¹⁰ Because you have kept My word of perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of the testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who live on the earth. Revelation 3:10

Persistence in faith is key. We must be steadfast in our acknowledgment and recognition of God. We must be persistent in our obedience and hope. Persistence and perseverance in faith imply being passive to God. Steady persistence in a course of action starts with accepting God’s knowledge as our own. With this knowledge as the foundation, we choose a course of action with our conscience and will. And once we decide upon this course of action, we must be persistent and unwavering in following through with that course of action.

How do we know what to do? Before anything, we must be grounded in the Word of God. With this knowledge governing us, we use our religious conscience to seek a course of action. And finally, we form a resolve to commit to that action. For this reason, we must never rush into making commitments. We must never act hastily or jump into things without proper meditation. We must be deliberately slow and calculative before making a firm resolution. With your conscience, think about it over and over again. Only after much deliberation should you be resolute and persistent.

If you have made the right resolution to do something, you’ll know. You feel empowered. You’ll be happy. You’ll be full of the Holy Spirit and confident. Your mind will be at peace. Regardless of how hard it may be to continue with that course of action, you do it because it’s the right thing to do, and God gives you strength. And when you falter and stop doing what you’ve pledged to do, you are filled with regret. So you must be persistent and tenacious when it comes to these resolutions. It’s hard to be consistent and to do these things with steady persistence. Recognize the people, objects, and events that get in the way of you becoming the person you want to be. Recognize them as enemies of your faith. And if you fail, start again. If you fall, get up and start again. We must, at all costs, nurture and develop this kind of “religious persistence.” If we persevere, we will overcome any obstacles and hardships that come our way.

If you have made a firm resolution to do something you thought was right but ended up wrong, you will be filled with regret for doing that action. Some things aren’t blatant sins. How many times in life have we thought we were doing the right thing but it ended up all wrong? You used your conscience and deliberated and thought you were doing the right thing, but it doesn’t give you joy. You don’t feel empowered. The Holy Spirit is nowhere to be found. You do it for all the wrong reasons. Then you know, you’ve embarked on the wrong course of action. Repent and don’t do it again.

We must be slow to make resolutions, and we must be slow and deliberative when changing course. Some new events may pop up in our lives that give hints we need to change our course of action. But be just as slow and deliberative in these cases as you were when starting the course of action. Wait. Endure patiently. If you can’t tell with your conscience what to do, stick with your original action and wait for God to push you into that direction through His divine providence. God will move and create situations that will point you to change. Wait until this stage to change course. In other words, we must be tenacious and steadfast regarding the actions we know to be good.

We make new resolutions every day. We make promises and set goals in our lives. We will do this and that to make our lives better. Before rushing into any course of action, with the Word of God as your foundation, use your conscience to determine a course of action. Be deliberative and slow! Think about it over and over again! And when you finally make the decision to do it and you feel good and empowered after doing it, stick with it! Don’t let anybody or anything get in the way of keeping His “command to endure patiently.”

Click for Korean Sermonhttps://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1984-7-25-full-mixdown

Click for English Reading https://youtu.be/-Tq74CEaQOg