Matthew 10:22b says, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Jesus said this when He was sending the twelve disciples out to preach the Word, heal the sick, cast out demons, etc. He had informed them that their task wouldn’t be easy, but that their endurance would be rewarded.
Endurance is a rather foreign concept to most Americans these days. Approximately half of the people who marry won’t endure “till death do them part” as they vowed at an altar. Most people who start a project won’t see it through to the end, unless there’s some external force, such as a boss or big payoff at the end keeping them at it. So often–and I am a prime example of this one–people get bright ideas, and they get very excited about a project or new method of outreach, but at the first sign of trouble, or when other people don’t get on board right away, we just let it fall by the wayside.
I believe God wants to see his people endure every hardship that might be thrown at us. I believe we should all pray for a spirit of dedication in our lives. Just at the beginning of this year, the UPCI instituted a ten-year plan to see the church double in a decade. This began with a month of prayer and fasting. All around the globe Apostolics joined together in sacrificing various enjoyments of the flesh and connecting to almighty God through prayer. I was very excited to get started with this. I was excited to see what God would do when His people humbled themselves and prayed (II Chron 7:14). I can say that the first week of caffeine headaches was hard for me, but my excitement carried me through. The next few weeks were fairly easy, as I was praying and God was giving me strength. But the final week is when it got tough. Various things happened and I didn’t necessarily pray every day, and I had a hard time sticking with my committments.
Why am I telling this story? Well, I forsee this happening on a larger scale about eight or nine years from now. When it gets near the end of this initiative, suppose we don’t see the numbers we were hoping for? Will we continue to trust in God’s power, or will we give it up as having been too lofty a goal? Here’s another question. Over the next 10 years, are we going to wait to do anything until the people at headquarters send us some materials to work with, or are we going to take the initiative to follow the voice of God at every turn, and usher revival into our own cities?
I have great faith in our churches. I have great faith in our leaders. I am behind this effort 100%. I believe that within ten years, we will have more than doubled. I believe that God has such a revival ready for us, that we won’t be able to contain what’s coming. Just like the men who had been fishing all night, then finally, in the morning, they put their nets down on the other side of the boat. There was such a great catch that the nets began to break. I see that happening in the world. And in some places it is already happening around us. Church buildings are not big enough to accomodate the tremendous revival that God is pouring out. I believe that this is in store for every church who desires to see revival and who is open to the moving of the Holy Ghost.
But ten years is a long time, and we must keep the faith. We must endure to the end. We must keep our eyes on the prize. We must run the good race and fight the good fight. I know God WILL reward every effort on our part so bring about revival.
Now that the first month is over, I’ve already had the tendency to fall back into the state I was in before. But I need to remind myself that we’re just getting started, and that the greatest days are yet ahead. We have not yet seen our most Holy Ghost filled services yet. We have not yet seen the most drug addicts, alcoholics, or sex offenders ever delivered in one service. We have not yet had more missionaries on the field or preachers of the gospel than ever before.
Let’s all bind together in prayer for our churches, pastors, missionaries, leaders, cities, and evangelists. Let us pray for endurance, perseverance, dedication, and stick-with-it-ness. And let us also firmly resolve to not give up until we see Jesus face-to-face. Because those who endure until the end will be saved and we’ll be given many blessings over yonder (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26, 3:12, 21).
