The Gift Of Victory

0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:06.359 God brought a scripture to my memory from First Corinthians, 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:13.000 chapter fifteen. I read from verse fifty four Verse Corinthians, 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:22.120 Chapter fifteen, Verse fifty four. When the perishable has been 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:28.360 clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:34.600 the saying that is written will come true. Death has 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:44.440 been swallowed up in victory. Where oh death is your victory, 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:49.680 Where oh death is your sting. The sting of death 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:53.960 is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:58.120 But thanks be to God he gives us the victory 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:03.480 through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:10.080 stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.920 to the work of the Lord, because you know that 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:18.800 your labor in the Lord is not in vain. What 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.920 a word today. I want to talk to you from 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:25.240 an unusual topic. I want to speak about the gift 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.160 of victory. I want to give you. Go ahead, put 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:29.440 your hands out, because I want to give you your 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:33.160 first Christmas gift. You hadn't open anything yet, have you 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:38.200 all right? We'll get ready for this, the gift of victory. 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.040 Somebody shot is mine, It's mine, It's mine. I want it. 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.600 I take it. I receive it. It's mine, it's got 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:48.360 my name on it. Huh, let's unwrap this together. Today 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.360 you be seated in God's presence, the gift of victory. 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.280 I think my oldest son, Elijah put it best one time. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.280 I don't remember how many years ago this was, but 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.120 he was having a hard time in school because they 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.160 were dividing up and playing this certain game with this 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:09.800 certain team at recess, and they kept losing. And one 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:12.320 of the girls in his class said, Elijah, quit having 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.400 such a bad attitude. It's not if you win or lose, 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:20.040 it's if you're having fun. So he came home mad 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.800 every day. You know, we lost again, and whatever her 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.040 name was said, it's not whether you win or lose, 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:28.680 it's whether or not you have fun. After about three 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:30.760 days of this, he comes home. This is the most 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.440 brilliant thing that has ever been said in the furdic howhole. 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:37.480 Listen what he said. He said, Dad, today I got her. 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:39.639 I said, you got who you'll want. He said, no, 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:44.200 we still lost. But when she said that, after we lost, 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:46.840 his teammate who kept saying it's not whether you win 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.520 or lose, it's whether you have fun, he said, I 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:53.200 was ready, and this time when she said it, she said, Elijah, 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.880 it's not if you win or lose, it's whether you 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.359 have fun. I said, well, I'm not having fun if 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:06.440 I'm not with that's my boy. That's my boy. He's 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:11.400 got that anointing of antagonism, not anointing us counter attack 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:16.520 based in sound logic. That's the truth. Man, I'm not 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:21.320 having fun if I'm not winning. And maybe you're not competitive, 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:26.200 you little Pollyanna positive. It's not whether you win or lose. 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:31.680 That's fine. But our family is very different. Our family 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:37.040 does not have game nights. Oh we try. They were 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.760 too bloody and traumatic. I figured if I kept having 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.080 game nights with my kids, the therapy bill would be 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.160 through the roof when they get older. Because it just 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:48.720 always it always ended poorly. And y'all pray for Holly 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.040 because she has this competitive spirit that would come out 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:56.640 at game night. You'll believe that, y'all believe she was 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:01.920 the problem. Be a first time guest. If you believe that. 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:05.720 Now it was all of us, really, every single one 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:07.200 of us. We're now we have a lot of good 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:09.600 family traditions. I mean, I think that our family is 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.040 pretty cool, really cool I'm really proud of our family 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:15.200 we got we have. We had a family lunch club. 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.800 When the kids were smaller, we had a uh, we 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.520 had a Pixar challenge. You know. It's funny though, even 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.039 when we set out a few summers ago to watch 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:28.440 every Pixar movie as a family. We made it a 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:33.760 competition of which Pixar movie was the best? Oh man, 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:41.360 we got issues and Monopoly no, mm hmmm, I can't 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:46.719 even say Monopoly without my family feeling some uh some PTSD. 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:51.320 But I think the reason I wanted to use that 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.320 kind of as an example before I get to this 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.080 scripture that I read you in First Corinthians, I really 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.600 want to illustrate isolate and hopefully the Holy Spirit will 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.120 illuminate the principle in the contrast that Paul is giving 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:07.919 here in First Corinthians. Because he speaks about the victory 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:10.800 that God gives put up verse fifty six again or 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:15.200 verse fifty seven rather where he says thanks be to God, 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:21.039 he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:24.680 That's a wonderful scripture. Is the kind of scripture that 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.120 you often see hanging up like in a weight room 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.159 or football locker room. God gives us the victory because 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:34.719 he doesn't like the other team. His favor is on us, 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.000 So we're going to win because God is with us. 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:40.080 Mighty warrior, and other scriptures that are taken out of context, 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.000 But it's good. It's a good scripture to put up 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:43.880 in a locker room, is an amazing scripture to put 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.120 up anywhere. I just want to point out that in 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.839 this particular passage, Paul is not so much concerned about 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:55.200 external victories as he is about the internal victory that 0:05:55.279 --> 0:06:01.200 God has promised us over sin. Is no good to 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.200 win in every other area of your life if the 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:08.760 victory over sin in your life is theoretical and abstract. 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.320 In other words, Paul is saying that there will come 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.800 a day where the perishable will put on imperishable, where 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.960 the corruptible will put on incorruptible. He's talking about the 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:23.240 resurrection of the righteous, which will come in the last days. 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.880 He's basing this expectation in the example of Jesus Christ, 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:30.359 who did exactly that when he got up out of 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.760 the grave. I mean, that's a pretty big win when 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:37.800 you beat death. Floyd Mayweather is still undefeated, but death 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.880 isn't death got its first loss after Jesus hung on 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.520 the cross said is finished. But I'm not done, because 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:49.000 after I get the keys to death, hell and the grave, 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:52.279 I'm gonna go tell my brothers you get up too. 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:58.919 That's awesome. There is a principle in the text of 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.200 Already and not Yet that is as Paul is giving 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.800 them an expectation of a future event of resurrection in 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:09.680 their life, he is giving them an exhortation, which simply 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:15.000 means to urge in a very determined fashion. It's an 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:21.880 expectation and an exhortation. He says that God has given 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.720 us the victory, or more specifically, he gives us the victory. 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.960 And I make that distinction because it's something that continues 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:34.480 to happen, not something that happens once and then just 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:39.400 stays that way. He gives us the victory. Every day 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.840 I wake up is a choice will I win this day? 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.200 Every time that the sin in my life that rears 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.640 his head and says you belong to me, tries to 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.680 defy the righteousness of God that Jesus Christ imparted through 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.880 the Holy Spirit into my life, it is an opportunity 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.160 for me to either fi the sin that claims to 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.920 have mastery over me, or to deny the power that 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.400 lives in me, because of what Jesus already did for me. 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:14.239 He gives us the victory. You see what I'm saying. 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:18.320 And it doesn't happen all at once. It doesn't happen 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:23.920 all at once. It happens incrementally. It happens gradually. Oh yeah, 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.680 it's a victory that you can depend on, But it 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.840 is not a victory that you can deposit and forget 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:33.280 about it and live off of the dividends. It is 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:37.360 a victory that is given to be received with every 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:41.600 rising of the sun. And nothing feels worse in life, 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.480 I'm telling you right now, especially for a competitive person, 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.920 nothing feels worse in life than to give yourself to 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:56.679 something that you can't win at. Nothing feels worse. That's 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:01.400 why I quit tennis. I was going out there all 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.880 the time and Larry Hubacka beat me, and he had 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:08.560 not played in six years, but he played in middle school. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.920 And once I figured out I couldn't win, I quit. 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.040 That was my last tennis lesson that day he beat me. 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:19.640 Still feel bad about it. I'm thinking about challenging him 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:21.280 to a wrestling match, because that's what I did in 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.880 middle school. Let's see who wins on the mat. How 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:29.800 about that? I came across the term in Harvard Business 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.000 Review recently that was describing what the author claimed was 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.200 a social phenomenon, yet the Bible has been clear about 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:37.920 long before they got a hold of it in the 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:42.600 business community. He was talking about how employees are now 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:49.440 rather than leaving their jobs, withdrawing their hearts, and he 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:57.080 called it the quiet quit. If you feel underappreciated and 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:03.560 undervalued in the workplace, don't leave your paycheck or your benefits. 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:06.560 Don't walk in the office, stand up on the desk, 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.679 burn something, throw it in the trash can, light the 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:13.360 place on fire, and go to jail. Just show up, 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:21.080 but not really. Just come at the last minute and 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:26.760 leave at the first opportunity. Don't stay late, don't offer 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.080 to do anything that's going to inconvenience you in any way. 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:35.520 It's called the quiet quit, That's what he said. He 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.280 said that this is not only a trend that we 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.760 now have a cute name for, but it is a 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:48.280 human instinct that when I am giving to something where 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.400 I do not feel i'm winning, that it may not 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.439 happen all at once, and I may not announce it. 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:57.720 I may not throw a party. This is my last day. 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:02.360 Y'all can kiss my ring finger. This is going online. 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.040 So I just say things in a certain way so 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:11.480 it can be acceptable. It's called a quiet quit. Quiet 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:16.200 quit when Paul says in First Corinthians, and I'm going 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.320 to illustrate this in just a moment, but first, let 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.680 me preach the principle that God gives us the victory 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:28.040 through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the expectation when he 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:32.840 says in verse fifty eight, Therefore stand firm, letting nothing move. 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:37.520 You always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:41.320 That is the exhortation. And I wonder did God give 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:45.200 me this word today, called the gift of victory To 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:50.280 someone who is in the middle of a quiet quit 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.600 in your life. You have not announced that you are 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:59.000 an atheist, and you don't plan too. You didn't change 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.640 your bio on Instagram too. I hate good dot com. 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:08.160 But deep down in your heart, since you're not winning, 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:16.840 it seems like the only logical response is to quietly 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:22.080 quit trying. Because if I quit trying, then when I 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:27.560 don't win, I'll understand why if I quit trying, if 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.640 I completely give in to the sin, I will no 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:33.760 longer have to resist it. So I won't feel weak 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.360 because I won't be fighting. If I lay down and 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:41.040 die and quit trying to be a joyful, positive person 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.840 and completely give into the cynicism that tries to run 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:48.880 the operating system of my life, I won't lose because 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.640 I didn't show up. And if I take my ball 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.800 and go home, if I take my belief and go home, 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:58.920 the devil can't whip me, because if he can't find me, 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.240 he can't beat me. So I'm going to hide behind 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.880 excuses and pretend like I don't want it and settle 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.640 for stuff that I used to struggle against. And I'm 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.280 not going to announce it because if I announce it, 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.199 somebody might come get me and pull me out of it. 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.160 So what I'll do rather than announcing it, rather than 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.040 quitting in a way that people can perceive, I will 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.640 just show up in my body, but I will not 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.600 be present in my mind. I will not bring my 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.520 best I will not bring my heart, I will not 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.960 bring my ideas. I will not bring my playfulness. I 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.680 will not bring who I really am, because if I 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.600 don't bring who I really am, then you can't beat 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.880 who I really am. I will hide behind the excuse 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:49.840 that I don't want it anymore. What could be more 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:56.000 miserable than to live as a Christian with the promise 0:13:56.120 --> 0:14:03.480 that God gives you the victory, but to live far 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:09.080 beneath the reality of that promise, to know that you 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:15.800 are forgiven, but to live without victory over sin. I 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.160 saw bumpersticker one time. It's that Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven. 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:25.840 I'm like, dang, that's good, and that's kind of not true. Okay, 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.560 we're not perfect, that part is true, but just forgiven, 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.680 Like that's the whole goal, right, Like, Hey man, we 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:39.600 run around, we lie, we talk just like everybody else. 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.240 We're hateful just like everybody else. We don't really have 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:47.960 any different standard. We're just forgiven. The world definitely wants 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.600 to join our team. Hey, come to church with me. 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.800 My life sucks just like yours. I make the same 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.560 excuses you make. I have the same old broken patterns 0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.440 you have. Come to church with me, get some of this. 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:14.040 You know. To be forgiven, but not to live in victory. 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:18.480 It's misery because I know I'm supposed to be able 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:20.880 to get over this. I know I'm supposed to be 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.560 able to forgive this. I know I'm supposed to be 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.160 able to say no to this. I know I'm supposed 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.560 to be able to pray this away. I know I'm 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.320 supposed to be better than this. I know I'm bigger 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:38.680 than this petty offense. But I'm forgiven. So you think 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:42.200 the whole goal for life is for God to just 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.560 get you to fall into forgiveness and never get back 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:50.320 up and live in victory. I see a lot of 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.360 people in culture these days who are really good, even 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.080 in Christianity. I'm not talking about the world. I'm talking 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.120 about us who are really good at falling into forgiveness. 0:15:58.120 --> 0:15:59.880 And hey, I have to do it too. I had 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:02.760 to do it Friday. Friday, I saw myself doing something 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:04.800 so dumb. I'm like, oh God, wait, if I was 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:06.080 gonna do something this done, why did I do it 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.440 on Monday so I'd have time before I preach to 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.760 get this out of my system. That's too close to 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.240 preaching to be messing up like that. And I had 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:15.240 to ask him, God, help me, help me. I got 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.480 people coming to hear me talking I'm an idiot. God 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.800 help me, I have to do that too. But is 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:24.400 that all that he died for? Just so I have 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:28.640 to fall into the same pit over and over again. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:35.200 And I'm just forgiving and I'm just frustrated because it's 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:39.960 no fun if I'm not winning. It's no fun to 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:44.520 come in church and sing songs about victory and go 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:50.680 back to defeat over and over and over again. And 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.920 that's why some people just watch online every six weeks now. 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.320 Because I did a quiet quit, because I didn't stop 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.920 believing in God, but I did stop coming to church. 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:04.760 I'm not talking about those who are and are you fami, 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:07.760 who are giving and contributing and serving and praying. That's wonderful. 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:11.480 I'm talking about the quiet quit. I'm talking about when 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:13.879 you keep on watching sermons in the background if you 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.280 don't have anything more important. The quiet quit. I'm talking 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:20.439 about picking the scriptures that aligne with your lifestyle, and 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:23.240 never the ones that challenge you, and only quoting the 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.320 ones that make you feel good, the cute ones. I'm 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:30.240 talking about the quiet quit. But thanks me to God 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:35.320 who gives us the victory. He didn't die just so 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.439 I could be forgiven. He didn't die just so I 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.880 could fall. He died so I could rise with him. 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:48.320 And I expect resurrection because the stick promised it. He 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:58.920 gave me an iou with him, We rise with him, 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:02.960 We rie say with him, I rise just like he did. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:07.800 So there's an example of an expectation that the perishable 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.159 will be swallowed up an imperishable. And he uses the 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:18.919 best example. If Jesus beat the grave, what do you 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:26.400 have permission to stay down in? Because that's the ultimate right. 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.760 If I bene three hundred, you better get this one 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:34.440 fifty five. And I did do that one time. I'm 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:35.760 not going to tell you how long ago it was, 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.160 but I did do it one time. Jesus said, if 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:44.200 I got up out of this, do not use forgiveness 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:53.320 as permission for failure. Am I preaching a good Christmas sermon? 0:18:53.400 --> 0:19:00.400 Or what y'all are like? Where's the manger? A little 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.479 baby Christianity that just wants to keep Jesus quiet and 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.280 cute the little Lord Jesus. What's the hymn that says 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:13.680 the little Lord Jesus? No crying? He makes well? Not 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:15.960 only did he sweat drop some great blood when he 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:18.840 went to the cross, but the Bible says, because if 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:20.560 we want to take Jesus like that, it's just a 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:25.040 symbol of our salvation. But he does not become the 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:29.399 spiritual dynamic by which we overcome temptation in our life. 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:32.879 Then what are we to do with the fact that 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:36.600 when Jesus was dying on the cross, it said he 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.240 endured it, despising its shame for the joy set before him. 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.959 He wasn't just dying up there. I know how this 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:47.840 kind of message can sound. It can't sound super Baptist. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.840 It's like stop sinning. I'm not saying stop sinning. I'm 0:19:52.880 --> 0:20:00.399 saying stop stopping. That's what I'm saying. Because if I 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.119 were going to say stop sinning, then I would have 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:04.080 had to reach a state of sinless perfection and I 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.280 would be Jesus and I would not be here. If 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.680 I was Jesus, I'll be in heaven with the angels, 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.399 getting ready to have my birthday party on December twenty fifth. 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.680 But thanks v to God. Don't you love the way 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:21.080 he frames that? He said, the sting, how do you 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:22.800 say it? I want to get it right? Verse fifty six, 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.760 Verse fifty six. The sting of death is sin and 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.480 the power of sin is the law? Oh no, what 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:31.520 am I going to do? If the power of sin 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:33.520 is the law that God gave so that I would 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:35.880 know how to live, But that very law that had 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:37.760 the power to show me how to live, I was 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.440 powerless to do it because of my sinful nature? Then 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:46.040 what what thanks be to God? In this phrase is 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:54.960 very paradoxical. Who gives us the victory which doesn't even 0:20:54.960 --> 0:21:01.919 seem to be a real thing because a victory is 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:06.280 not something that is typically given, is something that is won. 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:10.480 Think about, think about, think about, think about when he 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:13.720 said give me the verse again, he gives us the 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:20.080 victory that in itself is a miracle, because a victory 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:25.159 again again, If somebody wants to give you socks this Christmas, 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:28.560 they can give you socks. If somebody wants to give 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:30.360 you this Christmas, I mean, what are you hoping for 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.480 for this Christmas? A microwave oven? Where they can give that. 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:36.080 If Oprah wants to give you a trip to Australia, 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:38.600 she can give you a trip to Australia. I can't 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:42.640 do that. I'm not on the Oprah level. But when 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:46.280 he said he gives us the victory, it's almost confusing 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:49.840 because it almost sounds as if God is co opting 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:54.720 a participation trophy mentality of salvation, like He's just gonna 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:58.119 give you stuff without you having to go for it. 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.600 That's why I'm really excited about the exhortation that follows 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:08.320 the expectation. He said, he gives us the victory verse 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:16.280 fifty eight. Therefore, stand firm, let nothing move you. Always 0:22:17.040 --> 0:22:22.480 give yourself fully to the work of the Lord. So 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:25.840 here's what I want to ask you today, brothers and sisters, 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:29.960 like Paul asked the church at court, I want to 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:34.919 ask you on behalf of the Holy Spirit. Are you 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:38.520 more committed to verse fifty seven than you are verse 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:46.720 fifty eight? Cause verse fifty seven talks about what God 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:52.679 gives the victory. Verse fifty eight talks about what you 0:22:52.760 --> 0:23:00.879 give yourself. And if you don't give your self to 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:05.840 it and expect God to give it to you, you 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:10.480 are gonna live your whole life frustrated, wondering why I'm 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:13.919 still staying down in stuff that Christ gave me the 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:20.840 power to rise from. That's the message God said, I'm 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:24.479 gonna give it to you. But then because you've got it, 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:27.800 somebody shout, I've got it. No, I need you to 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:30.240 shout that better than you shouted it. Say I got it. 0:23:31.400 --> 0:23:34.640 I've got the victory, I've got the joy, I've got 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:38.159 the promise. I've got the assurance. I've got the blood 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:42.280 of Jesus. I've got the pardon of sin. I've got reconciliation. 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:45.320 I've got the name of Jesus. I've got a great 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:49.400 high priest who intercedes with me. I've got wisdom. I've 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:52.320 got knowledge that God wants me to have. I've got 0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:55.320 the experience for the thing I'm going through now. Shout 0:23:55.560 --> 0:23:58.400 I got it. Look at your neighbor like you got 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:00.520 something to be proud of. Say I got it. I 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:03.600 got that thing. I got it on the inside. You 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:06.320 didn't give it. You can't take it. I'm not asking 0:24:06.359 --> 0:24:08.520 you for it. I'm not begging for it. I'm not 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:11.680 posting about it. But that doesn't mean I don't got it. 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:15.160 I got direction from God. I got new mercies when 0:24:15.200 --> 0:24:17.800 I woke up. I got it in my cup of coffee. 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:20.760 I got it when I lay my pillow, I got it. 0:24:21.000 --> 0:24:23.919 I got the assurance and the hope of Heaven. I 0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:27.800 have a heavenly calling. I got a shame breaking annointing 0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:31.520 that makes it possible for me to triumph over the 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:34.960 works of the devil. Let's get out three high fives. 0:24:35.000 --> 0:24:38.840 Tell somebody, I got it. I got it, I got it. 0:24:39.040 --> 0:24:42.680 I got that thing. I got that thing. I got 0:24:42.720 --> 0:24:46.560 the anointing. What got the victory? He cut the power? 0:24:46.800 --> 0:24:51.280 What cat resurrection? This in my polls. I got wrecked 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:54.960 the prasim. I got strength to praish. I gotta right 0:24:55.080 --> 0:24:58.480 the prashm. I got permission to praism. I got the 0:24:58.520 --> 0:25:01.200 INDs to do the thing he gave me the deal. 0:25:01.560 --> 0:25:04.320 I got the seed of the world of God. It's 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.560 a little bitty, but it's gonna grow. I got faith. 0:25:07.880 --> 0:25:13.360 I got not moving faith. I got grace, gully washing, grace, sideration, 0:25:13.480 --> 0:25:21.800 and grace. I got it. I got it, I got it. 0:25:23.320 --> 0:25:30.360 I got it. It's a gift. I didn't learn it, 0:25:31.040 --> 0:25:35.360 don't deserve it, but I got it. Couldn't work for it, 0:25:35.600 --> 0:25:38.840 couldn't clide to it, but I got it. Try to 0:25:38.960 --> 0:25:42.120 run from it, fright for the diet. Tried to get 0:25:42.160 --> 0:25:45.560 away from it. But I got it. I got good this, 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:53.480 I got mercy. I got him like it. My dad 0:25:53.560 --> 0:25:55.919 gave it to me. I got it. He put it 0:25:55.960 --> 0:25:58.960 on the tree, not under the tree. When he died 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:02.119 on the tree, on the old rugged cross and his 0:26:02.320 --> 0:26:08.879 flood ran down, he gave me the victory. Thanks be 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:13.720 to God. You got me if I fall for this 0:26:13.840 --> 0:26:18.919 indescribable gift. He gave it to me. He gave it 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:22.399 to me. He gave it to me. But sometimes I 0:26:22.440 --> 0:26:27.680 don't give myself to it. And Paul said, is expectation, 0:26:28.240 --> 0:26:31.840 But there's an exhortation. If he gave it to you, 0:26:31.840 --> 0:26:36.520 you gotta give yourself to it. You can't quiet quit. 0:26:36.800 --> 0:26:40.280 You can't loud shout in church and quiet quit at home. 0:26:42.320 --> 0:26:47.040 Shout on that. But you better keep south. And when 0:26:47.080 --> 0:26:50.120 it gets hard this week, you better get shouting when 0:26:50.119 --> 0:26:52.840 you look at those bills this week. You better get 0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:55.640 shouting when it comes over you this week and you think, 0:26:55.680 --> 0:26:59.200 O God, I'm about to go crazy. I can't quit 0:27:00.320 --> 0:27:06.600 something eternal, imperishable, incorruptible, the seed of the Word of God. 0:27:07.640 --> 0:27:10.160 Y'all sit down before I break my neck. I got it. 0:27:10.520 --> 0:27:12.879 I got it. I got it. I got it. I 0:27:12.920 --> 0:27:15.320 got it. I got it. I got it. Catch it, 0:27:15.400 --> 0:27:17.679 I got it, catch it, I got it, catch it, 0:27:17.800 --> 0:27:19.840 I got it. I got it. I got it, I 0:27:19.880 --> 0:27:24.160 got it, I got it, I got it. So when 0:27:24.200 --> 0:27:28.680 you won wrestling yesterday, that's different than this text. Five 0:27:28.760 --> 0:27:35.879 matches in a row he won. Uh uh huh. I 0:27:35.960 --> 0:27:38.040 tell him all the time. This is Graham our middle 0:27:38.720 --> 0:27:40.639 So Abby's gonna be mad because I hadn't told a 0:27:40.640 --> 0:27:42.639 story about hering the sermon. They always I told you, 0:27:42.640 --> 0:27:44.840 we're so competitive. They fight over who got to be 0:27:44.880 --> 0:27:49.199 in my sermon the most. This is how dysfunctional your 0:27:49.240 --> 0:27:52.480 first family is. All right, let me say our Christmas 0:27:52.480 --> 0:27:54.639 card us smiling. One day, I'm gonna send you all 0:27:54.680 --> 0:27:57.399 the Christmas card of what happened before the smile and 0:27:57.480 --> 0:28:00.280 after the smile, and put it on your fridge when 0:28:00.280 --> 0:28:04.840 your family is freaking out and you feel better. And 0:28:04.920 --> 0:28:07.560 I always tell him, hey man, you know I'm a 0:28:07.600 --> 0:28:11.600 state champion because when I was in eighth grade, seventh grade, 0:28:11.840 --> 0:28:14.840 they gave me the state championship medal. And you know 0:28:14.880 --> 0:28:19.640 what I did to get it. Nothing. The resting program 0:28:19.680 --> 0:28:23.240 in South Carolina was so pitiful. Nobody else showed up 0:28:23.280 --> 0:28:26.040 in the weight class, so they gave me a medal. 0:28:27.520 --> 0:28:31.959 No takedowns, no half melson, no cross faced cradle, just 0:28:32.000 --> 0:28:34.440 gave it to me, and I think we shout over 0:28:34.480 --> 0:28:42.080 fifty seven kind of like that. I want a medal, 0:28:42.120 --> 0:28:47.120 I want a miracle. I want maturity. So what really 0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:50.760 got me going on this text about the gift of 0:28:50.880 --> 0:28:55.320 victory is that it is an oxymorn, which becomes true 0:28:55.360 --> 0:28:59.720 because of the Gospel. That's what God does. He makes 0:28:59.720 --> 0:29:04.280 stuff that makes no sense makes sense by his spirit. 0:29:06.280 --> 0:29:10.840 So then I can be like it. I don't feel victorious, 0:29:11.440 --> 0:29:14.440 but I got it. I don't see how this is 0:29:14.480 --> 0:29:17.640 gonna work out, but I got it. And truth be told, 0:29:18.000 --> 0:29:21.280 some of us have never lost bad enough to appreciate 0:29:21.320 --> 0:29:28.600 when we win. When when I was growing up watching 0:29:28.640 --> 0:29:31.600 the Clemson Tigers, a ten and two season would have 0:29:31.640 --> 0:29:37.800 been a miracle. But now Dabbo has got these fools 0:29:37.800 --> 0:29:40.560 so used to win in they're talking about ten and two. 0:29:42.760 --> 0:29:44.840 Oh God, we lost to the game Cocks, and you 0:29:44.880 --> 0:29:51.080 know what, I'll come back down there, lay hands on you, 0:29:51.160 --> 0:29:56.040 all right, Pray for me that one game everything on 0:29:56.120 --> 0:29:58.440 that season when the Clemson Tigers lost to South Carolina 0:29:58.440 --> 0:30:01.120 Game Cox last weekend, like the sea, Yeah, go ahead, 0:30:01.120 --> 0:30:03.480 go ahead, you can do it again in eight years, 0:30:03.600 --> 0:30:05.560 eight years from now, you can do it again, Go 0:30:05.680 --> 0:30:08.560 and get your eight years shout in every eight years 0:30:08.560 --> 0:30:12.480 you can shout about that. But watch this, Watch this. 0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:18.000 You mean one loss ruins the whole season. You mean 0:30:18.080 --> 0:30:22.040 one area of your life where you don't have it together. 0:30:24.000 --> 0:30:26.479 Even in Ezekio, when they saw the river flowing from 0:30:26.520 --> 0:30:29.640 the sanctuary, he said, there's still gonna be salt marshes, 0:30:29.840 --> 0:30:32.120 even though the river's fresh, Even though it's going to 0:30:32.200 --> 0:30:34.520 turn from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, there 0:30:34.560 --> 0:30:38.360 are still gonna be some swamps. There's still gonna be 0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:41.920 some secrets that you keep about what you deal with. 0:30:42.880 --> 0:30:46.320 And are you really gonna let that make you quit 0:30:47.400 --> 0:30:50.920 on all the good things God has given you? Are 0:30:50.920 --> 0:30:55.800 you really gonna make the three annoying things about your wife? 0:30:56.920 --> 0:31:00.640 Tell me about your wife? My wife is perfect. The 0:31:00.720 --> 0:31:06.200 three annoying things about your wife keep you from seeing 0:31:07.200 --> 0:31:12.160 the three hundred amazing things about her and the three 0:31:12.240 --> 0:31:15.160 thousands screwed up things about you, You little jack, a 0:31:15.200 --> 0:31:24.040 lowe hyphocrit, you pharisee, you whitewashed to them. No victory. 0:31:24.880 --> 0:31:28.400 Not only is it a gradual realization, it is a focus. 0:31:28.480 --> 0:31:31.479 It is a choice. And I feel like there are 0:31:31.520 --> 0:31:35.040 some things that God has given to you, that you 0:31:35.080 --> 0:31:38.520 are not giving yourself to it. You're in a quiet 0:31:38.600 --> 0:31:43.080 quit all right. I went home and I'm gonna give 0:31:43.080 --> 0:31:44.800 you Old Testament scripture. We're gonna get out of here. 0:31:45.040 --> 0:31:47.320 But let me tell you a story. I went home 0:31:47.760 --> 0:31:51.000 and told Holly a while back, I think I'm gonna 0:31:51.080 --> 0:31:56.160 quit songwriting. No sooner did I finish saying it to 0:31:56.200 --> 0:31:59.120 her and go off by myself. The Holy Spirit had 0:31:59.120 --> 0:32:02.440 this very frank comversation with me, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit. 0:32:03.760 --> 0:32:07.120 But this was just between me and God. Okay. You 0:32:07.120 --> 0:32:09.200 know how when preachers say God spoke to me, and 0:32:09.240 --> 0:32:11.240 you wonder like, why don't he do that to me? 0:32:12.360 --> 0:32:15.160 I never hear anything like that. Man. Okay, first of all, 0:32:15.160 --> 0:32:19.000 because preachers are crazy, and second they're lying and exaggerating. 0:32:19.280 --> 0:32:21.040 The Lord don't talk out loud like all that to 0:32:21.080 --> 0:32:23.360 most people. Most people that the Lord talks out loud to. 0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:26.440 I just want to give you this little word of wisdom. 0:32:26.760 --> 0:32:30.280 Most people that the Lord talks out loud to, he 0:32:30.360 --> 0:32:33.520 may do that occasionally, but if he has to do 0:32:33.560 --> 0:32:36.480 that for them all the time, that means they haven't 0:32:36.520 --> 0:32:39.680 matured enough to hear him speak in the silence as well, 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:44.880 so you know, the Lord didn't speak over the intercom 0:32:44.960 --> 0:32:47.360 or anything like that to me in this, but here 0:32:47.440 --> 0:32:50.400 was the sense. Okay, And I'm gonna give you this 0:32:50.480 --> 0:32:52.320 because I think he wants to say it to a 0:32:52.320 --> 0:32:54.880 few hundred of you. I said, I think I'm a 0:32:55.000 --> 0:33:09.440 quit songwriting Lord said, did I say you could quit? Boom? 0:33:09.680 --> 0:33:17.240 Can't quit? I gotta give myself to it out of 0:33:17.280 --> 0:33:22.880 gratitude that God gave it to me. And if he 0:33:22.960 --> 0:33:26.560 gave me a gift, if he gave me a victory, 0:33:27.200 --> 0:33:30.280 if he gave me a seed and I quit on 0:33:30.360 --> 0:33:37.040 the gift, it will quit on me. Now take this. 0:33:37.120 --> 0:33:39.560 You're like, I don't write songs. What's the point you're 0:33:39.640 --> 0:33:44.479 raising kids? Well, I'm not gonna put them up for adoption. Preacher, 0:33:44.520 --> 0:33:49.680 I'm good. Have you quiet quit? Well, I'm not leaving. 0:33:49.720 --> 0:33:51.760 I'm good. This message is not for me. Have you 0:33:51.840 --> 0:33:54.760 quiet quit? Because Paul didn't say keep showing up for 0:33:54.800 --> 0:33:58.120 the work of the Lord, Teddy. He said, give yourself fully. 0:33:58.200 --> 0:34:03.520 You heard it, Give yourself fully, Give yourself fully. How 0:34:03.560 --> 0:34:07.920 can we expect total victory and live in partial obedience? 0:34:10.640 --> 0:34:13.760 How can I try three times? How can I try 0:34:13.880 --> 0:34:16.560 five times? I had a friend who went to therapy 0:34:16.680 --> 0:34:20.719 once said it didn't work. Well, maybe get a new therapist, 0:34:20.760 --> 0:34:24.279 but don't quit the issues you're wrestling with. You're gonna 0:34:24.320 --> 0:34:26.520 go to one therapist and because they didn't have the 0:34:26.560 --> 0:34:28.919 answers in an hour to fix the life you've spent 0:34:28.960 --> 0:34:32.160 fifty three years messing up. You're just gonna quit on 0:34:32.200 --> 0:34:35.799 the process. You're just gonna quit on the church. You're 0:34:35.840 --> 0:34:38.560 just gonna quit on your dream. You don't get to 0:34:38.680 --> 0:34:42.600 quit until God says quit. That's not how this works. 0:34:42.840 --> 0:34:45.719 He who began a good work will be faithful. But 0:34:45.960 --> 0:34:54.160 you gotta bring you to it. I got the gift 0:34:55.400 --> 0:34:57.680 I've got. God gave you a gift to do it. 0:34:57.920 --> 0:35:00.680 God gave you a charge to do it. God gave 0:35:00.719 --> 0:35:03.600 you the ability to do it. God gave you the sling. 0:35:03.920 --> 0:35:07.120 He gave you the stone. He gave you the opportunity. 0:35:07.320 --> 0:35:11.799 But you are not giving yourself to end. And it's 0:35:11.800 --> 0:35:14.520 no fun if you're not winning, and you won't win 0:35:14.880 --> 0:35:20.279 if you don't give yourself fully to it. That's why 0:35:20.280 --> 0:35:24.200 I was standing on your chair, because I'm giving myself 0:35:24.200 --> 0:35:27.000 to this. I'll come up here to preach to you 0:35:27.040 --> 0:35:30.000 and go. Are they ready for a word today, ready 0:35:30.080 --> 0:35:35.480 or not. Here, I'm gonna put myself in this message. 0:35:35.800 --> 0:35:38.640 I'm gonna sweat all the way through this sweater until 0:35:38.680 --> 0:35:40.920 it's nasty when I take it off. And if you 0:35:40.920 --> 0:35:44.480 don't want the word, somebody else can get it. On Tuesday. 0:35:44.840 --> 0:35:52.879 I'm giving myself to this. And you know what, some 0:35:52.960 --> 0:35:56.160 of you are just like me. You've got the gift 0:35:57.440 --> 0:36:02.600 of keeping going us. You have the belief that if 0:36:02.600 --> 0:36:06.680 I don't quit, that if I keep believing, that if 0:36:06.719 --> 0:36:10.279 I show up enough times not feeling it, that if 0:36:10.320 --> 0:36:13.400 I keep doing it in God's name, that if I 0:36:13.480 --> 0:36:16.919 keep getting better and learn from the losses and learn 0:36:17.000 --> 0:36:20.040 from the pruning, and learn from the cold nights, and 0:36:20.200 --> 0:36:23.879 learn from the mistakes, if I don't quit, I'll win. 0:36:24.040 --> 0:36:35.560 Why I got the gift. In the scriptures, there was 0:36:35.600 --> 0:36:40.240 a prophet named Elisha. Everybody say Elisha, Elisha with the sah, 0:36:40.400 --> 0:36:42.960 not Elijah. That's the one who came before him. Elijah, 0:36:43.040 --> 0:36:45.239 the one who came after him, did twice as many 0:36:45.280 --> 0:36:50.320 miracles as his predecessor. I love preaching about Elisha because 0:36:50.320 --> 0:36:53.760 he had the gift. Oh man, he had the gift. 0:36:54.719 --> 0:36:56.239 He could do it well. Listen what he could do. 0:36:56.480 --> 0:36:59.120 They'd come to attack Israel. He was the prophet of Israel, 0:36:59.280 --> 0:37:01.680 so they would come to attack. God gave him a gift. 0:37:01.880 --> 0:37:04.319 He could see him coming before they started lining up, 0:37:05.200 --> 0:37:06.960 so he go over tell the king. He'd be like, Hey, 0:37:07.040 --> 0:37:10.240 they're gonna attack you seven forty five am. And wouldn't 0:37:10.239 --> 0:37:12.520 it be good to have a prophet who could tell 0:37:12.560 --> 0:37:15.839 you when the devil was gonna get on your last nerve. 0:37:16.040 --> 0:37:18.919 Now look, your daughter's gonna bring in drama in here, 0:37:19.080 --> 0:37:21.840 So go ahead, get everything done an hour early. Pray, 0:37:22.000 --> 0:37:25.480 goot Philippians, listen to Bethel, and get ready for it 0:37:25.560 --> 0:37:29.040 because it's coming. Well, he had the gift not only 0:37:29.120 --> 0:37:33.400 not only the gift, not only the gift of power 0:37:33.640 --> 0:37:37.839 in the battle, but a preemptive gift of perceiving the 0:37:37.840 --> 0:37:41.680 battle before it happened. And that's why I love reading 0:37:41.680 --> 0:37:46.719 about his life, because you see things one scripture. I 0:37:46.840 --> 0:37:50.000 used to preach this this passage all over the world, 0:37:50.080 --> 0:37:53.200 and I quit preaching it for a little while. But uh, 0:37:53.520 --> 0:37:55.160 I'm gonna do it one more time in the next 0:37:55.239 --> 0:37:58.919 uh seven minutes and twenty four seconds. And it's over 0:37:58.960 --> 0:38:02.160 in Second Kings, chapter thirteen, And I'm gonna tell you 0:38:02.239 --> 0:38:04.319 this story, and I'm gonna get out of the way, 0:38:04.800 --> 0:38:07.080 and I'm gonna change out of this sweater and I'm 0:38:07.080 --> 0:38:11.719 gonna go home. I'm gonna eat eggs, bacon, cato, biscuits. 0:38:12.160 --> 0:38:13.879 Let's hurry up and get through this so I can 0:38:14.160 --> 0:38:18.080 eat my biscuits. In the Bible Book of tewod Kings, 0:38:18.160 --> 0:38:22.400 chapter thirteen, Get Ready for This, it says that Elisha 0:38:22.640 --> 0:38:26.560 had been suffering from the illness from which he died. 0:38:26.600 --> 0:38:29.279 And I watch this. He didn't die until God was 0:38:29.360 --> 0:38:33.520 done with him. So the illness didn't kill him. God 0:38:33.560 --> 0:38:38.239 took him. Because you don't understand how big God is, 0:38:38.239 --> 0:38:40.120 how suffering God is, how great God is, how vast 0:38:40.160 --> 0:38:42.920 his plans are, how awesome his might is, how strong 0:38:43.000 --> 0:38:46.160 his armies are. The devil can't do anything to you 0:38:46.320 --> 0:38:48.799 that God does not permit. He just can't do it. 0:38:49.120 --> 0:38:51.279 He can try it, and even if he does it, 0:38:51.440 --> 0:38:54.120 God will use it, because that's how big God is. 0:38:54.440 --> 0:38:58.080 He had been suffering from the illness from which he died. 0:38:58.280 --> 0:39:00.040 But that's not the part I want to preach. I 0:39:00.040 --> 0:39:05.200 want apprecibout this. Jeho Ash, king of Israel, went down 0:39:05.239 --> 0:39:08.560 to see him. Why do you go see him, because 0:39:08.600 --> 0:39:11.600 he had the gift. He needed to know who am 0:39:11.640 --> 0:39:13.399 I going to be fighting and how can I win? 0:39:13.600 --> 0:39:15.279 And some of us come to God only when we're 0:39:15.280 --> 0:39:21.400 in battles, because Jehosh the Bible says, what an evil 0:39:21.480 --> 0:39:23.440 king who did not do what was right in the 0:39:23.440 --> 0:39:26.560 eyes of the Lord. But now when he needs the 0:39:26.600 --> 0:39:28.920 word of the Lord, he knows where to go to 0:39:29.040 --> 0:39:31.760 the one who had the gift of discernment, the gift 0:39:31.800 --> 0:39:36.879 of prophecy, the gift of instruction. He went down and 0:39:37.680 --> 0:39:42.719 wept over him. My father, my father, He cried the 0:39:42.840 --> 0:39:49.160 chariots and horsemen of Israel. Elesa said, Uh, get a 0:39:49.160 --> 0:39:54.000 bow and some arrows, and he did so. Take the 0:39:54.040 --> 0:39:57.440 bow in your hands, he said to the King of Israel. 0:39:59.040 --> 0:40:02.520 And when he had taken it, Elisha put his hands 0:40:03.520 --> 0:40:05.520 on the king's hands. I don't know what God's going 0:40:05.600 --> 0:40:08.560 to call you to do when this sermon is over, 0:40:10.239 --> 0:40:12.760 but it's going to involve putting your hands on something 0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:19.000 that you already have. God is not going to speak 0:40:19.040 --> 0:40:22.120 to you about something you could do if you had 0:40:22.120 --> 0:40:30.400 someone else's stuff. Stop comparing, stop lusting, stop even wishing. 0:40:31.000 --> 0:40:34.200 Don't make a wish list. This Christmas. Make a weapon. 0:40:34.280 --> 0:40:38.920 List of what I already have that if I point 0:40:38.960 --> 0:40:43.600 it forward in the coming year, God will give me 0:40:44.160 --> 0:40:49.520 the victory. Say that God will give me the victory. 0:40:49.880 --> 0:40:52.040 And he told him what to do, and he did it. 0:40:52.200 --> 0:40:54.400 He said, get a bow, and he did it. And 0:40:54.440 --> 0:40:56.600 get some arrows and he did it. And look at 0:40:56.680 --> 0:41:00.840 verse seventeen, open the east window and he open. Everything 0:41:00.960 --> 0:41:03.880 is going good. He's doing everything that the Word of 0:41:03.920 --> 0:41:07.600 God says, everything that the man of God says, nothing more, 0:41:07.920 --> 0:41:10.680 nothing less. He doesn't know where this is headed. He 0:41:10.680 --> 0:41:13.840 doesn't understand how it all works together. He's just doing 0:41:13.880 --> 0:41:17.040 it because he knows that God has given the word 0:41:17.320 --> 0:41:21.080 that he needs for victory inside of this man who's dying. 0:41:21.120 --> 0:41:23.640 And even though he's a king, he knows that God's 0:41:23.680 --> 0:41:26.800 word is what gives him the wisdom to win the victory. 0:41:27.040 --> 0:41:28.919 I want you to get that it is God. Don't 0:41:28.920 --> 0:41:31.799 care how high you are, how smart you are, how 0:41:31.840 --> 0:41:34.920 good looking you are. It is God's word. It is 0:41:35.080 --> 0:41:38.360 God's will that gives you the wisdom to win in 0:41:38.400 --> 0:41:41.120 the areas of your life that matter the most. Now, 0:41:41.160 --> 0:41:43.799 he said, open the east window, and he opened it, 0:41:43.960 --> 0:41:46.880 and then he told him shoot and he shot, everything's 0:41:46.920 --> 0:41:50.880 going good. Watch this victory verse. This goes exactly perfect 0:41:51.000 --> 0:41:52.799 with what I read you to start my sermon. This 0:41:52.880 --> 0:41:56.000 goes so good together because he said, thanks be to 0:41:56.040 --> 0:41:58.520 God that gives us the victory. And watch what the 0:41:58.560 --> 0:42:03.800 brophet said, the Lord's arrow of victory. Who's whose victory 0:42:03.880 --> 0:42:08.120 is it? The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of 0:42:08.320 --> 0:42:12.000 victory over Aram. And we can substitute in whatever you're fighting, 0:42:12.080 --> 0:42:15.920 because everybody in this room and everybody online has an Arab. 0:42:16.280 --> 0:42:19.560 It might be addiction, it might be bitterness, it might 0:42:19.600 --> 0:42:22.759 be resentment, it might be a prodigal child away from 0:42:22.760 --> 0:42:25.480 God and away from you and away from how you 0:42:25.600 --> 0:42:30.480 raise them. Everybody has an arem, but everybody has an arrow. 0:42:30.880 --> 0:42:33.800 And if you've got the arrow of the Lord's victory, 0:42:34.360 --> 0:42:39.719 little weapon formed against you, shall be able to prosper. 0:42:39.840 --> 0:42:42.120 So he said this, he said this, He said this said, 0:42:42.120 --> 0:42:46.960 I'm closing. I'm closing. I'm closing. You will completely destroy 0:42:47.400 --> 0:42:52.200 the Aramians at Aphec. And if it ended there, I 0:42:52.200 --> 0:42:57.600 wis shall. But the Bible says that after he told 0:42:57.680 --> 0:43:04.839 him about the victory verse eighteen, then he said, take 0:43:04.840 --> 0:43:09.800 the arrows the king took him. Elisha told him to 0:43:09.800 --> 0:43:15.799 strike the ground, and he struck it three times. The 0:43:15.840 --> 0:43:24.040 next part is the quiet quit and stopped. Well, nothing 0:43:24.080 --> 0:43:32.680 wrong with stopping, pastor Steve. I mean, after all, the 0:43:32.719 --> 0:43:35.359 prophet didn't tell him how many times to strike? What's 0:43:35.400 --> 0:43:38.760 what the prophet said? Prophet was angry, Elisha had an attitude, 0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:42.440 Elisha had a temper. The Man of God was angry 0:43:42.440 --> 0:43:46.080 with him and said, you should have struck the ground 0:43:46.239 --> 0:43:51.240 five or six times. Then you would have defeated aaron 0:43:51.400 --> 0:43:56.440 and completely destroyed it. Now you will defeat it only 0:43:56.600 --> 0:43:59.640 as many times as you did what I told you 0:43:59.680 --> 0:44:03.680 to do. But you told me that the Lord gave 0:44:03.719 --> 0:44:07.080 me the victory. But then I told you that if 0:44:07.080 --> 0:44:11.320 you didn't get down on the ground and do something 0:44:12.040 --> 0:44:16.520 that corresponded with what I spoke to you, you would 0:44:16.600 --> 0:44:23.319 not realize everything that I reveal. How could he have 0:44:23.400 --> 0:44:27.279 known that he needed to keep going. I think it's 0:44:27.280 --> 0:44:34.640 pretty obvious, y'all. The prophet didn't say stop. You keep 0:44:34.680 --> 0:44:41.080 doing it until God says stop you hear me, I 0:44:41.120 --> 0:44:43.160 need you to stand up if this is your word, 0:44:43.280 --> 0:44:46.280 because it's a temptation to quit right now. In fact, 0:44:46.440 --> 0:44:50.600 there is a generational spirit that is not limited to millennials. 0:44:50.760 --> 0:44:53.200 It's all of us. We're all thinking we can just 0:44:53.360 --> 0:44:56.520 quit stuff whenever we want to quit stuff and walk 0:44:56.560 --> 0:44:59.200 away from stuff. The first time it doesn't work, and 0:44:59.320 --> 0:45:02.120 the moment it it's hard. We quit because we don't 0:45:02.160 --> 0:45:06.360 feel it. But feelings are not Lord. Jesus is Lord. 0:45:06.760 --> 0:45:10.440 We don't walk by feelings. We walk by faith. And 0:45:10.560 --> 0:45:15.360 if God didn't say quit, you don't get to quit. 0:45:18.400 --> 0:45:20.799 Let me be a prophet for a moment. You can't 0:45:20.880 --> 0:45:24.400 quit on yourself. You can't quit on your freedom. You 0:45:24.480 --> 0:45:28.080 can't quit on your destiny. You can't quit on your assignment. 0:45:28.400 --> 0:45:33.120 You can't quit on your anuiting until God says quit. 0:45:34.000 --> 0:45:37.479 And I prophesy over your life today that you have 0:45:38.080 --> 0:45:44.400 the gift of victory. It is not of works. So 0:45:44.560 --> 0:45:54.960 watch this. We don't fight for victory, We fight from victory. 0:45:56.600 --> 0:45:58.560 So what I know in my spirit, y'all help me, 0:45:58.600 --> 0:46:02.320 you'll help me. I know in my spirit it's that 0:46:02.520 --> 0:46:06.720 God gave me a preview of my purpose. He showed 0:46:06.760 --> 0:46:09.000 me what I could be in him. He showed me 0:46:09.080 --> 0:46:11.160 and told me what I could do through him. He 0:46:11.280 --> 0:46:13.839 gave me a word. I got a glimpse of it. 0:46:14.040 --> 0:46:17.520 I saw that arrow flying, I saw my kids getting 0:46:17.520 --> 0:46:22.040 through it. I saw myself recovering. I saw myself rebuilding it. 0:46:22.239 --> 0:46:28.000 I saw myself finishing it. And now I'm gonna do 0:46:28.160 --> 0:46:33.640 it as many times as it takes for me to 0:46:33.719 --> 0:46:45.000 receive what God has reviewed. This is a word for 0:46:45.120 --> 0:46:50.840 those who are weary and because you haven't felt like 0:46:50.920 --> 0:46:56.120 you were winning you Withdrew, I'm gonna tell you a 0:46:56.160 --> 0:46:58.960 secret hold on. You can play, but play something like 0:46:59.280 --> 0:47:08.319 pretty there we go. When you feel spread so thin 0:47:09.800 --> 0:47:13.880 that you feel like I'm not winning anywhere, that's the 0:47:13.920 --> 0:47:19.239 time you're tempted in when you feel like winning in 0:47:19.280 --> 0:47:22.440 one area of your life is always to the expense 0:47:22.480 --> 0:47:27.160 and detriment of another area of your life. The temptation is, well, 0:47:27.200 --> 0:47:30.360 I'll just carve myself into pieces, and I will not 0:47:30.480 --> 0:47:33.919 give myself fully to any of it, because if I quit, 0:47:34.960 --> 0:47:38.680 then nobody can see how hard it is for me. 0:47:40.280 --> 0:47:43.800 You might be like the King in Second Kings thirteen, 0:47:44.760 --> 0:47:49.840 who gave himself but not fully. You may be like 0:47:49.960 --> 0:47:53.360 Martha in the New Testament, who let Jesus in her home, 0:47:54.120 --> 0:47:56.600 but not like Mary, who let Jesus in her heart. 0:47:59.200 --> 0:48:02.439 You might be like the mom or the dad who 0:48:02.440 --> 0:48:07.480 feels like God Man, I keep getting it wrong, and 0:48:07.560 --> 0:48:09.719 every time I show up to try and make a 0:48:09.800 --> 0:48:12.520 mess of it. So I'm just kind of like, I'm 0:48:12.520 --> 0:48:15.920 gonna just check out. I mna show up enough to 0:48:15.960 --> 0:48:19.240 get credit for being in class, but I'm not applying 0:48:19.280 --> 0:48:23.360 myself to any of it. The danger for the Christian 0:48:24.320 --> 0:48:26.160 is not that you won't be forgiven of your sin. 0:48:26.920 --> 0:48:30.799 That's what Christ did, is that he would forgive you 0:48:30.880 --> 0:48:33.600 of your sin, and then you would never get to 0:48:33.640 --> 0:48:38.880 the place of victory over your sin. God wants me 0:48:39.840 --> 0:48:43.600 to live in victory. God wants you to live in victory, 0:48:44.680 --> 0:48:47.040 and you don't get that way with a little three 0:48:47.160 --> 0:48:59.640 time half effort, half effort. The grace of God doesn't 0:48:59.640 --> 0:49:01.280 make it so I could just give up and depend 0:49:01.360 --> 0:49:06.279 on him. It makes it so. I'm so confident. I'm 0:49:06.320 --> 0:49:12.000 so confident in this gift. I got the gift. I 0:49:12.040 --> 0:49:15.080 got the gift. I got the gift of grace. That's 0:49:15.080 --> 0:49:17.080 how I'm gonna fight it. Because I got the gift. 0:49:17.239 --> 0:49:19.560 That's how i'mnna show back off. Because I got the gift. 0:49:19.719 --> 0:49:22.160 That's how I'm gonna move through this swamp. Of shame 0:49:22.440 --> 0:49:25.560 and come out clean on the other side because I 0:49:25.640 --> 0:49:30.480 got the gift. Somebody suted I got the gift. You 0:49:30.560 --> 0:49:33.440 gotta be like David who said I see the giant. 0:49:33.800 --> 0:49:36.840 But guess what I got. I got the gift of victory. 0:49:37.080 --> 0:49:39.799 You know how, I know a fat of lion and 0:49:39.840 --> 0:49:42.799 a one, a faunt of bear and a one. So 0:49:43.000 --> 0:49:46.080 check my resume. If you doubt God can do this, 0:49:46.520 --> 0:49:49.960 look back on my past. I got the gift of victory. 0:49:50.480 --> 0:49:54.200 I am an overcomer. I am more than a conqueror. 0:49:56.840 --> 0:49:59.919 Come on, do like victorious people do. Lift your hand, 0:50:00.080 --> 0:50:05.040 say lift your hands, and say lift your hands, and say, ah, God, 0:50:05.400 --> 0:50:09.440 the gift. Now, Father, we lift our hands in victory, 0:50:09.760 --> 0:50:13.879 and we lift our hands in surrender. We lift our 0:50:13.880 --> 0:50:16.239 hands to you because we need you, and we lift 0:50:16.280 --> 0:50:21.000 our hands because we know you over every life. Today 0:50:22.000 --> 0:50:29.400 I declare, with Apostle Paul himself, thanks be to God 0:50:30.000 --> 0:50:36.279 who gives us the victory. And since we've got it, God, 0:50:36.320 --> 0:50:42.279 you've got us. We're coming back full on all the way. 0:50:43.360 --> 0:50:47.560 Not January first, but from the moment I say, amen, 0:50:48.440 --> 0:50:53.080 I'm moving forward in the gift. I'm moving forward in 0:50:53.200 --> 0:50:56.600 the grace. I'm moving forward in the glory and the 0:50:56.640 --> 0:51:02.960 restoration of God and in the power of His presence. Well, 0:51:02.960 --> 0:51:05.400 thanks for joining us today for the message, and we 0:51:05.440 --> 0:51:08.040 trust that God spoke to you right where you are 0:51:08.560 --> 0:51:11.080 as we're in this year end season. If God is 0:51:11.120 --> 0:51:13.719 speaking to your life and you'd like to begin tithing 0:51:14.000 --> 0:51:16.520 or give above and beyond, we would invite you to 0:51:16.560 --> 0:51:19.920 head over to Elevationchurch dot org. There you'll find all 0:51:19.960 --> 0:51:22.680 of the information available for you to take part in 0:51:22.719 --> 0:51:25.440 the year end offering. If you haven't begun tithing, we 0:51:25.480 --> 0:51:28.760 would always encourage you to start there. Place God first 0:51:28.760 --> 0:51:31.480 in the air of your finances and begin tithing and 0:51:31.560 --> 0:51:34.880 make that a part of your every day life. If 0:51:34.920 --> 0:51:37.040 you already tie, then would like to go above and 0:51:37.080 --> 0:51:40.000 beyond and help expand the ministry here at Elevation Church, 0:51:40.280 --> 0:51:42.560 you can also do that through the Year end Offering. 0:51:42.600 --> 0:51:44.200 All you have to do is click the banner at 0:51:44.239 --> 0:51:47.719 Elevationchurch dot org. You can select the campus that you're 0:51:47.719 --> 0:51:49.880 a part of. If you're a part of our online community, 0:51:49.960 --> 0:51:52.080 select online, and if you're part of one of our 0:51:52.120 --> 0:51:55.719 physical locations, make sure that you select one of those campuses. 0:51:55.800 --> 0:51:57.759 Then you can select how much you'd like to give 0:51:58.120 --> 0:51:59.919 and be a part of all that God is doing 0:52:00.160 --> 0:52:03.160 right here at Elevation Church. Again, we thank you for 0:52:03.200 --> 0:52:05.080 being a part of the family here and we can't 0:52:05.080 --> 0:52:07.680 wait to see how God works in and through your 0:52:07.719 --> 0:52:10.279 life as you open up your hands and ask God 0:52:10.320 --> 0:52:12.759 to use you right where you are. Thanks for being 0:52:12.760 --> 0:52:13.800 a part of God bless