Matt Chandler - A Vibrant Endurance

The path of life has been laid out by God through His law and made possible through the coming of Jesus. By His grace, we are transformed from one degree of glory to the next and called to the table of His joy to experience pleasures forevermore.

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For those of you I don’t know, my name is Matt Chandler, and I’m the reason we will not be having services on Christmas morning and New Year’s morning. Every year when it lands on Sunday, we will be here. Hey, I said it in my welcome: Happy New Year! Here’s where I found my heart yesterday as I was preparing to be in front of you today and, by the grace of God, to be rung out for our good and the glory of God. I was struck by the fact that you made it. Seriously! I’m proud of you; I’m not joking. You had a hundred opportunities this year to quit. You had a hundred opportunities to quit on Jesus. You were disappointed, and you clung to Him. You were let down, and you didn’t abandon ship. You were betrayed by someone close, yet you clung to Him rather than pushed Him away. It’s 2023, the first day, and you made it. I’m proud of you. It’s no small thing to make it these days. It’s no small thing to not grow jaded. It’s no small thing to not grow cynical. It’s no small thing to start looking around at other saviors that might be easier to worship and follow, but you didn’t. It’s New Year’s Day, and here we are at church. I don’t know what time you went to bed last night. I officially made the transition into an old man who doesn’t care about this game. I went to bed early last night; that’s what I did. I found out, this morning, that I was like, «Dang it, Ohio State made it, ” and then they didn’t. If you’re confused, let me get to this: starting next week, I’ll be back to my 42-minute self. I’m going to try to keep this tight and quick today, but I wanted to express to you that the Book of Revelation has this refrain in chapters 2 and 3 when the Apostle John is writing to the churches in the ancient world. They were in a far worse place than we find ourselves, and the refrain is this idea of a reward for those who overcome. In each letter, he’ll say, „To the one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.“ He also says seven times, „To the one who overcomes, to the one who overcomes, to the one who overcomes.“ If you’re in the ESV, they translated that Greek word as „to the one who conquers,“ but the words are the same. Overcoming and conquering are the same word. Here’s what He says: „To the one who overcomes, I will allow you to eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God. To the one who overcomes, you will not be hurt by the second death. To the one who overcomes, I will give some hidden manna and a white stone with a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.“ Do you ever have a nickname from a loved one that you’d rather not share publicly? It’s a sign of intimacy; maybe you had it as a kid, or maybe you didn’t. I’m happy to give you one; find me, and I’ll throw one out to you. But that’s what’s in view here: intimacy, joy, this kind of playful nature. I don’t think many people think of God as playful. He’s so playful! If you’re looking at creation, look at the platypus! But God’s sense of humor is to throw nine different animals together! And then, I will give authority over the nations to the one who overcomes. I’ll give you authority over nations. To the one who overcomes, you’ll be clothed in white garments, and your name will never be blotted out of the Book of Life. To the one who overcomes—and that includes all of us, right? It’s for those people. To the one who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of God, and I will write on him the name of my God and on the city of my God. And to the one who overcomes, he will sit with me on my throne. Do you hear the refrain? „To the one who overcomes.“ Hang in there! The reward is coming; we’re closer. Grab tight; don’t let go! To the one who overcomes. Now, I don’t know how you’re wired. If you’re type A and a firstborn, my guess is you’ve already started thinking through your goals for 2023. I do that too. I’ve got physical goals, financial goals, and spiritual goals. I just have goals, man! I like order; I like rhythm. I like setting what I’m going to try to achieve in 2023. I’ve lived long enough now to know that maybe I’ll hit those goals, and maybe I won’t. So what I want to try to do—and I don’t mean this because I lack discipline, but because I don’t control life—is help you focus on what actually is within your control. I’m basing it off this psalm, really the crescendo of the psalm, which is verse 11. Here’s what verse 11 says in the psalm.