Today's Sermon Notes:

Today’s Text

Genesis 32:24-30 (ESV)
^{Ge 32:24 (ESV)}  And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
^{Ge 32:25 (ESV)}  When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
^{Ge 32:26 (ESV)}  Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
^{Ge 32:27 (ESV)}  And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
^{Ge 32:28 (ESV)}  Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
^{Ge 32:29 (ESV)}  Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.
^{Ge 32:30 (ESV)}  So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Introduction

What does it mean to strive?

&   Strive
1. to exert oneself vigorously; try hard: He strove to make himself understood.
2. to make strenuous efforts toward any goal: to strive for success.
Synonyms: toil
3. to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete.
Synonyms: fight, struggle
4. to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance: to strive against fate.

What are some Biblical reasons to cease striving?

1.   Don’t strive with people you have no legitimate reason to strive with.

Proverbs 3:30 (KJV)  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

2.   Don’t strive hastily with anyone, meaning without knowing all the facts and/or without having a clear objective.

Proverbs 25:8 (KJV)  Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

3.   Don’t strive against God’s people—the right and the righteous.

Isaiah 41:10-11 (KJV)
^{Isa 41:10 (KJV)}  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
^{Isa 41:11 (KJV)}  Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

4.   Most of all don’t strive against God your Maker.

Isaiah 45:9 (KJV)  Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Jeremiah 50:22-25 (KJV)
^{Jer 50:22 (KJV)}  A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
^{Jer 50:23 (KJV)}  How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
^{Jer 50:24 (KJV)}  I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
^{Jer 50:25 (KJV)}  The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah 50:35-40 (ESV)
^{Jer 50:35 (ESV)}  “A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials and her wise men!
^{Jer 50:36 (ESV)}  A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, that they may be destroyed!
^{Jer 50:37 (ESV)}  A sword against her horses and against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst, that they may become women! A sword against all her treasures, that they may be plundered!
^{Jer 50:38 (ESV)}  A drought against her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols.
^{Jer 50:39 (ESV)}  “Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations.
^{Jer 50:40 (ESV)}  As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the LORD, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

5.   Christians don’t’ strive against the wicked, when God is already working things out in accordance with His prophetic promise to give you the victory.

Matthew 12:14-20 (KJV)
^{Mt 12:14 (KJV)}  Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
^{Mt 12:15 (KJV)}  But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
^{Mt 12:16 (KJV)}  And charged them that they should not make him known:
^{Mt 12:17 (KJV)}  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
^{Mt 12:18 (KJV)}  Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
^{Mt 12:19 (KJV)}  He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
^{Mt 12:20 (KJV)}  A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

2 Chronicles 20:15-17 (KJV)
^{2Ch 20:15 (KJV)}  And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
^{2Ch 20:16 (KJV)}  To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
^{2Ch 20:17 (KJV)}  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

6.   If you are a pastor, don’t even strive with hardheaded members or engage in foolish debates; tell them the truth, and let God bring them to repentance.

2 Timothy 2:23-26 (KJV)
^{2Ti 2:23 (KJV)}  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
^{2Ti 2:24 (KJV)}  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
^{2Ti 2:25 (KJV)}  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
^{2Ti 2:26 (KJV)}  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

2 Timothy 2:14-16 (KJV)
^{2Ti 2:14 (KJV)}  Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
^{2Ti 2:15 (KJV)}  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
^{2Ti 2:16 (KJV)}  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

What are some Biblical reasons to strive and keep striving?

1)   Strive to fulfill your calling; and use your gift(s) to build up the Body of Christ.  

1 Corinthians 14:12 (ESV)  So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

Romans 15:19-20 (KJV) ^{Ro 15:19 (KJV)}  Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
^{Ro 15:20 (KJV)}  Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

Colossians 1:28-29 (ESV) ²⁸  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. ²⁹  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Colossians 1:29 (KJV) ²⁹  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

2)   Strive for yourself and others in prayer; especially those who minister to you the word of God.

Romans 15:30-33 (KJV)
^{Ro 15:30 (KJV)}  Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
^{Ro 15:31 (KJV)}  That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;
^{Ro 15:32 (KJV)}  That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
^{Ro 15:33 (KJV)}  Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

3)   Strive in cooperation and alongside other believers to promote, proclaim and maintain the faith of the Gospel.

Philippians 1:27-28 (ESV)
^{Php 1:27 (ESV)}  Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
^{Php 1:28 (ESV)}  and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

a.   We should be striving to PROMOTE the gospel of faith through using our gifts of helps to support those called to preach the Gospel.

b.   We should be striving to PROCLAIM the Gospel of faith through personal evangelism; and invitations that others might be saved.

c.    We should be striving to MAINTAIN the Gospel of faith within by personally feeding on the word of God.

4)   Strive to please God our Father, and Jesus the captain of our salvation as a soldier in God’s army and receive an incorruptible crown.

2 Timothy 2:3-5 (KJV)
^{2Ti 2:3 (KJV)}  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
^{2Ti 2:4 (KJV)}  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
^{2Ti 2:5 (KJV)}  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (KJV)
^{1Co 9:24 (KJV)}  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
^{1Co 9:25 (KJV)}  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
^{1Co 9:26 (KJV)}  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
^{1Co 9:27 (KJV)}  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

5)   Strive to live a holy and sanctified life.

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV)  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (KJV)
^{Heb 12:1 (KJV)}  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
^{Heb 12:2 (KJV)}  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
^{Heb 12:3 (KJV)}  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
^{Heb 12:4 (KJV)}  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

1 Peter 4:1-5 (NLT2)
^{1Pe 4:1 (NLT2)}  So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.
^{1Pe 4:2 (NLT2)}  You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.
^{1Pe 4:3 (NLT2)}  You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
^{1Pe 4:4 (NLT2)}  Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.
^{1Pe 4:5 (NLT2)}  But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.

6)   Strive to enter in at the strait gate.

Luke 13:24-25, 27 (KJV)
^{Lk 13:24 (KJV)}  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
^{Lk 13:25 (KJV)}  When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
^{Lk 13:27 (KJV)}  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV)
^{Mt 7:13 (KJV)}  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
^{Mt 7:14 (KJV)}  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

John 14:6 (KJV)  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Hebrews 10:20 (NLT2)  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

Acts 4:12 (KJV)  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

7)   Strive to enter that rest that only comes through salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:1-2 (ESV)
^{Heb 4:1 (ESV)}  Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
^{Heb 4:2 (ESV)}  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Hebrews 4:11 (ESV) Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Matthew 11:28-29 (KJV)
^{Mt 11:28 (KJV)}  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
^{Mt 11:29 (KJV)}  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

If you Survive the Strive You will Thrive

Genesis 32:24-30 (ESV)
^{Ge 32:24 (ESV)}  And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
^{Ge 32:25 (ESV)}  When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.
^{Ge 32:26 (ESV)}  Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
^{Ge 32:27 (ESV)}  And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
^{Ge 32:28 (ESV)}  Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
^{Ge 32:29 (ESV)}  Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” AND THERE HE BLESSED HIM.
^{Ge 32:30 (ESV)}  So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

q  If you strive to fulfill your calling; and use your gift(s) to build up the body of Christ, you’re going to thrive in 2025.  

q  If you strive for yourself and others in prayer; especially those who minister to you the word of God, you’re going to thrive in 2025.  

q  If you strive in cooperation and alongside other believers to promote, proclaim and maintain the faith of the Gospel, you’re going to thrive in 2025.  

q  If you strive to please God our Father, and Jesus the captain of our salvation as a soldier in God’s army and receive an incorruptible crown, you’re going to thrive in 2025.  

q  If you strive to live a holy and sanctified life, you’re going to thrive in 2025.  

q  If you strive to enter in at the strait gate, you’re going to thrive in 2025.  

q  If you strive to enter that rest that only comes through salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, you’re going to thrive in 2025.

How do I Survive the Strive until I Thrive? Revive

Galatians 6:9 (KJV) ⁹  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Proverbs 24:10 (ESV)¹⁰  If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

Isaiah 40:29-31 (KJV)
²⁹  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
³⁰  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
³¹  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Psalm 27:13-14 (KJV) ¹³  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Acts 3:19 (KJV)¹⁹  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Psalm 138:2-3 (KJV)
²  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
³  In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
Psalm 138:6-7 (KJV)
⁶  Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. ⁷  Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.