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Week number five in our series entitled, I Have
the Receipt. Everybody say that together. I have
the receipt. If you've ever shopped at BJ's,
Costco, some sort of wholesale club, you know
that after you purchase something, you go to
another little counter before they let you exit
the building. You go to another counter, and
someone's standing there, and they go through
and make sure you're not stealing something,
right? They count every item. They look over,
and then they look at you, look at the buggy,
and then look back at you and say, all right,
have a nice day, right? That's kind of the way
that goes. But when you purchase the items, when
the items are done, and they question you, you
don't go, oh, no. Oh, no, I didn't purchase.
Like, oh, no, I forgot something, right? Like,
when you go, when you have the receipt and you
walk up to them, you're generally pretty confident
of what's been purchased, right? You don't show
up. You're not timid. You don't back down. You
just, you're like, no, I purchased these items.
Because when did they become yours? When you're
shopping, when do those items become yours, right?
Tell me when they become yours. You got your
hands raised, huh? When you buy it, right? That's
when it changes possession, right? It's when
it changes possession. All of a sudden, you buy
it, you purchase it, and from that moment, it's
not when the person at the door tells you you
can go, right? It's from that moment, those things
become yours, and you can have confidence in
it. You can genuinely believe, like, this is
purchased, right? This is bought goods. These
are mine. Come on, I hope you're listening. I
hope you've been a part of this series, and I
hope you know where we're going. But you can
have confidence in Christ of what's been purchased
for you, what's provided for you through the
blood of Jesus. Amen? And that's why this series
is called I Have the Receipt, because we're looking
at the blood of Jesus, what has been purchased,
what has been provided for us through his blood.
Amen? Amen? This is a central truth of the Christian
faith. This is core Christianity, but we have
to stand in it. We have to start acting like
the word is true. We've got to start genuinely
believing it, right? And we can't back down from
it when the accuser questions us. When he tries
to come up against us, when our mind starts playing
tricks on us, like what? No, we got to stand.
We got to stand in confidence of the word because
we have the receipt. What is the receipt? The
receipt is the word of God because the word of
God contains a detailed receipt of what Jesus
purchased with his blood. Amen. The word of God
is your receipt. The word of God is your evidence.
It's your proof. That's good. Look to your neighbor
and say, that's good. That's good. So therefore,
if I have doubt in my mind, I can look at the
Word and gain confidence, right? Instead of looking
somewhere else, I can look to the Word. And in
the Word, I find the truth, and then I can stand
in it. I realize what's been purchased is now
mine through Christ. So I have the receipt. The
blood, often when people talk about the blood
of Christ, sometimes if you've grown up in church
and you're around this kind of environment, sometimes
you can just look at it like just an illustration,
just kind of religious verbiage, just religious
talk. We're just talking about the blood, almost
looking at it like it's just a parable or something.
But the blood is not a parable. It's a reality
for the believer. And it's all throughout Scripture.
Some people, they're like, well, you might not
want to preach on the blood because people get
a little offended by it. It's not culturally,
it kind of seems a little iffy to be talking
about that. But it's all throughout the Bible.
And we've seen that. A lot of people, though,
when you talk about the blood, you talk about
what the blood accomplished, what the blood provided.
A lot of times our minds go to this verse, Hebrews
9 .22. And it says this, Without the shedding
of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Everybody
say forgiveness. Forgiveness. But as we've learned
through this series, the blood accomplishes so
much more than just forgiveness for the believer.
But the blood of Jesus makes forgiveness possible,
right? Just because he died, just because he
shed his blood doesn't mean everyone, is partaking
of that doesn't mean that everyone is going to
experience salvation one day, right? It's those
who accept him as Lord, right? Reach out to him
in faith and receive his gift of salvation. Colossians
1, 13 through 14, we looked at this, for he has
rescued us. I love this. For he has rescued us.
Christ has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.
So he rescued us from the kingdom of darkness,
right? And then what did he do? He transferred
us into the kingdom of his dear son. So he pulls
you out to bring you in fellowship with Christ,
right? Who purchased our freedom. Everybody say
purchase. He purchased our freedom and forgave
our sins. Notice that it says both of these things
and it makes a point to distinguish them. So
the blood of Christ not only forgives us, it's
the purchase. The blood purchased us. Amen. So
the blood of Jesus paid the price of our redemption.
He bought us and brought us out of the kingdom
of darkness. Somebody say hallelujah. It's a
good word. And then we looked at Hebrews 9, 13
through 14. It says this, Under the old system,
the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of
a heifer could cleanse people's bodies for ceremonial
impurity. Just think how much more, how much
more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences
from sinful deeds so that we can worship the
living God. True worship, we must worship God
in spirit and in truth, right? We can't be held
down. We can't be condemned and living in guilt
and shame and condemnation and worship God the
way he really wants us to worship. We have to
be free from that to enter his courts with praise
and thanksgiving. We can't be held down by it.
He says, son or daughter, give it to me, cast
it to me. Come worship me, because we have to
lay down before we can enter in. We have to throw
off. Throw off before we put on. Amen? Right.
And see this, though. The blood of Christ not
only purifies our spirit, it purifies our consciences.
Are conscious from the sinful deeds. And we looked
at that. Christ's blood deals with the effects
and the eternal damage of sin. The blood of Christ
purifies. It cleanses every part of man. Not
just the spirit. It cleanses every part. It has
a purpose. Christ's blood can cleanse the conscience
of all guilt and condemnation from past actions,
from experiences that's happened to you. All
that sin encompasses, it can cleanse your mind
of those things, right? God says he will remember
your sin no more. And then here he's saying,
I will remove that consciousness of that old
sinful life out of you. So why do we keep bringing
our sin up to God when he's already forgotten
it? Why do we hold people captive to the sins
that they've committed against us? God has forgiven
them. We must forgive them. In order to worship,
in order to walk in freedom, in order to walk
in truth. Amen. And then we looked at Hebrews
10, 19. It says this, And so, dear brothers and
sisters, we can boldly. Everybody say, we can.
We can with boldness. We can boldly enter heaven's
most holy place because of the blood of Jesus.
We can boldly enter heaven's most holy place.
Why? Because of the blood of Jesus. It makes
this reality possible. For without the blood,
we could not enter. Us being in Christ, his blood
being our DNA, we share with him. That's why
we're seated with him in heavenly places. So
when God looks at us, he looks at us as his son,
as his daughter of the king. We're children of
the king. And children should be able to come
boldly to their parents. Amen? So we can enter
heaven's most holy place because we share blood
-bought DNA with Jesus. Amen? Amen. The blood
of Jesus grants us bold access to God. And then
in Hebrews 12, 24 says this, To Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaks better things. Everybody say, speaks.
The blood of Jesus speaks. We looked at that
last week. And it speaks better things than that
of Abel. I'm not going to re -preach all this
series, so we've got to keep moving forward this
morning. But it's important to realize that the
blood of Jesus, it not only makes forgiveness
possible, not only perches us out of the kingdom
of darkness, it not only cleanses our conscience
from the effects of sin, It grants us bold access
to God, and it speaks better things over our
lives. It's not speaking vengeance. It's not
speaking condemnation. That's not what Jesus
does. Some people view God as this holy dictator
with a sledgehammer, just ready to beat you over
the head every time you sin, every time you step
out of line, but that's not who God is. The blood
speaks better things over our lives. And today,
we're looking at how the blood of Christ secures
our victory in him. Secures our victory. Everybody
say victory. Victory. When we talk about victory
in accordance with the blood, Jesus' blood wins
an eternal victory. What do I mean by that? Hebrews
9 .12, if we back up, it says, With his own blood
he entered the most holy place. So think about
that. The blood of Christ is in heaven. It's
not like it was just a past thing. It's a present
thing. And he says this once for all time and
secured our redemption forever. It was a once
and for all time thing. Every time we sin, Christ
is not dying on the cross, shedding his blood
again and again and again. It's once and for
all time. He accomplished victory once and for
all time. On the cross, he said, it is finished.
What do you mean by that? After he created the
world, he sat down and he said, I'm going to
rest. So there's nothing else that needs to be
created in order for him to provide for you.
And on the cross, he said it is finished because
he completed every work that he has for you in
him. And he doesn't leave you alone. He transfers
you into the kingdom of his dear son. He pulled
you out. Amen. Once for all time. So God's victory
is not just a heavenly future reality. It's not
just in the sweet by and by. It is the present
reality of having already won. This is what the
blood of Jesus purchased and provided for you.
Amen. It's the present reality of having already
won. Get this, God is victorious, listen, God
is victorious in battles He's not yet fought.
Think about it. There's battles that will take
place in the timeline of our human timeline in
the world that we see in the book of Revelation,
right? There's all these battles, there's all
these things, rumors, wars, rumors of wars, right?
And God already has the victory. He's already
promised the victory. Because the victory's already
been written. He spoke it, it's written, and
then we're speaking it again. Christ has already
won the victory. Amen? God is victorious in battles
not yet fought. And this is just great reality
for us, as those who are in Him as believers.
Why? Because God knows the outcome. But his knowledge
does not determine the outcome. His blood is
what makes the outcome certain. Why is it certain?
It's not because he decided it. It's because
he purchased it already. He purchased it with
his life, with his blood. Come on. It's good.
And what does this mean? It doesn't mean this.
Listen. What I mean, some people want to preach
about victory, and then it kind of turns into
the believer is victorious over every battle
that they face in life. Free from every struggle,
they're victorious. Let's just talk about this
for a minute. If you pick a fight with someone
at Walmart this afternoon, God's not promising
your victory. Let's be real. you will get your
butt handed to you. I'm looking at it. You know,
we probably don't stand a chance. Some of them
people in Walmart came to play. You know what
I'm saying? It's a little rough sometimes. It's
rough out there, folks. Anyways, but listen to
this. Yeah, chill out. But listen to this. Every
battle, say every battle. Every battle directed
by God. Listen to this. Don't read ahead of me.
Everybody's reading ahead of me on the slide.
I should never even turn. Every battle directed
by God, given in his word, is filled. It's already
filled with the blood's provision. It's already
filled with the ability and the promise to succeed.
Those are the battles that I like to be in. I
can succeed, that I have the strength to do it.
I have the promise. It doesn't already have to
be complete, but in my head, I got to know, right?
I got to know and be confident that what the
blood of Jesus has given me victory over. And
God's people throughout time, every battle that
God directed them to go into, they won. As soon
as they stepped out from God's will, what happened?
They lost. Every battle directed by God, every
place God tells you to go, every time He speaks
to you, gives you knowledge that you otherwise
did not have before, is what I mean by that.
It's not an audible voice from heaven, but it's
like an inward knowing of His Spirit. You go,
oh. I feel like I should do that. Or I have an
inward witness of like, oh, I should go talk
to this person. Or, oh, I should go here. Oh,
I should give this person. I should do this,
do that, whatever. He directs you to do. You
say yes to. But every time he does that, he's
telling you to do that because he has something
for you on the other side. What's waiting for
you is the ability and the provision. You might
look at it like, well, God, I can't do it because
I'm not, I don't have the ability. I don't have
the, right? And often when God tells you to do
something, you're like, you look to yourself
and say, I can't do that, God. He's like, I couldn't
talk. I had a stutter or whatever. He's like,
I can't do that, God. We want to argue. Gideon's
like, I'm the weakest of my folks. I'm like super
chicken. I'm scared. I can't be this great, mighty
warrior you've called me to. Because God sees.
God sees his plan. He sees what he has for you,
what he requires for you, and he's filling that
future with his provision and his ability and
his promise for you to walk into it. And when
you do that, that's when you see these things
happen in your life. I don't know why I got off
into that, but here we go. 2 Corinthians 2 .14.
Get this. Now thanks be to God, who always...
Leads us in triumph in Christ. Woo -hoo! That's
a good word, amen? Now thanks be to God who always
leads us in triumph in Christ. I want you to
focus on this word, leads us. His children hear
his voice, they are led by his spirit. We're
always led into triumph because of our position
in Christ. Our position in Christ gives us the
triumph, but we must be led in. We must obey.
We must walk in in order to experience it. He
always leads us in triumph in Christ. Meaning
victory is already won, and Christians here are
encouraged to walk in that reality. Because our
triumphal walk, our triumphant walk with Christ,
listen, is our testimony to others of God's greatness.
What does that say? In Christ and through us,
Newsflash Church, God wants to do things through
you, not just for you. We got to grow up. We
got to move past this. Christ is in you to transform
you and to do a work through you that is a fragrance.
How many of you have ever been somewhere, someone
was wearing a very strong fragrance and like
you smell them, the cat five miles down the road
smells them. Like, you know, everybody smells
them. They can leave the room and they're still
like, they still have that smell in the room.
Right? Christians, that's a good thing. Well,
if it smells good, it doesn't smell like, you
know, I'm not going there. Hey. But in Christ,
when we boldly access the throne room of heaven,
that atmosphere should leave a smell on us. Woo!
To when you walk in the room. Other people go,
what? What was that that I smell? It doesn't
have to be seen in order to be felt by your experiences,
right? So all of a sudden it's like, wow, something's
different about this person. There's a different
feeling in the air. And Christ in you does a
work in you for you, but then it doesn't stop
there. He does his work through you. To diffuse
the fragrance of his knowledge in every place.
So our triumphant walk with Christ, our victory
over the circumstances and over the things that
God has given us victory over, listen, that's
what our testimony to others is. And when that
happens, that's the greatness of God on display
and demonstration. That's our testimony. It's
not manufactured. It's not made up. It's not
something like, oh, well, I'm spiritualizing
this natural thing. No, it's a testimony to others
of God's greatness and his power and his work.
What the blood has provided is seeing him as
your source and you're walking into it and experiencing
it. You're experiencing him. But let's ask this
question. What does the blood of Jesus give us
victory over? I'm going to talk about three things
today. The blood of Jesus gives us victory over
so much. But let's talk about three individual
things. 1 Corinthians 15, 57 says this, but thank
God. Somebody thank God. Say, thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus. Why do we thank him? Because
he gives us victory over sin. Gives us victory
over death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen?
Amen. So first, the blood of Jesus gives us victory
over sin. Say, I have. You've got to be stronger.
Say, I have. Victory over sin. Over sin. Romans
6, 6 -7, get this, we've done this in life group
already, but it's such powerful scriptures here.
We know, everybody say we know. It's important
to know something. As a Christian, we need to
be aware and we need to know this confidently,
what the Word says. We know that our old sinful
selves... We're crucified with Christ. So that
sin, it's a purpose here, so that sin might lose
its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves
to sin. Let me say that again. For we are no
longer slaves to sin. We died with Christ. We
were set free from the power of sin. Set free.
Later on it says sin is no longer your master.
Can't hold you. Can't control you. You might
try, but you, uh -uh. It is no longer your master.
Amen? Some of you need to quote this verse as
your receipt against the enemy and against sin.
Because that's the way we win. And that's the
way we stand in victory. I just want to go ahead
and say it. We need to say when an old temptation
rises up, when we have a thought, Do we act on
it? Do we act by our feelings? Do we act by the
word, right? And we combat sin, the power of
sin over us with the word. Because the word impacts
our thoughts and our mind and our emotions. When
we speak the word, it changes things. The word
was spoken, and then it was written, and it's
written for us to speak it again. And some of
us need to put the word of God in our mouth and
begin to fight. Come on. Because we have victory
over what? We have victory over sin, not because
of my effort, not because of my work. I'm not
saying this because I'm like, okay, work. I hope
it works this time. I'm going to say it, and
I'm going to say it, and I'm going to say it
again. No, we say it because what? We know something.
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified
with Christ. I know that sin has lost its power.
That's why I speak the word. Sin is no longer
my master. You don't control me. Come on. So
victory over sin, a lot of people just want to
group it into temptations, and that's where our
mind goes. But victory over sin includes all
that comes from sin. I want to say it this way.
If sin caused it, we have victory over it. You've
got to get a hold of this church. If sin caused
it, you have victory over it. One more time,
just because you need to remember this, if sin
caused it, you have victory over it. Some of
you want to ask, well, what is that? Can you
describe those things? Well, let's think about
how God created the world and what heaven, what
our future is going to look like. The full restoration
of his desire and his will and his plan for his
children, right? So if it's not in heaven, And
it was not the way God originally created everything
that was caused by sin. Think about that. And
you have victory over that. Because it has no
power here. No power in my life. No power over
my family. No power over my home. No power over
my health. No power over my mind. No power over
my emotions. Those held captive by sin who are
trying to harm me, I have victory over that sin
that caused it. Come on. Because of the blood
of Jesus, we can refuse to serve sin. boldly,
confidently refuse to serve it or be held captive,
be subservient to it. We don't have to yield
to sin. We can yield to God. We have a blood
-bought choice. Amen? So Christ is victorious
over sin. And all those in Christ are victorious
over sin. We must stand firm in that reality.
We must hold our thoughts captive with this truth.
When our mind says something, when our friends
say something, when our family members remind
us of what happened in the past and how you acted,
I'm dead to that. You just need to look and say,
that used to be me, but that's no longer me,
for I have changed. Dead to that. Has no power
here. And you take your thoughts. You take them
and you say, that dirty thought, submit to Christ.
Yield to him. I'm not going to yield to you.
You have no power here. I'm yielded to Christ.
Romans 6, 11. So you also should consider yourselves.
Here it is again. Consider. Everybody say consider.
Consider yourselves to be dead to the power of
sin and alive to God. Come on. What does it say?
I'm not making it up. It's the Word. Listen to
it. Consider yourself dead to the power of sin,
alive to God through Christ Jesus. Amen. Why?
We can have confidence of the victory over sin.
Why? Because of his blood. His blood provided
the way of escape. His blood provided the freedom.
But you need to consider yourselves dead to its
power. Consider yourselves alive to God through
Christ Jesus. The blood of Jesus. also gives
us victory over death. Everybody say victory.
Say victory over death. Victory over death. 2
Timothy 1 .10 says, He broke the power of death
and illuminated the way to life and immortality
through the good news. Through the gospel, through
his finished work on the cross, he broke the
power of death. When he shed his blood, he shredded
death. Defeated death. Amen? 2 Corinthians says
this, and it's quoting an Old Testament verse.
Death is swallowed up in victory. Woo! Old death,
where is thy sting? It's one thing to have victory
over death, but the believer is free from the
sting of death, from the torment of dying. Oh,
death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is
your victory? Come on. But thanks be to God.
Look at all these things. You know, if we can
turn our minds. consider ourselves what Christ
has done, we'll see an attitude of thankfulness
rise up and well up within us. We thank God for
what he's done. We thank God for what the blood
provided. But thanks be to God, which give us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Psalms 23, 4, very popular verse. People quote
in times of trouble. But it's not about just
quoting the verse. It's about knowing it. It's
about considering this reality in your life.
David wrote, Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. He didn't say, yea, I
walk through the certainty of death. He didn't
say that it was going to conquer him. He said,
though I walk through the shadow of death, No
evil. Fear is a choice. Fear of evil is a choice.
And fear of dying is a choice. Why? For you,
God, are with me. His presence with you extinguishes
the fear and allows you to walk through the darkest
valley. filled with the essence of death, with
the imaginations of death all around you. When
everyone else would see you walk through that
valley and they would see, that person's going
to die. They're going to be taken out. God looks
at you and just says, fear no evil. That's the
fragrance that the world needs to smell, is the
fragrance of no fear. is of confidence in the
Word. Confidence that God is with me. I am in
Christ. His rod, His staff comforts me. It gives
me peace. It gives me direction. It gives me
correction. Keeps my course in line. And so when
I'm led with Him, I can walk in triumphant victory.
Amen? Christians should not fear death because
death is not the end. For many, death is viewed
as the end of all, the end of existence. It's
over. Death is not just the beginning, though.
Many Christians just want to view death as just,
oh, well, in the sweet by and by, things will
be a little better, and my life will genuinely
begin. Nuh -uh. What did the verses say before
that? Think about it. When did death happen for
the believer? When did death happen? What did
Jesus come to do? Come on. Come on. Think about
it. For we died with Christ. We were buried with
him. We will raise with him. Our fleshly bodies
will raise with him. We don't fear death. Because
death is not the end. Death is not the beginning.
Death is just continuation for the believer.
To be absent is to be present. Amen? Fear of
death only exists in a mind that's not set on
the blood of Christ. His resurrected life. It
must be our daily reality. Everybody say reality.
It must be our daily identity as believers. It's
not just a side truth. It has to be the truth,
the thing that we hold on to each and every day,
that we go back to, that we run to his word and
say, the blood of Jesus has given me victory
over sin. The blood of Jesus has given me victory
over death. I will not fear because God is with
me. Colossians 3, 3 again, for you died and your
life is hidden with Christ in God. It's a good
word. So believers already died with Christ.
We've already been reborn for a purpose to walk
in new blood -bought victorious life. So the
blood of Jesus gives us victory over death, but
it doesn't stop there. This does not mean that
sin and death are no longer realities for the
believer. It means that the believer has the
God -given ability and desire to not give in
to sin or be controlled by the fear of dying.
And last, the blood of Jesus gives us victory
over all demonic forces. A friend of mine came
to me just, I don't know, last month. Or not
last month. It was actually, it was around like
Halloween. And she was all like upset. And whatever.
I'm not going to get into all that, all the detail.
But she said this. And it really, it really stuck
with me a little bit. She said, you know, I'm
a Christian. I haven't been a Christian long.
But I feel. as though just all this Halloween
stuff and people kind of focusing on that, I
just feel very oppressed during this time of
year. I feel the darkness. That's how she described
it. She said, I feel it around me. I feel the
imminent doom around me. I feel the pressure,
the weight of it. Y 'all, that's demonic activity.
And we have to know what it is. We got to know
that we can't be afraid of it because we have
victory over demonic forces. What does the Word
say? The Word says we have a receipt for it.
So I don't have to question it. I don't got to
feel a certain way about it. I can read the Word
and be confident in it. It says this, Colossians
2 .15 says, He disarmed the spiritual rulers
and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His
victory over them on the cross. Amen. Revelation
12 .11 says this, And they overcame Him. The
enemy has a name. Lucifer, Satan, the defeated
one. We overcame him as it's written about us
in the future. There's a victory not yet already
fought, already won. You know, there's a victory
here that's going to happen. It's being spoken
about believers, about his children. And he's
saying this, they overcame him. Why? Because
of the blood of the lamb. They overcame Satan
because of the blood of the Lamb. And it doesn't
stop there. Some people are just like, well,
glory, hallelujah, Jesus did it, and I can just
live and do however I want to be. By the blood
of the Lamb. And why? And by the word of their
testimony. What are we testifying? We're testifying
of the goodness of God. We're testifying the
word. We're living in triumph and victory because
we're being led and we're acting on the word.
We're speaking the word. We're using the word
as our defense and our shield by the word of
our testimony. Church, we need to start testifying.
What I mean by that, speaking the truth of God's
word. Speaking its reality being real and present
in our lives today and in greater measure than
it was the day before. Can't just be an intellectual
exercise. No longer, church. Can we just intellectually
agree and say, oh, God is for me. It's just all
about me and I'm done. No, he's in you to do
a work through you because a testimony is not
for you. Testimony is for the world. He wants
to do a work through you. He's in you to do a
work, transformative work in you, and then that
impacts you, and then he's going to do a work
through you. Amen? It's through us. We overcome
by the blood of the Lamb and our testimony. The
blood is the legal foundation, secures the victory,
but our testimony is the faith response. Amen?
Testimony then is an agreement. It's not just
an autobiography. This is not merely just my
story. It's not just my story. It is a confession.
Everybody say confession. Of what Christ has
done and what the blood has secured. When God
does something in your life, that's why it's
got to come out your mouth. You've got to speak
about it. Because the enemy loves for you to
just feel self -conscious about not speaking
about the goodness of God. But when we don't
give praise and we don't give credit where credit's
due, the world looks at it like you made it happen.
That your victory was self -accomplished. And
then they want you instead of him. You glorify
yourself instead of glorifying God with any blessing.
If you consider your blessing and your favor
and your things to your own hand, you are no
better than Satan himself. It's not by the work
of your own hand. You turn it back. You give
glory to God when you say, no, this, what was
done here today, what happened in my life, the
favor that was on it was not by my hand. My source
is God. He gave it to me. I attribute it to him
fully. I had no part in this. That's a life submitted
to God. Submit yourselves to God and he will
magnify you. He will lift you up. Humble yourselves
before the Lord. Victory over Satan and his cohorts
is won by the blood of Jesus and our words. So
what is that? Declaring what God has done in
our lives and we remind Satan of his defeat.
This is important. You might say, well, I've
never really heard that. I've never really considered
that. James 4, 7 says this, therefore, therefore
submit to God and resist the devil. Is God resisting
the devil for you? Or is his word telling you
to resist the devil? Telling you, I've won the
victory. Now it's time for you to act like it's
true. He's not going to force you to do it. He's
not going to step in and zap you with it. The
devil knows this. That's why he roars around.
That's why he tries to attack you. He tries to
steal from you, kill from you. He can make you
believe that the sin and all the things in the
world that just naturally happen to everybody
else should just naturally happen to you too.
I'm moving on from that or I'm going to say something.
The blood of Jesus cancels the enemy's claim.
It disarms satanic authority and it empowers
the believers to overcome through faith and confession.
Through the blood, through its work, the finality
of it is your reality. The blood of Jesus gives
us victory over Satan. Not just all the spiritual
stuff. It gives us victory over Satan himself.
The blood of Jesus has obtained our victory.
How do we experience it? We've already talked
about this a little bit. But listen, living in
defeat and not standing in victory, where does
it come from? It comes from ignorance of the
Word. Because the Word tells us our victory.
The Word tells us what the blood has accomplished
and provided. So if we're not walking in it,
we must be ignorant of it. So we need to get
in the Word. It's not your handbook, it's your
well -being. It's your life. It's your dependence.
Or, the other option is even more scary. Maybe
you've heard the Word about it. Nobody here is
just going to hear the word and not be fully
persuaded. Nobody in this church is not just
going to hear the word and not be a doer of the
word, are we? We're not just going to hear the
word and let it fall on bad soil and just be
like, ah, well, that sounds a little too good.
We don't stand in victory if we're ignorant of
it or we're not being fully persuaded of what
God has accomplished with his blood. Amen. We
need to be fully persuaded is what that means
because victory is a mindset of the believer
before it is an event. In order to know it, in
order to be confident in it, you have to be there
mentally before you face the battle. Because
if you get to the battle and you don't know the
outcome, you've already lost. If there's no vision
of victory, if you don't see yourself as winning
in Christ, it's all up to your ability and you're
able to perform. And you'll fail every time.
You might get a win here or there. You might
see some things turn around. But God promises
confidence in victory. Amen. Victory is not imaginary,
though. It's not self -generated or manifested.
A lot of people want to have faith just in whatever.
Right? They want to say, well, I've heard this
truth, and so I'm going to apply it. But it's
not just about applying it. It's about knowing
it. Knowing the outcome has to be alive only
inside of you to experience the life of it in
your life. Victory then is alignment with God's
word and his blood finished work. So Christianity
is not about achieving victory. It is being confident
in the victory that has already been won. We
have to be confident in it. 1 Corinthians 15,
57, and 58. But thank God, again, thank God,
He gives us victory over sin and death through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We read that earlier,
but I didn't finish verse 58. Verse 58 here is
very important. What does it say? So, my dear
brothers and sisters, be strong. Come on, be
strong and immovable. Be strong and unwavering
in the confidence of the victory over sin, over
death, over demonic forces, over Satan. We can
have confidence in it. 1 Timothy 6 .12 says this,
fight the good fight of faith. Fight it. This
is our part. God's done his part. It's finished.
It's time for us to do our part. And our part,
according to the Word, is to fight the good fight
of faith. It's not requiring effort on your part
to acquire what's already been provided, of course.
No, it's requiring effort to stand on the promise
of victory, on the hope of victory that's not
yet seen. That's why we fix our eyes on what
is unseen and not on the things that are seen.
We have to fix our eyes on the heavenly reality.
God's will, God's way, His plan. We have to be
more confident in that than we are confident
in what the world says, what the world's consequences
of sin and death and the way things always are
for everybody else. We have to lay hold on this
eternal life. This word eternal life is talking
about... not just the sweet by and by. This is
talking about God's life, His life that He prepared,
the life of God from eternity, past, present,
and future. It's not a coming life. It is a now
life for you. We have to lay hold of this life,
this in Christ living, free from sin, free from
death, free from Satan. To which we are also
called and have what? Confessed the good confession
in the presence of many witnesses. We are called
to fight, not to earn our victory, but to fight
to stay strong and immovable in faith because
believers fight from a position of victory, not
to achieve victory. So God's truth then must
be higher. must be a higher reality than what
I see, what I feel, what I've experienced, and
what I falsely imagine that can happen. It must
be higher. Some people say, well, you know, let's
just say you're just denying the reality that
there is. And I'm not saying that. Please don't
misunderstand me today. The Christian life is
not about denying what is. We see with 20 -20
vision what is. It's about focusing our attention
on what is unseen. Seeing something in the spirit
that is higher, that is more real to us in a
sense, carries more weight to us, that we honor
more than what the world says. what we honor,
what the way everything always is and the consequences
and fallen, messed up world. Faith says something
higher is true. You don't ignore the storms that
you walk through. You don't just say, well, that
doesn't exist. I'm going to speak the word. No.
Faith says, I speak this truth because this is
who God is. This is the life. that he's called
me to walk in, and I stand in it because I have
the receipt. And I go through this circumstance
and this storm with a promise that no one else
has, and I'm going to receive an outcome that
no one else has because I have a promise. Circumstances
may describe your situation, but the blood of
Christ defines your position. Your words do not
create your victory. They just enforce the victory
that the blood of Jesus accomplished. They enforce
it. They require that it be so. When Mary said,
be it unto me according to your word, right?
That's a confidence in the word that was spoken,
not in the questioning of the reality of the
circumstance. It was saying, that be unto me.
That be my world. That be the victory in my life.
How do we apply this truth? We've got to know
what the blood accomplished. We've got to be
fully persuaded. We've got to speak in agreement
with the word. And then we have to hold fast
to our confession. Because I don't know about
you, sometimes it's not just one time. The enemy
or demographer tries to attack you. Sin tries
to mess you up. It's a daily thing, right? Some
people just, they're like, you got to treat this
like the clothes that you put on or like the
medicine, the multivitamin that you take every
day. If you take it every day for your health,
you can need to feed on the word every day. You
need to speak the word every day. Come on. You
got to hold fast to it because the enemy's not
giving up. You think he just one time, he just
says something and then he's going to be, oh,
I'm going to back up now. It's not resist and
then you're done. It's resist and keep on resisting.
Keep on fighting. Keep on fighting the good fight
of faith. Keep on standing on the word. Keep
on confessing it. See yourself as victorious
in Christ. See yourself walking in a higher reality
that Christ is in. If Christ has victory over
it, you have victory over it. Stay strong and
immovable. Everybody stand to your feet. We're
going to confess these things and these truths.
We're going to read it as one big strong voice
and then we're done today. All together, one,
two, three. The blood of Jesus gives me victory
over sin. Sin is no longer my master. The blood
of Jesus gives me victory over death. Fear does
not control me. The blood of Jesus gives me victory
over Satan. and all demonic forces. I submit
to God, resist the devil, and he flees from me.
One more time. One, two, three. The blood of
Jesus gives me victory over sin. Say it like
you mean it. Sin is no longer my master. The
blood of Jesus gives me victory over death. Fear
does not control me. The blood of Jesus gives
me victory over Satan and all demonic forces.
I submit to God. Resist the devil and he flees.
He flees. Amen. Sit down. Jesus defeated sin,
death, and the enemy. And our knowledge of his
blood is our certainty. It is our receipt. Somebody
say, I have the receipt. And by faith, we believe,
we see, and we enforce the victory. This online
worship experience was brought to you by the
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