VIDEO: FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT (LYRIC VIDEO)
CHAMPION VIDEO:
MAIN SLIDE: FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
SCRIPTURE SLIDES:
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
LAST WEEK
We need a new definition of what it means to win:
NOT A ME WIN, BUT A GOD WIN
Let’s use the word PUNCH as an acrostic.
P – BE AT PEACE IF POSSIBLE
U – UNLEASH THE POWER OF LOVE
N – NEGOTIATE
C - CONFRONT them with truth (speak the truth in love)
H – HIT THEM WITH LOVING REJECTION
Today we get into the ring with another adversary, another opponent, and this one is tougher than the first.
Before we meet our next opponent, let’s hear from another real pro boxer about how a person can have everything but still feel empty, still be empty. Meet Manny Pacquiao.
PICTURE OF MANNY
“I come from nothing,” he said. “My family had nothing, so when I was seven or eight years old my mind was already matured to make money, to find food. I used to take the old bread from a bakery, take it home, scrape off the mold and the crust and then we’d cook it. That’s how we ate. There were some days when we had just one meal, many when we had none.
Manny Pacquiao is the first and only eight-division world champion and is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time. The Filipino professional boxer has won eleven major world titles; also he is the first boxer to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes. Besides boxing Pacquiao is a politician, currently serving as Senator of the Philippines.
Pacquiao He is also a senator in the Philippines, one of 24 who help run the country. He turned 40 Dec. 17. You have to be 40 to be president of the Philippines. The next presidential election is in 2022. Some polls project Pacquiao as the winner.
He was at the Staples Center this past week and he’s training for another fight. Pacquiao trained much of early January at Wild Card Boxing gym, where he always trains for fights in the U.S. Most of the wall space in the gym is occupied by pictures of Pacquiao. Near one is a quote from George Foreman: “Sure, the fight was fixed. I fixed it with my right hand.” That is boxing’s attitude. This is boxing heaven.
But Manny’s heaven really in the gym, or in politics, it’s his commitment to Jesus Christ that drives him to help people. Manny Pacquaio revealed in one of his testimony sharing how hearing the voice of God in a vision led him to Christ.
“I want to let the people know that there is a God who can raise people from nothing into something. And that’s me. I came from nothing into something.” – Manny Pacquaio
PLAY 2 VIDEOS OF MANNY BACK TO BACK
So we hear from Manny who speaks of a change on the inside because of Jesus. This is a good story of a changed heart. Which is the perfect time for us to reveal our next opponent.
Opponent #2 is harder than our first fight. Our first attempt to FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH was with others. But today, our second opponent is the fight we have with SELF. This is a harder match.
AND NEXT WEEK and the week after the bouts get harder still. But today WE FIGHT SELF
Picture of Self in Mirror
UNCOVER A MIRROR
As believers it is our goal to set aside self and become like Jesus in our character.
To speak, live, feel, go, love, serve and act in every way as Jesus did and does. But becoming like Jesus, now that is a daily bout.
BUT SELF GETS IN THE WAY.
Self is complicated, layered, protected. SELF does not always go easily. And we need SELF to go in order to make room for the Christ in you.
We talk about our selves too much:
self confidence
self assured
self reliant
how about MORE
self denial
self control
MATTHEW 16:24 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
The Bible speaks of our SELF as troubled by SIN, OLD NATURE (EARLIER YOU), LOVE OF THE WORLD and THE FLESH. There are more words and descriptions of the our SELF, but as you can see it is a formidable adversary.
S - SIN
E – Earlier You – Old Person
L – LOVE OF THE things of this WORLD
F - FLESH
We read Bible verses like:
2 Corinthians 5:17 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
And it sounds like the “becoming like Jesus” thing is an instant thing. Well we are forgiven and clean in the father’s eyes, names in lambs’ book, we live forever, but the battle, our time in the RING has just begun.
We’re new, but also being changed. There are two words we need to learn:
SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION
There is a real tension in this having the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST as a gift – SALVATION
And becoming transformed into the image of Jesus in our character – which takes some work – SANCTIFICATION
Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
So salvation is a free gift and we celebrate. Don’t be afraid to lose your salvation because your character is in process. Not at all. Rejoice in your salvation. You didn’t earn it, you can’t, it is a gift to all who ask.
Now this sanctification thing - “getting rid of SELF and becoming like Jesus” well that is A FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT of FAITH for sure.
And so we have lots of Scriptures that say: God is working to improve our character and we should work to improve our character too.
So it is with all of our opponents, we need to fight the good fight, but we need the Lord in the ring with us. We can’t do it without him and maybe He won’t do it without us. Get on your knees in your heart and ask God to help you. Then get up and fight!
We are commanded to lay down SELF. To pound down sin, to KO our earlier self, to deck the Love of this world and to pummel the flesh.
So it is that God is in the ring with us taking some punches at SELF
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
But is is also true that we need to fight too. We need to fight the good fight – swing some.
Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
We celebrate that God is in our corner, our battle is his battle too, he is helping:
I love Paul’s words in Romans 7:14-15 14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
ROMANS 7: 24-25 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So Paul who preached “salvation by grace alone”, was working on his character with God’s help. So should we. Thanks be to God who loves us in the beginning, middle and end of the process of maturing in Christ. He is working for that, and so should we. He is developing us, we should develop ourselves
WHAT DOES A WIN OVER SELF LOOK LIKE?
Galatians 2:20 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
FIGHT SELF WITH 5 FINGER FIST OF:
1. THE WORD
2. THE SPIRIT
3. SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
4. ACCOUNTABILITY
5. TIME
and you will win
That’s what happens when you fight and God fights SELF - SIDE BY SIDE. Self loses! The Jesus in you grows and that is a beautiful win!
It doesn’t happen all at once – this match against self is going all 15 rounds – but stay at it and with God’s help you’ll be an overcoming.
It will happen little by little or all at once, but it will happen – SELF will be laid flat. Old habits will die, new attitudes arise.
And when self dies it makes room for Christ - I love what John the Baptist said: John 3:30 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
Prayer of Faith: “Heavenly Father, I know that I’m a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross is payment for my sins. Lord Jesus I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Come into my life and make me into the person you want me to be. I choose to follow you.”
