Do You Want To Fight?
Foundation: Numbers 13, 1 Timothy 6:12-To posses what God has given
to you by grace you’re going to have to fight the good fight of faith
I.
There are things that can be yours that God has given to
you and yet you don’t have them (naturally) but you couldn’t say they are not
yours because God said he gave them to you
A. Numbers 13:2-In God’s heart and mind it’s their land and
yet they don’t have it naturally; you couldn’t say it wasn’t theirs because God
said “which I give unto you,” and so if God gave it to them then it’s theirs
and not the giants’ and yet they don’t have it (naturally)
B. God gave it to you when he said it, not when it showed up
1.
Genesis 1-God said it and it was
so and then He saw; it’s so the moment God said it
2.
When did Abraham become the
Father of many nations? When God said it; He was the father of many nations
long before he was the father of many nations
a. When Abraham went to possess that promise there was a
fight waiting for him
II.
What God has given to you by grace you must possess with
your faith and that’s where the fight comes in; When you go to possess what God
has given to you and what is yours there’s going to be fight waiting for you
A. 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Peter 1:4-Lay hold (possess) enteral
life; God has given unto us all things that pertain to LIFE and godliness, by
grace, and we have to possess it with our faith when we go to do that we’re
going to encounter some resistance
1.
Jesus did the work and it’s
finished and it’s yours but that doesn’t mean the enemy is just going let you
possess what’s yours uncontested
B. *If you possess with your faith what God has given to you
by grace, the enemy can’t stop you taking possession of it, but by one means
and that’s to get you out of faith and to get you to believe wrong, to believe
lies, and not the truth
1.
He’s a deceiver and he attacks by
firing lies at you that come through thoughts and feelings he’s endeavoring to
get you to believe lies, to believe wrong because that’s how he defeats you-1
John 5:4
a. If he can get
you believing lies and believing wrong he can keep you from possessing what’s
yours
2.
He launches attacks at you
through thoughts and feelings and he’s trying to get you to believe wrong and
this is where the fight comes in because these thoughts and feelings can be
constant and continual and seemingly unending and unrelenting and you’re going
to have to dig down deep to the greater one dwelling inside of you and fight
the good fight of faith and not be moved
a. Genesis 3, Matthew 4-This is how he attacked Adam and
Jesus and for many people this isn’t spectacular enough so they have to invent
something else, but this is true spiritual warfare and this is how they enemy
attacks
III.
If you don’t fight the good fight of faith you won’t
possess what’s yours; The ones who didn’t want to fight never possessed what
God promised
A. The most important thing is not the result, the most
important thing is “are you winning the fight?” and many aren’t getting the
results they believe they should because they are not winning the fight
B. Do you want to
fight? Do you love to fight? – You got to love to fight (Rocky: “I’m a
fighter Adrianne.”) – 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Ephesians 6:11
1.
Many Christians don’t want to
fight; they want to possess what’s theirs uncontested; They want to pray and
they want it to manifest instantly and when it doesn’t they go off the rails
and get in fear and unbelief and they don’t want to fight these thoughts and
feelings and lies
a. EX: We prayed
and it hasn’t changed; that’s because you’re in a fight and the enemy is doing
everything to get you to let go of your faith and he knows if he can amplify
the fact that it hasn’t changed you’ll let go of your faith, because that’s
worked on you in the past
2.
A boxer doesn’t go into the ring
dreading the fight, dreading the thought that punches are going to be thrown at
him, he loves to fight; believers wake up in the morning dreading the fight and
you won’t win a fight that you’re dreading
3.
Most people don’t like to fight because they aren’t
fighting right; they’re sitting there being bombarded and pummeled praying and
asking God to do something about the devil and there’s no verse in the NT that
says pray to God and he’ll do something about the devil
C. In Numbers 13 there’s a whole bunch of people who don’t
want to fight; not just naturally they don’t want to fight the good fight of
faith
1.
Caleb and Joshua are having the
same negative thoughts and feelings as the others, but rather than yielding to
wrong thoughts and feelings they are resisting them and casting them down
IV.
The fight is not natural, it’s spiritual and it’s a faith
fight and the fight is all about you staying in faith and believing right when
the enemy is trying to get you to let go of your faith and believe wrong
A. It’s not a circumstance fight, you’re not fighting
sickness, you’re not fighting lack Jesus gave you victory over those things and
your fight is not natural and your weapons are not carnal; the fight you’re in
is the fight to hold onto your faith and retain your faith and believe right
and believe the truth no matter what happens and if you’re doing that you’re
winning the no matter what the circumstances say
B. People have gotten the idea that they are responsible for
taking their faith and making their healing come to pass or making the money
show up, but that would make the fight natural and not spiritual
C. They are looking at the giants and the walls and the
indwelt cities and they are making the fight natural, but it’s not natural it’s
spiritual and they are losing the faith fight and that’s the only fight that
matters
V.
Fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life
A. God has given salvation to all men and the men who don’t
have it are just the ones who haven’t possessed it-Titus 2:11, Romans 5:18
1.
You confess with your mouth the
Lord Jesus and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead and
you have possessed salvation that was given to you by grace with your faith
B. If the enemy comes and starts giving a person thoughts
and feelings about how they are not saved it’s time for them to fight the good
fight of faith because if they yield to those thoughts long enough they will
let go of their faith and salvation; You possess salvation with your faith and
the only way to let go of it is if you lose your faith