Mark 13:13 And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. To endure, that is the great point. It does not simply signify that a man should hold on, but that a man should hold on in spite of, and in the face of discouragements, and difficulties, and disappointments. It is more than "dure," it is "endure." It is a very great mistake for Christian people to imagine that all will be light and liberty, and peace and joy. There are representations in the Word of God of the Christian course that seem to be contrary, but they are only different aspects of the whole subject. For instance: "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." "Your joy no man taketh from you." "Rejoice in the Lord alway." Yet, on the other hand, as we had it this morning, "If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross daily." Again, we are told, we must "mortify" our evil and corrupt affections; that we must "crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts;" that "the right hand" must be "cut off," and the "right eye plucked out," in order that we may follow and obey our Lord and Master. Now all these things are not contrary, but they are reconciled. There is joy, but it is joy in the midst of trouble; there is peace, but it is peace maintained by constant warfare; and there is blessed rest, but it is rest in labour and toil. If we have a battle to fight, if we have a race to run, if we have a building to erect, it must be with toil, and trouble, and effort. We shall have to "endure to the end." It will not avail to be constant and enduring in the outset, but we must endure to the end. Many will try to prevent our following the Lord fully, they will try to discourage us. And then, too, do we not find very many, from following into different companies, and amongst gay, thoughtless, and worldly companionships, get absorbed in the vortex of life, their holiness is gone, they tumble down in the mire, their hope is withered, and passes away as a dream. Then, again, are there not very many who get into some peculiar state of trial from persecution, or reproach, or something they did not count upon; they are ashamed of Jesus, they are ashamed of the cross, and so they betray the Master with a kiss. Then, again, how many are disheartened and discouraged with the struggle in their own hearts. They set out with much emotion, but feeling too little faith, How many things lead a man to come short of eternal life! It is, perhaps, more beautiful to see a man in little comfort and in darkness, holding on, than one who walks in the full sunshine. Job was able to say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Was not that a beautiful instance of enduring to the end? When he was stripped of everything, — without were fightings, and within were fears; clouds, and tribulations, and adversity were about him; yet he says, "though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." We have not full salvation now; it is in progress, it is not complete; it is the man that endures to the end that attains the full recompense, and enters into the joy of the Lord. This is the great purpose and end. We do not set out on a voyage just for the purpose of setting out; we have to seek to reach the haven. We do not cover ourselves in armour simply for the sake of being ready for the battle, but that we may fight and win the victory, and gain the crown; therefore, after all, this is the grand test of our having true faith in Christ, that we continue in Christ, that we abide as branches in the vine, and bear fruit. How much blossom of promise there is that has no measure of fruit? Let us never forget that there may be a good deal of seeming fruit; but if it does not last, if it drops off it is because it is worthless, rotten at the core. You sometimes see under a fruit tree the ground strewn with fallen fruit. Somebody may say, perhaps, some great storm has passed over, or some sudden frost, when probably the truth has been that the fruit itself was unsound at the core, and that, therefore, it rotted and fell off. Brethren, it is so with the fruits that grow in the orchard of God; many are fair and seeming good to the sight, but they are not sound at the core. The proof that they are sound is, that they still cling to the tree and ripen, until, as it is beautifully said, "the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." (Hugh Stowell, M. A.) Parallel Verses 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. |
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