Galatians 6:9
Don’t Quit
I have a theory. I am not sure it is true, but my theory is that God will speak
more often in His Word about the sins that we are most often tempted to commit.
I know my theory has a few holes in it. I know individuals are different and what
I may not be tempted to do, you may and vice-versa. I also know that the closer
to the end time we get, the more common every kind of sin is going to be.
However, over all, I think God addresses our more common temptations and faults
more often in the Bible.
If that is so, tonight’s topic is certainly very common. I find no less than 8
different locations where God challenges us not to quit.
Luke 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to
pray, and not to faint;
1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be
strong.
2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received
mercy, we faint not;
2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you,
which is your glory.
Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as
unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint
when thou art rebuked of him:
We know that all quitting is not the same. Some things ought to be quit. Sinful
things, disrespectful things, uncertain things, things you never should have
started… these things should be quit and quit in earnest with haste.
But I think these passages are speaking of other things. Things that spiritual.
Things are noble. Things that are right. Things that God has called us to do.
Quitting these kinds of things is a serious problem.
What can we learn tonight that will help us?
I. Quitting is everyone’s temptation.
A. Employees are tempted to quit work.
B. Owners are tempted to close the doors.
C. Marriage partners are tempted to divorce.
D. Parents are tempted to drop their standards.
E. Children are tempted to quit school.
F. Concerned people are tempted to quit caring.
J. The only people who are never tempted to quit are the
people who do nothing at all!
I. Is it any wonder Christians are tempted to quit some good things?
1. Some are tempted to quit church.
2. Some are tempted to quit the personal things that bring growth:
prayer, Bible study, tithing, witnessing
3. Some are tempted to quit their ministry.
4. Some are tempted to quit holding to high standards or to fighting
for the faith.
5. Some are tempted to completely quit on God.
K. Understand there is a difference in being tempted to quit and quitting!
1. While everyone is tempted to quit, not everyone quits.
a. I am not afraid to say that I am tempted to quit.
(1) I suppose that I have been tempted to quit almost every
good thing I have ever been involved in.
(2) I have wanted to quit speaking for Christ,
to quit getting involved in other people’s lives,
to quit speaking out against sin,
to quit pastoring, preaching, teaching.
b. I remember one of my pastors saying that he wrote out his
resignation every Sunday night and tore it up every Sunday
morning.
2. However, having a thought fly through your head and inviting it to
stay are two different things.
a. We must strike "QUIT" from our vocabularies.
b. God has called us to tasks which have no end.
c. We must make up our minds to stay with the calling until God
Himself removes our ability or our post.
II. Quitting is a sin from which you may not recover.
A. Here again, I continue to talk about quitting the good and right.
1. When we quit doing what God has called us to do, it is a sin.
2. There is no other word for it.
a. If God joined you into one flesh and you quit the union, you
have sinned.
b. If God has ever showed you what right is and you quit standing
for it, you have sinned.
c. If God has given you a task and you quit doing it, you have
sinned.
3. I know we can get so confused, discouraged, and defeated, that at
the time, we thought we were doing right, but it was still wrong.
4. That is one reason that I counsel people to never make important
decision when they are discouraged and depressed.
5. (You can do something sinfully wrong and not even recognize it.)
B. Now, when it comes to the sins that we commit—lying, stealing,
back biting, jealousy, adultery, drunkenness, and most others—even
though may have done them with more determination, those you can
recover from easier than from quitting.
1. Why? Because quitting has a finality to it.
2. If you quit, the opportunity to return may well be gone.
3. I learned the hard way, that ground surrendered is tough ground
to reclaim.
a. When a servant of God quits on God, he or she may lose something
of the grace, of the calling, of the power and opportunities
that they once had.
b. That grace, that calling, that power and opportunity may never
be theirs again.
(1) I have seen pastors quit their church, and their church
found another pastor; but they didn’t find another church.
(2) I have seen members quit their church, and even though they
found another place to go, they never found a home again.
(3) I have seen Christians quit their walk with God, and they
never got back all that they gave up.
III. Quitting has consequences.
A. You are probably missing the will of God.
1. God seldom-if ever-calls someone who is doing something to do
nothing!
2. Backwards is just not the direction that God leads!
3. Ground lost is always harder to be regained the 2nd time.
B. Idleness is an open door to sinfulness.
1. I understand that we are very busy world today.
a. It seems like to be idle requires a definite decision.
b. When I do nothing, it is because I chose not to do what I need
to be doing.
c. We all need rest but rest comes by taking a rest not by
quitting.
2. However, if you are quitting on what God called you to do, you are
likely going to have "free" time.
a. Free time is what got King David into a lot of trouble.
b. I know a broad brush covers unintended areas, but I have known
some people who wanted to quit their service for God so that
they would opportunity to do wrong.
C. You may be surrendering the only door to fulfillment and happiness.
1. I know of no one who every got happier by quitting—not if they
were in a position that God had called them to to begin with.
2. Now, if you got some place that God didn’t want you to be, then
by all means, get out; but if God put you there, getting out
probably will not make you happier or more fulfilled.
3. God typically moves people up not out.
a. In this aspect, God’s work is a lot like secular work.
b. God promotes from within.
c. Most likely, what you are have done was training for what you
are doing and what you are doing is training for what you will
do.
d. Jumping ship isn’t going to make things better. It is most
likely going to make things worse.
IV. Quitting has causes.
A. Sometimes people really don’t want to quit.
1. They just are just tired of dealing with the certain situations.
2. If they would stop and study what is going on, they would realize
that by quitting, they would be hurting others and themselves.
3. What they need is some help in dealing with some situations.
a. That is true in marriage. That is why there is such a thing
as marriage counseling.
b. That is true in your career. That is why there are workshops
and seminars.
c. And it is true in your struggle to do good and godly things.
That why there is the Word of God, counseling, and a church
body to encourage and help you.
B. So what are some of the causes of wanting to quit?
1. Disappointment and discouragements.
a. There are lots of things to get discouraged about when you are
trying to do right.
(1) Discouraged at others.
(2) Discouraged with results.
(3) Disappointed with self.
b. What is the solution to disappointments and discouragement?
(1) Put your eyes back on Jesus!
Heb 12:2 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.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
(2) We can put up with problems and disappointments a lot
easier down here when we know we have a reward up there!
2. Problems - We all get tired of facing problems!
a. We need to retool and reload.
1Cor 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not
in vain in the Lord.
b. I have heard a gambling term (I don’t know what it means, but
it strikes me as being a good term for us here).
c. It is called "double down."
(1) It would seem to me that the term means put double what
you have down there.
(2) Sometimes, we need to double what we have.
(a) We need to get twice as many people praying for us.
(b) We need twice the assurance that what we are doing is
from God.
(c) We need twice as many workers on the project.
(d) And we need to work twice as hard to get the job
finished.
d. Don’t quit when problems come. Double down your efforts!
3. Tired
a. Sometimes we don’t want to quit. We just want to rest.
b. Rest is important.
Mark 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place,
and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure
so much as to eat.
c. I think that maybe Elijah got depressed because he was
exhausted (1Kings 18-19)
d. You are not going to believe what the cure for that one is.
It is called resting.
4. Enticement
a. That can be temptations from the world or from the master of
this world, the Devil.
b. What you do in this situation depends a lot on how far along
Satan and the world has pulled you.
(1) Are you wanting to give into the enticement?
(a) If so, repent.
(b) You like so many that have gone before you have been
hood-winked and if you don’t do something fast,
Satan will not only destroy the work you are
thinking of quitting but you as well.
(2) Are you wanting to overcome the temptation and finish
your course with God?
(a) Then draw closer to God.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you….
(b) Remember that you have a Friend in God and He wants
to give you the victory.
Clarence Jordan was a man of unusual abilities and commitment. He had
two Ph.D.s, one in agriculture and one in Greek and Hebrew. So gifted
was he, he could have chosen to do anything he wanted. He chose to
serve the poor. In the 1940s, he founded a farm in Americus, Georgia,
and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites and
poor blacks. As you might guess, such an idea did not go over well in
the Deep South of the ‘40s.
Ironically, much of the resistance came from good church people who
followed the laws of segregation as much as the other folk in town.
The town people tried everything to stop Clarence. They tried
boycotting him, and slashing workers’ tires when they came to town.
Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him.
Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had enough of Clarence Jordan, so
they decided to get rid of him once and for all. They came one night
with guns and torches and set fire to every building on Koinonia Farm
but Clarence’s home, which they riddled with bullets. And they chased
off all the families except one black family which refused to leave.
Clarence recognized the voices of many of the Klansmen, and, as you
might guess, some of them were church people. Another was the local
newspaper’s reporter. The next day, the reporter came out to see what
remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and the land was
scorched, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting.
"I heard the awful news," he called to Clarence, "and I came out to
do a story on the tragedy of your farm closing. Clarence just kept on
hoeing and planting. The reporter kept prodding, kept poking, trying
to get a rise from this quietly determined man who seemed to be
planting instead of packing his bags. So, finally, the reporter said
in a haughty voice, "Well, Dr. Jordan, you got two of them Ph.D.s and
you’ve but fourteen years into this farm, and there’s nothing left of
it at all. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?" Clarence
stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating blue
eyes, and said quietly but firmly, "About as successful as the cross.
Sir, I don’t think you understand us. What we are about is not
success but faithfulness. We’re staying. Good day."
Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and
the farm is going strong today.
Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 188-189.
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