And some people are willing to not even talk about Jesus, give up Jesus altogether because of the social discomfort it will cause, we might be tempted to give up the promises to avoid the physical discomfort of jail, the physical discomfort of losing a job, of losing our property, the very things he's talked about in this book because of our allegiance to Jesus, don't be like Esau, who's only after his comfort, only after what made life what he thought good for him, be careful of that, we may be tempted to give all those things up to avoid the ultimate discomfort of death for Jesus, right, don't be like Esau, he's saying, you see, if we don't deal with the threat of earthly desire, we will lose sight of heavenly glory, if we don't deal with earthly desire, we will lose sight of heavenly glory and so he says, be vigilant against this threat of earthly desire, so if you would persevere, if you would endure, then you must practice vigilance, we must be vigilant, so then, persevering or enduring in the faith does not just mean enduring the blows, surely, that is a part of it, just like any boxing match, you gotta endure the blows, you don't just land them, you also endure them, surely part of it, but it also involves taking action, it takes moving forward, it takes fighting back, so if you'd endure in your faith and you have to practice some virtues, you have to strive for peace, we have to strive for peace with all men and let me just say in conclusion, we have to strive for peace with all men, which includes us with one another, that's where it starts, strive for peace with one another, that means we're going to go to war with weapons of good, it means fighting as Christ's warriors against those who would persecute us, yes, going to war with good against those who would make our lives miserable, we're gonna go after them with the weapons of good and the weapons of the gospel, you have to strive for holiness, listen, it's not a matter of gritting it out, I hope I have enough to persevere and endure, just start looking at your life and saying, God, show me where I need to grow and help me to grow, help me to go to people who will help me to grow but I must grow in holiness, those are a couple of the actions that we need to take and then you have to practice vigilance, looking out for the threats that would weaken all of us in our perseverance, be careful of unbelief, be careful of unbelief, work to strengthen your faith, know the promises of God, dig out the bitter root of defiance, don't be defiant, don't say, Lord, I'll serve you and tell, no, no and then fight the life of earthly desire, the short -sighted disease that sees only immediate comfort rather than the promise of eternal glory, may God help us in this, may God help us to move forward, not merely enduring the blows but moving in a way and taking the steps that he's called us to in order to strengthen us to endure.