Demonstrative Victory

I. Victory In Jesus, My Savior Forever

A. Text: I John 5:1-5

B. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and told me to ask this one question today – “How long are you going to live as a victim, when I’ve called you to be a victor?”

C. God has called us to victory. Amen? Then why do we struggle to become victorious?

D. The reason we spend so much time losing spiritual battles is because we simply allow ourselves to listen to the lies of the devil and fall prey to his schemes.

E. However, if we would just begin to listen to the Word….hear the Word of God, obey the Word of God and we will become the victor that God is expecting us to become!!!!

F. You cannot stand and sing “Victory in Jesus” with a frown on your face!

G. Let’s not forget what Jesus told the disciples prior to the upper room experience. He said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses…’ (Acts 1:8)

II. Power, Power, Wonder-Working Power

A. Another hymn you cannot stand and sing in defeat is “Power, power, wonder-working power…”

B. If you study all four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke & John – you will see that these Gospels speak of God in Christ!

C. What’s so exciting about the book of Acts is that is doesn’t speak of God in Christ…. rather, it speaks of God in You!

D. Jesus told the disciples that He wanted them to tarry until the Holy Spirit showed up!

E. You and I have to tarry until the power of God shows up! And when the Spirit of God arrives, nobody will have to tell you!

F. You shall receive power…

(a) Power over sin

(b) Power over sickness

(c) Power over demonic oppression

(d) Power over poverty

(e) Power over death!

G. You say, ‘Wait a minute, preacher, I’m not so sure about us having power over death.’ Well, if you don’t believe that then you don’t believe Romans 8:11 – for it declares that this Spirit that dwells in you is the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead and will, one day, quicken your mortal bodies!

H. This word “quicken” used here, in the Greek is zoopoieo (dzo-op-oy-eh’-o). It literally means to make alive; to spiritually invigorate; to be endued with new and greater power!

I. In Luke 24, Jesus promised this power to be power from on high!

(a) This isn’t power that comes from denominational headquarters!

(b) It’s not power that we can get from worldly gain.

(c) It’s not power from upper management.

(d) It’s power from on high!

J. That word ‘endued’ means to be clothed with. Actually, the literal translation means to ‘sink into – like sinking into clothing.’

III. Now Let Us, Have a Little Talk With Jesus

A. You can’t even talk about the power of prayer and be defeated!

B. When you have the power of the Holy Ghost upon your life, you will be victorious and triumphant and you will walk in boldness!

C. Paul declared, to the church at Corinth, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with the demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on man’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” (I Corinthians 2:4-5)

D. He said, ‘I’m not here to impress you with what I know.’ And He knew a lot. He was a well-educated man. But he said his wisdom would do nothing for you. But rather, he came with the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost!

E. Listen, folks, I don’t come to you today with great wisdom to impress you with. I don’t come here with great knowledge to astonish you with. But today, I come to you in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost!

F. This power produces boldness like you wouldn’t believe! And when you have the boldness of the Holy Ghost, you can’t be defeated! You can’t live in defeat! You will become victorious over the works of darkness! You will become triumphant over the forces of evil!

G. The demonstration of power!!! The word ‘power’ in I Corinthians is the same word ‘power’ that Jesus said would come upon the disciples after the Holy Ghost would come upon them. The Greek word is ‘dunamis.’

H. So, folks we must demonstrate dunamis!

I. Dumanis comes from tarrying in the presence of God! Praying! Seeking His face. Seeking His will!

J. In the Upper Room, they prayed 10 days and then Peter preached for 10 minutes.

K. Today, we’ll preach for 10 days and pray for 10 minutes and we’ll wonder why we don’t have power!