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SUSTAINING VICTORY IN A DEFEATED SOCIETY

Pastor Michael Joseph Gowon

Psalms 44:5-7

⁵Through you we push back our enemies; through your name, we trample our foes. ⁶I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; ⁷but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.

Through Him, you will push back your enemies and trample over your foes. It is a victory that is not going to be based on the sword or guns but it a victory given to you by the Lord. You will certainly put your enemies to shame and disgrace.

 Psalms 108:5-6

⁵Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. ⁶Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.

Our God answers prayers and because He loves you, He will deliver you from all your enemies.

 Psalms 18:16-19

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. ¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. ¹⁸ They confronted me on the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. ¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Are you in any pit by your estimation, God will reach down to you and draw you out of the deep waters? The Lord will be a support to you, even when the enemy seems too strong, the Lord will rescue you and bring you into a spacious place because he delights in you.

 

Psalm 60:11–12

11 Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. 12 With God we will gain victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

Men might have failed you. No one seems to give you any support or any help, but listen, God will provide aid to you against your enemies. And with God, you will obtain every victory you need as He tramples down your enemies.

 

Psalms 20:6-8

 ⁶Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. ⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. ⁸They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

Remember you are the anointed of the Lord, and God has arranged and preserved victory for his anointed. He will answer your prayer and reach to your need with the victorious power of his right hand. Just keep your trust on the Lord not on any lesser object and you will always rise up and stand firm in the face of any challenge.

 

 

Psalms 21:1-6

 ^{1 The}The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give! ²You have granted him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. ³You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. ⁴He asked you for life, and you gave it to him- length of days, forever and ever. ⁵Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. ⁶Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad about the joy of your presence.

         

 

Psalm 16:5-6

5 LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Through the Lord the boundary lines will fall for you in pleasant places and you will have a delightful inheritance.

 

Psalms 17:7-9

⁷Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. ⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings ⁹from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.

God has promised to keep you as the apple of His eyes. You are untouchable He will continually hide you in the shadow of His wings. So that no matter the rage of the enemy he will certainly show you the wonders of his great love and deliver you from your foes.

 

Many of God’s children are living a defeated life.

They are living unsatisfying and unsatisfactory lives.

They are living a life of failure and a life of sin

A life of labor and struggle, always saying “I cannot” or “It is impossible”

They are living a life of Despair, Disgrace, in a defeated cycle, and some are even depressed.

We are holding to a truncated gospel, which seems to emphasize what we like.

Spiritual stagnancy is a common sickness, people are no longer growing.

If you take a bird and clip its wings, then you cannot expect it to fly. It can’t just fly. So if you are holding to a clipped gospel you cannot function the way God intended you to. If your Christianity is limited, then you are not going to be functional or practical.

Have you ever realized Jesus bought your body with his blood and you are required to give it to Him? It is your reasonable service.

-         Give Him your hands

-         Give Him your eyes

-         Give Him your Mouth

-         Give Him your Ears

-         Give Him your taste

-         Give Him you Mind

God needs to have control over your life, if you want to fly,

If you are going to live the victorious life then surrender to Him completely.

Defeat is destructive to our lives and remaining in defeat can destroy your faith.

But in  all these always remember that:

“He has also set eternity in the hearts of men” – Ecc. 3:11 NIV

 

Andrew Murray in his book “Absolute Surrender” said, “A Christian man or woman must come to learn that:

i.                   It takes a long time to learn the first lesson in a Christian walk with God that in religion man can do nothing, that salvation is impossible to man. The second lesson states:

ii.                 That what is impossible with man is possible with God.

We must learn the truth that our lives should be   . . . Nothing of us, all of Him . . .

 

We are living in a time that the church has gone prodigal, many of our members are defeated and prodigal. We are having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof, we know the vocabularies of Scriptures, but they do not work for us because they are not spoken from a vessel that is pure and consecrated. Holiness is a word we find in the Bible and not in our lives.

The fact is that God has not changed his standards. His demands for a VICTORIOUS life is still potent.

 

The Story of the Prodigal Son –Luke 15:11-32

Although he messed up, his sonship status did not change

He wondered away from fellowship

He was   prayerless

He became ignorant of God’s word

He was holding to the past

He has a wrong focus on pleasure

He had bitterness

 

“A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother” (Prov. 10:1 NKJV

 “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother” (Prov.15:20 NKJV).

 “A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest” (Prov. 27:8 NLT).

 

 

Paulo Coelho once stated: “Only he who gives up is defeated, everyone else is Victorious.”

 

Do not focus on your problems

Psalm 42:5 

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.

 

2 Samuel 22:6 -7

6The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

Victory over the Storms of Life

Psalms 137:1-9

This is the song of a discourage bunch of people. By the rivers of Babylon, they sat down, weeping, but thank God they remembered Zion. They hanged their musical instruments and songs of Joy seized from their mouths. . . .

 

Psalms 126:1-6

This is the testimony of   what God did to them when he turned away their captivity.

Here you find the same people declaring: When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, it was like a dream to them. Their mouths was filled with laughter and their tongue with singing and they began to declare that the Lord has done great things for them.

·        There is nothing as exciting as winning. The taste of Victory in our lives is sweet.

·        Victory is essential to our health and happiness.

·        A life of victory does not suggest that you live a life that it impossible to sin, but it is a life in which victory over sin is possible.

·        Victory is possible, it is God’s will and He has made all the provision for it.

·        The demand for Victory is MUCH – Matt. 5:48 – Be ye perfect even as the Lord your God is perfect. Be ye holy even as the Lord your God is holy. . .

·        Victory cannot be  obtained or sustained by human efforts . . .

 

2 Samuel 2:9

He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. KJV

A storm is a strong, destructive wind. The Bible used the word to describe the problems of life

It refers to the distresses, troubles, calamities, frustrations and turbulences of life

Today in the world many are going through the storms of poverty, war, conflicts, bandits, kidnappers, sicknesses, persecutions, financial crises. Both believers and unbelievers are facing storms of life

 The Bible says in:

Psalms 34:19-20

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

 

That is to say God will preserve you

The afflictions may be many i.e., numerous, multi-dimensional, but our God will deliver you from them ALL. Not just some of them but all of them. He will keep you and preserve you and will not be broken by the enemy in any way. That is a promise from your Father, believe Him.

 

Storms are afflictions, they are odds . . . but God has made adequate provisions for you to overcome them.

 

James 1:2-4

²My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations;

³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

⁴Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

No matter your storms, or afflictions or temptations or defeat or failure – Deliverance is SURE.

 

Zechariah 12:8

On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the LORD who goes before them!

Internalize this scripture and make it your own and it will work for you in the now.

 God will defend you and make you who are weak to be as strong as King David. Alleluia.

 

Let it be settled in your mind that you will experience afflictions, storms, odds, defeat etc. In this world. We are living in a world of trouble. But may we be encouraged by the truth that God is closer to us to defend us than we can ever imagine. He is very near you to deliver you. Don’t ever imagine that God cannot help you.

 

Consider Psalms 107:26-31

 

2 Corinthians 2:14.

Thanks be unto God who in Christ always leads us in triumph and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere

          God will always lead you into triumph

 

1 Cor. 15: 57-58

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

          God will give you victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

          He wants you to be steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the            kingdom

 

 

Isaiah 43:2 

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Always remember the word did not say “if”. It says “when”. So live daily expecting some waters of trails, some rivers of opposition may change your advancement. There may be some fire of trials… but when they confront you, do not be discouraged, they will not swallow you.

 

Remember Jesus and His disciples in Mark 4:35-39 – He said to them “Let us go over unto the other side. . .”

-         He initiated the idea

-         He demanded obedience to his plan

-         He had other assignments for them to do yonder

-         He knew there was going to be a storm along the way

-         He insisted and sent them away others

-         Then we went down the ship and slept on a pillow – God has a way of deceiving the enemies to waste their powers against His children.  Rev. Olukoya said

-         The fact is that Jesus was there with the Disciples.

-          It may look to you God is Far from you at the moments of your Storm, but the truth is that God is a very present help in trouble.

-         Let God Arise . . . and his enemies be scattered . . . Stir thyself out of thy holy temple.

 

 The Storms of Life

1.     Do not discriminate, they fall upon every man

2.     You have no control over where and when it hits you

3.      Do not forewarn before  they are let loose

4.       Have no respect for persons

5.     There are no age exemptions

6.     Vary with individuals some people's own may be heavier than others

7.     Make fake friends run  from you

8.      Can make  you better or bitter

9.   The storms of life obey the voice of Jesus. There is no storm, no odds, no affliction . . . that cannot bow to the name of Jesus, the name that is above all other names.

 

How can you sustain your Victory in a Defeated Society?

1.     Know that Victory is possible and every provision for your victory has been made.

2.     Do not love Jesus and still love your sin  - Psa. 66:18

3.     Don’t try to live the Christian life by your own power – Zech. 4:6

4.     Keep your body under subjection – 1 Cor. 9:27

5.     Surrender your life completely  to Jesus – and draw near to him daily

6.     Do not accept your present position as final, you are only passing through.

Blessed is that man who passing through the valley of Baca maketh it a well .. . Psa. 84:6

 

Prayer:

Whatever is causing you pains, delay, stagnation, weakness, defeat, etc., in life, turn it  down in Jesus's name.

 

Remember to declare that:

I am more than a conqueror through Christ . . . Rom. 8:37

 

Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world  . . . 1 Jn. 5:4-5

 

Ye are of God little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world . . . 1 Jn. 4:4

 

Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  . . Rom. 15:13

 

Isaiah 41:10-13

¹⁰ Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

¹¹ “Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish.
¹² You shall seek them and not find them- Those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing.
¹³ For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’