THEfight

THE GREATEST FIGHT EVER!

Round 1. The battle of hunger:
Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And.. the tempter came .. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

The devil always attacks at your weakest moment, your weakest point but if resisted he will back off “ Humble yourself before God, resist the devil and he will flee.“ But beware his respite is only temporal vs.13
Beware when you are more concerned about your physical needs than your spiritual he takes advantage of it. We need to learn to hunger for the things of God.
Did anybody ever notice that the more you hunger the more you want, the more you hunger the more you get, the more you hunger the more harder you try to fulfill your hunger, the more you hunger the more you get the attention of the thing you hunger for? Anybody hungering for God lately? hungering for his word? for his presence? for the power of the ministry? hungering for a birth of revival in your Church, home and heart. Hey! when’s the last time you travailed? wept? fasted? prayed?

Round 2. The battle of possession:
Luke 8:26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes,..
27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, (an act of worship) and with a loud voice said,
What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
9 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because we are many.

Matthew 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Perhaps lately your unable to cast out any and all demons you may come across? Yeah you know the name of Jesus but does he know you? Or perhaps you may yourself be possessed by a demon? Then again maybe your not so much possessed by demons as you are by some device? some person? some attitude? some desire? Some sin? Or perhaps you feel like ur in the place of the Gadarenes, that lonely wasteland of no mans land, where everyone fears to come, where your all alone, unwanted. You need to learn to cry out to Jesus, learn to recognize and acknowledge his divinity. His power and authority over your humanity. Maybe if we would first recognize his deity and divinity and fall down at his feet, he would then be free to move in our lives, to bring freedom and liberty.

Round 3. The battle of doubt and offense:

Matthew 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

How many of us have seen the glory and power of his miracles yet we to doubt. We hear of his mighty works, we profess them, we confess them, yet when the winds of adversity blow some of us shift allegiance, and are often deceived with every wind of doctrine, or so often easily offended? What’s your solution? only believe! It is Jesus that came! That conquered! That resurrected! You don’t have to look for another. Hey he’s still raises the dead, heals the sick, speaks to the dumb! He’s not dead he’s alive! Go show somebody!!!

Round 4. The battle of rejection and commonality:

Matthew 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? ( In other words just another common and ordinary person like us who does he think he is?)
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
57 And they were offended ( jealous) of him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Did you know that to see things as common breeds unbelief. When we doubt others potential, we doubt Gods providence, Don’t limit God to your standards, to your beliefs, to your expectations. Yes some of you will face rejection at some point in time possibly even in your own home and Church. It will be your choice! You can choose to give up or get up, turn away or turn up, shut up or shout up, step back or step up! sit down or sit up, you can choose to your destiny or failure. If you dare call it common. Acts 10:15,28 “ What God hath cleansed,.. call not thou common. “ God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Round 5. The battle of jealousy:

Luke 9:49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us

Jealousy is a terrible thing, It shows a lack of contentment and gratefulness. Notice verse 50, Seems to indicate that jealousy is a sign of mixed allegiance. It shows a lack of self image and commitment. A lack of insight and prayer communion. For how else could an individual resist and fight the work and ministry of God in being jealous of others who God is using to minister his love and grace? Jealousy will jeopardized your ministry, relationship and communion with God.
Acts 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? Hey anybody remember what was behind the first murder in the bible?

Round 6. The battle of victory and glory:

Luke 9:28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. 29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. 31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. 33 And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.

( Sometimes we like to park and vacation on the mountains of glory and revelation when there is a victory in the valley of decision that awaits us. We shout, dance, clap our hands and rejoice but to many times we get to comfortable in the glory and refuse to go out to battle. To “ contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” We figure well we won that battle so its time to take a break, to take it easy. Or we get the victory over some besetting sin then we let down our guard in other areas. Or on service days we see and experience a mighty move of God in our Church’s, then we go home and live for the devil the rest of the week. Victory is never on vacation!

Round 7. The battle of contentment:

Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

(We get some victory, see his glory, & we often tend to get to contented. Notice they were satisfied with a little token win here and there. Look at some of us a little move of God in our services and were satisfied, a few folks talk in tongues, someone gives an interpretation and were happy to go home and call it a night. Yeah 3 songs and a testimony and were ready to go home. We got no major problems, no health issues, so why push it, were alright where were at or so we think. After all, all we need is us few and no more. The chosen frozen. Besides we don‘t want no misfits in our Church. The lesson here: don‘t forget the main thing is souls being saved not devils being destroyed!

Round 8. The battle of temptation, flattery, riches and wealth:

Matthew 19:16 ,Luke 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. ( Jesus was saying you can call me good all you want but unless you practice my goodness and obey my words your words mean nothing)
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.( Notice Jesus could have asked him to give all his wealth to him personally? but he didn’t) 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 23 Then said Jesus.. Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Beware of flattery, it can be very deceiving. It is one thing to be flattered by friends and family but quite another danger to be flattered by your own self delusions. To think that you have done enough, to think that you are ok where you are, to think that you have given enough.

Then there is another danger, that of becoming a stumbling block to others, that of being a temptation to others, that of tempting others to find fault in them?

Another grave and deceptive danger is the love for wealth and possessions, beware of the desire for wealth for the bible saids “for the love of money is the root of all evil” Beware this is the result of the sin of ungratefulness.
The sin of doubt and lack of trust in Gods provision. Often we try to fill the void in our lives and ministries with money, fame, prestige and possessions. We seek perfection in the world but not in Christ?
We seek to be perfect according to the worlds standards but not Christ standards.

Round 9. The battle of compromise or complacency:

Matthew 21:6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. 38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

( Here Satan wanted to get Jesus to accept his kingship from the people without having paid the required price, in other words by taking a shortcut and compromising his word, and becoming king without having to go through the suffering) Satan couldn’t tempt or defeat Jesus on his own so he decided to use the human vessel to tempt him.
Remember earlier Satan tried to get Jesus to accept his kingship prematurely through the worship of Satan( by accepting the kingdom from Satan remember Satan said if thou wilt worship me I will give thee all the kingdoms of the world ) now he tries to do it through the worship of people.

Round 10. The battle of wills :

Matthew 26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he.., and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

There’s comes a time when we must decide once and for all weather we are going to live for the devil or for God! for Gods glory or for gossip, the battle will come one day when you must make a stand, when you must be willing to forsake all if need be for Christ, you will either stand for something or you will fall for anything.
If your ever going to make it, ever going to live victoriously, ever going to overcome, it will be because you have a made up mind, flesh must be vanquished.
The battle of the will begins in the heart and not the mind, its about what you cherish most, demon or divine? the Word or the world? gossip or the gospel ?“ for where your treasure is there will your heart be also”

Round 11. The battle of persecution and forgiveness:

Luke 23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed suffer justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

This may be the most difficult of battles. For in the fire and furnace of affliction many of us turn away from Christ. Rather than inward toward Christ. Bitterness is a terrible disease, unforgiveness will and has destroyed many a saint’s future.

Round 12. The battle of death :

Matthew 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to the sepulchre. ( to worship and honor Jesus) 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

The devil would like you to stay dead and locked up in your tomb somewhere. Bound by the praise of men, restricted by your own satisfaction.
He’d like you to play dead, act dead, He loves possumized Christians, He’s likes you to accept dead dry worship services, he liked to get you to believe your Church, your ministry, your marriage is dead, your dead.

If he can convince you that its over for you He knows he has gotten the victory.
One thing the devil don’t want you to know, is that in death is where we truly find life and meaning!

In death we find hope, in death we find strength, in death learn truth. Death has no hold on Gods children. Its only our entrance into his divine presence.

Maybe it may not be a physical death that we battle so much as a death of a dream, a certain hope, a goal or future plan, a ministry, a marriage, a relationship....

But did anybody notice they locked him up and tried to shut him up, buried him six feet under hoping to keep him down.
That was on a Friday but come Sunday he was up and about.
He was alive, resurrected in power and victory.
They found out you can’t keep a good man down.
Say somebody it may be a dark, damp, dry, dusty and cold Friday for you but hold on there’s a Resurrection Sunday coming your way and its got your name written all over it.

Its time to T.K.O that O devil once and for all....