“Endurance in the Last Days: Standing Firm When Faith Is Tested.”
Matthew 24: 12-13 + Hebrews 10:23 + Revelation 3: 10
INTRODUCTION
Family, we have walked through two major signs that Jesus has given us for the end-time season:
Sermon One: the shaking of nations
Sermon Two: The rise of deception
Now Jesus brings us to the third sign – a sign that doesn’t appear in the headlines
but shows up in the heart.
As the world grows darker and spiritual pressure increases, Jesus gives us a clear
instruction: endure. Not survived. Not hide. Endure. This sermon explores what endurance looks like in the last days and how believers can remain steady when
faith is tested.
Endurance.
Not the endurance of athletes.
Not the endurance of ambition.
But the endurance of faith.
Jesus also addressed the disciples who would face spiritual, cultural, and emotional
pressure. His words apply directly to believers living in the end-time season today. Jesus says that in the last days, the pressure will increase, love will grow cold, and many will drift. But those who endure- those who remain steady, rooted, and faithful- will be preserved.
This is not a message of fear. This is a message of spiritual posture.
I. THE CONDITION OF THE LAST DAYS: LOVE GROWING COLD
Matthew 24: 12
“Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
Jesus describes a spiritual climate where:
love grows cold
Truth is resisted
pressure increases
faith is challenged
hearts become numb
Lawlessness increases
compassion fades
conviction weakens
This is not just the world growing cold.
This is believers growing cold.
Cold love is:
love without warmth
faith without fire
worship without intimacy
service without joy
obedience without joy
obedience without passion
Jesus is warning us that the greatest danger in the last days is not
Persecution is a cold heart.
II. WHY ENDURANCE IS NECESSARY
Jesus follows the warning with a promise:
Matthew 24: 13
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
because:
pressure increases
deception rises
culture shifts
Truth is challenged
Faith is tested
Endurance is not being strong
Endurance is about being steady.
It is the ability to remain rooted when everything around you shakes.
III. WHAT ENDURANCE LOOKS LIKE
Hebrews 10:23
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering
Endurance looks like:
- Holding fast to Scripture
Not drifting with trends.
Not bending to pressure.
Not compromising truth. - Guarding your heart
Keeping your love warm
Keeping your spirit tender.
Keeping your faith alive. - Staying connected to the Body
Isolation weakens endurance.
Community strengthens it. - Maintaining Spiritual discipline
Prayer
Worship
The Word
Fellowship
Obedience
These are not religious duties- they are survival tools - IV. THE PRESSURE OF THE LAST DAYS
Jesus never promised an easy path.
He promised a preserved path.
Pressure will come:
cultural pressure
emotional pressure
spiritual pressure
relational pressure
pressure to compromise
pressure to conform
But pressure does not destroy the believer.
Pressure reveals the believer.
Pressure exposes:
What is real
What is rooted
What is anchored
What is mature
Endurance is the fruit of pressure handled with faith.
V. ISRAEL: THE MODEL OF ENDURANCE
Israel’s entire story is a testimony of endurance:
Preserved through exile
Preserved through persecution
Preserved through scattering
Preserved through restoration
Preserved through covenant
Every nation that tried to erase Israel has disappeared. Israel remains.
Why?
Because endurance is not human strength
Endurance is covenant strength.
Revelation 3: 10 ties endurance to the faithful remnant-
a pattern first seen in Israel.
If God preserved Israel through
every shaking.
He will preserve His Church through every shaking.
VI. THE PROMISE OF ENDURANCE
Jesus does not say:
“He who is perfect will be saved.”
“He who is strong will be saved.”
“He who never struggles will be saved.
He says:
“He who endures…”
Endurance is not perfection.
Endurance is the refusal to quit.
Endurance is:
showing up when you feel tired
Praying, when you feel empty
worshipping when you feel heavy
believing when you feel
stretched
standing when you feel shaken
Endurance is the quiet strength of
the believer who refuses to let go of
God.
VII. HOW TO ENDURE IN THIS SEASON
1. Keep your love warm
Guard your heart from bitterness.
Offense, and numbness.
2. Stay rooted in truth
Let Scripture be your anchor, not culture.
3. Strengthen your spiritual disciplines
Consistency builds endurance.
4. Stay connected to the Body
You cannot endure alone.
5. Keep your eyes on Jesus
Endurance is not about willpower-it is about focus.
CONCLUSION
Family, endurance is not punishment.
Endurance is protection.
It is God’s way of preserving His
people in a shaking world.
This is not a time to drift.
This is not a time to cool down.
This is not a time to waver.
This is a time to:
stand firm
stay rooted
stay warm
stay faithful
stay steady
Because the One who promised is faithful.
Life your head.
Steady your heart.
Endure.
Your endurance is not in vain.
Your endurance is your victory.
The Sanctuary Letter
“When Faith Is Tested: The Quiet Strength of Endurance”
Beloved,
There are seasons when the world shakes around us, and there are
seasons when the shaking reaches within us – when faith feels stretched,
when love feels tired, and when the weight of life presses a little harder
than usual.
Jesus told us this would happen.
He said.
“Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But
The one who endures to the end will be saved.”
– Matthew 24: 12-13
These are not words of fear.
They are words of Invitation.
An invitation to stay warm when the world grows cold.
An invitation to stay steady when pressure rises.
An invitation to stay rooted when everything around you shifts.
Endurance is not about being strong.
Endurance is about being anchored.
The Slow Cooling of the Heart
Jesus didn’t say love would disappear. He said it would grow cold.
Coldness happens slowly:
when disappointment lingers
when pressure increases
when distractions multiply
When hope feels delayed
when the world’s noise becomes louder
than God’s whisper
But beloved, coldness is not your portion.
You were created for warmth-
the warmth of devotion,
the warmth of worship,
the warmth of a heart alive in God.
Endurance is the decision to keep your love warm.
The Quiet Strength of Holding Fast
Hebrews says:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.”
–Hebrews 10: 23
Holding fast is not dramatic.
It is not loud.
It is not glamorous.
It is quiet.
It is steady.
It is daily.
It is choosing:
prayer over panic
worship over worry
Scripture over confusion
faith over feeling
obedience over convenience
Endurance is not perfection.
Endurance is the refusal to let go.
Israel: A Living Picture of Endurance
When you look at Israel, you are endurance embodied:
preserved through exile
preserved through scattering
preserved through persecution
preserved through restoration
preserved through covenant
Every nation that tried to erase Israel has vanished. Israel remains.
Why? Because endurance is not human strength. Endurance is
covenant strength.
And beloved, you are in covenant too.
A Word for Your Heart This Week
If you feel stretched, you are not failing.
You are being strengthened.
If you feel pressure, you are not breaking.
You are being refined.
If you feel weary, you are not alone.
You are being held.
Endurance is not about running fast.
It is about staying in the story of God
is writing for you.
It is about keeping your heart warm.
It is about staying faithful in the
small things.
It is about trusting that God is
preserving you in ways you cannot
Yet see.
Beloved, you are enduring.
You are standing.
You are being kept.
Lift your head.
Steady your heart.
Stay rooted.
Stay grounded.
The One who promised is faithful.
With Grace,
Rev. Debra E. Stith
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