It is not good to be stubborn over things that we should not be stubborn about. But it is important that we are being persistent about that which we should hold on to – e.g. our faith in God and our belief in Jesus Christ.

STUBBORN TO GIVE HIS LIFE TO OTHERS

(Mark 10:45) "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The first thing that Jesus was stubborn in is in his giving of his life to serve others. He insisted in doing so

• Even when it means great sacrifice to himself
• Even when others try to get him to stop
• Even though it is not convenient for him

Time and again in the gospels, we read passages like the one below –

(Matthew 14:13-14) "When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. (14) When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick."

The situation is that Jesus' friend John the Baptist just passed away and Jesus was sad. He wanted to go away to a quiet place to mourn for his friend – to have some time by himself – to have some time to get over the grief. This is such a normal thing for a human being.

However, the people chased after him and wanted him to minister to them. What did Jesus do? He was stubborn to forget about himself and giving his life to the people.

Is this possible? Yes, it is and Christians all over the world are demonstrating it.

STUBBORN TO HIS CALLING

Isaiah 50:7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

John 4:34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

When you are so willing to give of your life to others, there is a danger that you will be running around doing all sorts of things and never know what you are really doing. That is why Jesus is very stubborn about another thing. Jesus was stubborn in is to do the will of the one who sent him – to do the will of the Father. Jesus knows what the Father wanted him to do and he was careful to make sure that he does that.

That is why Jesus had to be clear about his blueprint for his life. When Jesus was on the cross, he said, "It is finished." What does he mean? He meant that what he came to do is finished. Jesus' goal is to finish the work that God placed him here to accomplish. He was very stubborn to do that.

That is why I really like what the Apostle Paul said about himself:

(Acts 20:24) However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

This is also something that I want my life to be like.

What is the blueprint that God has given for your life? Do not float through life. You only have one life and it will soon come to past. Only what you do for Jesus Christ will last. What is it that Jesus want you to do for him. Life is too short to waste.

Because Jesus wanted to make sure that he is stubborn to do the will of God for his life, he also is stubborn to make sure that he spends time with God regularly – to listen to his heavenly Father. This is also something that we need to be stubborn in – spending time with God.

STUBBORN TO FINISH

Another thing that Jesus is stubborn in follows on from the above – he is stubborn to finish that which God wanted him to do. He not only wanted to do it but to finish. I love this. Jesus is a finish and he is call the "finisher of our faith."

In fact, God is a God of completion – God will finish that which he started.

(Philippians 1:6) "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

It is one thing to do and it is another thing to finish.

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

For our blueprint to be fulfilled, we need the stubbornness to finish. It often takes time for a blueprint to be become reality, however, if you persist, it will surely come to past. You must keep at it believe continually and work hard.

Again we are reminded that it took Thomas Edison 14,000 experiments to perfect the incandescent light.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. You are not licked until you quit.

How do you be stubborn in finishing? The answer is very simple – look to the finisher – our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what the passage in Hebrews is trying to tell us.

STUBBORN TO DO IT GOD'S WAY

The last thing that Jesus was stubborn in is to do things God's way. The world has so much to side track us and to make us do things by the values and methods of this world, but Jesus was stubborn in following God's way. We will talk more of this in other messages.

CONCLUSION

Finally, it is important to remind you that you need to be not stubborn in the things that Jesus is not stubborn in and to be stubborn in the things that Jesus is stubborn in. Just ask yourself – what would Jesus do.

Uncompromising Stubbornness