Staying In The Fight

Let's just pray a little bit.

Let's pray some more.

Father, we're grateful for your word.

The entrance of your word gives light, or brings light, brings revelation.

It brings revelation, knowledge.

So we honor your word and we honor your spirit.

And so, father, we just thank you for your spirit that's moving in our midst and we thank you for your word that penetrates our heart and changes areas that we need to change, myself included.

And Father, we just we won't allow ourselves any part or compartment of our heart to become stony ground.

And so, lord, we just open up our hearts to you, we open up our minds to you, we allow, through the vision of faith, we can see with the eyes of faith into what You're telling us tonight and sharing with us tonight.

And, lord, we take it seriously in Jesus' name, amen.

Well, I just wanted to preach a message and title Staying in the Fight.

I kind of stole Selena's eyes title from a few Wednesday nights ago, like maybe last month or so, but this is a totally different message.

So, if you'll turn with me to Luke, chapter five, we're going to read a really familiar story that we've all read several, several times.

But that's okay, because we're going to glean more information out of it.

Amen, right, more revelation.

And so, as soon as I find where I'm supposed to be, at right, five, 17.

And it says say now, it happened on a certain day that Jesus was teaching and that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, judea and Jerusalem.

That just means that they came from all around the area, all through the region there, important people, but also Pharisees and teachers of the law, people that weren't necessarily familiar with Jesus' ministry, people that were there, that were not full of faith, people there that were really just in a judgmental heart, right, and they had gathered there because of the fame of Jesus.

So what Jesus was doing was already taking a hold of that area.

Right, his fame was being spread, the amount of miracles that he was doing was being spread, and there was a full house that night, right, I just want you to envision that.

And it says that the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

So there was not a lack of power, right, there wasn't a lack of anointing, there wasn't a lack of anything like us, jesus was there.

And so it says then behold, men brought on a bed, a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Jesus.

And when they could not find how they might bring him in because of the great crowds, they went up on the house top and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst of Jesus.

In other words, they broke a hole in the roof right, and we know from other translations that it was four men who carried this paralyzed man up on the roof and they broke a hole in the roof and they lowered him down.

And it says in verse 20, when he saw their faith, he said to them man, your sins are forgiven.

So it says, when Jesus saw their faith, the faith, in other words, the men holding the bed and engineering a way to get all of this down safely, without the man falling out of the bed, et cetera.

There was some engineering going on, right.

There was some logistical planning going on, but more than that, there was some faith right.

There was some expectation that this man could get healed.

And before healing him, jesus says hey, your sins are forgiven you.

And I'm telling you you know where we're going with this story is to surround yourself with men of faith, men and women of faith.

You know, we all need four crazy friends, right, that's the way we read this story.

We all need four crazy friends, you know.

But Jesus, he didn't heal them first, he forgave his sins first, and that's.

You know, we're going to read here in a second.

That's going to blow their minds.

But I'm telling you, no matter what you've done in your past, no matter what mistakes that you've made in your past, jesus, god is able to forgive you and God is able to heal you, and there's nothing that's holding you back.

And so here this man, he might not have even been in a repentive state, but Jesus, right there, went ahead and forgave his sins first.

And it blew their minds right.

And it says in verse 21,.

In the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason and say who is this?

Who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins?

But God alone.

And when Jesus perceived their thoughts.

When he perceived their thoughts, it means to fully know, and with a degree of competence, in other words, Jesus can read our minds.

God knows what you're thinking.

So he answered them and said why are you reasoning in your hearts?

And so he goes on.

But, like you know, how many times have we in this church, we've had unbelievers sitting in our presence, unbelievers that question every single thing we do.

Well, that man's run around the church.

That's not God, that's not the Holy Spirit.

What's the strange language they're praying in?

And why is that man up there pushing everybody down?

And so they don't get it.

And I'm telling you, jesus was able to move through that unbelief, but they there was power there to heal all, but they didn't receive it.

They just chunked it.

Ah, you know this is blasphemy, this is crazy and so.

But Jesus because, because he knew that what they were thinking.

So Jesus knows all you.

There's no way to hide your unbelief from the Lord.

There's no way to hide your criticisms from the Lord.

And I just encourage you, when you go visit places, when you, when you're here in this church and you see some things, some crazy things, I just stop yourself from being critical and having a critical spirit, and I'm telling you that has cost so many people in their lives.

Having a critical spirit.

I encourage you to like to extend it.

It's good to know the false prophets out there, but we don't have to be critical of every ministry going around.

There's a person right now that I was close to on Facebook that just all of a sudden just turned and has become the biggest critic of everybody out there and has kind of disowned the word of faith and everything, all the reason that God has saved him and all of the ways that he's taken care of his family, et cetera, and he's turned his back on all that revelation, but not on God, but just all that revelation.

Is just sad for me to see that.

And so look at what it cost these men.

And so in verse 23, which is it easier?

Your sins are forgiven, or you say, or let's see, or to say, rise up and walk, but that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive.

He said to the man that was paralyzed I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house.

And immediately everybody say immediately immediately he rose up before them and took up what he had been lying on and departed to his own house glorifying God.

And they were all amazed.

All of them were amazed.

Even the unbelievers were amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying we have seen strange things today.

How many of you in 24 wanna continue to see some strange things I'm hungry and thirsty for some strange things, and I'm telling you what the world calls strange, god calls holy and blessed, and we are looking ahead and looking for more in 24, more glory, more of his manifested presence, amen.

And so maybe you find yourself paralyzed with fear, paralyzed with doubt, paralyzed in your finances, and you feel stuck.

I just encourage you to surround yourself with men and women of faith, and you're gonna find that in this church and maybe we're all not, and maybe not every single person in this church is the most positive, faith filled person to speak with.

But I'm telling you you can find one, amen.

You can find one that's full of faith, that can talk into your situation and get God's attention amen.

So everyone needs four crazy friends right, and Jesus saw their faith.

And so Jesus was constantly walking this earth looking for faith, and he can recognize your faith, and it's hard for him to recognize it if you won't recognize it.

And so, in order to have faith, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We need to stretch ourselves to hear the type of revelation that we need to go to the next level in him right, and to have and to grow in faith this year.

And so he doesn't respond to you, rich or poor, he responds to you.

It doesn't matter if you're wearing a Rolex or a Timex, he responds to you amen.

And he saw their faith, and so it's good.

You know Oral Roberts used to say to release your faith, and that just means to put your faith to work for you.

And you know release your faith when I was a kid growing up at Lakewood, that John Osteen would say that all the time as well, and I really don't know who said it first, but if Oral Roberts got it from John Osteen or John Osteen, you know that was a common thing to hear.

And word of faith church is to release.

You know, stretch out your hands and release your faith, and that just means, you know, to put your faith at work for you.

And you know again, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor.

You know he responds, jesus responds, god responds to our faith.

And so let's read about the just shall live by faith.

I just I put one scripture in here.

It's in the Bible four times.

Smith Wigglesworth said that God has designed that the just shall live by faith.

And Smith Wigglesworth got that for, because it's mentioned four times in the Bible that the just shall live by faith.

But that word live is talking about is referring to the Zoë life of God, and it changes every fiber of your being, every cell in your body, from your physical cells to your brain cells.

It changes your thinking.

The Zoë life of God just gets in you and can completely take over, amen.

And so that's what happens when we live by faith, that the just shall live by faith, and so we are the just.

It says in Romans, chapter one, verse 16 and 17,.

It's in the New King James.

It says for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also the Greek.

And that word salvation means everything, it means healing, it means it means it all.

It's not just talking about getting into heaven, right, jesus provided it all, verse 17,.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

And it is written that the just shall live by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith.

Hebrews, chapter 11, 20 times right by faith or through faith.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And so you know, that's the hall of fame of faith is Hebrews 11.

And I'm telling you.

It's important that we stay in the fight and refuse to quit.

And so how many of you realize that our faith is a fight?

Right, it's fight the good fight of faith.

Let's go over and flip to that.

It's 1 Timothy 6, verse 11.

1 Timothy 6:11

And this is Paul encouraging Timothy.

It says but you, o, man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness, and fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called, and have confessed Again that eternal life is everything, it's not just heaven.

Right, to which you were also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

And I'm telling you, we have confessed some good confessions in the presence of many witnesses, haven't we?

We've had a lot of people come through here and we've stood on the truth and proclaimed truth.

But we're fighting the good fight of faith and in 24, we're not backing down.

It's a fight and we're ready to fight.

Bring me to the fight.

You know, back in 2020, going into the whole COVID mess, I was listening to the radio and the talk radio and I heard Michael Barry talking about the case that was.

You know, about a couple other churches that had formed a case to sue to become what's the word again, sorry, essential, thank you, jeremy.

So I called my dad immediately and I was like I think we should be a part of this case and so, like, in 24 hours later we were a part of that case and, like the 24 hours after that we had news crews and everything else.

And it's like when you, you know, when you take a stand, it's, it's, it seems like it's costing you, but it in the end you win because you're standing on the truth, right, and so it seemed at first.

You know, I was laying there Reading all these negative comments, trying not to, you know, like you read one, it's like, oh, they're kind of a little bit addicting, you, you know.

And so, especially like the next door app was tearing us completely apart.

We won't say that's where all the Karen's live, because we, like, we have a Karen or two or three in the church and we love Karen, so we won't call him Karen's, but the complainers, right, and that's all the next door app has turned into.

It used to be kind of helpful when it started they get to know your neighbors but now it's all full of complaints.

But I'm telling you like it, look where what God did, because we stood on the truth.

And here we are and we're continuing that same attitude of faith.

But faith is a fight, and so put us in the fight.

We're ready to fight, our family is ready to fight, our pastors ready to fight.

It's not a people fight.

You're fighting against principalities and Powers.

And we have it.

We have authority, we have, you know, a prayer team and we have all the things that we need.

We've been fully equipped to win this fight, Amen.

And so I think I think that's a part of why my dad mentioned boxing this morning.

He's always just been a huge boxing fan.

He's seen, like most of the big fights as soon as he had money right, we went through this long period of over a decade of not having any money, so that the whole pay-per-view thing back then was out of the question.

But since then, you know, and he's gotten into some a little bit of MMA, you know all that kind of stuff and, and so sometimes it blows me away like just how, what a big fan he is a boxing.

But it's that fight in him.

You can see that, you know, you can see that aggression.

Me, I grew up playing football and and I remember the bigger I got, the little bit of Issues I had.

I played on defense, right defensive end, and I had several late hit calls Because I just it took me a little while to turn it off and I'll hit them.

I'm gonna hit them again, I'm gonna hit them some more and oh no, I'm not okay, damn okay.

But uh, you know, put me in the fight, let's.

Let's get in the fight, it's, it's, and let's stay in the fight and let's.

We're not giving up, we're not giving in, we're not.

You know, the devil, like Dad preached this morning, he's just, he's trying to get you to give up, he's trying to get you to give in, he's trying to get you to pull back and, and you need to put you know, wake up in the morning.

The first thing you need to do is punch him in the mouth, because it is a fight, it's a good fight of faith.

You're not punching people in the mouth, even though you might want to from time to time.

Let's stay away from those stories tonight.

And but it's, it's your, it's, it's against the devil.

Amen.

So let's give him a black eye every morning.

I'd like to do that as soon as I wake up, right, and, and so your prayer life is so powerful and it changes everything when you, just when you begin your day with it and so Become a professional at fighting the good fight of faith.

You know, we're not amateurs.

We don't just fight on the weekends, it's a daily fight.

We are ready to fight every day.

We don't skip a day just because it's a holiday or whatever, and so we're fighting and so we're believing God for more in 2024.

So I think of several times in all the miracles of Jesus, he would say according to your faith, be it under you.

So he was always recognizing faith and we need to speak faith and act faith.

And I'm grateful for my parents.

I'm grateful that my mom praised for us.

It does make a big difference anytime where we were out.

All week this week, this last week, at Mark Hankins meetings, the Breakthrough Conference was going on and Pastor Mark and Trina asked Allison to run their children's church and at first this was the third time that she's done that and at first it's like man, that's a huge sacrifice, like loading it all up.

She takes like half of our children's church department in tubs and it takes a huge commitment.

But then I see the results and I don't even know what story I was talking about, but I'm going to start talking about Allison, I guess, right now.

But just really like lighting up on the inside of me because I helped, I took my guitar and did praise and worship for the kids and there's like little sponges and it's all like a meeting like that.

It's a lot of PKs and having.

I wasn't officially a PK because my dad wasn't a pastor until I was 18.

And so I never really truly was a PK but a minister's kid for sure.

They just go through different.

They have different problems, different pressures and raising PKs in church, our own kids, and seeing some of those pressures and just now.

So now we're ministering to those kids and they really are precious, they really are the next generation and it's so important in our own children's church.

This church is not going to grow without a strong children's church.

It's just not.

This church is not going to grow without a really good youth program.

They need our help.

They're facing different problems than that we faced when we were that age and when you were that age and some of the stories my dad tells when he was growing up.

They're facing some different problems, and so Selena is a youth pastor.

She's got to be in tune with the Holy Spirit to attack Again.

It's a fight of faith.

You're not fighting people, you're just knocking the devil off of these kids.

And it's so important.

And here we are and I'm telling you we're not quitting and we're not backing down.

We're not looking for days off, we're not looking to put our feet up, we're not looking.

My dad is, he's turned 77 this week and he's not trying to put his feet up and look for a mountain to sit on, sit on the side of and stare at some mountain, and neither is my mom, and so I look at the strength that they've endured through faith, by faith, amen.

And so I didn't mean to get teary-eyed, but I just thought I started thinking about the faithfulness of God.

And so we sat down with some pastors this week.

We were eating with Eddie and Lee, and they passed her in Oklahoma City Thompson, eddie and Lee Thompson.

And if you're looking for a good church, they are one, and I think they're going to help us out with my God votes there in Oklahoma.

They're all excited about it.

But anyways, lee just began.

They've known about us and heard stories about us and we've known all the same people for years and years and she recognized that.

And she recognized that she was not here to see us and she was not in my mom and just began to brag on my mom and can see just from a perspective of somebody from the outside looking in, because she doesn't really know us.

She hadn't been here, but she knows us from the outside and it was good to hear that people recognize your spirit of faith.

We have the same spirit of faith.

So back to my message number one barrier through and lower this man down through a roof.

And your faith can break barriers as well.

Don't allow the devil, no matter what his scheme is, no matter what his strategy is.

You have a strategy that's stronger, that overcomes the wilds of the devil.

Amen.

That's Ephesians 6, 12, I believe.

And so there's no strategy, there's no temptation, test or trial, but God creates a way of escape and I'm telling you that way of escape is your faith breaking barriers.

And so what limitations have you put on God?

I'm just asking you, what limitations have you put on your faith?

Sometimes I'm really tempted to say, oh, we can't afford that, or we to use anti-faith language, but I'm telling you and I get corrected by my faith-filled wife on my words, and so I don't know.

Just examine what you're saying and make sure that I have no reason to have limitations in my thinking of what God can do for my family, for me and my family.

We are blessed and we cannot be cursed, amen.

And we're reaping a harvest of all this amazing seed that we've sown, and you are as well, amen.

So just when you get up in the morning, let that come out of your heart and don't forget about your authority.

I'm telling you, jesus, the point.

Alison taught this to the kids so it kind of made me think of this.

You know, jesus was asleep at the bottom of the boat and he gets up and he speaks to the storm and the wind stops and the waves stop and they were able.

You know he wasn't just gonna die in the you know drown in the bottom of the boat, was he?

No, but the whole point of that story that everybody leaves out, that KSBJ songs leave out, is the fact that we have that's a brand new song.

It bothers me.

It's all about I can't do it, but my God can Well, no, you can, because your God has already given you the authority.

I know it's semantics, but it really isn't.

You gotta speak it, you gotta know that you have the authority.

You speak to the storm and you speak to the wind and the waves, and they will quit, they will stop, peace be still.

And so it's all about our words.

And so your faith is able to break barriers.

And so number two is just having the same spirit of faith.

Just think about that.

Let's go to 2nd Corinthians, 413.

We've heard Pastor Mark preach on this many times, and starting in verse 13, and the new living oh sorry, the new King James version says and since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke.

We also believe and therefore speak Amen.

So we're believers, but we're speakers, and so if you stay silent, you lose by default.

And so, again, I'm grateful for my mama's prayers and my daddy's prayers.

That's what I think, that's what I was saying.

But your mountain needs to hear your voice.

Amen.

Lots of people come up to the altar and we can pray and we can believe God for you, and that's important.

But if you don't go back home and speak to what you're facing, you're still gonna lose the battle.

Your mountain requires you to speak to it, amen.

And so random stories tonight.

We were at an event not long ago where we were around a girl who grew up in our youth group.

She's an amazing young woman of God and she's in the ministry now, her and her husband and I have to speak vaguely so you don't know who I'm talking about and so some of y'all old timers.

But we were having this great conversation and I was with her and she just admitted like all those years you poured into us but I didn't get it.

I was, I sang on your stage, I felt the anointing, but it didn't.

It didn't really click on the inside.

And she told us the moment that it clicked and basically her testimony of how serious she is for God.

And then now she's in the ministry and so I know that we sowed seed.

I'm not saying that it didn't do any good, but all the preaching in the world, as great as the preaching is here and I'm just kidding in this church, it's not gonna do you a bit of good if you're not a doer, if you don't apply it.

And so if all you do is listen oh, that's a great word and you go home and you never enter into the watering process.

I just especially on these three messages my dad's preached so far about 2024 and the year of momentum.

I encourage you to go back.

It's so easy the podcast, and though, he made fun of all the older people with flip phones, but it really is truly easy to go back and listen to these messages and get them down in your spirit, not just your brain, where you think about oh yeah, we have such a mental ascent church culture right now.

That's just about the mental ascent.

No, it has to click on the inside of you.

You have to engage your faith in a direction to pick up on this momentum and then grow and grow and grow, and you have to apply the word.

And so I have to apply the word, and so it works the same way in my life.

So where were we?

We were in 2 Corinthians 4,.

Let's see in 4 Corinthians 14, knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise up with Jesus and will present us with you, for all things are for your sakes.

That grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to a bound to the glory of God man.

It just, it causes thanksgiving.

Amen.

Therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing.

Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

Your inward man, you have inward strength that's being renewed day by day.

You may see wrinkles forming on the outside, but your spirit man is on the inside, renewing day by day, and that takes over into the physical realm and can literally change your biological cells in your body.

Amen For our verse 17,.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen or temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

How many of you have friends, maybe, that are all caught up, like dad was preaching this morning about news?

Maybe they're.

Maybe they're all caught up in the news and that's all they talk about, and all of that stuff is temporary.

Man, my focus is not on the temporary, it's on the eternal right.

I'm looking at the things that can't be seen.

I'm looking at the things that can only be seen by the eyes of faith, and they're stuck looking at things in the natural.

Oh, my God, look at that.

No, I'm looking with my eyes of faith and I just encourage you to do the same.

So number two is we have the same spirit of faith, the same spirit of faith that Jesus had, that Peter had, the same spirit of faith that caused Jesus to pour into Peter, james and John no matter what I mean.

There he is in the Garden of Gethsemane and he says hey, just pray with me.

This is a real critical time for me.

He went back to them three times.

What were they doing?

They were asleep, right.

And then Peter comes out of that slumber and it's already time.

There's soldiers there to get Jesus.

And what does Peter do?

He takes the sword out and, at the wrong time, and he chops the soldier's ear off.

And what did Jesus do?

Jesus molded that ear right back on, picked it up off the ground and put it right back.

Why did he do that?

So that it erased all evidence of Peter's mistake.

So, right there he already was treating Peter, you know, and forgiving his sins.

Because Peter could have been charged right then, basically with a felony, and been thrown in jail forever, and the call of God in his life would have been way different, would have been basically ended, and so Jesus erased all evidence that Peter ever made a mistake and also was a sign of wonder to those soldiers.

Amen.

So we have the same spirit of faith, amen.

And so I think I'll save part number three, maybe for Wednesday night, and we'll just stop it at that.

Amen.

But I hope this encouraged you tonight and stirred you up to stay in the fight and for the reason to quit.

Quitting is not an option.

Amen.