Living a life of Victory
Seeing the good in everything
With Rev. Brian Moseley
Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV
By Faith
11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Introduction:
Today’s message is a message of hope and an encouragement of the renewal of your mind and soul. We are inundated with the rampant effects of evil in this world today. The acts of darkness that have permeated the peripheral of our lives, become so loud that we feel as though we cannot even think straight. We are tempted to fall into a place of fear. Fear produces anger because it is in our nature to be afraid of things that we feel as though we have no control over. Those of us who are lovers and followers of Jesus the Messiah place our faith and hopes in him and his promises and faithfulness. This is called walking in victory. Let’s delve deeper into what a life of victory looks like.
1. Motives of Satan:
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To steal, kill, and destroy: every promise is a lie and he requires sacrifice.
John 10: 10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
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To worship him and idols who answer him. To get us to bend the knee. Time, meditation, and attention are worship.
Matthew 4:9
9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
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To distract mankind from the presence of God, glory of god and knowledge of God. He wants us to trust science, logic, and reason.
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He knows his fate is sealed. He is motivated to delay his ultimate destruction
John 16:8-11
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
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He fosters and enlightened, progressive, modern worldview instead of the original Jewish worldview. Epicureanism, which originally came from the Greek philosopher Epicurious, where the belief is that God (or gods plural in his case) are far away and uninvolved in our daily lives. Many Christian beliefs that focus solely on works and getting to heaven one day, instead of an active intimate relationship with God now as the gospel teaches, is an example of how this has bled over into religion.
2. Manner of attacks/ actions:
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He lies and twists the truth of God. This is the religious spirit. It is the effort to constantly bring our beliefs back to the Old Testament and removing the atonement of Christ from the equation.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
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He blinds the eyes of the world
2 Corinthians 4:4
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
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He knows the word and knows the tendencies of man and exploits it. He knows that we were made to worship.
Isaiah 43:21
21 the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
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He enters the open doors of our hearts that have been created by traumas, sins, selfishness and pride.
Genesis 4:7
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
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He distracts us with worldly pleasures and tribulations to keep us blind, deaf and dumb to the movements, glory, love of God and the presence of his Holy Spirit.
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He instigates rebellion.
Ephesians 2:1-2
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
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He attacks identity, (LGBTQ+, TRANS RIGHTS, PRONOUNS, DEFINING SEXES, ECT.) sacrifices the innocent with abortion, child sex trafficking and slavery. He attacks the family unit and the importance of fathers in the home.
Isaiah 5:20
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
3. The results of successful attacks in our lives and in the world:
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Hell on earth instead of heaven on earth, which is God’s desire.
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We become overwhelmed by evil and focus on it. The corruption of all things.
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Our faith is then replaced with fear, doubt, and love grows cold.
Matthew 24:12
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
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Hearts get hardened, anger which results from fear, and aggression result.
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We wander away from God.
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We become hopeless and faithless.
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We grieve the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:30-32
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
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We limit God in our lives.
Psalm 78:41
41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
4. The motive of God in and for this world:
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He is love.
1 John 4:8
“8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
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He made all of heaven and earth, and all things in them, out of love. He is his word. The power of his word upholds/holds all things together.
Hebrews 1:3-6
“3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: “
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He is Emmanuel (he is with us), not only is he with us, but we are also in him. All of creation, both in heaven and earth are held together by his power and presence, here in this physical world, far past the atomic level. In the heavenlies, the spiritual realm, by the power of his light and glory. Both existences are swimming in the power and presence of God. God is everywhere! The existence of all things both in heaven and earth is permeated and impregnated with him.
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He loves all of mankind because of his mere presence and brilliant glory with which he created us.
Isaiah 43:1
Israel’s Only Savior
“43 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”
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We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
Psalm 139:14
14
“praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
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Part of God’s framework/ creative laws, demonstrate that things of like kind, draw towards one another. “Misery loves company” in the corrupted world, but in the spiritual, God draws himself (love), Unto himself.
John 6:44
“44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
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He longs for the spark of creation / life that he placed in each one of us. Our involuntary and perpetual heartbeat is an example of this! He longs that this life is returned to his embrace by submission, one child at a time and one nation at a time!
Isaiah 30:18-19
The Lord Will Be Gracious
“18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
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His will (his heart’s desire) is that none should perish but all would experience eternal life!
2 Peter 3:9
“9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
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He desires to bring all nations and mankind back into his family, into eternal life (knowledge of him), and an intimate relationship with him.
Matthew 24:14
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
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He desires to rescue all of mankind from death, through the only path he has made possible (his framework). This path is Jesus the Messiah, and his proof is the resurrection!
John 14:6
“6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Romans 8:11
“11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
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His will is to prepare both heaven and earth by transformation and reversal, for his return. He is bringing a new heaven and a new earth to merge as one in his presence! Sin can have no place in his holy presence!
Isaiah 65:17
New Heavens and a New Earth
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For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
5. The manner in which he is preparing:
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He made us in his image.
Genesis 1:26
“26 Then God said, “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
The original Hebrew translation taught that we were made to be “imagers” of God on this earth. We were made to reflect God across the face of this existence, just like Jesus, and in Jesus.
Hebrews 1:3
“3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”
It was both a physical description of being “in his likeness” and the spiritual aspect of being “evidence or proof” of his glory here on earth. Originally man was the perfect mergence of the spiritual creation and the physical creation. God said” it is good”.
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God worked in concert with his heavenly hosts to make this world and mankind. God then carried that intention over to the physical realm with man. He still does this today. His intention is to work in concert with his creations both in heaven and earth.
Acts 21:18-19
“18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.”
It is written throughout all of scripture. It isn’t because he must do it this way, because God is all powerful and sovereign. He does it this way because he wants to! In this way he fosters freedom and God is freedom! Satan promotes/ desires bondage. Mankind was made in the image of God and made free!
John 8:36
“36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
We were made to act, live, move and work in faith. We are to do this by love and with the Holy Spirit, to show the world the Kingdom of God and the glorious love of God today! Philippians 2:13
“13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
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God works through us to continuously defeat the principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. We are to do this by speaking truth (God’s word) to lies.
Ephesians 6:12
“12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
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This is spiritual warfare, and it is only done by obedient, submitted servants of Yahweh, with Jesus (the word of God) and powered by the Holy Spirit (which is love)!
John 16:8-11
“8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
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“Those who believe speak”
2 Corinthians 4:13
“13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,”
6. The results of God’s will in our lives and in the world:
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Putting the world right. But before the world is put right, we must first put our hearts and minds right. We must be constantly renewed both hearts and minds, by the word of God. For the hearts and minds of this world will never be led to repentance and Jesus the Messiah, by those whose hearts and minds have not been bridled and subdued by the Holy Spirit. None of us will ever realize or fulfill our God-given purpose unless and until Jesus has truly been made Lord of our life! To attempt it in any other way, will only result in placing our own goodness and abilities on the throne and the inevitable fall that follows. The damaging effects to those who place their faith in your works and goodness, are that they are shattered in your fall. This has been the unfortunate and repetitious result throughout the history of religion and has perpetuated the disdain that the world has for “Christians” and “Christianity”. This had absolutely nothing to do with God or his son Jesus and was due solely to the disobedience of “his people”.
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We live eternal life now and have an intimate knowledge and relationship with God.
John 17:3
“3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”.
Revival and world change don’t happen instantly or from an outside force pressing inward. Change happens from the inside out. Each member of the body of Christ must first make room for our father in our lives by repenting of sins that obstruct his path to our hearts. He will not force his will upon us. Remember, he is a God of freedom. As we are changed, it affects the area of influence in our lives and that begins to grow. If every member of the body of Christ were to do this, there would be worldwide change and revival. Jesus started with only 12!
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If we have an intimate relationship and knowledge of God, we begin to see and understand things in this world from a spiritual perspective. We inherently look to all the good things in this world and find the bad things as of little consequence. The clamor and noise of this world is drowned out by the praises and glory of God. Basically, we focus on the good and not the bad. We don’t give Satan our time, attention or meditation because those all belong to God. Worry is negative meditation. Scripture teaches us to “think upon things that are good and lovely”
Philippians 4:8-9
“8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you”.
and “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”.
Luke 6:45
“45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks”.
What we meditate on is what we give life and power to in our lives. With this relationship, we understand that God is first in all things! We may see and hear the movements of evil in this world, but we understand that they are proportionately reactions to the unstoppable movements of God. God has seen all and knows all!
7. The truthful reality of our existence:
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The victory has been won! God is all powerful and moving his will forward! He loves the world so much that he gave his “unique” son to die in our place and made the way through his death and resurrection to live with him forever, starting now! He is waiting for all those who will believe upon Jesus the Messiah, before he returns and cleanses the earth for his Kingdom and presence. All children of God and siblings of Jesus have inherited the Kingdom and authority to step on the neck of Satan and his minions in this earth and be proper ambassadors of the Kingdom. God is only good and purely love! We are simply living out the story that he has already ordained.
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What does walking in victory look like? We are taught to “walk in the same faith (submission) daily, as we did when we first received salvation”.
Colossians 2:6-7
Alive in Christ
“6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
If we are walking in victory, our lives will look very much like Jesus’s life did and more! “You will do all the things that I have done and even greater things”.
John 14:12-14
“12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
Jesus was “the word who became flesh and lived among us”.
John 1:14
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
If we walk in victory, we hunger for the meat of his word and sit at his feet to be taught and renewed. If we walk in victory, we will walk out each of our days with the confident knowledge of who we are in Jesus the Messiah and reflect his light into the dark circumstances we face each moment. We can’t wait to speak life, bring kindness, show compassion by sacrifice and reflect the love of the Kingdom of God!
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We are windows that the world is looking through to see the Kingdom in this world. Are your curtains closed and shades drawn by unrepentance and disobedience? Or do you desire them to admire the beauty of your window instead of what they are meant to see through it? What is more important, the window or the view?
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