Introduction
As Christians we are ever in a war, never make any mistake about that! There are unseen forces that are constantly after every Bible believing family and individual. At every moment the devil has a demon or several demons and in some cases a legion (1,000 – Mark 5:9) of them.
It’s small wonder then that we feel under attack. The devil is in fact trying to destroy God’s people. The world is out to deceive Christians every second. Every radio broadcast, every TV show, and an unseen spirit of worldliness orchestrates every bit of Internet content. The devil is after us. The world is trying to deceive us and if it wasn’t bad enough the flesh is constantly trying to lure us. Christians don’t get a break!
It is a fact is there is an orchestrated effort by a trinity of evil forces that is attempting to make God’s people live fearful, negative, upset and unhappy lives. And sadly, many Christians do live unhappy, fruitless, worried and negative lives. But God’s plan is exactly opposite; He wants His children not just to achieve victory but also to live in victory. And as we do so we attain victory in our personal, marital and our professional lives. God wants the Christian to be a happy people that know the thrill of living and enjoy a victory in living.
There are three incredibly powerful principles that I have used successfully over the last 40 years of my Christian life:
First, Speak the Word. Now, what do I mean by speaking the word? It is basically this – speaking the Word just simply means taking authority in life. That is, we take power over our conditions.
Secondly, Claim the Name. This is making a stand for whose team you’re on. It is an intentional affirmation. It is exercising power over confusion. When you don’t know whose team you’re on it makes life hard. And so many people, especially young people, wonder whose team they’re on. They are constantly having to rethink the question: I am for the world or for the Word? And friends, you simply must make that clear. Because as long as you're playing both sides of the field, you're going to be confused.
Thirdly, Plead the Blood. Pleading the blood is just resting in your salvation. It is a confident satisfaction that you are a genuine Christian. It is exercising power over condemnation. The devil is sure to try and make you feel condemned most of the time. But you can be sure that is not God. God wants us to live in victory.
Three sons went out on their own and prospered in life. They got back together to discuss the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother. The first said, “I built a big house for our mother.” The second stated, “I sent her a Mercedes with a driver.” The third smiled and said, “I've got you both beat. You remember how mom enjoyed reading the Bible and how she can't see very well anymore so I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible!” He said, “it took the pastors in the church 12 years to teach him. He's one of a kind and all mom has to do is name the chapter and verse and the parrot recites it.” Soon thereafter the mom sent out letters of thanks to her sons. “Milton,” she wrote the one son, “the house you built is so huge I only live in one room but I have to clean the whole house.” “Gerald,” she wrote to the other son, “I'm too old to traveI. I stay most of the time at home so I rarely use the Mercedes and the driver is so rude.” And then to the third son, “oh dearest Donald,” she wrote, “You have the good sense to know what your mother likes…that chicken was delicious!” The point of that story? Be careful when you speak the Word or you might become someone’s dinner!
Now, let me issue a word of clarity before we begin. If you’ve been around the Christian world for very long or if you’ve watched Christian TV much or if you’ve ever listened to Christian radio you may have heard Christian people repeat that they are “speaking the Word or claiming the name or pleading the blood.” Unfortunately these wordings used by some people are a sort of prayer teaching. The concept held by certain theological movements, refers to the idea that if you have a problem, like a financial issue or health concern, all you have to do is speak a verse over it and it will be fixed. Or if you say the name of Jesus in prayer it is a guarantee for success. All you have to do is say the words, “I plead the blood” and then somehow and in some almost magical way your problems are sure to be gone. And then to further muddy the waters these same teachers will state that if you don’t get what you desire its because you didn’t say it loud enough, often enough or sincere enough. My friend, this is misguided and heretical teaching! God will never be put into anybody’s box. We must never get to the point that we imagine we can manipulate God by saying some kind of secret phrase. When we do that, we degenerate to frankly nothing more than just a western version of some eastern religion. God is nobody’s puppet!
Now, with that being said however, we must recognize that we do have victory in every circumstance! It's just that the victory may not take the form of what we think. For example, Paul told Timothy, “the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work.”(2 Tim. 4:18) Now, Jesus was certainly victorious. But did he look victorious when He was being beaten? Did He look victorious when He hung on the cross? God always gives sincere humble obedient believers victory, but the form and timing of that victory may take a different turn.
John, in 1 John 5:4, told beloved believers, “…this is the victory…” He had to define victory because we think victory means we always have money, we are always in good health, and we always have happiness or happy conditions. But John said this is our victory – even when you overcome the world and you have faith, that’s victory. When you have faith in a situation, and are facing a health concern, the victory comes when you get faith, it doesn’t come when the problem is solved. Are you facing a relationship issue? Victory comes when you get faith. Faith is a substantial conviction that gets inside of your soul. It begins as a wavering faith, then a weak faith but victory is sure to come. God wants us to live in victory. How do we do it?
LIVING IN VICTORY
# 1 Speaking The Word – An Authoritative Demonstration
Speaking the Word is a way to demonstrate as a Christian, your victory over circumstances. It is not being overcome, but rather it is overcoming and exercising power over our conditions. About 99% of the issues we face are with circumstances and people.
Jesus reminds us that the answer to our circumstances and people problems is to speak the Word, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,” Matthew 8:5 Now, Jesus has just finished the sermon on the mount, an incredible discourse in and of itself. But what follows after this sermon is that Jesus openly demonstrates His authority. This relatively young, upstart preacher just blew people away with His counter-religious teaching. They were used to mealy-mouth religious Pharisee’s and others, who were more interested in outward trappings of culture than inner faith.
And as Jesus took authority over demons, sicknesses and situations the people were just astounded. The story Jesus tells, in Matthew 8, of this centurion is true. There is nothing fictitious or allegorical about it. A roman centurion soldier in the time of Christ was essentially a policeman of sorts. He was a good man and he comes to Jesus on behalf of his employee. The emphasis in this story is the power of the Word of God – the bible. It is that by the command of God, the sick are healed. The Holy Spirit places this beautiful case study in written record that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Jesus is portrayed as Christ and ascends to that position by His death, burial and resurrection on the cross. In the cross the problem of sin is taken care of. But not only is the problem of sin cared for, the effects of sin as well. Jesus not only saves our eternity but He gives power in life.
Let’s notice the soldier’s great attitude, “… a centurion, beseeching him,” Matthew 8:5 He was a hardened soldier, but he was a godly man. There is no calling or place that you cannot be a good Christian. Nobody should ever say, “well, I would’ve been a good Christian but I had to be a policeman.” Scripture tells us that he came “beseeching” Jesus. He didn’t come demanding, but humbly. Humility is one of the great keys to a life of authority in Christ.
The Centurion’s circumstances were painful to him, “And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.” Matthew 8:6 His employee had some sort of an ailment that was affecting his muscular and nerve system. Maybe he had gotten to the point that he couldn’t even get out of bed. Here was a man, a centurion, and an influential leader and yet he wasn’t too big or proud to take care of the concerns of loved ones and friends. The bible says that the soldier brought his servant to Jesus. That is the best thing that anybody can do with their children, employees or friends –bring them to Jesus!
A great thing about our God is that He is always ready to meet those who come, “And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.” Matthew 8:7 Jesus always meets us more than half way! Two things about that statement that encourages me: 1) Jesus’ willingness to go. He was willing, the Bible says that if I come to Him, He will in no way cast me out. Some people say, “I just don’t know if God will want me?” It’s guaranteed friend, if you will go to Jesus He will come to you. 2) The confidence of our Savior. The passage states that Jesus promises, “I will go and heal him.” You will notice that there is no doubt in that statement…I will heal him. I believe that Jesus is trying to get us as Christians to take authority over our conditions. Now, the centurion doesn’t come to Jesus and say, “my servant is not worthy of you coming.” No, the centurion says, “I am not worthy.” He owns up to his position before God. And I need to remind all of us again, especially in this crazy Christian world we live in, God owes us nothing! He loves us, yes…but only because of His great love, there is nothing about us that is lovable. We are sinful people (Leprous like the servant) that He loves because of His grace, not for anything in us that is desirable.
Now lets notice how Jesus told the people to get victory, “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: BUT SPEAK THE WORD ONLY, and my servant shall be healed.” Matthew 8:8 Notice that little phrase – speak the word only. Here we have the first step to living in victory. The Centurion knew in his heart that all that had to be done was for Jesus to speak the word, because Jesus lived in such a way that displayed a connection to God. He was trusting Jesus as someone who could speak the word and things that weren’t would become real. That reminds me that He is the One who spoke the world into existence. There was no world and Jesus spoke it into existence. He was there – let us make this world, let us make man…Jesus spoke the word and creation happened.
Now, notice how the next verse is a key verse to understanding the authority we have in Christ. “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” Matthew 8:9 Now, why did God tell us this story? Because He wanted us to get a picture of "command authority." In this military illustration God reminds us of the importance of the chain of command if we are going to win in life. The centurion stated correctly when he said, “When I say go…they go. None of them would dare drag their feet. Their very life depended on instant and complete obedience. God is teaching us here how important the chain of command is in the unseen world as well. Paul eluded to this in Ephesians 1:21, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” It is almost though he saying that there is heavenly hierarchy. We’re told in other passages that there angels that are Archangels, Cherubims and Seraphims. It appears then that authority is built into creation itself. We can see in the animal kingdom, that there is a system of hierarchy. We can see in business, countries and the home front, that God always works through a chain of command (note: that’s why it's a dangerous thing to rebel against authority – it is God ordained.) The whole point of the story is this – the centurion demanded something that was physically possible to do. Because it was a command the followers got it done. But Jesus commands something that is physically impossible and yet it still happens! This story tells me then, that if we’re going to see victory in our lives we’ve got to see more than just something done in the physical. Humanity alone will not cut it. We’ve got to move into a spiritual zone.
Jesus notices and is moved by those that understand what faith means, “When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Matthew 8:10 Now, everybody else was looking at this centurion and were admiring his beautiful uniform, all the medals he had, the glistening helmet, the scarlet robe wrapped around him and his imposing features. Everybody else was looking at his physical greatness but Jesus bypassed that. He didn’t say, “My, my what amazing medals you have…your sword is so amazing.” No, Jesus looked at him and said, “you're faith is amazing!” And when Jesus is amazed at something, you can be sure that it's incredible! He acknowledged that Christ was the sovereign commander-in-chief and as such, what He decreed happened. This military guy understood the natural logic of the heavenlies. I get a little bit stirred up when I hear people say, “Christianity is not logical or scientific reason…just faith.” No…the world is what’s not logical! The Bible is perfectly logical – it's just that it is divine logic, is true logic.
It was obvious to the Centurion that Jesus was a commander in good standing in His chain of command. And so then, should Jesus issue a command (speak the word) then it will happen. I love how the centurion said it when he stated in a parallel passage in Luke 7:8, “For I also am a man set under authority…” Notice the phrase “For I also...” Jesus lived as a servant leader. He wasn’t a “big shot”, He was just in authority. Nobody’s a good leader until you learn how to be a good follower. Several times over the years some precious wife has said to me as a Pastor, “be careful to go easy on my husband…He doesn’t like being told what to do.” Really? Wow…that’s amazing, I have never heard that before. Only about 99% of the humans I know don’t like to be told what to do. It's not a man thing – trust me. Another says, “I'm read headed and so I've got a bad temper.” Really? I've known some blondes, some brunettes and even people without hair that have tempers! The fact is we all have an independent spirit. That’s the very thing that sends a person to hell, that they just will not submit and say, “I am a sinner & Jesus is the Savior.” We’ll do anything but that. Too many (1 is too many!) follow some birdseed eating man that dresses like a woman and sits on a mountain in Tibet rather than just saying, “Jesus you are Lord and can do anything!”
There are 3 critical conditions when we are to take authority. We Need To Exercise Authority In:
1. Temptation
When Satan comes in, the flesh acts up and the worldly mind set will tempt us. It is in that moment that we need to exercise our authority over the demonic world. I can tell you (and I am ashamed to say it… but to say anything else would be pride), that I have failed miserably and often but I will also tell you, thanks be unto God, I have also won against the darkness! And every time I've won, I did so in the same way. Every time I have spoken the word I won.
Jesus was tempted many, many times I’m sure, but we have only three records of them: at the temple, at the precipice and in the wilderness. Each time Jesus was tempted, He also defeated Satan! Amen. How did He do so? Each time He spoke the word, now if Jesus, who is the living word knew that He couldn’t just defeat Satan by just walking away and He didn’t just think it in His mind, the Bible says He spoke it. Every time I have ever had success it was because I spoke the word. I believe that it's so important to believe the word. I would also say it's vital to agree with the word but there's something about actually speaking the word! The Bible says faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:14). I believe hearing spirit-filled preaching can build faith. I believe listening to the spoken word builds faith. I believe hearing the word through a song can build faith. A testimony of God’s work will build faith.
But there's something powerful that happens when we, ourselves, speak the word. That’s because it’s not what I believe that sets you free, it’s what you believe that sets you free.
Now, I am a blessed man. I feel blessed beyond measure, so much so that at times I feel spoiled. There have been numerous times when God has done something for me and my wife will say good naturedly, “You are just so spoiled.” And I believe that! But despite all those blessings there are times when I spiral down the drain into a pity-party. It is like a little cloud you see on the horizon coming your way and I'm thinking, “oh no, here it comes, it's a dark cloud of problems.” And try as I may that cloud just gets bigger and closer and darker until pretty soon, I am in a real funk. These low spirits can happen with people around. It can happen, as it often does, when nobody is around and too often in the middle of the night – but it is a self-consumed pity-party. But here is how I know that it is a satanic attack and not an organic problem like I've had too much sugar, or I'm going through menopause because when I speak the word it is gone, in fact, it's gone instantly. It is uncanny and remarkable.
Now do you think that because you are not a pastor that Satan will leave you alone? Every one of us, no matter who you are, has a legion of demons (or more) after you to diminish you.
When you speak the word you take authority. For example: You get a word about envy while you are reading scripture and then when the temptation comes to envy someone with their houses and land you speak that verse to yours own ears and heart – out loud! You know what I’m talking about don’t you? You get that poochy lip disease because somebody else gets something that you don’t and then you go into a pity-party, just say, “No! Thou shalt not envy!” Just speak the word. I noticed that both negative commands and positive promises that are found in scripture are about equally good at defeating Satan. But not unless you use it!
2. Terrors
The second critical condition that we must speak the word to, are terrors. I can tell you there have been times in my life when I was so upset that it affected my breathing – like a panic attack. I am not given to that kind of stuff, but I was just so nervous. These are just the times to speak a word. The prophet Isaiah addresses these times, “…When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19 Even when the enemy, Satan, comes flooding into your world the Spirit of the Lord has an answer. It is a standard from God. Wait a second…what is a standard? A standard is a banner. When the soldiers would march ahead they would march under a banner representing who they were. It is said that during World War II the words of Prime Minister Winston Churchill were almost supernatural in their ability to inspire the English people. One of the statements he often repeated during the ongoing attacks of the Nazi forces on the homeland was to “stay calm and carry on.” Those words, even to this day, bring a positive response from a British person. Those were powerful words but were just human. Imagine what would happen if, in times of terror like when we hear scary news from the doctor or when we look at our financial portfolio or when it looks as though our marriage is in big trouble we were to speak GOD PHRASES. When fear grips us, that’s the time to get a word and to speak a word. Speaking the word is better than any motto could ever get. Mottos and quotes can be good but God’s word is divine, it's powerful!
3. Tests
There is a third condition when we must speak the word. And that is in adversities and sickness. Of course, the greatest sickness of all is being in a lost condition. When you are “lost” and “soul sick” you need some answers…a cure. Where does one go for help? “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;” Romans 10:8 Now, an answer can't get any more plain and easy than a word that is as close as in your mouth!
God declares that if you want to be saved you don’t have to go to Tibet. You don’t have to watch the Oprah show. You don’t have to read some self-help book. You don’t have to pay. The answer is as close as speaking out God’s word!
Of course the truth of God’s word has to come from your heart first as it says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9 But it’s with your mouth that you make confession, it's a word of faith. Salvation is so easy that if you would simply say, “Jesus, I'm a sinner, receive me.” You just cannot believe all the things that would snap to attention and begin to happen! The spirit of God now regenerates you! You are now sanctified. You have a home in heaven and your name is written in the Lambs book of Life. All you do is push that button called faith and there is an unbelievable grocery list of events and blessings that begins to come.
I read this past week that the giant internet retailer Amazon, who’s never at a loss for trying to get people to buy things, have come up with a stick-on-the-wall button that when pushed places an order immediately for whatever item. For example: you could put one of these “order buttons” for Tide in your laundry room. When you run low…no problem, just push the button and it will automatically order, bill and ship within a day!
That’s what happens when we get saved. When you just push the button of faith and say, “Jesus, I am a lost sinner. Please save me.” Salvation will come rushing into your life instantly…that is an amazing concept.
Let’s get a handle on this truth. What do we need to do to live in victory? Faith in the power of the word! Faith is only as powerful as the object. If you have faith in me there's maybe a 50/50 chance that I’ll come through. If you have faith in your own faith, which is the problem with the “Word of Faith movement”, you will falter. Your belief in the power of speaking the word is paramount. It's not just what you think that helps you live in victory. It's not merely just agreeing to it in your spirit…it is speaking it – taking authority over conditions!
The fact is, the devil has been eating our lunch as Christians for too long. The devil has been telling us, “No, you can't win.” And yet our victory is as close as a faith button…as near as our mouth. God says to “speak it.” Of course before we can speak the word we’ve got to read the word. Now friend we must not get so busy we forget to saturate our mind with word. You might be saying that you're too busy to read the Bible. Well then, you are just way too busy, trust me you are not too busy to read the Bible. “I just don’t get anything out of it,” you protest? No, I'm sorry that’s not the problem. The real problem is that you don’t want to get anything out of it! You're so busy eating the junk food of the world that when God puts a big steak in front of you it doesn’t look good! Turn off that junk and start reading the word!
Another important way to speak the word is by being in a bible believing church every Sunday. Not just when it feels good or when it's convenient. You must try to be there as often as you can, because once the word is in you then the Spirit of God can bring it to remembrance. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost...shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance…” John 14:26 Somehow and in some way you’ve got to get a word from God…something from your morning devotions that you can stand on and speak out. But get a word and then launch off into the day with that word. And when the terrors come it's the time to speak the word – out loud! I know that some of you have some tremendous hurdles in your life. You’ve been used and disillusioned. People have done some bad things to you, but don’t let the devil use that against believing for victory. Because God is real! His word is true!
