(Music) JERRY: Hello everyone, I'm
Jerry Savelle. Welcome to our broadcast today. Thank you
for joining me, and I pray that our program will be such a
blessing to your life today. I pray that the Word that you will
hear shared on this broadcast will inspire your faith and
encourage you to stick it out no matter how impossible it may
look, God is on your side, God is for you, and if God is for
you, no one can successfully be your enemy, praise God. We're
going to be talking about today making the decision not to quit.
I'm going to take you into a live service from the Southwest
Believers Convention right heres in Fort Worth Texas just a short
time ago sponsored by Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Once again
this year I was privileged to be one of the speakers, along with
Brother Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Creflo Dollar, and a
number of others, and we had such a powerful meeting. I
know that many of you that are watching today were not able to
come, but praise God as we show you this program and as we
show you the message that I was teaching, I believe, praise God,
that same anointing that was there in that auditorium is
going to jump right off of this broadcast into your home, into
your life, and remember, the Bible says the anointing
destroys the yoke of bondage, so get ready to be set free. Now,
I want to read to you before I take you into that broadcast
Philippians chapter three, verses 13 and 14. The apostle
Paul is speaking. "Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended, but this one thing I do. Forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before. I press, let me say that again, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Here's what I hear the apostle Paul saying: I refuse to quit. I
refuse to give up. I refuse to turn back until I have achieved
everything God wants me to do, until I have achieved and
received everything God wants me to have and everything God wants
me to be. Is that your attitude today? In other words, the man
is saying, "I'm not a quitter. I refuse to quit, and quit is not
an option." You watch now and I believe, praise God, your faith
is going to be inspired and cause you to reach the level in
your life where you too will no longer give in, give up,
or give out. Amen. JERRY: Hallelujah. We've been
talking about developing the habit of continuing,
which just simply means don't quit. Look at your neighbor
and say, "Don't quit." CONGREGATION: Don't quit.
JERRY: I love reading quotes from people who became
winners in life. Dale Carnegie once said, "Most of the
important things in the world have been accomplished by people
who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope."
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Whatever course you decide
upon, there is always someone that will tell you it can't
be done. To map out a course of action and follow it to the end
requires courage." This is author unknown, they said. "A
winner is someone who gets up one more time than he gets
knocked down." Well I know who said that. Solomon. Proverbs
24:16, "For a just man falleth seven times and riseth up
again." The way you beat the Devil, if he knocks you down
seven times, just get up eight. Amen. Babe Ruth once said, "You
just can't beat the person who won't give up." You know, I have
a problem with people who have the attitude that God will just
keep blessing us whether we continue or we don't. I have a
serious problem with that. It looks like to me the apostle
Paul was a fighter. Thank you for your enthusiasm. In fact,
apparently he loved boxing. I think maybe I might've got that
from him, I don't know. I know some of you praying that I'll
quit like boxing. It's brutal, but don't you dare pray anymore
because there's a good fight coming up this weekend and I
don't want to miss it. The apostle Paul said, "I don't
shadow box," is what he was saying. "I don't just beat
the air." CONGREGATION: That's right. JERRY: Apparently the man
was around sports and he liked sports. He talked about running,
long distance running and so forth, and this is the man who
gave us the revelation having done all to stand, stand
therefore. Amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY: Apparently, he was
a fighter. He fought for what he believed. He stood for what he
believed. He went on to say at the end of his life, "I have
fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. I have finished my
course." Then he went on to say, "I'll be rewarded for it.
There's a crown of righteousness awaiting for me." By the way,
this is also the man who gave us the revelation of grace. He was
a fighter. He refused to quit. Now, I'm sorry, but I don't know
any other way. I've been doing this for 48 years. Kenneth
Copeland taught me. I don't know any other way to be successful,
I don't know any other way to be blessed, I don't know any other
way to win but to just make the quality decision don't quit.
CONGREGATION: That's right. JERRY: Amen. Amen. CONGREGATION:
Amen. JERRY: Real Christianity is a fight. If you don't think
so, ask the Devil. It's a fight. Amen. I've been sharing with you
all week and I'll just continue to do so this morning the
importance of making the decision not to quit. Can you
say amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY: I was privileged also to
attend in 1980 the fight of the decade. I had been privileged
over the years to be involved in a number of athletes, in
mentoring them, and some of them eventually went into full time
ministry. Meadowlark Lemon was one of my sons in the Lord. In
fact, Meadowlark and I went to see Mike Tyson fight Michael
Spinks. Meadowlark said just before the fight started,
Meadowlark said, "I am so thirsty. I'm going to go get us
a Coke." I said, "Meadowlark, you'd better not. They're coming
out of the dressing room. This fight's about to start." He
said, "Well, everybody's in here and nobody'll be out at the
concession stand, so I'ma go get us a Coke." I said, "Meadowlark,
you'd better not go. This thing's about to start, man."
You know, there was electricity in the air, so Meadowlark
decided to go get a Coke. When he came back, everybody was on
their feet screaming. The fight lasted 91 seconds. It was over.
Meadowlark's standing there with two Cokes. He said, "What
happened?" I said, "It's over. You missed it. The whole thing."
I was given these tickets to the Sugar Ray Leonard Roberto Duran
rematch in New Orleans at the Super Dome, so I told my wife
and girls, "I'm going to take you on a little vacation," so we
went to New Orleans. I spent time with them until the fight
night, and then I left them in the hotel and went over to the
fight. Super Dome. Man, the place is packed. This is 1980.
The place is packed. This is the rematch. Duran had beat Sugar
Ray in Montreal, and now it's the rematch, and Sugar Ray
didn't fight his fight. He tried to be macho and stand toe to toe
with Duran, but Duran was known as, his nickname was Little
Hands of Stone, and he was great, in fact one of the
greatest lightweight champions ever, and he hated Sugar Ray
Leonard. It's the rematch. It's the fight of the decade. Man, I
could hardly wait. By the eighth round, it was obvious that Duran
was so frustrated. He turned his back on Sugar Ray Leonard and
walked to the referee and said, "No mas." No mas, which means no
more, and he went to his corner. He quit. One of the greatest
lightweight champions in the history of boxing. Professionals
don't quit. I'd never seen that in my life. I've watched boxing
all my life. I'd never seen a professional quit. I was
shocked. The whole place was shocked. Ray Arcel, his trainer,
he was screaming at Duran. "Don't quit! Don't quit!" Duran
says that he said, "I don't want to fight this clown anymore."
And he quit. Now, the place went nuts. In fact, the best fights
started in the arena. It got real dangerous in there. The
cops come in with Billy clubs and beating those people over
the head and dragging them out and it's happening real close to
me. They got Ali out of there, and I thought, "Man, this is no
place to be," so I walked up to the ring apron, and I'm watching
all these fights and then suddenly I realize I'm standing
right next to Howard Cosell. Everybody hates him, and I moved
away from him. No mas. Now, let me give you his record. Roberto
Duran. 103 fights, 70 knockouts, and only 16 losses, but he quit.
Now, he went on to continue to fight and he won championships
in other divisions, but to this day when the boxing world hears
the name Roberto Duran, everybody thinks "No mas."
CONGREGATION: No mas, that's right. JERRY: No mas. He was
never able to shake no mas. They recently made a movie about him.
No mas. Don't let that be your legacy, that in the biggest
fight of your life, no mas. CONGREGATION: Come on, that's
right. JERRY: You quit. That is not the legacy you want and oh,
a number of preachers have fallen over the years, many of
them doing great things for God, winning thousands, even hundreds
of thousands of people over to Christ, and even though they
endeavor to make a comeback, it's hard to get rid of the
image that you failed, that you quit. Well, the way you can
avoid that is just don't ever quit and just don't ever fall to
start with. Can you say amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY: Now,
I realize we all make mistakes. Oral Roberts said to me one
time, I was sitting right across from him in his office, he said,
"Jerry, do you know I have never made a mistake in my life?" I
looked at him with my eyebrows raised. He said, "Well, not
intentionally." Amen. Not intentionally. We all make
mistakes from time to time. Thank God that's what grace is
all about. That's what mercy is all about. The privilege to get
up, brush yourself off, start over again, make the decision
I'm not going to quit, I'm not going to fall, that is not the
way I want to live. Can you say amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY:
Thank God for grace and thank God for the mercy of God. Folks,
we're in a fight. The good fight of faith. I remember hearing
Brother Copeland preach about the good fight of faith back in
1969 when I first surrendered my life to the Lord. I kept
thinking, "What is the good fight of faith?" And he answered
it for me before the sermon was over. A good fight is a fight
you win. Amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY: When I was
in college, I was boxing in college, I'd come home sometimes
and my eyes were swollen shut and my nose is over on this side
of my face and my dad would say, "Son, what are you learning in
school?" I said, "I'm trying to learn how to duck." He said,
"Well, did you win?" If I didn't win, we didn't talk about it. "I
don't want to talk about it." Well, what happened? "I don't
want to talk about it." But boy, when I won you couldn't shut me
up. Did I tell you. I remember fighting this golden glove
champion from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Nobody told me he was
a golden glove champion. We just got in the ring together, and
that's the last thing I remember. He knocked me into
tomorrow. When I woke up, I was back in my dorm and I said,
"What happened?" They said, "You lost." Amen. Let's go back to
the Scripture we've been basing this on in Galatians chapter
six. "Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. He that soweth to
the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Let us
not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if
we faint not." If we faint not. Everybody shout if we faint not.
CONGREGATION: If we faint not. JERRY: Now, somebody told me,
I believe it was a teacher in school when I was a young boy.
If represents a condition. If we faint not. In other words, I
have a part in this. My part is don't think, don't quit. I have
no promise of a harvest if I quit. I have no promise of a
harvest if I faint. I do have a part, and my part is see to it
you don't faint. See to it you don't give up. See to it you
don't go dig up your seed. See to it you wait patiently. Amen.
If you wait patiently, standing on the Word of God, then you
will reap a harvest. That's the promise of God. Can you say
amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY: I might add that Genesis chapter
eight verse 22 as I mentioned yesterday, "As long as the earth
remains, seed time and harvest shall not cease." God intended
from the very beginning for man to be a seed sower. That's how
He intended for man to have his life sustained. You remember
after creating Adam and Eve, then it says, "Behold I have
given you every herb bearing seed, for you it shall be meat."
Other translation says provision. What did God do?
First after creating him, he pronounced the blessing on him,
which was an empowerment to succeed, and then He said, "And
now I'm giving you seed. I want you to be a sower of seed.
That how you'll have your life sustained. As long as at earth
remains, seedtime and harvest shall not cease." You're
expected to be a seed sower today. A man's harvest in life,
the Phillips translation says, "A man's harvest in life depends
entirely upon the seeds that he sows." That means that I'm in
control of my destiny. Not the Devil. Not the government. Not
anybody else. I'm in control based on the seeds that I sow.
Now, that works both in the negative and in the positive. As
I said yesterday, I grew up knowing the principle of seed
time and harvest. Nobody showed it to me in the Bible, but every
time I did something wrong, you're going to reap what you
sow, boy. Everytime somebody that we knew, you know, bad
things were happening in their life, one of my parents would
say, "They're just reaping what they sowed." Now, we all
believed that principle where the negative was concerned.
Well, why is it the church is fighting over the positive side
over it? CONGREGATION: That's right. Amen. JERRY: I'm in
control of my destiny, and it's all based on the seeds that I
sow. Can you say amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY:
You can't keep me from having a harvest if I'm sowing seeds, and
if I don't faint, I will have a harvest. Now, I was challenged
many years ago for preaching about the hundredfold return. It
was quite a group that was in that meeting, fussing over the
hundredfold return. I stayed quiet for a long time,
just listening. I went to that meeting saying, "I'm not going
to talk, I'm just going to listen," but the spirit of Smith
Wigglesworth come on me. When someone said, "When Jesus talked
about the hundredfold return, that was just a metaphor,"
I couldn't take it anymore. I said, "Sir, could I ask you a
question? What does a field full of metaphor look like?" He said,
"What?" I said, "What does a field full of metaphor look
like?" He said, "I don't understand." Well, Isaac sowed
in famine and reaped a hundredfold in the same year.
Tell me what a field full of meta fold- CONGREGATION:
Metaphor. JERRY: Metaphor looks like. CONGREGATION: Go
on, Jerry. JERRY: Come on. He couldn't answer me. Then
somebody said, "Well, you mean to tell me every time you
sow seed, you believe for a hundredfold?" I said, "Yes." I
said, "When Carolyn and I first started out, tenfold wouldn't
help us. If all we got was tenfold on our seed, we still in
trouble. We had to believe for the hundredfold." Then they
said, "Well, you've got a hundredfold on every seed you've
sown?" I said, "Not yet, but it ain't over if you faint not."
Can you say amen? CONGREGATION: Amen. JERRY: You can
just go on and believe what you want to, but
as for me and my house, we decided don't quit is the
best policy, praise God. Don't faint. Just keep
standing and having done all to stand, stand some more
until you win. Hallelujah. Now folks, if there was any
other way for winning, I'd be preaching about it. I don't know
any other way, but stand, having done all to stand, and stand
therefore and when you feel like quitting, stand some more, and
it looks like it's not working, keep on standing, and if
everybody's telling you you're a fool for continuing, keep on
standing, keep on standing, keep on standing, and eventually you
going to have your harvest, hallelujah. Give the Lord a
shout if you believe it. Amen. ANNOUNCER: Are you facing a
challenge in life? Do you need encouragement or help getting
back on your feet? In the inspiring three CD teaching
Master Life's Challenges Instead of Them Mastering You, Jerry
Savelle does just that. As he discusses the reality of
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God's best in every area of your life. In the timely book Going
for the Gold, Jerry Savelle shares God's expectations for
the church and His plan for you to experience His best. Going
for the Gold is a journey of self discovery where you will
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discipline, and so much more. Call or go online now to
JerrySavelle.org and request the powerful combo Master Life's
Challenges Instead of them Mastering You and
Going for the Gold. Don't settle for second best.
Make the decision to start experiencing God's
best in your life today. JERRY: I love it when people
testify to how God honored His Word in their behalf.
God is no respecter of persons. He'll do the same for
you that He's done for anybody else if you'll dare to believe
His Word and refuse to quit. I have a couple more testimonies
that have been written into us. This is from Jason. "My son and
I got saved two years ago. A whole new world opened up for
us, and our entire family has been amazingly blessed. Peace,
health, and finances have been restored in our family, and
God has opened one door after another. Thank you for helping
spread the Gospel and teaching me about tithing, sowing, and
reaping." We rejoice with you, Jason, and I thank God that
you've learned how to put the Word of God first place in your
life, and I rejoice with you and how God is touching you and your
entire family. Here's one from Joseph. "After having a roof
adjuster come out to check out our roof that had been damaged,
they told us we probably would not be covered. We prayed and
stood in agreement," and listen to this, "and believed for favor
just like you taught us. Within four hours on that same day, we
got approved for our claim, the deductible was waved, and we got
an upgrade on our shingles. We got warranty for 40 years at no
charge to us." Well, Joseph, I agree with you. The favor of
God was at work in your life. Listen, if you have a testimony
as a result of listening to the broadcast or you've been in a
service where I've preached, please share it with us. Every
time we share these testimonies, it inspires others to continue
to believe God and do not quit. Let me remind you of our special
offer once again. These are three CDs. Master Life's
Challenges So That They Don't Master You. Powerful teaching
from the Word of God that will inspire you to keep sticking it
out. No matter how impossible it looks, God will come through for
you. Don't you ever give up on God. Don't ever give up on His
Word. Along with this package is Going for the Gold, a little
book that I wrote a number of years ago that is such a
powerful book you can read it in just a few moments, but once
again, it's talking about going for God's best. Don't settle for
anything less than God's best. Place your order today. All the
ordering information is on the screen right now, and I think if
you go ahead and write that information down and place your
order, you're going to be so thrilled that you did and not
waste time about it. Don't put it off. Order today because I
know these messages will help you in your spiritual growth and
will help you in growing your faith. Thanks again for watching
our broadcast today. Don't forget, hook up with us on
social media. We'd love to stay connected with you, so
tune in again next week, and remember this: Your faith
will overcome the world. (Music) ANNOUNCER: Next week.
JERRY: Victory comes with a cost. Victory comes
with a price. Grace got me in, hallelujah.
Grace forgave all my sins, but Jesus didn't do
all my fighting for me. He requires me to fight
the good fight of faith. (Music)
