Is It Worth It to Persevere?

Thank you, Brian. That is a beautiful hymn and also a very good introduction to the sermon today. As you know, sometimes life can bring you tough trials. Sometimes they can even seem unbearable. But my question is, brethren, is it worth it to persevere in the faith to the end? Is it worth it to persevere in the faith to the end? Sometimes we might want to give up, despair, not have much hope left. It's so important to realize it is worth it to persevere to the end.

We have such a wonderful future. Now, let me share with you several reasons for these tough trials. Why do we have to go through tough trials? And there are many causes, not just one. Let me show you in the Bible the first cause in Ecclesiastes 9, 11, and 12.

The Bible is so wise because God is answering us through God's Word. So he doesn't have an angel that everybody that is born will say to them, well, here's the encyclopedia of all the knowledge. No, God put it all in one book. And then he said, here it is. You can read it. This is my wisdom. This is my understanding as God of the universe.

So he provides this sort of instruction manual. And it says in Ecclesiastes 9, 11, and 12, answering one of the reasons why we go through difficult trials. It says, let me get to this. Right. Didn't look at the right book here. I've got it. Because he has these 9, 11 went a little too far. It says, I returned and saw under the sun. That means he just looked at daily life. And what did he find? That the race is not to the swift. And what he's saying here is it's not always the fastest person that wins the race.

Sometimes they trip. Sometimes they get a cramp. You know that in sports. You know that whatever is predicted many times doesn't turn out, even if one was the fastest. Nor the battle to the strong. There have been battles where small armies have defeated Lord armies. Because again, circumstances change. I can tell you many historical events. That it looked like it was a slam dunk. And all of a sudden, just things changed. It says, nor is it the bread to the wise. A person might be very intelligent and very savvy, and yet doesn't know how to make money.

Just because you're intelligent and you know a lot doesn't mean somebody's going to give you a paycheck. So even if you are highly intelligent, that doesn't guarantee you're going to be successful in your job. And we know that many times it isn't the smartest people that get ahead. It's the people who have the best relationships and work with others.

That's been found time and time again. 80% of why people are dismissed from jobs, it isn't because they lack intelligence. It's just they can't get along with others. And finally, they become unbearable. And they have to be let go. So people can again work together. Maybe you're smart, but then you become a smart aleck. It's different. And so that's part of the reasons why this is the case. It's not to the wise nor riches to men of understanding. It's the same type of thing.

You might be a know-it-all, but if you don't have the right circumstances, sometimes it doesn't work out. In other words, what I'm talking about here, the first reason, chance and circumstances happen to all. We're all human beings. We're all fallible. And something might happen. And that's the wrong decision at the wrong moment. And it might be the end of our lives. Continuing on, he says, nor favor to men of skill, but time and chance happen to them all.

Talking about here chances and circumstances. So we know we've all gone through something, that everything looked great, and just one little thing. I've known people that just tripped on a little fan cable and messed up their whole legs just because they had flip-flops on. And it caught and it caused major surgery just because of that. So we're so fragile. Sometimes we're clumsy and it can happen to anybody. It goes on to say, for man also does not know his time. When some tragedy happens, like fish taken in a cruel net. Fish are happy doing everything and all of a sudden, boop, they're caught up. No warning at all. Like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them.

So the Bible says it can happen. That's why we have to be careful. Not take unnecessary risks. I'm sorry, Mike. Didn't mean anything there, but at least you guys are back. It's great. Do it while you're young. That's what Brian was saying. That's why we should pray daily for protection by God's holy, powerful and loving angels.

God puts angels about us. I've seen so many miracles in my life. My daughter could have easily died at the age of about four when she fell out of a window head first to the concrete on the other side. And I was there, and of course my wife and I, when you saw, she just went backwards. And her head was the first thing that hit the concrete. I was there like three seconds later, and I watched her, and she's looking at me, smiling.

I didn't hear a thud. There were angels that protected her because she could have split her skull in half. Things happen. Thankfully, we do have these angels that will protect us. So we should pray and, from our part, not take unnecessary risks. God is not obligated to save us every time we get ourselves into messes. Remember, life does not, in the long run, end in this life. People think, oh, it's over. No, you're going to be resurrected. You're going to have a better resurrection in the future, and you're going to be able to come into a better world.

And when Christ returns, we've got the different resurrections that will take place. So life is longer than just this present life. We think if we or someone else dies that is dear to us, like there's a tragedy in the whole universe that no, terrible. Well, it is, but that person's going to wake up. They're going to be resurrected. They have not been permanently lost. And who knows what God had taken them away from? Could have had a lot worse type of death or tragedy or whatever.

We are mortal. We are finite. And we're just flesh and bone. Just the other week, one of the members here said he almost lost an eye because he was doing gardening, and he reached out and poked his eye, thankfully, on the side. But he could have blinded just from one little thing that happens. See? We're flesh and blood. And some of us take better care of our cars than we do ourselves. Our health depends on a lot of what we do. We have to do our part. God's not going to do it for us. Take care of our health, our diet, our sleep, regular exercise. Develop good mental habits. That's with prayer, meditation. I was impressed just reading yesterday Psalm 119. How many times, just make a study, David, under all the different trials and tests, he says, and I will meditate on God's Word. That's where he would go for the answers. And that's where he did. That's why he was so close to God. We've got the same, and we actually have a bigger Bible than David did. He only had the Old Testament up to his life. It hadn't even been completed. And yet, there are all the spiritual principles there.

So we have to develop good mental habits, positive attitudes, and have people around us who cultivate positive attitudes. Don't pay attention to the toxic advice that worldly people can give you. Boy, they can sink you in a minute. So you have to be around people that are going to help you and encourage you instead of push you down. And again, life does not end with this life.

It continues in a future resurrection and a much better world for the great majority of those people. Let's go to Hebrews 11, verse 35.

Hebrews 11, verse 35. Look at some of these are God's women and men of faith. These are God's heroes, as I call them. Hebrews 11, verse 35.

Talking about the difficult trials that these people went through. He says women received their dead, raised to life again. Some people have had children resurrected. Others were tortured. See, not everybody got away and continued with their lives. Some were tortured, not accepting deliverance. Yeah, they could have quit following God. Some were tortured. You have to give up your faith or you're going to die. And they said, no, I'd rather die than give up my faith, not accepting deliverance, that they may obtain a better resurrection. Because if you're called in this life to God's truth and God's way, the reward is so tremendous in the future. And people say, look, I'm not going to sacrifice that blessing from God. I'm not going to sacrifice that future inheritance. And they were willing to give up their lives for it. Goes on to say, Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. Supposedly Isaiah the prophet was wrapped in skins and then sewn in half.

Sown in two. We're tempted. We're slain with the sword. You see, not everybody gets away in this life. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. The world doesn't take them into account. The world has their own heroes, but these are God's heroes. These are the ones that end up best in the end.

They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. All these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. They're still not resurrected yet. God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So that first resurrection, there are people that are still coming into that future resurrection. They are qualifying for it. We are trying to qualify for that first resurrection, which is the best one. But for that, it has to be worth it to persevere to the end.

Let's go to the second reason why we go through trials. It's not just chance and circumstances, but sometimes we contribute to it. We can be clumsy or careless or yield to temptations and get ourselves into trouble. In other words, it wasn't some accidental thing. No, we really had a problem that we created ourselves. Notice in Galatians 6, and this is a general principle of life. It doesn't mean everybody's going to get away with it, whether they're evil, that they're going to pay necessarily in this life, but they have a judgment coming up later. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. In Galatians 6, verse 7, it says, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked or ridiculed, for whatever a man sows, whatever he produces, that he will also reap. Whatever you sow the seeds, whatever you start the actions, if it's good, you're going to get good results. If it's bad, sooner or later, it's going to have bad results. It's going to be a bad harvest. Sour grapes.

Continuing on, it says, For he who sows to his flesh, which means the carnal passions, will of the flesh reap corruption. It's just going to cause more and more damage. But he who sows to the spirit, doing things spiritually good, will of the spirit reap everlasting life. It will be rewarded in that way.

So again, sometimes we have to own up to, well, it was something that I deserved because of what I decided upon. And we have to, as they say, man up or woman up to it and confess and repent. God's always there to forgive us and give us a chance. You have to push the reset button sometimes and start anew. The fourth cause is that God permits it for a greater good in the long run. There's something that we need to learn. And again, if not in this life, in the next, when you get resurrected, God will say, this is what happened and here's your opportunity to grow and develop. Romans 8, verse 18. Romans 8, 18.

Paul, after all the trials and difficulties, he still had the right perspective. He said, Romans 8, 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Following God's way sometimes can be tough. There can be tests. There can be stresses. But in the long run, we know that we are developing righteous character. We're developing godly character, which is what God wants most of all. Verse 28 goes on to say, See, there's a qualification. Some people say, oh, everything will turn out for good. No. If you love God, if you're obeying and following Him, then things will ultimately turn out to be good. For those who are called according to His purpose, He's been able to use us and develop us, no matter how long we live, whether it's a long life or a short life, but we continued faithful to the end. Notice in Psalm 119, verse 67, I was looking at the Scripture and was amazed by, again, the wisdom that we find in the Bible, because it applies to all of us. In Psalm 119, verse 67, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, and it's one of the most beautiful ones. It's like a mini Bible in itself. Let's read it.

He says here, Before I was afflicted, I went astray. How many can say that has happened to them? We strayed, we did the wrong thing, and then we paid a price. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I keep your word. See, he did something now. Well, I'm not going to repeat that mistake. I'm going to keep what your word says to avoid it. But sometimes things happen to us because we went astray.

Not every time, like I said, there are different causes, but sometimes we just need a wake-up call from God. Notice in verse 71, David concluded, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statues.

So sometimes that's the only way God gets our attention. Because he loves us. He doesn't want us to go astray and just wander off and leave his way of life. And so he does correct, but he does it out of love. He does not afflict a person voluntarily. God is perfect in his love, and he can do no harm or anything evil. He can certainly punish the wicked because he's also perfect justice. But there's no evil in God. Notice another scripture here, verse 75. Notice how many times he used the term afflict. He says, I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. So again, we have to own up to this circumstance and just be able to, as they say, man up to it and just go and do what you need to. But God wants the best from us. Notice how he explains this further in Hebrews 12. And again, these are very practical principles. We're not getting into any heavy theology and all of these highfalutin type ideas. No, this is practical, daily lifestyle of us. These things happen to us. Hebrews 12, verse 1. Here's the one that suffered the most tough trials, and he didn't have to. We're talking about Jesus Christ in Hebrews 12, verse 1. It says, Therefore we also, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, it just went through Hebrews 11 with men and women of faith, since we got all of these people that have already crossed the finish line, they endured trials, they were faithful to the end. He says, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Usually there's something that we're very weak at. And so there's some sin that ensnares us easier than others. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. So you see, life, when you understand it, is not this entertainment world have fun and reckless abandon and just do whatever. No. This is a training and testing ground for us. And so you run the race with it. And what are you looking at? Not yourself. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He's the one that begins our calling. He works with us throughout all our lives until we finish that race. That's what he wants. But again, he can't do it without our cooperation.

It says, Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, the worst type of death imaginable. And what was that joy? The joy that he could take all of our sins and have us be forgiven, have all of those penalties removed from us.

He took it upon himself. And also the joy of being able to share eternity with us and his coming kingdom with God the Father. That was the joy. Yes, it was worth it for him. Is it worth it for us? Sometimes we just get all tied up because of something that it can be so much minor than what Jesus went through.

And we need to think of what he sacrificed for each one of us to be able to make it into the kingdom. He cares for us every day. He walks with us. He goes on to say, He endured the cross, despising the shame. That was terrible because you were actually crucified naked. So that was a terrible thing to be put there in public display with all the nails and all the pain and everything. And has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. That's where he's at. He says, For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discourage in your souls.

So we have to remember what he did for us. And when we were baptized, basically we signed a contract with God the Father and Jesus Christ. And we committed our lives to him and they committed themselves to us to take us to that wonderful kingdom and to help us out. But we have to do our part. It says in verse 4, You have not resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. I don't know anybody who's gone through bloodshed, just resisting sin to that point. And you have forgotten the exhortation which 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, either man or wife. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? Of course he's going to discipline us, but he doesn't do it out of spite or some type of pleasure. He doesn't have any defects. He's perfectly good. He does it because he has to. But if you are without chastening, of which all become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

So God says he does it because he loves us and wants us in his kingdom. He doesn't want us to end up in Satan's kingdom. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live? Now, let's not blame God because he knows what we needed.

For they, indeed, for a few days chastened us as seen best to them, but he for our prophet that we may be partakers of his holiness. That's one of the things. He's holy. He wants us to be that way. And if we're going off into the world and getting all corrupted and getting defiled and everything else, he can't be close to us. He wants us to be part of that holiness, which is God's nature of love, joy, peace, patience, faith, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Those are the fruits of God's spirit.

He wants us to be that way. And then he goes on to say, Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but, or present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. So when you look back in hindsight, you say, you know, that was a tough trial, but boy, did I ever learn to get closer to God.

Boy, did I ever learn to get rid of some of my vanity or get rid of my pride or get rid of any of those sins of the flesh that were just damaging us so much.

So again, I ask, is it worth it? Yes, it is. Notice what Peter answered Christ in John chapter 664.

John chapter 6 verse 64.

After he told the disciples that were with him that, you know, one day they were going to participate in the Passover and actually symbolically take the wine, symbolizing the blood of Christ, and the bread, which was symbolic of Christ's body, that was beaten for us. But what happened? Some of them didn't stay around to get the explanation. It says there in verse 64, But there are some of you, talk about his disciples, who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray him. He could read the minds and hearts of people. And he said, Therefore, I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. So God is the one that opens the mind, and a person is called to this way of life. It's not a joke. It's not a game. And it's very serious because God is giving us a chance to be part of that first resurrection. And it says, From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.

Then Jesus said to the twelve, talk about twelve apostles, Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Now where are we going to go? Who's done that for us? No one. There's no one else. And that brings us to the point that in our lives, there are two ultimate destinies. Either we are going to be part of the second death, which means complete obliteration and disappearance of the person, or be part of God's resurrection to life and receive eternal life and being with God the Father and Jesus Christ in his kingdom. Notice, let's go there for a moment. In Matthew 10 verse 28. Matthew 10 verse 28.

Change my notes to get to this point here faster than I thought, but it's important to. Matthew 10 verse 28 tells us a very important truth. He says, and do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, which is Gehenna Fire. And so there are several things that, yes, we can die physically, but if spiritually we were faithful to God, that resurrection is going to happen.

You're going to have a chance to live again, but if a person doesn't follow God and rejects his way of life, having received God's Spirit, that person's body and soul, which has to do with their life, will be destroyed in Gehenna Fire, which the Bible calls the second death. You can have the first death, but you can happen in an accident anytime, anything, but at least you don't have to worry about the second death.

The second death is where the person rejected God knowingly, God's way of life, and turned completely against that. Let's go and see two scriptures. Revelation 20, verse 12. This is one of the ways that where it describes the complete death of the person. Revelation 20, verse 12. Let's see, it's a little bit. No, verse 13.

Revelation 20, verse 13, talking about what we call the third resurrection, which there are three resurrections here in Revelation 20. The first one is from verse 11 through verse 12. That's the second resurrection, which I'm going to mention it's talked about here. But then after these were judged, then verse 13, it says, the sea gave up the dead who were in it. So people that maybe perished in a ship someplace, a lot of people have died World War II and other parts of the world.

So you never know, but the sea gave up the dead. And then it says, and death and Hades. Hades is the grave. So now you're not talking about water, you're talking about land. It's not about the dead. It's about the dead who were in them. And then it says, and they were judged. No book of life is open to them. Like in the second resurrection, each one, according to his works, then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire because this is the end of death.

This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So here you have the two different destinies. You have those that are cast in the lake of fire, second death, or those that are resurrected into the first resurrection, or a thousand years later, the second resurrection. Those are the ones that did not have the chance to know the truth and died in their ignorance, but they're not lost.

Your parents, your uncles, your great-grandfathers, and everybody through the ages, they very likely all died and are going to be resurrected in the second resurrection. But let's go to Revelation 20, now in verses 4 and 6, where it talks about the best resurrection of all, the first resurrection. It says, after Christ returns, It says, And I saw thrones, which means positions of authority, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, or some that died into faith, and for the word of God, and some just were persecuted for following and keeping God's commandments, keeping the word of God, so not everybody has to be martyred to be part of this, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, the false Christianity and false religions of the world, and had not received his mark on their forehead nor on their hands.

They had no part in that. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. You see, they get resurrected, and now you've got this relationship with Christ and all the people of the Old Testament and the New Testament, all the way up to the last generation, they're being called to that first resurrection. That's a very small minority of human beings. And it says, verse 6, well, verse 5 says, But the rest of the dead, those that were not part of the first resurrection, did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection. So it's talking still about the first resurrection, and the rest of the dead did not wake up. They were little babies. What chance did they have in this life? To do good or do evil? Or little children or whatever? You see, they were not judged spiritually.

But in this second resurrection, they will have a chance after the thousand years. It says, over such, talking about the first resurrection, the second death has no power. They don't have to worry about being thrown in the lake of fire. They've already made it into God's kingdom. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, so they will represent God and Jesus Christ on the earth, and they shall reign with them a thousand years.

That's the best reward any human being can ever have. It's better than all the billions of dollars that some people have. After all, they can die tomorrow. What good did all that money in the bank do to them? And how about the pharaohs that built these huge pyramids, and once they were dead, that didn't do a hill of good. Didn't do any good at all for them. So that's what we want our lives to end with that persevering, yes, it was worth it. Sometimes it's just kind of circumstances that we have to go through some of the toughest trials. Not everybody has to. There are many circumstances. We can have that happen to us tomorrow.

And if it does, okay, we have to assume it. It's not something that we can avoid. But God is above. He's seeing what's going on. And if you love Him and follow Him, He knows how long and how to make it up to us. Not in this life, in the next life, when we see our beloved people that have died and see them in the kingdom and rejoice with them.

So what are the rewards? As it says here, first of all, it's an opportunity far beyond what we have ever enjoyed in this life. Believe me, we're just flesh and blood. We have nerves that get stimulated in different ways. That's all. But when you have a spirit body, it's so superior.

It's like a human being is like a little ant looking at a giant of a person. The difference between being one thing or being the other. We're like an ant here on the earth right now.

We will never die. We will never get sick. We will have a spirit body. We will be able to fly at the speed of thought. See, you don't have to take a plane. If you're a spirit being, you can think. You want to go to Mars? You're right there. I had a blink of an eye because Jesus Christ, when He was resurrected, He went up to heaven and came back while Mary was still going to see the disciples. He said, don't touch me because I haven't ascended to the Father. The next time, she was still on the way and she saw Him again and she embraced Him. He'd been accepted by God the Father in a split second and came back.

You will be able to have telepathy. We don't need internet. We don't need telephones. We can immediately communicate with each other through telepathy, which is projecting our minds. I'm talking to Dave right now. He knows exactly. It can be private, but you have telepathy. You can materialize. You want to be able to enjoy a good wine or a good piece of steak or whatever. You can materialize and be with human beings just like Christ. When He came back, He ate fish. He had breakfast, remember? He materialized. Then you have perfectly godly character. You will never be tempted again against sin. It's like a piece of wood with a magnet. There's no attraction. You will inherit this universe to beautify it. There's plenty of material there for your creativity. It's just endless the things that we are going to be able to do in the future to enjoy God's family. Again, is it worth it? There was a time in the Bible when some of God's people complained. Life was tough. Notice what they complained about in Malachi 3, verse 13. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi 3.

God is speaking to them, and He says, Your words have been harsh against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, What have we spoken against you? You have said, It is useless to serve God. I've heard that over time. What was it? All my sacrifices following God. What am I doing now?

Just don't feel you've gotten a good end of the deal. This is what they were complaining about. He says, What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance or His commandments, and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? We sigh and we cry for all the abominations that are happening today. Here in modern Israel and around the world, we sigh and cry for the terrible deterioration and spiraling of degradation and immorality. Like never before, yes, we sigh and cry. As it says, we're like mourners, just walking around and, Oh God, please bring your kingdom soon before everybody gets corrupted on this earth.

So now we call the proud blessed. You look at some people, they're not godly at all. And it looks like they get the blessings. For those who do wickedness are raised up. They get rewarded.

They even tempt God and go free. They'll curse God to do whatever. Nothing happened. Then those who feared the Lord, talking about the faithful, spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name. And that's probably the book of life, because that's where you get to receive eternal life.

And God answers, they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them my jewels. Something bright and sparkling when they become spirit beings, they will shine like the sun in all its glory. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. See, it's on God's timeframe. It's on God's time, not ours, that he acts in other people's lives as well as in our lives. So, is it worth it to persevere in the faith through the different trials? The answer is yes. It's infinitely worth it to persevere to the end.