Summer 2004
Dakota Community Church
Unlocking Your Victory
Introduction:
As you will have discovered by now, salvation is not a ticket to the easy life.
John 15: 20-21
20Remember the words I spoke to you: ’No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.
Ephesians 6:11
11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
John 16:33
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
In this world you will face opposition.
Three sources of opposition:
a.) Circumstantial Opposition. (A lock-out at work, Car breakdown)
b.) Spiritual Opposition. (An attack of the enemy)
c.) Human Opposition. (Those rotten people sitting in your pew.)
- All of these can be overcome!
- Hard things become easy when you have the keys. (Like being locked out of the car.)
Six keys that unlock your victory:
1. Key No. 1: Maintain faith.
All the great men and women of God had to fight to maintain faith in the face of opposition.
Think about:
- Joseph in the well and in the prison.
- David at Ziglag and during Absolom’s rebellion.
- Nehemiah against Sanballat and Tobiah.
- Abraham and Sarah waiting for Isaac.
- Mary telling Joseph she is pregnant with the Son of God.
Joshua 14: 6-14
6 Now the men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ’The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.’
10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."
13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 14 So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.
Caleb maintained faith for forty years saying, “I have the mountain now.”
2. Key No. 2: Recall your previous victories.
Take your focus off the problem, off your own inability, and put it on God by reminding yourself of the victories He has brought you before.
Revelation 12: 10-11
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
What is the word of your testimony?
- God provided for me for three years of Bible School, books and all through an anonymous donor.
- Everything worked out great when I packed up a U-Haul, left my secure paying church job and move to a hotel in this city 4000 Kms. from home.
Stir yourself up with your own tales of victory. Do some singing and shouting and praising God for the things you have already beaten in life!
3. Key No. 3: Decide.
A great many battles are lost because we stand at the fork in the road and refuse to pick a direction.
The root cause of indecision is fear. Fear is never the path to overcoming.
Decide now and don’t revisit the decision.
James 1: 7-8
7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
While an open mind is priceless, it is priceless only when its owner has the courage to make a final decision, which closes the mind for action after the process of viewing all sides of the question has been completed. Failure to make a decision after due consideration of all the facts will quickly brand a man as unfit for a position of responsibility. Not all of your decisions will be correct. None of us is perfect. But if you get into the habit of making decisions, experience will develop your judgment to a point where it is better to be right fifty percent of the time and get something done, than it is to get nothing done because you fear to reach a decision. - H.W. Andrews.
1Kings 18: 21
21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
Joshua 24: 14-15
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
4. Key No. 4: Continue sowing.
The normal reaction when the pressure is on is to go into a turtle mode.
- No more giving because I need to make sure I have the rent.
- No more ministry because I don’t want to anger the enemy.
- No more sharing my faith because it seems to be costing me friends.
Galatians 6: 7-9
7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Psalm 126: 5-6
5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
All revelation comes in seed form not as the whole fruit. Do not stop sowing in times of trouble because the only people who have a “ship coming in” are the ones who sent a ship out.
5. Key No. 5: Go on the attack.
Ephesians 6: 10-18
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
2Corinthians 10: 4-5
4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Matthew 16: 18
18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Gates are not an offensive tool they are a defensive tool.
If the gates of hell cannot overcome the church then the church must be attacking the gates.
- Get the Word in your mouth and do battle.
- Take captive those thoughts that don’t agree.
- Pray in the spirit when you don’t know how you should pray.
Notice:
There is no butt shield for running for cover.
We need to be facing down our opposition.
Recently National Geographic ran an article about the Alaskan bull moose. The males of the species battle for dominance during the fall breeding season, literally going head-to-head with antlers crunching together as they collide. Often the antlers, their only weapon are broken. That ensures defeat. The heftiest moose, with the largest and strongest antlers, triumphs. Therefore, the battle fought in the fall is really won during the summer, when the moose eat continually. The one that consumes the best diet for growing antlers and gaining weight will be the heavyweight in the fight. Those that eat inadequately sport weaker antlers and less bulk. There is a lesson here for us. Spiritual battles await. Satan will choose a season to attack. Will we be victorious, or will we fall? Much depends on what we do now--before the wars begin. The bull-moose principle: Enduring faith, strength, and wisdom for trials are best developed before they’re needed. - Craig Brian Larson.
6. Key No. 6: Praise and worship now.
Acts 16: 22-26
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
2Chronicles 20: 21-22
21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
"Give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures forever."
22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
Don’t wait until you can see the victory to thank God for it, start the celebration now!
