Matthew 7:14.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 10:22.

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:10-13.

¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith, and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Mark 13:13.

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Matthew 13:5,6,20,21.

5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have 6 much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, 20 and they withered because they had no root.... What was sown on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away

Mark 4:5,6,16,17 .

⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root....¹⁶ Others,like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away.

Luke 8:6,13.

⁶Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture .... ¹³Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

Romans 11:22.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Philippians 2:12,13.

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Colossians 1:21-23.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

II Thessalonians 1:4,5.

⁴Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. ⁵All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

I Timothy 3:6.

[The overseer] must not be a recent convert or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

I Timothy 4:16.

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

II Timothy 2:11,12.

¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying: if we died with him, we will also live with him; ¹²if we endure, we also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.

Hebrews 3:6.

But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Hebrews 3:12-4:2.

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you I a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said: "Today, you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in rebellion." ¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. ^4:1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have found short of it. ²For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

Hebrews 4:9-11.

⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God's rest also from his own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹Let us, there make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

Hebrews 6:4-15.

⁴It is impossible for those who have been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. ⁷Land that drinks in the rain often on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. ⁹Even though we speak like dear friends, we are confident of better things in your things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. ¹³When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by him-self, ¹⁴saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." ¹⁵And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Hebrews 10:26-31.

²⁶1f we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. ²⁸Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." ³¹ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living Go

James 1:12.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life.

II Peter 2:21

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then turn their backs on the sacred commandment that was passed on to them.

II Peter 3:11-14,17

¹¹Since everyting will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹²as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. ¹⁴So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him....¹⁷Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless meandfall from your secure position.

I John 2:24,25.

²⁴See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the in Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is what he promised us--even eternal life.

II John 9-11.

⁹Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰1f anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. ¹¹Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

Revelation 2:7.

He who has an ear, let him hear what th Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise a God.

Revelation 2:10,11.

¹⁰Do not be afraid of what you are abou to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison t test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faith ful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown o life. ¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says b the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by thi second death.

Revelation 2:26.

To him who overcomes and does my will b the end, I will give authority over the nations.

Revelation 3:5.

He who overcomes will, like them, be dresser in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

Revelation 3:12. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar ii the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I wil write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaver from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Background from Greenfield Graphics.