Overcome and Endure
Pray.
Have you ever felt like quitting? Just giving up. Have you ever spoke to God and said, Lord, this Christian life is too
difficult for me. Your commands are just too hard for me to follow. Being a Christian is simply bringing too much
persecution into my life, I really think I've just about had enough. Lord, I don't know how much more I can endure?
If you're being honest , you're probably shaking your head up and down in the yes formation right now.
If you're saying No, you're probably a very young Christian or a very prideful one.
I recently had a fellow pastor ask me that very question. He said, Do you feel like giving up Yet? To which I
answered, Not really and he smiled and said, You will. He wasn't saying that I would quit, He was saying, I will endure
times in my life, when I will want to simply give up.
I want us to look at Jeremiah this morning. Open your bible's to the book of Jeremiah and turn to chapter
20 and let's read verses 7-8.
Here in our text the prophet and pastor Jeremiah is crying out to God.
He says Lord you tricked me. I didn't stand a chance against you because you are stronger than me. You tricked
me into this Christian life. You never told me it was going to be like this. Every day my life is full of derision, meaning
every day, I am laughed at, and he says I am mocked as well.
He continues to say, I preached the Word of God and as a result, It has been made a reproach to me and
continues to make a mockery of me with the people that I am preaching it to.
Jeremiah is saying to God, I've done what you've asked. I've accepted the fact that Jesus will die for my sins one
day. I've accepted Your Call of being a Preacher to your people. I'm trying to live a righteouss and holy life.
Lord, I'm doing everything humanly possible , trying to live a life that is pleasing to you here on this earth and as
a result, Nobody is accepting my preaching, Nobody is converting to it, and as a result of all my hard work, I am being
scorned and mocked Daily.
Now, I don't know how long Jeremiah had been in the ministry at this point. Could have been a couple of months
maybe a couple of years, I'm sure there are people smarter than myself that could figure that out. But it's really not
relevant to his complaint with God.
Today, this often happens. Real Christian people, that have truly accepted Jesus as Savior become frustrated
and often times feel like quitting. They let the world beat them up to the point of saying "uncle". I give up.
And as a result, many quit attending church, they quit reading their bibles, they quit praying,
they quit telling others about Jesus, They simply shut down.
And it is quite possible , someone here this morning is close to this point of quitting on Jesus.
One red flag in your life is this, Are you currently doing less for The Lord than you were a month ago?
See, often times, we do not quit all together, we shut down in stages.
Maybe you've quit telling others about Jesus because you got mocked one time. Someone made fun of you one
time and you quit.
Maybe you've quit praying like you used to. Maybe God isn't answering your prayers as quickly as you want Him
to, so you've quit praying.
Maybe you've quit reading your Bible. Maybe you weren't getting the results that you were expecting from it.
Or maybe you've quit tithing. I tried it a couple of times and I'm not rich yet, so You quit giving to God.
Maybe you've quit attending certain Church Services. Well, God, I did it for a month, I attended certain services
for a whole month and I didn't see the results, I was looking for, so I'm back to one a week. That is good enough.
Here's what happened to Jeremiah and here's what happens to us today. We lose focus of the big picture.
We lose our focus on Jesus. and we let the world distort our way of thinking.
In Revelation, Jesus wrote 7 letters to 7 different churches. Real physical churches, that really existed in John's
day. But each church represents a different time in our history. But if you read each letter to every church in the
book of Revelation starting in chapter 2, You will find One very major common theme in each letter, which was
addressed to each person in those churches.
And that theme is to the one that will Overcome and Endure until the end, Jesus promises many
wonderful things yet to come in the kingdom of heaven.
Is it normal to feel like quitting? The answer is Yes. And Jesus certainly understood that. That is why Jesus
announces 7 different promises in the book of Revelation to the ONE that OVERCOMES AND ENDURES UNTO
THE END.
1. I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. REV. 2:7
2. You will not be hurt of the second death. Rev. 2:11
3. Jesus says, I will give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone, and in the new stone a new
name written, which no man knowth saying he that receiveth it. Rev. 2:17
4. Jesus promises, to him will I give power over the nations. Rev. 2:26
5. Jesus says, Endure to the end, and I will clothe you in white rainment and I will not blot out his name out of the
book of life but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Rev. 3:5
6. Jesus says, to him that endures to the end, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go
no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven form my God, and I will write upon him my new name. Rev. 3:12
and 7. To the one that endures to the end, Jesus says, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Rev. 3:21
What promises. God says, If you don't quit, I will exalt you after physical death. If you endure and overcome
the obstacles of Satan's world in this brief life time, I will give to you above your understanding in eternity.
And Jeremiah understood this.
Look at vs.9
Jeremiah says here, I wanted to quit. I wanted to keep quiet about God and Jesus, I was tired of being mocked
and persecuted for my belief. I was tired of constant rejection. I just wanted to stop speaking about God all together.
BUT I could not. Jeremiah says here, I tried to remain silent, But the word of God burned in my heart and in my
bones. And I simply grew tired of fighting the fire within. Keeping the Spirit silent within his being was like trying
to keep a wild lion caged. And so it should be with us.
Jeremiah was a real man. He was a sinner, saved by God's Grace. Therefore Jeremiah struggled
with things just as we do. But Jeremiah was the real deal. He was a real Christian.
Truly converted people , truly dedicated people do not quit. When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, if you have,
You asked God to send Jesus into your life and make Him the master of it. And God's Word is full of
commandments, instructions and promises of God for us to live by. And if you search the Scriptures dilligently
You will come to One major conclusion, concerning the Christian life,
Quitting is not an option. You'll not find one verse in the Bible, where God gives His children the option to
quit. At the moment of your salvation, You are adopted into God's family.
You are His child. And as discouraged or frustrated as you may ever become, you cannot quit being someone's
child. You're a child of the Most High, Why would you want to quit?
But God knew and knows that we will become discouraged and want to quit? It will happen. It happens to
everyone.
But like Jeremiah, we need to rekindle that fire sometimes. We need to take our eyes off of the problem and
reestablish our sights on the problem solver, Jesus Christ. We need to forget the past hurts of this world and
remember what Jesus did for us at the moment of our salvation.
WE need to quit grieving His Spirit within us and let Him out of that cage we've built around Him in our heart and
let Him come out of our mouths like a roaring lion.
The prophet Jeremiah said, I can't quit, no matter how much ridicule I face. No matter how many times I am
rejected, no matter how many times I am mocked and scorned, I CANNOT QUIT because , the Spirit of the Most
High God burns within me and I have to press Forward for Him.
If you're saved here this morning, how would you analyze or describe your flame for Jesus right now?
Is it a roaring bon fire? Is it a little camp fire? Or is it a tiny flickering birthday candle?
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
It's not the little lights, Jesus is looking for here this morning, It's the bon fires. When God looks down from
heaven, does He see a man or woman on fire for Him and His kingdom, Or is He squinting to see if there is a spark
amongst the ashes.
Is your light shining for Jesus here this morning?
Me personally, I will admit, at times, I become discouraged. My desire is to see everyone here working for
the Lord, coming to church regularly and living for the Lord daily. And when that is not necessarily always the case,
I feel like it's my fault. I know that God has placed me here to represent Him. God has placed me here to help
you grow in your Spiritual walk with Him. It's my responsiblity to keep your fire kindled for The Lord
And if that is not happening, I do become discouraged.
Let me tell you something , I know Jesus is the answer to every person's problem sitting here in this church
this morning. I know Jesus is the answer to every person's problem in this entire world and when I see people
treat Him like He's a second class citizen, it bothers me. When I preach and preach about Jesus and tell others
about Him and His healing powers, and people make fun of me, or simply shrug it off like He's nobody, at times
that can become discouraging.
But like Jeremiah, I cannot quit. If I'm here to help one person in twenty years, I cannot quit. I cannot place
emphasis on how many people are here each week, who's here and who's not here, I have to focus on the one's
who choose to be here and on my personal walk with Jesus. I have to overcome and endure to the end because I
want those promises of Jesus found in Revelation. Do I want you to overcome and endure with me? Of course I do,
but I cannot allow Satan to discourage me, if that doesn't always happen.
Satan will try to discourage you too. But quitting is not an option. If you are truly saved, what are you quitting and
returning to? An unsaved life? You cannot do that. That's why quitting is not an option.
Folks, this is not a 50 yard dash. Paul says the Christian life is equivalent to running a marathon. Take it day by
day. Live one day at a time and live it for The Lord. That 's all I can do, and that's all you can do.
As I've said and I'll continue to say. Living for Jesus will not make you popular. It didn't in Noah's Day, It didn't
in Jeremiah's day, It didn't in Paul's day and it certainly will not in our day and time.
But the life you live now, has everything to do with your eternity with Him. In Matthew 19:29 Jesus says this,
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethern or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands
for my name's sake, shall receive a Hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life.
That's a promise of God to you here this morning. One dollar given with the right heart and attitude, Jesus says
I'll give you back 100 in eternity. One hour invested now, for Him, invested with the right heart and attitude, God says
I'll give you 100 hours of special time in eternity. Do I understand all of this, Of course I don't, But God promises
a hundred fold return on our service right now, so I believe it.
Christian, as we close, take away this here this morning, Do not feel ashamed if you ever have or will become
tempted to quit. Simply pray for God's strength in your life.
Keep your eyes on the Goal. Keep your eyes on eternity. Keep your eyes on Jesus and Overcome and Endure
to the End. You are not a victim in this world, You are a Victor through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His Power.
Don't you ever forget it. We may loose a few battles along the way, but the war is already been won by Jesus
Christ and let's you and I be faithful soldiers for Him unto the End and let's all be able to claim those wonderful
promises in eternity, when we stand Face to Face with our Savior and hear those words,
Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant.
Let's Pray.
