"Oh, man of faith, oh, woman of faith, beware of being weary. Beware of being weary in your walk with the Lord, in the work of God, in your commitment to the Lord. You know people that were walking with the Lord, that were serving the Lord, people that were on fire for the Lord, people who were being used by the Lord. And then, all of a sudden, what did you hear? You heard that they had walked away from the Lord. You heard they had gotten into sin...
Listen, we all have enemies within. We all have enemies without. We are all going to suffer. We need to be careful, because the devil is going around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. But listen, if you have the Spirit of God inside you, you can tear that roaring lion just like Samson tore the roaring lion. You can have victory through the Spirit. So you need to be careful. Go through Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, and look at his words, his words of exhortation to the church, and you will understand what God says to you about being vigilant, about overcoming, about not giving in to the flesh, about being faithful until death, about knowing that the enemy is going to try you and test you, but you are to be faithful until death...
In 1555, Christians were being martyred at the stake. It was England. “Thomas,” his friend lowered his voice so as not to be heard by the guard, “I have to ask this favor. I need to know if what others say about the grace of God is true. Tomorrow they are going to burn you at the stake, Thomas. If the pain is tolerable, if God’s grace is there, and your mind is still at peace at the way you walked with the Lord, then lift your hands above your head before you die. Do it just before you die, because, Thomas, I have got to know if His grace is sufficient.” Thomas Hawker whispered to his friend, “I will, I will.” The next morning they bound Hawker to the stake, and the fire was lit. The fire burned a long time, but Hawker remained motionless. His skin was burned to a crisp, his fingers were burned off. Everyone was watching, supposing he was dead. Then suddenly, miraculously, Hawker took those arms and raised them triumphantly over his head. Those fingers burned off, and he reached them up to the living God, and he clapped them three times--and he died.
Don’t be weary. Don’t be weary, no matter what the fire, no matter what the trial, no matter what the temptation, beloved, endure, endure. Embrace that cross and know this, that as Samson put his two hands around those pillars and brought them down and conquered the enemy, that you can stand triumphant, not weary, but triumphant, overcoming the enemy within, triumphing over the enemy without, with your hands in the air, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. We are free. That is what we are supposed to be, and then we will know the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus. Finish the race that you have begun."
- Kay Arthur