forever. God endures. He endures with our flaws and our mistakes and our struggles as his children.

He endures in spite of the fact that we have weaknesses. His plan endures. His family endures.

Jesus Christ taught his disciples a parable about how different people would respond to hearing the gospel throughout history. It's actually a parable about endurance. It mentions four categories or conditions where seed is sown and what becomes of that seed. Let's read about it. If you'll turn with me to Mark chapter 4 and verse 13, it's often called the parable of the sower. And let's go through the parable of the sower together and see what we can learn about endurance.

Before verse 13, Jesus gave the parable. He talked about how a sower went out, and some of the seeds fell by the wayside, some fell on stony ground, some were sown among thorns, and some were sown on good ground. And the disciples didn't get it, so they asked him to explain it to them in more detail. And here's what he said beginning in verse 13. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? He says this is about the gospel. This is about the message. This is about the method that the Father uses to call people to his way of life. The sower sows the Word, and we of course know that the Father draws us, that no man can come to Jesus Christ unless the Father draw him. The sower sows the Word, and these are the ones by the wayside where the Word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts. So that's the first one. Those where they are sown by the wayside.

This may be a person who finds a magazine. Maybe they have a friend who's a believer. They have lunch with you, and they get a little interest. Oh, you keep this Seventh-day Sabbath will tell me about it. They show a little bit of interest. Maybe they attend a funeral, and they hear about the resurrection of the dead rather than someone going up to heaven. For a moment in time, they have an interesting or a stimulating thought or discussion about God or church or religion. However, the next moment, the enemy counters by putting another distracting thought in their minds, and it's gone. For most of them, it's gone for the rest of their physical lifetimes until God chooses to call them at another time. So those are those who were the ones by the wayside. Verse 16, these likewise are the ones sown on stony ground. But when they've heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness. You see, this is a different level than the first group who were by the wayside. These individuals receive the message. They're excited about it, and they have no root in themselves, and so they endure only for a time afterward when tribulation, maybe they lose their job, maybe they're having marriage difficulties, maybe they're having financial difficulties. When tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. This refers to an individual who is excited about hearing the good news. They may devour booklets, search the web. I had people call me and tell me, yes, I discovered the Beyond Today, and I did an all-nighter, and for four hours I watched eight programs in a row. The time got away from me. They might get to the point where they even called the minister. They might attend services, and at first they're happy, excited to learn new things, but they don't establish deep roots. The roots are what provide stability. The roots going deep into the soil, the richness of the soil. And of course we know in another metaphor that our foundation has to be in Jesus Christ, not in some tangent issues or doctrines. It has to be in Christ, and Christ crucified. Something happens, and because they don't establish deep roots that provide spiritual stability, they shrivel up.

Verse 17 from the New Century version, it says, but since they don't allow the teaching to go deep into their lives, they keep it only a short time. Again, those I want you to pick up in that phrase, it said in verse 17, and so endure only for a time. The people who stood up a little while ago, they have endured a long time. Verse 18, now these are the ones sown among thorns. They are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world, but the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things, non-spiritual things, I might add, physical things, maybe a bigger home, a new car, that job promotion, but you have to work on Saturday, whatever it may be, and the desire for other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. You see, in this case, their attention and focus on God is eventually crowded out, just like a healthy plant surrounded by a bunch of weeds or thorns. It'll get crowded out, and it'll become stunted, and eventually, their attention and focus on God is crowded out by the stresses and the cares and the constant distractions of this world. They hear the gospel preached, and they begin to respond to it, and that's good. They may come to church and even begin to change their lives for a while. It says they become unfruitful, so it implies that for a while they may actually show some change. They may actually be growing. They may actually be taking steps in the right direction, but soon, personal desires or the deceitfulness of this world turn their heart on the other things. It's choked out.

I want you to notice that Jesus does not condemn those who fall into these three categories we just discussed. Perhaps we can understand that more by what Jesus said in Matthew 22 and verse 14, for many are called, but few are chosen. Who you saw stand up a little earlier today?

Those people were chosen. They've endured a lot of trials, a lot of stress in their lives, a lot of challenges, a lot of difficulties. And then there's those in verse 20.

But these are the ones sown on good ground who hear the word, accept it, which is something the first category didn't do, accept it and bear fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty, and some a hundred.

To achieve this kind of growth requires a long, long time of endurance. For most of us, it requires a lifetime. It takes years for a tree to grow enough to become a mature fruit tree.

After maturing, it's usually properly pruned. And that tree has to endure cold and drought and disease in order to get to the point where it can produce a lot of fruit year after year after year.

And that takes time. And it takes nurturing. It takes the ability to endure.

In contrast to the others that were mentioned, the ones sown on good ground endure, like the example of those who stood up just a little while ago. Let's go to Hebrews 12 and verse 1. Hebrews 12 and verse 1.

Hebrews 12 and verse 1. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight. Are we trying to run a race with an unnecessary backpack on our shoulders? Is there something in our lives that are weighing us down from being able to take that journey, that Christian walk, the journey of discipleship we were called to? And the sin, which so easily ensnares us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Brother, in the Christian race that you started when you were baptized and you received the Holy Spirit, is not a sprint. It is a grueling, long-distance event. And one thing that I've learned in 40-plus years, sprinters need not apply because you'll never make it.

I'd like to tell you the difference between sprinters and milers. You may have seen this if you've watched the Olympics. I experienced it often, far too often, in high school as I ran on a high school track team. First, there are sprinters. And you have to realize the mindset that sprinters have. Sprinters, first of all, let's take the 100-yard dash, or what they now call the 100-meter. It only lasts 10 seconds. It's basically like this.

And not only that, the person who's going to cut that string has to really show everybody that I'm something special. You've got to go as your chest breaks that string. You see, the whole idea of sprinting is it's very short. You're not even out of breath. You don't even sweat. Your competition is with the people directly on the left and the right of you, and they're going to be very close, most likely. That is the nature of a sprint, of a sprinter. Now, you take a two-miler, for example, whatever they might call that in meters today. It's a whole different race. First of all, the gun goes off. And before that, once the announcer says, and now, third call for the two-mile run, third call for the two-mile run, you can see people leaving the stands. They're going to the restroom. Some are leaving the building forever. It's like, this is going to be so boring. What do I want to watch for the next 15 minutes? Six bony-legged guys in shorts run around a track floor. So they line you up and they shoot the gun. And it is not a sprint, my friends. Within a half mile, you are not shoulder to shoulder with other people. There might be someone 20 yards ahead of you. There might be people behind you. It is purely psychological. After a mile, your lungs burn. After a little bit, your guts get to the point where they come up and you think you're going to vomit, and oftentimes you do.

You put everything you have into that. It is you against the world. You're not even thinking of the other guys until the very end of the race. It's the kind of race where you might even lap somebody. That's the disparity that you'll often find with long-distance runners. It is hard. It is grueling.

You're there and you look out to the people in the stands, the same people who were all standing up and applauding for the sprint. You look out into the stands and they're like, they're bored. They don't care. Why? Because there's not a lot of glory in a long-distance event.

There's a lot of glory with being a sprinter, but there's not a lot of glory with running the distance. And, brethren, we need to understand that when it comes to endurance, we need to endure, because we're not in a sprint. We are in a long-distance event. And there are two great things as we go through our Christian walk that we must endure. And here they are. Number one is correction by our loving Father. Some people can't take that. I've known people over the years who were corrected by God, who was trying to get them to another level, and they became bitter, and they gave up. So, number one of the two great things that we must endure is correction by a loving Father. Number two is we have to endure the frustrations and the trials and the struggles of life, because life happens. And when life happens, we have health issues, financial issues, marital challenges, job issues, and everything else you can possibly have mentioned, child-rearing issues. It goes on and on, and we can allow that to wear us down and quit if we don't have endurance. Let's take a look now at Hebrews 12. Let's take a look at verse 2.

It says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, the one who began this journey that we're on, and the one who's going to see us through to the end, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. We think about endurance. We've been hanging in there 20 years. No one ever put nails through my hands. No one's ever smacked me in the mouth and insulted me. No one's ever put a crown of thorns in my head that drew blood from my head being pricked.

And it says, who for the joy that was set before him. Why was it joyful to him? Because he was fulfilling a plan, and that plan made it possible for you and me to be welcomed into God's family.

That's what he looked at. He didn't focus on the pain. He didn't focus on the problems. He focused on the mission. He 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. For you have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. So you think you've been through a lot? And maybe you have. Verse 4, you have not resisted the bloodshed, striving against sin. Now the Reary Bible notes say this, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding of blood. None of the readers of this book had been martyred. So that's the perspective of the Reary Bible notes. But I would like to have offer you another way to view this scripture to consider how much Jesus endured so that we can be offered salvation by his shed blood. When Christ was on the Mount of Olives shortly before he was arrested, Luke records in chapter 22 and verse 44, it says, referring to Christ, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. We may sometimes become weary and discouraged in our lifetime journey.

But how many of us have been in such great agony that we prayed this fervently, as fervently as Jesus Christ did? Verse 5, As you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as 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. So, the author of the book of Hebrews, perhaps Paul, is helping the church to understand that sometimes we bring difficulties on ourselves. We can't blame our spouse. We can't blame Satan. We can't blame some bad person. A lot of times, frankly, we just bring stuff on ourselves, don't we? We become too complacent. We become rebellious against God. We become too comfortable. And it comes time for a loving father to correct us, to chastise us. Verse 7, he says, If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which you have become partakers, meaning you're all being chastened at one point or another in your walk or in your lives, then you are illegitimate and not son. So he's saying, expect to be corrected by God, because you're a son, and that's what dads do, and he loves you. Verse 9, Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect.

Shall we not more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live?

If we gave respect to our physical parents, who sometimes blistered our backsides or gave us harsh verbal correction to get us to straighten up, stop acting foolishly, he says, shouldn't we all the much more respect and honor our spiritual father who does his for our own benefit so we can live, we can have eternal life, not just have physical grace and be a good human adult, but to have eternal life? Verse 10, For they indeed for a few days chastened us, and it seemed best to them. But he for our profit, you see, God doesn't guess. He knows what we need. We had physical parents, and when you came out of the womb, you did not come with a manual. There was nothing attached to your foot that said, when so-and-so does this, this is what you should do to solve this problem. When so-and-so leaks, this is what you should do to stop the leakage. Right? There are no owner's manuals. Our parents did the best they could with what they had, and for most of our parents, they basically mimicked, for the most part, the way they were treated as children.

We don't come with owner's manuals when we are born. The only closest thing we have to an owner's manual is to find out what God says about loving our children out of this book. It says, but there's no guessing with God. He corrects us for our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. I've even noticed that about my grandchildren. Sometimes my grandchildren will get a little cranky. Sometimes they get a little bit out of control, and when they are corrected, though they squawk a little bit during the point of correction, just that action seems to calm them down. Within five minutes of being corrected, they're back playing again. They're back to normal, and that should tell us something about our spiritual lives. Afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. We have to be trained through self-discipline and through our loving Father correcting and teaching us in order to be at peace with our lives and ourselves and to order to live a life of righteousness. Verse 12, therefore strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather be healed. So he's drawing a metaphor. It's like you have a bum knee or a bad ankle, and what do you do when you have a bum knee or a bad ankle and you want to take a walk? You must move. Well, don't you want a straight path?

Don't you want a path that isn't rocky? Think about this if you would for a minute.

If the kingdom of God is there, the straightest way for me to get to there is to take a straight path. Now what do we do as human beings? Well, we may take a path that zigzags. It goes here and there and here and there and here and there. And what have we done to ourselves? We just made the journey twice the distance and twice as hard as it needs to be. We may take another perspective. It may be a straight road from here to there. And we may take another path. You go up, you go down, you go to a mountaintop, you're happy, life's good, you go down to a valley, you're struggling. Up, down, up, down. What do we do to ourselves again? What we do is we double the length of the journey and we make it hard on ourselves. The new international version, therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees, make level pads for your feet is the way it's translated in the new international version, so that the lame may not be disabled but rather healed. So one of the things we have to endure is an occasional spiritual correction by our Father. And this, again, is something we usually bring in ourselves and can't blame the world or Satan or other people for. We brought it upon ourselves. It's God's training to teach us a greater degree of self-discipline. Yes, it's painful.

It can be discouraging if we dwell on it. So let's not wallow in pity. Let's not wallow in remorse. Let's not get bitter against God. Let's continue to look forward and realize that whatever pain we feel, it is for our own good. The Father corrects us only because He loves us and He wants us to have peace, peace of mind. He wants us to be at peace with Him and develop the fruit of righteousness.

So what happens again when we find ourselves off the path and corrected by a loving Father? Well, we need to repent, obviously. We need to straighten ourselves out. We need to get up and we need to walk forward down the right path. Again, not zigzagging. Again, not going up and down. We need to go right down that straight and level path that God has prepared for us. So what attitude should we have when we feel we are being chastised by the Father? Remember, there are two things that we must endure. And the first one was correction by a loving Father. Let's go back just a couple of chapters in Hebrews 10 and 32. Go back just a couple of chapters.

Hebrews 10 and 32. But recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, when the light came on, when God called you and the scales fell off of our eyes, you endured a great struggle with sufferings. And for most of us to come into the church, it was a struggle. It might have been a struggle at home. It might have been a struggle with our job. I mean, just looking around, I know about six people at least who struggled with working on the Sabbath and had either get another job or had to approach their employer and that wasn't easy. Or, you know, everybody faces persecution and sufferings, usually when they come into the church to one degree or another. Verse 33, partly, while you were made a skeptical by both reproaches and tribulations and partly while you became companions of those who were so tricked. We were all in the same boat. We're all companions with one another. We all have experienced similar trials and challenges and difficulties. Verse 34, for you had compassion on me and my chains. Another indication, it may have been Paul writing this, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Someone asked me once after I read this, oh, Mr. Thomas, does that verse say that we're going to heaven? He just said there's an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

Let's allow the author to explain what he means in just a couple of verses. He'll tell us, Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance.

And, brethren, you and I all have need for endurance, not for a sprint, not for just 20 years, but until we draw our last breath, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and not tarry. So Jesus Christ is bringing that enduring possession with him to give us when he comes back to this earth, and he's gathered with his people. Jesus Christ will return to earth with a better and enduring possession for you. It's the gift of eternal life as part of the family of God. So, again, how should we approach it when we are chastised by God? Should we get bitter? Should we become martyrs? Should we complain about it? Let's go to Psalm 30 and verse 4. Look at another perspective from David himself. Psalm chapter 30 and verse 4, a man who certainly suffered sorrows and challenges and difficulties, and even because of his own sins was severely chastised by God in parts of his life. Psalm chapter 30 and verse 4. The psalmist writes, sing praise to the Lord, you saints of his. So this message is for you too. And give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name. For his anger is for but a moment his favor is for life. So if we go through a spell in which we feel like God is correcting us, maybe we've drifted from God, maybe we feel that God has removed himself and hidden from us, don't ever forget that his anger is but for a moment, but his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. After that brief period of time, when the correction, when we get it and we accept the correction, the end result is joy in the morning. Tomorrow is another day. Now in my prosperity, some translations say in his self-sufficiency, because David had experienced these things, this correction, because he'd become self-satisfied and he had forgotten God, I said, I shall never be moved. And that's what we say in self-sufficiency when we think we have our act together, when we're hitting all cylinders and we stop praying and we stop studying God's word.

Lord, by your favor you have made my mountain stand strong. You hid your face and I was troubled. I cried out to you, O Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication. I went back into repentance. I went back and I talked to you about it. What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? Hear me, O Lord, and have mercy on me. Be my helper. And that's what David came to realize, that when he was being chastised for things that he caused, his own problems, he realized it was just for a short moment in time until he got the point. And he wanted his God to be his helper. Verse 11, for you have turned my morning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. To the end, that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

So again, the recap. When the Father corrects us, or if we feel that we've moved away, he's moved away from us, it's only for a moment, a snapshot in eternity. In reality, he favors us, even while we're getting correction. He corrects us because he loves us, because he favors us, because he wants to take our lives to a whole new level. He favors us even when we are getting spiritual correction. And when the correction is passed and the night has ended, tomorrow is another day. The connection is because he loves us and he wants us to have joy, and he wants us to have gladness. And again, I want to emphasize this was one of the two things that we must endure, and that is the correction of a loving Father. Now let's look at something else that we need to endure. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1, if you will turn there with me. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1. I mentioned that the second thing was the frustrations, trials, and struggles of life. Life happens and sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes people gang up on us. Sometimes an employer may be against us. Sometimes a neighbor may be against us. Sometimes we just may be counterculture, and it's difficult to deal with situations in this world. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. He says, You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses commit to the faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Verse 3, You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier in Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this world that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. When you're in the military, you're there, if you're a good soldier, to do what the captain or the general tells you to do. If you're a good soldier, you don't make a three-day pass into being AWOL for two months. You show back up. You're prepared. You're ready. You're endearing. It's not easy to be a soldier. It's a hard life. Verse 5, and also, if anyone competes in athletics, another athletic metaphor here, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. What are the rules? You have to finish the event. You have to finish the race if you want to get the crown. Only in 21st century America could you get an award for merely showing up. In the real world, that doesn't happen, and it certainly didn't happen in Paul's time. Verse 6, the hardworking farmer must be the first, meaning he's earned the right because he's endured, to partake of the crops.

He had to endure planting the seed. He had to pray that the rains would come at the right times. It wouldn't be too much rain because it would cause disease and rot the roots. It wouldn't be too little rain because it would be drought. He had to pray that the insects didn't come in and didn't devour his crops. He had to work hard to keep the crops growing and the proper spacing, and he had to do a lot of things. He had to endure a whole season in order to have an abundant crop.

Verse 7, consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains. Now, is that fair for Paul? No, it's not fair that he was in prison. It's not fair that he suffered at the hands of evildoers because he had the boldness to believe in Jesus Christ and preach the gospel to others. Notice how that word is used again. This is a faithful saying, for if we died with him, we shall also live with him. All pictured by baptism. We go down into that water, that watery grave, and we picture dying, like Jesus Christ died, and we come out of that water, and we pick that picture as us living a new life, as a new creature, with him. Verse 12, if we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. His promises are sure and absolute, and you can bank on them. I want you to notice how Paul used the word endure just three times in these few verses we read, 1 through 13. It's from the Greek word kauachia, and it means to undergo hardship, to endure hardness, to suffer trouble. As I mentioned earlier, the second of the great things that we must endure are the frustrations and the trials and the struggles of life. Sometimes, those are the struggles of having the moniker that you are a Christian, that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. In our rapidly degenerating secular world, it's going to be harder and harder to be a Christian and not get flack for it, not get problems for it.

Well, brethren, Jesus Christ suffered hardship and trouble in his last days in being in the flesh. We see here that Paul suffered hardship and trouble in his Christian walk, so did Peter, and John and James, and I can guarantee you that you and I will suffer hardship and trouble in our Christian walk. So how far are you willing to go? How much? How far are you willing to endure whatever it takes, whatever Christ may ask for? For many years, I've used the analogy that when we were converted, we basically gave Jesus Christ a blank check, and he fills in the amount, whatever cross we have to bear in our lives. For some of us, it may be cancer. For some of us, it may be a job loss. For some of us, it may be financial collapse. For some of us, it may be relationship problems and challenges. But whatever it is, we made that commitment. We put our hands to the plow. We said we would look forward and take whatever came to us. Let's take a look at Paul. I'd like to take a look at his example, if you turn to 1 Corinthians 4, because I want us to understand how much the Apostle Paul was willing to endure, which is the theme, obviously, of my sermon today. The Corinthian church was having many problems, and one of them was their arrogance. They were very proud. And of course, we talk about that and how he wrote in the perspective of the spring holy days in chapter 5. But this is chapter 4 that we're going to look at. They also had a lack of respect for Paul. Remember that Paul founded the congregation, but they always seemed to like someone else. They liked Apollos. They liked anybody else but Paul. And they all, you know, if they loved Paul, let's just say he wasn't feeling it. If the congregation really loved the Apostle Paul, he wasn't feeling the love. He wrote this about 55 A.D.

1 Corinthians 4 and verse 9. He says, For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last as men condemned to death, for we have been made a spectacle to the world. Now, this is an allusion to the Roman arena. When you went to the arena in Rome, you were a spectacle. They took you out into the center of that arena. There were people everywhere, crowds cheering, saying, off with his head, whatever you did, kill him! You didn't have many friends out there, right?

That's what it was like to be a spectacle. Obviously, in his statement, a lot of men were condemned when they went out into the Roman arena. It was a fight to the death. This is the analogy that he's drawing from. He says, We feel like we're condemned. We've made a spectacle, both to angels and to men. We're almost in a theater. He says, that's what it's like being an apostle. We are fools for Christ's sake. Now, what we're going to see is Paul's use of sarcasm. And he can be very sarcastic in Corinthians. He can also be very sarcastic in the book of Galatians. But we're going to see a little bit of a sarcasm. Speaking of apostles, he says, We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you, oh, you're strong.

You are distinguished, but we, we near apostles, we are dishonored. Paul reveals to this present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless. And we labor, working with our hands. He was a tentmaker. That's how he provided for himself when the church didn't support him. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure.

Being defamed, we entreat. Meaning, we speak kindly. People insult us, and we respond to them in kind words. We have been made as the filth of the world by the off-scouring of all things until now. That Greek word off-scouring means scraped off like scum. Some translations even have it translated that we are the scum of the world. That's how he felt. Like I'm saying, if they loved him, he wasn't feeling it right now, was he, with some of the strong words he said. He said, I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children are warned you, for though you may have a thousand instructors in Christ, you may have traveling itinerant ministers going through Corinth and Apollo, St. Peter, and who knows who, all telling you things and you're all excited and you like them because they're charismatic or they look good or they have a mustache or whatever it is that may attract you. He's saying, that's fine, yet you do not have many fathers. Paul said, I'm your father, Corinth. He said, I founded you, Corinth, for in Christ Jesus I've begotten you through the gospel, therefore I urge you to imitate me. Now, this is what Paul was willing to endure, and I don't think anyone in our congregation will be called upon to experience what Paul experienced here. You talk about abject poverty and being humiliated on top of living in abject poverty, struggling like he was doing, but it has to make us think that if he was willing to endure this, that we have a breaking point? Is there something that could happen to our lives and we could stop enduring and we could quit? We could jettison everything that we've lived for, for 20 years? Is that possible? For our final scripture today, let's go to James chapter 5 and verse 7, our final scripture. James chapter 5 and verse 7.

James writes about endurance from a little different perspective, but some similar analogies to what we've read earlier. Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord, see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. And we shouldn't judge one another because the person that we're judging in that seat somewhere in this building is somebody's servant. They serve Jesus Christ. Who are we to judge someone else's servant? Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Verse 10, my brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Some of the prophets were sawn in two. Again, I don't believe that we will be called upon to experience that, but they endured a lot. Ridicule, mocking, imprisonment. Verse 11, indeed, we count them blessed who endure. And you know what? Those people who stood up earlier today at the beginning of this sermon, who stood up, are blessed because they didn't quit. They've endured for 20 years. They've kept the faith. He says, you have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord. And Job went through a lot. He lost everything that he had. Family, wealth, prestige. He lost it all for a while, didn't he? He certainly did. But in the end, when he got it, and in his case, he was being corrected by God, chastened by God. When he got it, he received a great reward. In conclusion, brethren, just like a farmer must patiently wait between sowing and reaping a harvest. And just like there are a lot of things outside of that farmer's control, they have to pray for the rains to come at the right time, in the right amount. There are a lot of things they can't control. And we too must be patient, and we must endure.

Because some things will happen in our lives that are outside of our control. Job lost everything he had, and for a long time couldn't figure it out why. But God, with God, he never gave up his belief in God's providence. He refused, encouraged by his wife, but he refused to curse God.

After the lesson was learned, God turned Job's mourning into dancing.

So, to my beloved brethren in the Cleveland congregation, on May 16, 2015, I ask you today to never give up your belief in God's providence. I give thanks to all of you for your endurance, whether it's been a month or 20 years, or in the case of some of you, 40-plus years. Thank you. Don't ever quit. Don't ever give up. As John reminds us in the book of Revelation in chapter 3 and verse 11, Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast to that which you have that no one may take your crown. Hold on to that crown. You've earned it. You've worked hard for it. Through the grace of God and through the Holy Spirit, helping us to change and grow, we've endured. We've run the race. Now, let's do the most important thing of all.

Let's finish it. Have a happy Sabbath.