Turning Point

Guest (Male): As the events of the end times unfold in today's world, it's vital for Christians to be faithful, strong and steadfast. Does that describe you? Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah wraps up his series "The World of the End" with practical biblical steps you can take to build these qualities into your life. Listen as David introduces the conclusion of his message "In the World of the End, Be Determined."

Dr. David Jeremiah: Thank you for joining us and thank you so much for being with us over these last several weeks as we have taught this series on "The World of the End." Today is the last message in that series, and tomorrow we'll begin a discussion of a series we've called "God, I Need Some Answers," particular questions that people ask. But you have been faithful and I'm grateful.

There's a great interest in prophecy, especially now with all that's going on in the world. And the words of Jesus from Matthew 24 have been the background of all that we have been saying. What Jesus told his disciples outside the city of Jerusalem as he sat down with them that day is some of the most important prophetic material you'll find anywhere.

And if you've been blessed by the messages or encouraged or if you've been updated on what you think is going to happen and you'd like to have this material in a permanent format, you can get the book which is "The World of the End." It's 241 pages, hardback book published by Thomas Nelson. And the book is available for a gift of any size today. This is the last day of that offer. Please get your gift in the mail and when you do, simply say, "Send me the book 'The World of the End'" and it's on its way.

And if you want the study guide and the other materials that go with this series, you can ask about it when you get in touch with davidjeremiah.org, that's our website, and you can have all this material to extend this message, to reaffirm it for yourself, to share it with your small group. There are so many ways you can use the material that we have prepared and produced for this series. Thank you for helping us get the message out and God bless you as you read again and teach this material. Now, here's part two of "In the World of the End, Be Determined."

Now I want to ask this question. You don't have to answer, you can grunt if you want to. Have you ever thought about quitting? Yeah, we all have, haven't we? We've all had moments when we wonder as we total up both sides of the equation, what am I doing here? When it comes to our faith, there's no quitting place.

Paul felt this way in Acts 20. He told the Ephesian elders this: "See, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit tells me that in every city chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me," he said. "Nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of God."

I love that little phrase in the middle of that verse: "None of these things move me." Talk about all you want to talk about that's happening, but none of these things should move us. You know why? Because we're locked in place in the center of the will of God and Jesus Christ is in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit infills us. And whatever is going on out there, it might be uncomfortable and it might be something we wish desperately it wasn't happening, but what really is important is Jesus Christ is at the center of our lives and we're standing strong in him.

You see, what everybody wants you to know is that all that's going on out there, that's reality, and what's going on inside is just sort of a quiet spirituality. Totally wrong. Everything that's happening out here is headed toward a disastrous ending. Everything that's in here is headed toward eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ. I am an eternal son of God, and so are you. An eternal daughter of God, if you're in faith.

The Living Bible says this: "Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about God's mighty kindness and love." What a slogan that is. So what I want to encourage you to do today, I hope you're getting this message, is that in the midst of everything that's happening, the thing you need to do is be strong in the Lord.

Know what you believe. Believe what you know. Don't be afraid to be a student and get stronger in the word. But while these things are happening, put your anchor down deep and don't be moved. Because that's what the enemy wants to do. He wants to come with all these influences and move you off the sweet spot of your relationship with God. He has no other purpose than that.

He wants to devour you and destroy your influence and remove you from the joy that is found in your walk with Jesus Christ. So you get up every morning and you say, "Lord, I don't know what's going to happen today, but I shall not be moved. I'm with you and you're with me. We're going forward together and we'll face whatever happens."

Then there's personal stamina. Every once in a while, I get a little tempted to be a little grammatical with you. I've told you before that I was an English major a long time ago. And I love grammar, and I love the way if you look beyond the words, you find meaning that you wouldn't find if you didn't study it. So let me show you one situation like that. It's in our passage today.

A careful analysis of Matthew 24 gives us a clue about the stamina we need to endure to the end. It's personal. So if you're a student, you will discover that biblical Greek can tell us some things we wouldn't know if we didn't study it. And I don't want to bring this up to make you feel like if you don't know Greek, you can't study the Bible. This is just a little nugget I want to leave with you.

When we see the word 'you' in English, we don't know what to think, but in the Greek language, you can tell that. The Greek language is different. For instance, Jesus used the plural 'you' in these verses in Matthew 24. When you go through this with me, you'll understand what I'm saying. In Matthew 24:2, he said, "Do you (plural) not see all these things?" He's using 'you' in the plural.

In Matthew 24:4, Jesus answered and said to them, "Take heed that no one deceives you." He's talking to the group. In Matthew 24:6, "You (plural) will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you (plural) are not troubled." This is the plural 'you.' In Matthew 24:9, "Then they will deliver you (plural) to tribulation and kill you (plural) and you will be hated by all the nations."

But there's a shift in Matthew 24:13. It's a wonderful shift. The word translated 'he' in that verse is not plural, but singular. "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." We don't endure as a group, we endure as individuals. The 'he' here is singular. He could have said, "But you (singular) endure to the end, you (singular) will be saved."

Isn't that interesting? Here in verse 13, Jesus spoke to you and to me as individuals. He was encouraging each of us to hang in there and keep on hanging in there for as long as it takes. Enduring as a follower of Jesus requires not only strength, but also perennial personal stamina. And so don't be afraid to take your stand for what you know is right and what God has communicated through his word. Then keep standing no matter what comes your way and remain steadfast until the end.

As a pastor, I'm a pastor watcher. I watch other pastors. One of the most grievous things to me over these last few months and years has been to watch guys that I knew and respected, who had strong positions on the social issues that the Bible addresses, but because of the pressure of their community, because of the pressure of the people they're trying to reach, they didn't go out with the right strategy.

They changed what they believed. They went soft on the issues. They no longer declared "Thus saith the Lord." They allowed the social pressure to come in and change what they said. And they lost their power. They lost their ability to make a difference. Listen, if all we are going to do is try to figure out how close we can get to what the world is, we've got nothing to offer them.

The world doesn't need what they already have. They already have people that are willing to give up their positions on no matter what situation they're in. But so many of the guys I know, and thankfully not all of them, but so many, I look up and I read an article and I think, oh my goodness, not another one. Not another one who used to believe what the Bible says but now believes this.

It's frustrating. It makes me more determined than ever I'm going to be a grouchy old man to the end. I love that phrase: "I shall not be moved." You're not going to change that. I'm not changing my position on that. As we approach the world of the end, we're going to have to learn what it means to strengthen our stand. And then we come to the satisfaction of our stand. Let's look at the last phrase of Jesus' promise. "He who endures to the end shall be saved." Now, here's where I'm going to straighten out this apparently misunderstanding of this verse.

A biblical word like 'salvation' is similar to a diamond. It has many facets and many faces. That term occurs more than 150 times in the Old and New Testaments. And in different settings, it can refer to different things. For example, when the children of Israel were trapped by the Red Sea, Moses told them, "Do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."

He wasn't talking about being saved from your sin, he was talking about being saved from the Egyptians and the Red Sea. In that context, the word implied Israel's deliverance. In Romans 13:11, Paul said this: "Do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." He's talking to Christians who have already been saved.

What he meant by that was the moment when we will be saved from this evil world and rapture to heaven. So here's the word 'salvation' not used for being saved from your sin, but being saved from a situation. In Acts 4:12, however, Peter put it the way we normally refer to it: "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." He's talking about eternal salvation of our souls from sin, death, and hell.

What did Jesus mean then when he said, "Those who endure to the end will be saved"? Well, let me tell you what the salvation is not. He was not teaching salvation by works. It's not our ability to endure that saves us. It is Christ alone. We can never erase the reality of our sin by being strong and having stamina. We are saved from sin by grace through faith.

Our ability to endure to the end grows out of an intimate connection with Jesus, our Savior. We stand because we know him. We don't earn that connection by standing for him. Jesus was not promising us guaranteed safety shoots for every difficulty in life either. Jesus is very pointed about that. These are his words, John 16:33: "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world."

The apostle Paul said, "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution or tribulation or trouble." Can I get a witness? Isn't it true when you know Jesus, there are some things that happen to you that wouldn't happen to you if you didn't know Jesus? Not all of them from the perspective of today are good things. You get ripped on because you're a Christian.

Peter gave his readers the same warning. He said, "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing was happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy." There is no attempt on the part of the Bible to tell us that if we become Christians, all is well. All is well between us and God, but life on this earth can be pretty brutal, and many of you know that.

That's what salvation is not. What is this salvation? Jesus meant when he promised those to endure to the end being saved. It's as plain as daylight among the words of the apostle Paul. For instance, in AD 64, the Roman Emperor Nero accused Christians of starting the fire that destroyed Rome. In his demonic rage, Nero came against believers with vengeance.

The apostle Paul was tracked down. He could have been betrayed by Alexander the coppersmith, remember that? And he was thrown into a dungeon to await beheading. From there he wrote his goodbye letter to the church. It was addressed specifically to Timothy. Second Timothy, the first book I ever taught as a pastor.

Listen to what Paul said at the end of his life: "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever." I believe that's what Jesus meant. This is the satisfaction of our stand. For those who endure to the end, the Lord will rescue them from evil and bring them safely to the heavenly kingdom.

If we endure, we will be safely delivered to heaven, by death or the rapture, one way or the other. So when he says "those who endure to the end will be saved," he's not saying saved eternally, he's saying be saved out of the situation they're in, like the people at the Red Sea and other places in the Bible where that word is used.

So we have the strength of our stand and the stamina of it and the satisfaction of it. Let's finish this in a strange way with a start of it. When we consider topics like endurance or perseverance or steadfastness, it's easy to think of them in the abstract or to project them into the future. When I face opposition in the future, I'll make sure to endure. Or when I'm old at the end of my life, I'll be sure to remember the importance of finishing strong.

That's not how it works. The determination to follow Christ regardless of cost isn't something that just flashes into our souls as a moment of truth. It starts now and takes a lifetime to develop. It's a day-by-day process. It's not standing for him in the future by and by, it's standing for him tomorrow. Tomorrow in the place where you work, not giving up ground to the enemy.

This is a choice you and I need to make. There's some practical ways to get started, and I'd like to give you a couple of them. First of all, determine to run the race. And you say, "Well, Pastor, doesn't every Christian determine to run the race?" No. A lot of Christians that you and I have met are determined to do one thing: get saved so they can go to heaven, forget everything else. And they feel like if they pray the prayer and they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and if they genuinely do that, they're going to heaven.

I remember reading a book one time where one of the writers said there are two great times in a Christian's life: the time when he gets saved and the time when he goes to heaven. Unfortunately, most Christians don't know what to do between those two times. They get saved, they go to heaven, but what's going on now? The Bible says there's something we're supposed to do.

We're supposed to endure, we're supposed to be strong, we're supposed to not give ground when people try to push us off our beliefs. This is a choice we make. We determine to run the race. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Not weekly, not monthly, not yearly. Take up your cross every day.

Make up your mind that nothing will deter you from God's will, that no one's going to draw you from his path, and that no foe will defeat you and no sin will stop you. I mentioned earlier that followers of Christ must be prepared to endure trials of various kinds. Jesus himself promised that we would face tribulation. But here's a principle and a promise that can help us keep striving.

Those trials, those tribulations can actually become fuel for our endurance. No matter what the world throws our way, we can recycle those experiences in such a way that through the power of God, our pain is transformed into power. Don't believe me? James 1:2-4 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness," that's endurance.

"And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." The Bible says you know how you learn to be steadfast? You know how you learn to be endurance people? You go through trouble. That's the way it is. You don't have to endure if nothing's testing you. You can just float along with the tide.

But when something comes against you, you have to decide, do I really believe this? Do I believe this enough to not be like everybody else, and this is where I stand no matter what else happens? Romans 5:3-5 says, "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Some people say, "I used to pray for patience, but I quit doing that because the Bible says tribulation works patience. I don't need that." Trials and suffering can make it more difficult for us to run the spiritual course, but they don't have to. With God behind us and beside us, suffering becomes steadfastness. Pain becomes perseverance.

Trials are transformed into a blessed hope that can carry us even toward perfection and completeness. So how will you handle the bumps and bruises you receive in your effort to follow Christ? How will you do that? Will you allow them to slow you down or will you climb up on top of them and go forward? According to the scripture, you get to make that choice.

Determine to run your race. Determine to react with radiance. Speaking of choice, it's important that we address our own actions and attitudes and encounter difficult circumstances in the right way. What do I mean by that? Well, I've known some lemon-faced Christians in my day who were high on endurance but low on love.

They were determined to persevere in the midst of persecution, but they made sure everyone around them knew how miserable they were in the process. And they made life miserable for many others who happened to encounter them in the middle of their race. That attitude is not what the Bible is talking about. It's not befitting of servants of the King of kings.

As Christians, we're called not only to run with endurance and finish the race, we have been commanded not only to be disciples of Jesus, but to make disciples for Jesus. And for that to happen, we have to reflect the love and grace and goodness of the one we follow, the Lord Jesus. My point is this: when we're confronted by all the ugliness Jesus predicted in the world of the end, we can respond by radiating the love of Christ.

We can live as Paul commanded. We can rejoice in hope, we can be patient in tribulation, and we can continue steadfastly in prayer. So determine to run your race, determine to react with radiance, run your race happily. Don't put your head down and become a martyr. Nobody wants to be around a martyr. You win people to Christ by being joyous in the midst of the thing, and the joy comes from your heart where Jesus lives.

It's a joy inexpressible. Nobody can understand it if they're not a Christian. How can you be joyful in times of trouble? Finally, determine to reach your goal. This is a lifelong thing we're talking about here. So if you're a little bit discouraged that you haven't been doing this very well, there's still a lot of time you can do this.

No matter where you are, I learned some stuff about my own life and about what I can do better and I'm beyond where many of you are. Never a time to quit learning. Being steadfast in our service to God means choosing to run your race. Choosing to react to difficult circumstances with the radiance of Christ. And finally, choosing to run until you reach the end of your course. It means choosing to keep going until you reach your rest.

I'm reminded of Shinzo Kanakuri, who was the first athlete to represent Japan in Olympic Games. This was the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, and Kanakuri was an exciting newcomer for the marathon event. At just 20 years old, he had set a world record the year before. Expectations were very high. Unfortunately, for Kanakuri, things did not go as planned.

After a brutal journey from Japan that took almost three weeks, he was in rough shape prior to the start of the Olympic marathon. And to make matters worse, that event was run on an especially balmy day in Sweden with unexpectedly high temperatures and skyrocketing humidity. After about 16 miles into the race, Kanakuri faltered.

He stumbled into a local garden and collapsed. He was eventually found by a Swedish family who nursed him back to health with raspberry juice, cinnamon rolls, and a comfortable bed. Despite that kindness, the Japanese runner was mortified at his own failure. He didn't know what to do. He quietly returned to Japan to deal with his shame.

He left so quietly, in fact, that Swedish officials had no record of what happened to him. He was considered a missing person for almost 50 years. Thankfully, there's a happy ending to Shinzo Kanakuri's story. In 1967, Swedish officials arranged for the now-elderly runner to return to Stockholm and finish the race.

Starting where he had left the course all those decades ago, Kanakuri completed the course with a mind-boggling time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds. And here's my point: despite a long delay, Kanakuri completed the race. He reached the finish line, greeted by not only his children, but his grandchildren.

Those are great rewards indeed. And that's the overwhelming message of scripture. That's what I want to tell you as we end this series. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on that Jesus said would happen. We see some of it starting to happen now and it makes us nervous, uncomfortable. What is our call?

Here's our call: be determined. Be determined to stand where you know you should be. Be God's person in the middle of all this. Don't get pushed around by all this craziness. They can't make you believe what you don't believe. And some of those people, listen, they think because they don't believe it, it's not true. We know what's true. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and we've pinned our hope and our future on him. We stand before him and with him in the midst of the uncertainty of our world.

Every day I am reminded of these truths, and every day I'm also reminded that one of the most important qualities we can take into our own lives is this determination, the determination not to be swayed from what we believe, to stand on what we know is true and don't let anybody push us off that stand.

When we do that, we will be able to manage the things that happen around us. If we become swayed by the influences around us, we will have no place to go. This is the place God has called us to be. And I, for one, am asking God to give me a great spirit of determination. I hope you'll join me in that.

Don't forget, today's the last day you can get your copy of the book "The World of the End." It's yours for a gift of any size. Get your check and your request in the mail today and this book will be on its way to you. And we'll see you tomorrow as we begin a new study on the answers people are looking for about the faith. We'll see you then. I'm David Jeremiah. Thank you so much for listening.

Guest (Male): Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Dr. David Jeremiah. Will you take a moment to tell us how our ministry is an encouragement? You can write us at Turning Point, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California 92163. Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org/radio or call 800-947-1993.

Ask for your copy of David's book "The World of the End" with a special Be the Answer bookmark. Yours for a gift of any amount. You can also stream more than 1200 of Dr. Jeremiah's messages on demand on any screen with our streaming service, Turning Point plus, for a monthly gift of any amount. Visit turningpointplus.org for details. That's turningpointplus.org. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we begin the series "God, I Need Some Answers" on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.