Perseverance (5281) (hupomone from hupo = under + meno = stay, remain, abide) literally means abiding under. The root idea of hupomone is to remain under some discipline, subjecting one’s self to something which demands the submission of one's will to something against which one naturally would rebel. It portrays a picture of steadfastly and unflinchingly bearing up under a heavy load and describes that quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. The picture is that of steadfastness, constancy and endurance. It has in it a forward look, the ability to focus on what is beyond the current pressures (eg Jesus "Who for the joy set before Him endured [verb form hupomeno] the Cross despising the shame" see notes on Hebrews 12:2). And so hupomone does not describe a grim resignation or a passive "grin and bear" attitude but a triumphant facing of difficult circumstances knowing that even out of evil God guarantees good. It is courageous gallantry which accepts suffering and hardship and turns them into grace and glory. Hupomone is used 32 times in the NASB and is translated: endurance, 7; patient enduring, 1; perseverance, 21; steadfastness, 3. Luke 8:15 "And 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. Comment: What is needed in order to bear fruit in the Christian life? Where is the power for such perseverance? The indwelling Spirit is our Source, not self effort! Luke 21:19 "By your endurance you will gain your lives. Comment: This could be misinterpreted to mean that our self efforts merit salvation of our souls. No. The fact that we endure to the end indicates we are genuinely saved! We have in the indwelling Spirit, Who alone can enable such an endurance. Romans 2:7 (note) to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; Comment: This could also be misinterpreted to mean that our self efforts we merit salvation but like above, our perseverance in doing good indicates we are genuinely saved! We have in the indwelling Spirit, Who alone can enable such an good deeds (cp John 15:5). Romans 5:3 (note) And not only this (What? Ro 5:1-2!), but we also exult (rejoice - try this in your own strength! This is a supernatural, Spirit enabled response) in our tribulations (pressing, even crushing circumstances or life events), knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; (cp James 1:2-6, 2Cor 4:17-18) Romans 5:4 (note) and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; Romans 8:25 (note) But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Romans 15:4 (note) For whatever was written in earlier times (refers to the Old Testament) was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures (refers primarily to the Old Testament) we might have hope. Comment: This truth begs the question -- are you studying the OT (not just quickly flying through in your through the Bible in a year program)? Romans 15:5 (note) Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 2 Corinthians 1:6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 2 Corinthians 6:4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 2 Corinthians 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. Colossians 1:11 (note) strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (note) constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father Comment: Hope is absolute assurance that God will do good to me in the future. It follows that focusing upward, on the eternal things to come, will cultivate and grow our hope and this eternal perpective in turn will allow us to bear up under whatever temporal, passing load God allows/sends our way! 2 Thessalonians 1:4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 1 Timothy 6:11-note But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 2 Timothy 3:10 (note) But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, Titus 2:2 (note) Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Hebrews 10:36 (note) For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Hebrews 12:1 (note) Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, 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, James 1:3-note knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 5:11 Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. 2 Peter 1:6 (note) and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; Revelation 1:9 (note) I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 2:2 (note) 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; Revelation 2:3 (note) and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. Revelation 2:19 (note) 'I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. Revelation 3:10 (note) 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. Revelation 13:10 (note) If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints. Revelation 14:12 (note) Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Hupomone is found 9 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (1 Chr. 29:15; Ezr. 10:2; Job 14:19; Ps. 9:18; 39:7; 62:5; 71:5; Jer. 14:8; 17:13) Hupomone is the ability to endure when circumstances are difficult - not a passive sitting down and bearing things but a triumphant facing of them so that even out of evil there can come good, a bearing up in a way that honors and glorifies our heavenly Father. The difficulties in our lives, The obstacles we face, Give God the opportunity To show His power and grace. We need to distinguish another closely related Greek word makrothumia [word study] (makro = long + thumos = temper), literally "long-temper" or the idea of a "long fuse" before it explodes. It is a long holding out of the mind before it gives room to passion. Although there is some overlap in meanings, in general, makrothumia has to do more with difficult people than with difficult circumstances. Hupomone has to do with the circumstances of life (trials, difficulties, hardships) Paul explains that the source of a believer's perseverance in his prayer for the Colossians that they be strengthened (passive voice = literally being strengthened = the effect comes from an outside source, ie, the grace God supplies) with all power (dunamis), according to His glorious might (kratos), for the attaining of all steadfastness (hupomone) and patience (makrothumia); joyously (Col 1:11-note) (Note the "all's") The point is that both the steadfastness and the patience called for in the life of a believer cannot be lived in the sphere of mere human strength but requires His (supernatural) strength. Therefore Paul prays that the believers might know the power of the risen Son of God ("resurrection power fill us this hour"). Note that from this text, there is no power shortage because it is "according to (not a portion of but proportional to) His glorious might". In other words, His power available to us to remain steadfast and be patient offers limitless power. As Peake writes: The equipment with power is proportional not simply to the recipient’s need, but to the Divine supply. (Peake, A S: Colossians: The Expositor’s Greek Testament, III:499) Perseverance is that spiritual staying power that will die before it gives in. It is the virtue which can endure, not simply with resignation, but with a vibrant hope. Perseverance involves doing what is right and never giving in to the temptation or trial. It is a conquering patience or conquering endurance. Hupomone is the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to us. It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement. Self-control has to do with handling the pleasures of life, while perseverance relates to the pressures and problems of life. Hupomone describes that spirit which remains under (hupo = under + meno = remain) trials in a God-honoring way so as to learn the lesson they are sent to teach, rather than attempt to get out from under them in an effort to be relieved of their pressure. Hiebert adds that perseverance fosters the ability to withstand the two Satanic agencies of opposition from the world without and enticement from the flesh within. This quality was especially important in view of those who doubted Christ's return because of its seeming delay. (2Pe 3:4-note). Morris says hupomone is the attitude of the soldier who in the thick of battle is not dismayed but fights on stoutly whatever the difficulties. Thayer says that hupomone is the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. Trench says that hupomone does not mark merely endurance, or even patience, but the perseverance, the brave patience with which the Christian contends against the various hindrances, persecutions, and temptations that befall him in his conflict with the inward and outward world.” He adds that hupomone is "that temper of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament) Barclay writes that hupomone does not mean... the patience which sits down and accepts things but the patience which masters them. It is not some romantic thing which lends us wings to fly over the difficulties and the hard places. It is a determination, unhurrying and yet undelaying, which goes steadily on and refuses to be deflected. Obstacles do not daunt it and discouragements do not take its hope away. It is the steadfast endurance which carries on until in the end it gets there. (Hupomone) means the spirit which can overcome the world; it means the spirit which does not passively endure but which actively overcomes the trials and tribulations of life. When Beethoven was threatened with deafness, that most terrible of troubles for a musician, he said: “I will take life by the throat.” That is hupomonÄ". When Scott was involved in ruin because of the bankruptcy of his publishers, he said: “No man will say ‘Poor fellow!’ to me; my own right hand will pay the debt.” That is hupomone. Someone once said to a gallant soul who was undergoing a great sorrow: “Sorrow fairly colours life, doesn’t it?” Back came the reply: “Yes! And I propose to choose the colour!” That is hupomonÄ"...when we meet life with the hupomonÄ" which Christ can give, the colour of life is never grey or black; it is always tinged with glory. HupomonÄ" is not the spirit which lies down and lets the floods go over it; it is the spirit which meets things breast forward and overcomes them. (Hupomone) is the triumphant adequacy which can cope with life; it is the strength which does not only accept things, but which, in accepting them, transmutes them into glory. HupomonÄ" is not simply the ability to bear things; it is the ability to turn them to greatness and to glory. The thing which amazed the heathen in the centuries of persecution was that the martyrs did not die grimly, they died singing. One smiled in the flames; they asked him what he found to smile at there. “I saw the glory of God,” he said, “and was glad.” HupomonÄ" is the quality which makes a man able, not simply to suffer things, but to vanquish them. The effect of testing rightly borne is strength to bear still more and to conquer in still harder battles. The word used of (Job in James 5:11 "Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance (hupomone) of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.") is that great New Testament word hupomonÄ", which describes, not a passive patience, but that gallant spirit which can breast the tides of doubt and sorrow and disaster and come out with faith still stronger on the other side. There may be a faith which never complained or questioned; but still greater is the faith which was tortured by questions and still believed. It was the faith which held grimly on that came out on the other side, for “the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12). There will be moments in life when we think that God has forgotten, but if we cling to the remnants of faith, at the end we, too, shall see that God is very kind and very merciful. Chrysostom called hupomonÄ" “The Queen of the Virtues.” In the Authorized Version it is usually translated patience; but patience is too passive a word. HupomonÄ" has always a background of courage. Cicero defines patientia, its Latin equivalent, as: “The voluntary and daily suffering of hard and difficult things, for the sake of honour and usefulness.” Didymus of Alexandria writes on the temper of Job: “It is not that the righteous man must be without feeling, although he must patiently bear the things which afflict him; but it is true virtue when a man deeply feels the things he toils against, but nevertheless despises sorrows for the sake of God.”...That is hupomone, Christian steadfastness. It is the courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to us and the transmuting of even the worst event into another step on the upward way. The keynote of hupomone is not grim, bleak acceptance of trouble but triumph. It describes the spirit which can not only accept suffering but triumph over it....As the silver comes purer from the fire, so the Christian can emerge finer and stronger from hard days. The Christian is the athlete of God whose spiritual muscles become stronger from the discipline of difficulties. (Hupomone) does not describe the frame of mind which can sit down with folded hands and bowed head and let a torrent of troubles sweep over it in passive resignation. It describes the ability to bear things in such a triumphant way that it transfigures them. Chrysostom has a great panegyric on this hupomone. He calls it “the root of all goods, the mother of piety, the fruit that never withers, a fortress that is never taken, a harbour that knows no storms” and “the queen of virtues, the foundation of right actions, peace in war, calm in tempest, security in plots.” It is the courageous and triumphant ability to pass the breaking-point and not to break and always to greet the unseen with a cheer. It is the alchemy which transmutes tribulation into strength and glory. HupomonÄ" never means simply the ability to sit down and bear things but the ability to rise up and conquer them. God is He who gives us the power to use any experience to lend greatness and glory to life. God is He in whom we learn to use joy and sorrow, success and failure, achievement and disappointment alike, to enrich and to ennoble life, to make us more useful to others and to bring us nearer to himself. (Hupomone) is victorious endurance. “It is unswerving constancy to faith and piety in spite of adversity and suffering.” It is the virtue which does not so much accept the experiences of life as conquers them. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) Perseverance is not something that develops automatically; we must work at it. James (Ja 1:2-8) provides the template we need to follow, writing we must "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Amy Carmichael in Candles in the Dark writes that The best training is to learn to accept everything as it comes, as from Him whom our soul loves. The tests are always unexpected things, not great things that can be written up, but the common little rubs of life, silly little nothings, things you are ashamed of minding (at all). Yet they can knock a strong man over and lay him very low. Writing to the Thessalonians Paul commends them for their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (see note 1Thessalonians 1:3) So here we see that steadfastness (hupomone) is related to hope (remembering that Christian hope is different from the world's hope for our hope reflects an absolute certainty of future good and is manifest by a desire of some good with the expectation of obtaining it). What is the source of their steadfastness? The context clearly teaches it is "in our Lord Jesus Christ" In (1Th 1:10-note) we find that the Thessalonian believers are expectantly waiting for Jesus which is a clear manifestation of their steadfastness even in the face of persecution as a result of their valiant stand for Christ. No cracks had appeared in what Phillips calls their “sheer dogged endurance.” And so we are enabled to endure when we fix our hope completely on Christ Jesus, Who is our eternal Hope. Paul explains this same truth and association between hope and perseverance to the Romans writing if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance (hupomone) we wait eagerly for it. (Ro 8:25-note) In other words we know that we will delivered from the presence of sin and its awful consequences (this is our sure hope) because of the precious and magnificent promises of God and because this truth is as certain as if we had already received it (our future glorification), this renewed mindset gives us the Spirit wrought inner strength to hupomone or bear up under our present difficult circumstances. Beloved, what are you bearing up under today? As I write I am heavily burdened but greatly encouraged by the truths about hupomeno. You too be encouraged dear persevering saint. Here is a powerful secular illustration of the meaning of perseverance: Sir Winston Churchill was invited back to his alma mater, Harrow, to address the students near the end of his storied life of public service, which included guiding Britain through her darkest and finest hours. When the five-foot, five-inch bulldog of a man took the platform, everyone waited breathlessly upon his words—and they would never forget what they heard: “Young gentlemen, never give up. Never give up. Never give up! Never! Never! Never!” With that Churchill sat down. That's what Peter is calling believers to diligently live out in their faith. Are you about to give up beloved? Don't do it! Never give up! Never! Never! Never! He Who promised is faithful to fulfill His promise that He would never, ever, no never leave you nor forsake you. The Christian life is not a sprint, but a marathon. Over the years we have been repeatedly saddened by acquaintances who did not persevere and who dropped by the wayside of this world. The writer of Hebrews charges us that in view of the fact that in Hebrews 11, "we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance (hupomone) the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus..." (He 12:1, 2, -see notes He 12:1 12:2) Commenting on this verse George Matheson wrote that “We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet there is a patience that I believe to be harder—the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: it is the power to work under stress; to have a great weight at your heart and still run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily tasks. It is a Christlike thing! The hardest thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in the sickbed but in the street.” To wait is hard, to do it with “good courage” is harder!" As one author has wisely noted regarding perseverance, "it is important to make “the Perseverance of the Saviour” our watchword rather than “the Perseverance of the saint.” Keep this thought in mind as you read the following true illustration... RUN WITH ENDURANCE - In 1992 the Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, Spain. One of the runners in the 400-meter race was an English athlete named Derek Redmond. He had trained for years to compete in the Olympics. But while sprinting in a qualifying heat, he suddenly pulled a hamstring and crumpled to the track in pain. Determined to go on, Derek struggled to his feet. He was hobbling toward the finish line when his father scaled the retaining wall and jumped onto the track. Before anyone could stop him, Jim Redmond reached his son. The young runner leaned on his father's shoulder as he staggered to complete the race. The entire crowd stood and cheered the two men on. When they crossed the finish line, it was as if the runner, his father, and the spectators had done it together. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to run the race of faith and persevere to the end, following the example of those who have gone before us. It takes all of our spiritual stamina to complete it, but we don't run the course alone. Christ Himself helps us toward the finish line. Therefore, "let us lay aside every weight, and . . . run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb 12:1). We need to expect and even exult in trials, because without trials we could never learn patience. Paul explains that through (Christ) 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. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; (hupomone) and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 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. (see notes Romans 5:2; 5:3; 5:4; 5:5) Trials put the pressure on us and what comes out of us in these times of pressure prove what is in us...either flesh or Spirit. As a boxer engages in bout after bout, he toughens and becomes wiser and stronger. After a time he develops such fortitude, perseverance and staying power that he can take on the best. There is no way a fighter, or any of us, can develop toughness without trials! Perseverance relates to the other qualities because in all the others we must keep on keeping on. Is there an area of your life in which you are failing to persevere? Perseverance is a critical Christian virtue. Unless we have patience, we can never learn many of the truths that God wants us to learn, truths that will lead us into a deeper life (think of our spiritual roots going deeper into Christ in the diagram click here for schematic of a believer rooted in Christ and bearing fruit) and a more fruitful ministry. The KEY is learning to walk in that potential "energy" you already possess because of Christ in you (Col 1:27-note). When you begin to discover who you are in Christ and that you have everything you need for life and godliness (2Pe 1:3-note), it takes away the excuse you've used all these years for living carnally. When you use the empty excuse 'I'm only human', you are showing your ignorance of Who and what God has already placed within you. You now have the ability to persevere because Christ lives within you. Christ in us transforms ordinary saints into people capable of extraordinary feats (like persevering when the world would say why don't you just "throw in the towel".) The reason perseverance is not being worked out in many of our lives is our own hard-headedness & unwillingness. The genuine believer who says 'I can't" is really saying 'I won't'. Remember that mushrooms spring up overnight, but they are usually poisonous. The best fruits require time, cultivation, perseverance. A precious and rare plant called ''godliness'' grows wonderfully when ''fertilized'' with perseverance. (modified from a lecture by Dr. Wayne Barber) Hupomone describes endurance when circumstances are difficult. It is not a passive acceptance but a strong fortitude in the face of opposition or difficulty. It is the opposite of despondency and is never used in reference to God, for God does not face difficult circumstances. Hupomone describes that spirit which bears things not simply with resignation, but with a blazing hope. In other words, if something happens in your life that is hard and painful and frustrating and disappointing, and, by grace, your faith looks to Christ and to his power and his sufficiency and his fellowship and his wisdom and his love, and you don't give in to bitterness and resentment and complaining, then your faith endures and perseveres. We need to remember that SMOOTH SEAS DON'T MAKE SKILLFUL SAILORS. It is better to persevere and bear up through the storm with Christ than to have smooth sailing without Him. Jesus taught that "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." (Lk 8:15) Perseverance proves the soil of one's heart is good (genuine believers) and results in fruit in the believer's life. Puritan preacher Ezekiel Hopkins once said that... Patience is the ballast of the soul, that will keep it from rolling and tumbling in the greatest storms; and he that will venture out without this to make him sail even and steady will certainly make shipwreck and drown himself, first in the cares and sorrows of this world, and then in perdition. Perseverance to the end of one's life proves that is a genuine believer [Mt 24:13, 2Ti 2:12-note, He 3:6-note, He 3:14-note]. Persevering does not save a person but does show them to be saved and possessors of an inherent supernatural power (Christ in us) to hold on to the end. What is an alternative to perseverance in the Christian life? Is it not a subtle drift with the tide, especially the "tide" of time? Many today who were at one time professing Christians imperceptibly have drifted from their earlier professions. They kept up appearances, but time carried them far away from their devotion to Christ. And though they may not have overtly disowned Christ, they have drifted far from their original faith. And not surprisingly their children have no understanding or interest in Christianity. This is a tragic end, an end which Dr. Robertson McQuilkin prayed against in his haunting poem... I fear the Dark Spectre may come too soon—or do I mean, too late? That I should end before I finish or finish, but not well. That I should stain your honor, shame your name, grieve your loving heart. Few, they tell me, finish well… Lord, let me get home before dark. (“Let Me Get Home Before Dark,” 1981) Perseverance is a trait the man of God will pursue. ("But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 1Ti 6:11) Before we were saved, we chased after sin. Now sin chases after us! (cf 2Ti 2:22-note) Faith mixed with perseverance allows us to inherit the promises (He 6:12-note, 2Pe 1:4-note "promises") Testing of one's faith (Jas 1:2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8-note) works out perseverance in our character which in turn allows us to reach our goal in Christ which is to be complete (mature) and lacking in nothing. (Col 1:28-note; Col 1:29-note). R Kent Hughes gives the following illustration of perseverance writing that... Perseverance is the key to God's treasure, just as it often proves to be with earthly treasures. When Howard Carter, the British archaeologist, peered wide-eyed into an ancient Egyptian tomb in 1922, at first he saw nothing. For more than twenty centuries archaeologists, tourists, and tomb robbers had searched for the burial places of Egypt's pharaohs. It was believed that nothing remained undisturbed, especially in the Royal Valley where the ancient monarchs had been buried for over half a millennium. With only a few scraps of evidence Carter carried on his pursuit, privately financed because nobody felt there was anything left to be discovered. But he was convinced there was one remaining tomb. Twice during his six-year search he came within two yards of the first stone step leading to the burial chamber, and finally he found it. "Can you see anything?" his assistants asked, as Carter's eyes adjusted. He was seeing, but he had difficulty speaking because he saw what no modern man had ever seen. Wooden animals, statues, chests, chariots, carved cobras, vases, daggers, jewels, a throne - and a hand-carved coffin of a teenage king. It was the priceless tomb and treasure of King Tutankhamen, the world's most exciting archaeological discovery. Howard Carter's great perseverance brought him King Tut's treasure. How much greater our rewards when we persevere in seeking God's spiritual treasures! King Tut's treasures brought him no happiness; and if you were as rich as he, the effect would be the same. Besides, King Tut left it all behind. The treasures Christ gives are eternally ours and eternally satisfying. But perseverance is the key. We may wonder why God wants us to persist intensely for things He surely wants to give us. The answer is, He wants to give us great spiritual treasures, but He will not give it to us until we are ready. Persistent prayer prepares us for those treasures. (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books) ><> ><> ><> An Elusive Virtue - In 1404, twenty-five-year-old Lorenzo Ghiberti won a commission to build and adorn a pair of bronze doors for the north side of the baptistery in the cathedral of Florence, Italy. He took twenty-one years to design and cast the masterpieces, dividing the doors into twenty-eight New Testament panels. They cost $550,000. The donors then asked him to make corresponding double doors for the baptistery’s east side. This endeavor took twenty-seven years and featured the Old Testament in ten panels. He spent forty-eight years one just two projects, but his time and effort left artistic masterpieces for generations to admire. Building spiritual lives challenges us to a perseverance that defies even Ghiberti. The free will, prejudice, stubbornness, and pride that mocks God are all obstacles to change and growth. The life produced by the Spirit in the Word seldom comes easily or quickly. People are never as easy to mold as bronze and wood. Although a skilled craftsman can predict how basic elements will react under given stimuli, the spiritual leader never masters the moods and reactions of people. (Hurley, V. Speaker's sourcebook of new illustrations Dallas: Word Publishers) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2_peter_16-7.htm#Perseverance