25 Sermon Illustrations on Overcoming

I once took a nugget to a gold-melter to be assayed. A friend in the trade explained to me that it was not enough to subject the metal in the crucible to the greatest heat from under the pot: this would only heat the gold to the furnace-heat, but could not melt it into fluid, until the charcoal was put on the top of the crucible as well as under it; and then it would be molten. "Thus," said he, "the Christian is bidden to soften down and subdue his hardest adversary in the scriptural metaphor taken from our trade,—'If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for, in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,' i.e., effectually melt and overcome him."

— J. B. Owen

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15, NIV

“Unbelievable!” I thought to myself as I drove down the highway the other day. “If this guy in the car behind me gets any closer, I’m going to have to invite him over for dinner! I mean, I’m going the speed limit, but he thinks he’s racing in the Indy 500!”

At first, I had just ignored the guy. Before I knew it, though, my pragmatic side was threatening to get the better of me: “Well, maybe I could go a few miles faster,” I thought. “What’s the difference? I mean, it’s better than having this guy ride my back bumper all the way home!” Thankfully, he turned off before I had to make a decision.

Has this situation, or one like it, ever happened to you? If you live in even a semi-urban area, I’m sure it has. As Christians, we know that we have to obey the law and not set our own speed limit, but it’s hard not to notice that other people on the road are driving like Jeff Gordon on a victory lap. And the worst part (for me, at least) is that they don’t ever seem to get a ticket. You might be forgiven for thinking that going a little faster and pushing the limits isn’t such a bad idea, but as Christians we still should do the right thing.

The rest of our lives can also follow this pattern. Most of us pray, read our Bibles, and go to church regularly. But we can’t help but see non-Christians around us eating, drinking, and being merry — and it can be so tempting to go along. A little sin here and a little sin there. What’s the difference?

God has our best interests at heart, and he has told us in Scripture that all sin is destructive. When the temptation comes, think about Paul’s words of encouragement: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

– Matt Donnelly,

Paul’s sweetest epistles were written from prison; John’s Revelation was written while he was in exile; Bunyan wrote {Pilgrim’s Progress} while in Bedford jail; Luther translated the Bible into German while incarcerated in Wartburg castle; Madame Guyon’s sweetest poems and deepest experiences were the result of her long imprisonment. Truly, “Some walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.”

________

Paul E. Holdcraft, CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press), p. 9

A captain once rushed into the presence of the general in hot

haste, and said, "General, we can never fight them, they are so

numerous; we can never conquer them." "Captain," said the general

coolly, "we are not here to count them, but we are here to conquer

them, and conquer them we must." And conquer them they did. --Ossian

Davies

Sermon on misfortune. Acts 28:1-7

DOES TROUBLE COME IN THREES?

============================

I. Why me?

II. Bad luck can be undeserved.

A. Disasters can happen to nice people, no fault of their own.

B. The supreme Bible example - Job.

III. Oppression by Satan.

A. The Bible says he is a real character, and out to harm us.

B. Satan has power, but it is limited.

IV. Oppression by God?

A. We can feel that God himself is out to get us.

B. Even Jesus faced temptation.

V. Jinxed by our own faults.

A. Many of our troubles are due to our own stupid choices.

B. Measure your life and attitudes against the Bible's commands.

C. Expectations of disaster can produce disaster.

VI. Have an overcoming attitude.

A. However bad it gets, God can turn it around.

B. The worse it gets, the more I can grow.

C. No matter how bad it is, someone else is worse off.

D. No matter how bad it is, I have much to be thankful for.

VII. Troubles are only temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #16734]

I stood on Jordan’s shore,

As my eyes the horizon scanned;

I longed to cross the river,

But feared the giants in the land.

Though God said milk and honey

Were waiting there for me,

The shadows of those giants

Were all my eyes could see.

But then He whispered gently,

“Rise up and take a stand,

For in Me you have more power

Than all the giants in the land.

For I will give you every place

Where you will set your feet;

In faith just cross on over

And put your trust in Me.”

I stepped into the water,

At my feet it rolled away;

A path opened up before me,

A straight and narrow way.

And just as He had promised,

According to His plan,

When I fixed my eyes on Him

I saw no giants in the land.

Death is life’s crowning adventure.

Can’t take the pressure, can’t take the pain.

It fills my head with sorrow again.

Nothing but suffering, can’t take the hurt.

My heart is nothing but spat on dirt.

Can’t take the tension, can’t take the stress

Why must my life be such a mess?

Can’t take the sadness, can’t escape the grief

Where on earth can I find relief?

Can’t take the anger, can’t take the rage.

Who has the power to turn this dark page?

Can’t take the work, wish there was less.

Again my life begins to digress.

Nobody comforts, nobody cares.

Nothing here but deep, dark lairs.

No one here to help me, no one to save

Maybe life should be lived from the grave.

What’s there to live for, what’s there to see.

Darkness, sadness, they consume me.

Can’t take the sadness, can’t stand the grief

Where on earth is my relief.

Nowhere on earth, nobody here

Can save me from the corruption, the fear.

But.

Somebody up there, somebody concerned

With who I am, this I have learned.

When blackness surrounds me, no hope in sight.

I call on Him and in comes the light.

He is my Savior, my God, my life.

He is the one who can free me of my strife.

And so I will worship. For him live my life.

“For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.” (Romans 16:19-20 NKJV)

Believers To Be Wise And Simple

• obedience — in the practice of Christianity, as opposed to idolatry

• come…men {become…all} -0- Rom 1:8 reported throughout the Empire

• I…behalf — I rejoice on your account

• wise…simple — 1 Cor 14:20 — a good comment on the words of Jesus, Matthew 10:16

• God…peace — who loves and gives peace

• bruise…feet — Gen 3:15, Rev 12:9-10 — producing peace by crushing the cause of strife; Satan, the evil spirit that worketh in the hearts of the disobedient

• grace — favour, love, protection

• with you — in each of you; and in your Church as a whole

Practical wisdom recommended — C. Simeon, M.A.

I. The state of mind we should cultivate:

1. “Wise unto that which is good;”

2. “Simple concerning evil.”

II. Our encouragement to live in the exercise of it:

1. The evils against which we would guard you arise, in a great measure, from the agency of Satan;

2. His influence, however, shall soon be destroyed;

3. And therefore we should maintain the conflict with lighter hearts.

Application:-Are any of you –

1. Unconscious of the difficulty of stemming the torrent?

2. Discouraged by reason of the difficulties you have to contend with? Then “encourage yourselves in the Lord your God.”

Use of the Church — Some years since, there were a couple of gentlemen passing through Rutland, the one acquainted with, the other a stranger in the place. As they drew near the upper end of the town, the stranger, pointing to a building, asked, “What is that house occupied for ?” — “That is the regular Baptist Church,” replied the acquaintance. A few hundred yards farther on, the use of another edifice was inquired after, to which it was replied, “That is the Christian Church.” “Ah, yes!” As they entered the thickly settled portion of the town, “Why! here is another church,” remarked the stranger. “Yes: that is the Freewill Baptist Church,” said the acquaintance. Below the town, half a mile, they came to another house. “That is the Presbyterian Church,” remarked the acquaintance. “Well, I declare!” said the stranger, “Rutland has the most forts to keep the Devil out of any place of its size that I ever saw.”

Influence of the Church — The sand-reed which grows on the sandy shores of Europe represents the influence of religion and the Church upon society. Its roots penetrate to a considerable depth, and spread in all directions, forming a network which binds together the loosest sands; while its strong tall leaves protect the surface from drought, and afford shelter to small plants, which soon grow between the reeds, and gradually form a new green surface on the bed of sand. But for the sand-reed, the sea-wind would long since have wafted the drift-sand far into the interior of the country, and have converted many a fruitful acre into a waste; but that invaluable grass opposes its stubborn resistance to the most furious gale. Like a radical Democrat, the wind would willingly reduce all to one common level; but the Ammophila, an obstinate Conservative, opposes an indefatigable resistance to its fury, and, after a war of centuries, still lines the flat coast with long undulating chains of protecting sand-hills. — Hartwig

“Separation from the Church is not in its own nature schism; and those Churches which, by their corruption or tyranny, render separation necessary, are the true schismatics; so that, as Vincent Alsop wittily remarks, ‘He that undertakes to play this great gun has need to be very careful and spunge it well, lest it fire at home.’” — A. Thomson

“Here is an assembly the most holy and beloved of God that ever met on earth; but it was unknown to the world. A hole, a cellar, a garret, of which men are ignorant, sometimes receives what in the eyes of God is most august.” — Quesnel

“As the different oceans, called by different names, form one body, so the different denominations of Christians form one Church.”

In Genesis 3, the crafty serpent gets Eve to focus on the one thing she may not have in the garden with a leading question, “Did God really say … you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Eve replies that they may eat from all the trees in the garden except the one in the middle, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve have everything they need in the Garden of Eden — food, a beautiful environment, each other, the animals, worthwhile work as caretakers of the earth, and a daily personal relationship with God. By tempting her with food and wisdom, the serpent gets Eve to give up a perfect garden for one gift she does not have. She shares the fruit with Adam, and the disobedience against God’s word brings them immediately into grief. They lose their innocent trusting view of life to be burdened with determinations that God did not think that they needed to make. They receive God’s punishment and are driven from the Garden so that they cannot eat from the tree of life. Pain in childbearing and painful toil in tilling the earth will be their lot until death.

Jesus, the second Adam from above, is likewise tempted by Satan. It is interesting that in both stories Satan uses food and the temptation to test God by attaining wisdom or power. The real aim is to tempt the individuals to be disobedient to God’s word. Jesus, relying on Scriptures of God’s word, counters the temptations of Satan with obedience to God. Jesus will not use special powers for his own purposes or bow down to Satan. The Kingdom of God is more important to Jesus than earthly powers or kingdoms. Jesus is fasting in a desert, not dwelling in a garden, but the crafty temptations of Satan are similar. Manipulation and lying are his chief methods.

While we are not as innocent as Adam and Eve, we are still subject to the temptations of Satan. Frequently we too are living in beautiful homes, surrounded by gardens, with plenty of all that we need. Sometimes for one thing we do not have, we are tempted to give up all that God has given us. We are blessed to have the Bible, prayer, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to guide us daily. We are blessed to have Jesus to save us from our sins and our faith in Him to make us whole when we fail. While we are not as innocent as the original couple or as good as the Son of God, still we have Jesus within, the power of His Spirit to protect and guide. We know that the Spirit within is stronger than the temptations of the world as we try to walk humbly with our God day by day.

Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou

hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction. -- Psalm 119:49, 50.

Scandal writes you a letter; but when it arrives you are so enjoying 1 Corinthians 13 that you burn the letter and pray for the writer. Poverty gives you a call, only to find you reveling in the unsearchable riches of Christ. Death invades your home, striking down your dearest and best; but instead of overwhelming you with grief, it has the effect of breaking earth's fetters, and of leading you with chastened joy to anticipate the time when you will enter upon the unreserved fellowships of eternity. -- G.H.

The joy, rebuke, the grief, the pain,

Thou sendest, Lord, is all my gain;

For all things work for good to one

Who loveth God and Thee, His Son.

1. Encamped along the hills of light,

Ye Christian soldiers, rise,

And press the battle ere the night

Shall veil the glowing skies.

Against the foe in vales below

Let all our strength be hurled;

Faith is the victory, we know,

That overcomes the world.

Chorus:

Faith is the victory!

Faith is the victory!

O glorious victory

That overcomes the world.

2. His banner over us is love,

Our sword the Word of God;

We tread the road the saints above

With shouts of triumph trod.

By faith they like a whirlwind’s breath

Swept on o’er ev’ry field;

The faith by which they conquered death

Is still our shining shield.

3. To him that overcomes the foe

White raiment shall be giv’n;

Before the angel he shall know

His name confessed in heav’n.

Then onward from the hills of light,

Our hearts with love aflame;

We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night

In Jesus’ conq’ring name.

“For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.” (Romans 16:19-20 NKJV)

Believers To Be Wise And Simple

• obedience — in the practice of Christianity, as opposed to idolatry

• come…men {become…all} -0- Rom 1:8 reported throughout the Empire

• I…behalf — I rejoice on your account

• wise…simple — 1 Cor 14:20 — a good comment on the words of Jesus, Matthew 10:16

• God…peace — who loves and gives peace

• bruise…feet — Gen 3:15, Rev 12:9-10 — producing peace by crushing the cause of strife; Satan, the evil spirit that worketh in the hearts of the disobedient

• grace — favour, love, protection

• with you — in each of you; and in your Church as a whole

Practical wisdom recommended — C. Simeon, M.A.

I. The state of mind we should cultivate:

1. “Wise unto that which is good;”

2. “Simple concerning evil.”

II. Our encouragement to live in the exercise of it:

1. The evils against which we would guard you arise, in a great measure, from the agency of Satan;

2. His influence, however, shall soon be destroyed;

3. And therefore we should maintain the conflict with lighter hearts.

Application:-Are any of you –

1. Unconscious of the difficulty of stemming the torrent?

2. Discouraged by reason of the difficulties you have to contend with? Then “encourage yourselves in the Lord your God.”

Use of the Church — Some years since, there were a couple of gentlemen passing through Rutland, the one acquainted with, the other a stranger in the place. As they drew near the upper end of the town, the stranger, pointing to a building, asked, “What is that house occupied for ?” — “That is the regular Baptist Church,” replied the acquaintance. A few hundred yards farther on, the use of another edifice was inquired after, to which it was replied, “That is the Christian Church.” “Ah, yes!” As they entered the thickly settled portion of the town, “Why! here is another church,” remarked the stranger. “Yes: that is the Freewill Baptist Church,” said the acquaintance. Below the town, half a mile, they came to another house. “That is the Presbyterian Church,” remarked the acquaintance. “Well, I declare!” said the stranger, “Rutland has the most forts to keep the Devil out of any place of its size that I ever saw.”

Influence of the Church — The sand-reed which grows on the sandy shores of Europe represents the influence of religion and the Church upon society. Its roots penetrate to a considerable depth, and spread in all directions, forming a network which binds together the loosest sands; while its strong tall leaves protect the surface from drought, and afford shelter to small plants, which soon grow between the reeds, and gradually form a new green surface on the bed of sand. But for the sand-reed, the sea-wind would long since have wafted the drift-sand far into the interior of the country, and have converted many a fruitful acre into a waste; but that invaluable grass opposes its stubborn resistance to the most furious gale. Like a radical Democrat, the wind would willingly reduce all to one common level; but the Ammophila, an obstinate Conservative, opposes an indefatigable resistance to its fury, and, after a war of centuries, still lines the flat coast with long undulating chains of protecting sand-hills. — Hartwig

“Separation from the Church is not in its own nature schism; and those Churches which, by their corruption or tyranny, render separation necessary, are the true schismatics; so that, as Vincent Alsop wittily remarks, ‘He that undertakes to play this great gun has need to be very careful and spunge it well, lest it fire at home.’” — A. Thomson

“Here is an assembly the most holy and beloved of God that ever met on earth; but it was unknown to the world. A hole, a cellar, a garret, of which men are ignorant, sometimes receives what in the eyes of God is most august.” — Quesnel

“As the different oceans, called by different names, form one body, so the different denominations of Christians form one Church.”

In the world ye shall have tribulation. — John 16:33.

If it were not so, I would have told you. — John 14:2.

Christ’s last will and testament has three portions. “In the world ye shall have tribulation”; you have got that. The next clause is — “In Me ye shall have peace.” You have that too. “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” That is yours also.

While I hear life’s surging billows,

Peace, peace is mine;

Why suspend my harp on willows?

Peace, peace is mine!

I may sing with Christ beside me,

Though a thousand ills betide me,

Safely He hath sworn to guide me,

Peace, peace is mine! — J. Denham Smith.