THE SECRET OF VICTORY IS PERSEVERANCE!

The secret of victory is perseverance! Did you ever see a boxer leave the ring before the first round was over - just because he didn't like being jabbed in the stomach, hit in the face and wrestled around on the ropes?

And what do you think of the guy when he goes through round two and keeps getting the same treatment? What a fool! He comes back for round three and gets a bleeding lip and round four rewards him with a cut over the eye.

Why in the world doesn't the stupid fellow climb through the ropes and go home to watch T.V.? Why? Because T.V. is recording the fight and no matter how fast he drives, he would never get there in time to see the end of the match. He is surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses - people who are expecting him to finish what he started. Sure, some of them are wishing him evil, but lots of them are rooting for him and wanting him to succeed.

Oh, that's fine for them - they get to sit in their cushy chair, eating chips and drinking Cokes while he is the one that is getting beat up something fierce. But, that's the way it is in life. So, are we going to quit because the spectators are having an easier time than we are?

No, we go in for round eight and nine. We submit to some more of that battering of the head, even when that is the last thing that we really want for our lives. But, I don't know any other way to win. Do you?

Knocked down? Knocked down? You what? You got knocked down? Well, let me pull my dainty little hankie out and wipe the sympathy tears from my delicate eyes. You say what? You want someone to kneel over you and say sweet nothings in your ear and tell you how much you are loved? You want them to tell you that you don't have to take any more of these ungodly jabbings and severe poundings? You want them to encourage you to quit? Is that what you want?

Hey dude! Get your aching body back up off that mat and get back in the fight. Go back for more of that stuff that you already hate. You say the guy hits hard? Well, my instructions say, "Endure hardness as a good soldier".

Nobody says you have to 'like the hardness'. You just grit your teeth, bow your back, set your jaw and go back in swinging. Let your enemy know that there is no 'defeat' in your system. Let him know you are not beaten. Show him that you are not a coward and that mere temporal pain is not going to make you give up.

You have a prize to win. You have eternal rewards to gain. The pain will go away. The eye will heal and the lip will get well. Your energy will return. You can rest later and rest and rest and rest. Don't be going to sleep on the mat. There is a time to sleep and a time to fight.

Fight the good fight of faith - and never, ever cast away your confidence. The battle is not yours - but the Lord's! It is for Him that you are dong this - not for the lazy spectators.

You are doing this for the one who has already done the same for you. Except that when he did it, the fighters didn't fight fair. They spit on him, taunted him, mocked him, pulled his beard right out of his face, split his back open again and again with vicious beatings and then put a royal robe on him saying, 'What a mighty king you are!" And He endured all of that for you - for you!

But, he didn't go home to watch T.V. after that. No, he went to trial, was accused of things he hadn't done and was sentenced. They had already beaten him down and weakened his system - and then they made him carry the cross uphill.

Knocked to the mat? Yes, He knows what it's like to fall. He fell under that load. He couldn't take anymore. He fell. He sure did. The Holy Son of God knows what it's like to be too weak to carry your own cross anymore. He too, fell under the weight of such a load.

There's no sin in not being able to do something. Somebody else had to carry his load for a while. But did that exempt him from the rest of the fight? Oh no. He still had to submit to more humiliation and pain. He had to feel the cold spikes going into his feet. He had to know the sound of steel on steel as his hands were nailed into place. He had to feel the sharp jabs to his head as the crown of thorns was jammed into His skull.

If anybody was ever on the ropes - this guy was. And then when that cross was dropped into the hole and his body was wrenched with agonizing pain - did He give up? He hadn't sinned. He could have opted out of this stupid endurance test. He could have saved Himself. But, He wasn't doing it for Himself. He was doing it for you. For you. He thought you were important enough to fight for. He thought you were valuable enough to suffer for. He loved you enough to make it all the way to the end.

And for the joy that was planned for Him eventually, He endured the pain and ignored the shame. He hung in there - literally! So, why can't you 'hang in there' for Him?

You can! And you will! You know you love Him and you appreciate what He has done for you. For His sake, you will endure and persevere! You will accept whatever suffering this life throws at you. You will stick your jaw back out there where it can be hit again and again. You will drag your body back into the fight and let it be buffeted some more. You will do it for the "joy" of seeing His countenance and hearing His words when He says: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Now you can enter into my joy of the Lord and into the glories of the eternal realm."

Yes! You can take a little more. You can go a little farther. You can go another mile. You can go for another round. You can do it! You may not like it, but you can do it. I don't remember those last words of Jesus on the cross when He said: "Oh, I like it - I like it! Isn’t this great fun?" Do you remember Him saying that? NO. I didn't think so. And we don't have to say anything like that when we are in the heat of the battle and in the midst of difficulties.

But, we must go through with it. We can't turn around now. We can't waste all the past efforts that got us this far. We can't throw the fight in the 11th round just because we are tired.

We must persevere. We must remember His face, when He suffered greatly at the hands of cruel people and vindictive spirits. We must remember His words, "Father, forgive them." And with those words He won the fight! The fight of the ages was won with those three words! That was the ultimate blow against the spirit of hatred and murder. That was the punch that defeated the cruel monarchs of hell. That was the clincher that defeated spirits of resentment, bitterness and revenge. That was the final 'umph' of spiritual strength which turned the 'try' into 'triumph'! He had to be strong to do that. And you will have to be strong to do that also. But we don't go into this battle in our own strength. We go in the strength of the Lord! We are motivated and empowered by His spirit! We are being changed and transformed. We are becoming like our Captain, our Master and our Trainer!

We are the 'little Christ's" of our generation. We are the hope for those who watch from afar. We are the sign for them that it is not only the Mighty Son of God who can do such things, but even His earthly followers can take up their crosses and follow His example.

We don't have to be afraid of losing our life or any part of it. We don't have to fear the loss of our things, our money, our houses or even our ministries. Fear is not a part of victory. Fear is not the pathway to triumph. Doubt is not the strength of endurance and unbelief is not the thing that perseverance is made of. We cannot shy away from that which is necessary for the fulfillment of obedience.

If the devil plays dirty and gets our own family to kick us in the shins, poke us in the eye, and spit on our dignity - yet will we follow the one who loved us and died for us. We too will say, "Father forgive them - they don't know what they are doing."

There's only room on the cross for one. Though our friends forsake us as the disciples of the Lord forsook Him, yet will we follow. Though our closest allies deny us in a time of stress - yet will we follow. Though we walk alone in the secret place of woundings and rejections - we are determined NOT TO GIVE UP!

We will stand alone before Him in the judgment - therefore it is no big deal if we must walk alone before Him in obedience. We can do it, because we know we only have to do it once. We do not have to make this journey again. We only have one earthly life and one trip to make through this sinful world. Even if we suffer for a hundred years, that’s but a drop in the bucket compared to "an eternity" of being in the fullness of joy. That’s no comparison to walking in all the pleasures of His presence forever!

Hup. One. Two! Hup, three, four! Hup. Hup. Hup. We are going on for more!

And let those caissons keep rolling along! Rolling along! Rolling along!

And we will keep on singingggggggggg, the eternal victor's songgggggggg

(Mat 24:13 KJV) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

(Psa 30:5 KJV) For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

(Psa 89:29 KJV) His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

(Mark 13:13 KJV) And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

(2 Tim 2:3 KJV) Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

(2 Tim 2:10 KJV) Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory;

(2 Tim 4:5 KJV) But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

(Heb 12:7 KJV) If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

(James 5:11 KJV) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

(1 Pet 2:19 KJV) For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

PERSEVERANCE