“Be Diligence to Cultivate Perseverance”
2 Peter 1:6
INTRODUCTION What is the Meaning of 2 Peter 1.6 Part 2 Perseverance
Look up at night sky, see steady shining star, shining day in and day out, and then the rushing meteors flying by. Which is more like the Christian? … the steady shining star. He perseveres, He endures.
2 Peter 1:5–6 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
2 Peter 1:11 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
POINT: Remain constant toward Christ in times of trial by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
Endurance swimming: “Ben”… …, swam 8 hours per day, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 73 days in 1998. With a small boat alongside to protect from shark attacks, he covered 3,716 miles of ocean.
Do you think there were times he wanted to quit?
TRANS: Perseverance flows from self control. If controlled spirit, you’ll grow to persevere, endure. Self control every day turns into perseverance. Perseverance is self-control extended.
We need to be diligent to supply it.
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Diligence To Supply v5
Proverbs 10:4 4 Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Diligence workers get wealthy. Have a good work ethic, you can get far in this life.
Same with diligence in spiritual things. If you work hard at growing in these qualities, you’ll receive a grand entrance into Christ’s kingdom.
2 Peter 3:14 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless…
KIDS: work hard like how your mom and dad say. And do that with your walk with God. Consider that there are things that need fixing. If you see that your toy needs fixed, you ask your dad to fix it.
Your heart needs fixed. Ask you father in heaven to fix it.
TRANS: Work hard at what? Think of it this way today … cooperating with God. That’s “supply” verse 5.
We work together with the Lord to grow us to be like His Son, Jesus.
Philippians 2:12–13 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Work hard!
POINT: Remain constant toward Christ in times of trial by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
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What is Perseverance?
EXP: Can’t always do this, but if you tear the word apart, it says under remain…to remain under. You can’t always do that with words, like a butter fly. A butter fly isn’t a fly made out of butter.
But in this case it works to help explain it: to persevere means to bear up under pressure.
… think of what these have in common…
ILL: Ultra distance runner: Dean Karnazes won the utterly brutal Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135 miles (217 km) across Death Valley in 120 °F (49 °C) temperatures.
a 350-mile continuous run through Northern California without stopping. Remarkably the run took 80 hours and 44 minutes to complete, requiring three days without sleep. During the single run he wore out 7 pairs of running shoes! [think of pain, even delusion, didn’t stop, didnt quit.]
Biking: Tommy Godwin. In 1939 this fanatical cyclist set the world cycling record for most miles covered in a year…75,065 miles in the time it takes to move from one birthday to the next. Incredibly this involved averaging over 200 miles per day.
Climbing: in 2014, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson climbed Yosemite’s El Capitan – a sheer 3,000-foot high climb known as the Dawn Wall, taking over 2 weeks. They would sleep on the wall, setting up a sleeping arrangement through safety measures. They’d wake up each morning and wonder if they had skin grow back on their fingers!
ASK: What do all these have in common?
They didn’t quit, they kept going, they didn’t stop, they prepared to succeed and when they wanted to stop they didn’t, they remembered why they started and when the feelings of glory left and all they had was their goal, fuzzy as it was and dim as it was at times, they kept at it.
This is similar to the Christian. The Christian life is to persevere during trials, temptations, and to…
POINT: Remain constant toward Christ in difficult times by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
If you’re dabbling in sin, you’ve quit! If rush headlong into sinful pleasure or success in the world’s eyes, … you’ve quit. Christians who persevere don’t quit when there’s pain, we don’t quit when there’s turmoil or temptation…we deny the pain, as it were scoff at the trial and we serve Christ constantly, looking to Him.
The endurance sports figures focused on the goal, they gained the endurance necessary. They trained to remain under; to deny the desire to quit and instead they stuck to it, didn’t quit, keep going; resist.
Now, a whole lifetime of following Jesus during persecution, temptation, trials… that’s training to remain constant, to persevere.
We must be courageous in the face of evil or suffering. Like Christian in Pilgrim’s progress when he battled Satan…
Micah 7:8 8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.
And he vanquishes the foe…
ASK: Now wait, Christian perseverance is not exactly like athletic endurance… We don’t just “grit your teeth and bear it” … but what is this? What’s the difference?
ANS: Christian perseverance is an active energetic and sustained resistance to opposing forces of darkness. Seeking to glorify God no matter the cost.
And it’s active in light of an eternal goal… we endure because
2 Timothy 4:8 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
And so I have my eye on the prize. … there is a finish line, a goal, a time of rest and reward coming. Endure, resist, ponder the calling with which you’ve been called and magnify the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for you and the promises that He has for you.
POINT: Remain constant toward Christ in difficult times by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
This is Heb. 11, speaking of those who were faithful…
Hebrews 11:33–38 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.” But they made it, they finally received the eternal prize, what God had promised.
So we endure with our eye on the prize! We need to remain constant toward Christ in times of trial by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
ASK: One author asks his readers to ask themselves, “What does it take to make me stop doing the right thing? “What does it take to make me stop from remaining constant in Christ?” ANS: When self rules.
Will I stop being kind when I feel offended? Will I refuse to obey an authority because I don’t agree? Do I stop resisting because I want to feel better? Do I stop seeking God because I am too busy? Do I stop being honest when it earns me more money or praise? Do I stop sacrificing for others because they don’t express appreciation? Do I stop hoping in God when circumstances don’t go my way? Or do I become lazy when no one is around to tell me to work?[1]
APP
Kids listen to this verse again … speaking of those who follow the Lord…
“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated”
Have you been treated badly before? Maybe by a friend, brother, sister? Not quite like being sawn in two!
ASK: How easy is it to respond with anger, prickling in the heart, when your brother or sister said that to you. Or when your friend or parent… oh… “I got my ‘ittle wittle feewings hurt… No! Remain constant, don’t be moved by their sin against you, you serve Christ when they make you feel bad.”
TRANS: so, how to get it?
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How to get it (Text)
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Perseverance Characteristic of the saved: Luke 8:15 soils
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Luke 8:15 15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
Just like a farmer doesn’t expect his crop the day after planting, the Christian doesn’t bear the good fruit of being like Christ, but it takes time and it takes perseverance. The Christian does grow, change, become more like Jesus, and he perseveres, keeps going,
Speaking of trib, Matthew 10:22 22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
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Keep your eye on the prize
In trial, in temptation, keep your eye on the prize…
Romans 2:6–7 6 [God] will render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
Hebrews 10:36 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
Keeping your eye on the prize of everlasting life and of being with Jesus, and our glorious inheritance…this encourages us to keep going.
ILL: If you were running and you didn’t know what the finish line looked like, you’d be discouraged! But we do know! We do understand our prize! Jesus Christ and we’ll enter into His glory!
Romans 8:25 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
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Don’t fight the trials (Ja 1; Ro. 5)
Let trials have their way!
James 1:3–4 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Romans 5:1–5 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Personal ILL: Make me more like Christ, but … use your word!
CONCLUSION What is the Meaning of 2 Peter 1.6 Part 2 Perseverance
Finally…
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Look at Christ (Heb. 12)
Hebrews 12:1–3 1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us [all those who suffered for Christ], let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 [how? by…] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Fix your attention on Jesus. He knew the joy of returning to His Father and of redeeming His people;… He knew God’s promises and trusted His Father for them and had them ever in His mind to help Him endure. Do the same! Don’t lose heart!
POINT: Remain constant toward Christ in times of trial by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
If you’ve sinned, get back up. Ask the Lord to forgive you, receive His forgiveness, and keep going…don’t quit. Remain with Christ…You’re discouraged because of some difficulty, how hopeless it seems…no get out of the muck, get out of the shame, the pain, the self pity, and look to Christ, fix your eyes on Him who endured so much!
And keep your eye on the prize of entering into the glory of Christ with a ‘well done, good and faithful slave!’
Those promises helped Him endure the cross, to scoff at the shame, and eventually to sit down at the right hand of God!
Consider Him! He endured hostility…consider Him by doing so, you’ll not grow weary and lose heart!
So where do you need to endure? At home, at the workplace, in your trial?
Jesus endured crucifixion and by the power of the Holy Spirit as we look to Him, the Holy Spirit works in us to endure.
Keep your eye on the prize, don’t fight the trials, and look to Christ.
POINT: Remain constant toward Christ in times of trial by looking continually to Him who strengthens and rewards us.
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