“Nothing Less Than Victory”
Num. 13:30
This morning, with the help of the Lord, I’d like to share a word from the book of Number, chapter 23, and verse 30. There we read, “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
As I prepared for this message, the Lord flooded my mind with thoughts, illustrations, and ideas for the subject. I felt confused and overwhelmed at times, trying to recall what He had just told me, trying to put into word what I was feeling.
This subject is important to the Lord, because God is not a loser. He can’t loser…because He is God. Yet, we His people can loss, and often we do.
If you were inclined to list every sin you’ve ever committed…every test you ever failed…every time that the devil landed a body blow or a head shot, ….how much paper would you need? How many pens or pencils would you go through?
How can it be that, we who are created in the image and likeness of God, can, and often do, come up on the losing end of life?
· Aren’t we’re saved by grace, through faith!
· Isn’t our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life
· Don’t we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us…
Yet, we still struggle with temptations…we often give in to sin…. we are seen as less than an overcomer.
Some of our plight comes from the fact that we, although saved, are still just flesh and blood. The angels look upon with wonder, pondering
· How can such a mass of bone and muscle, tendon and nerves, go against Satan, the god of this age?
· How could the Lord Jesus Christ leave the glories of heaven, and take on the form of….man…living as a man….sleeping as a man….being tempted as a man?
· How could God possibly find one among us to rule and reign in His Son’s millennial kingdom?
Yet and still, such is the case…and then some.
However, this morning, I want to look away from what the angels think. I want you to shun the thoughts and evaluations of what the devil thinks. For just a moment, and just a moment, I want you to block out even what God thinks…and ask you what do you think?
· Do you think it’s possible for YOU to be an overcomer?
· Do you think it’s possible for YOU to hear “well-done thou good and faithful servant”?
· Do you think it’s possible for YOU to be chosen to rule and reign with Christ in His soon coming kingdom?
Because, regardless of what the angels think…regardless of what the devil thinks…regardless of what God thinks….it’s up to YOU!
This morning, I want to give you three things to consider, on the subject of Nothing Less Than Victory. The first thing I want you to know is NOW is the time for victory. Not tomorrow…not yesterday…but NOW, right now.
Just as in the case of Joshua and Israel, we, the people of God are faced with a choice: to walk by faith, and claim the promises of God, or to walk by sight, taking what life gives us.
Joshua said, in verse 30, ‘Let us go up “AT ONCE”. Can you hear the urgency in his voice? Do you feel the passion in his desire. Joshua knew that NOW, right NOW is the time to claim our victory.
· God had delivered Israel from the bonds of slavery!
· He had parted the Red Sea!
· He had turned bitter water into sweet!
· He had rained manna from heaven!
· He had poured water from a rock!
· He had caused the shoes and clothes of a 4 million people to last nearly 40 years.
· He had allowed the spies to go into the land, to prove to themselves that the Promised Land was all that God promised it would be.
So now, RIGHT NOW, Joshua stilled the people of God, and declared that Israel must claim their victory AT ONCE.
When you’re ready to accept Nothing Less Than Victory, you’ll realize that NOW is the time!
· Regardless of your circumstances!
· Regardless of your problems!
· Regardless of your finances!
· Regardless of your health!
· Regardless of what you think!
· Regardless of what you feel!
When you’re ready to accept Nothing Less Than Victory, you must realize that Victory is in season RIGHT NOW!
What does the song say? “Victory is mine. Victory is mine. Victory today is mine.” Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not next week, or sometime in the distant future. Today! And, God is commanding His children to stake their claim to victory TODAY. Right Now!!
How do I know? Because God is not a loser, and He didn’t make us to be losers!
· The Bible tells us we “can do all things through Christ, which strengthens” us!
· In Romans 8:37, we’re called“…more than conquerors, not just conquerors, more than conquerors, through him that loved us.”
· I John says that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
Ø Right now, the Holy Spirit is making intercession for you and for me, according to the will of God.
Ø Right now, the Lord Jesus Christ is looking into the eyes of His Father, and speaking your name and mine, asking the Father to do for us, and charge it to His account.
Ø Right now, angels are being dispatched, forming a hedge of protection around the people of God.
Why?
Because, right now, the devil is plotting and conniving, setting traps and placing snares, to entangle and destroy the children of God.
Why?
Because, right now, we have an adversary, a formidable adversary, who knows that his time outside of the Lake of Fire is drawing to a close.
Why?
Because right now, the spiritual battles are being fought in the heavenlies, and manifested on earth?
Right now, this very moment in time, is when the people of God must stake their claim to the God-inspired, Christ-honoring, Holy Ghost empowered victories over the world, the flesh, and the devil. And it all begins with the acknowledgment that NOW is the time for victory.
Remember the words of Scripture, “choose you this day whom ye will serve; …but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Why? Because NOW is the time for Victory
But, not only NOW, but the second thing I want you to know is, WE are the people of victory. You may be black or white…young or old…rich or poor…educated or uneducated. You may be from Oklahoma or Texas (God-forbid)…you have speak English or Ebonics….but if you’re a child of God, then YOU were born for victory.
Notice what Joshua said in verse 30… ‘WE are well able’. Not ‘I’…not ‘they’…but ‘WE are well able to overcome it’.
When you’re ready to accept Nothing Less Than Victory, you’ve got to realize that victory, spiritual victory, only comes to team players.
· If you think you can be an overcome without involving other people, you’re sorely mistaken.
· If you think you can hear ‘well done thou good and faithful servant’ without helping other people, you’re only fooling yourself.
· If you think you can claim spiritual victory over the world, the flesh or the devil with a BIG “I” and a little ‘you’, …you need to wake up and smell the coffee.
I am the man, the husband, the father that I am because of others. I am the preacher, the teacher and the pastor that I am because of others. If it were not for a Darlene Wilson and Mary Johnson, I would be less than what I am. If it were not for an Ann Herbison and Trena Thompson, I would be less than what I am. If it were not for a faithful few sticking beside me, praying for me, encouraging me, correcting me, I would be less than what I am.
· So, any good that you might see or hear from this vessel called William Noel, to God be the glory great things He hath done.
· Any good you might experience from your time with this vessel before you is the result of the concentrated efforts of a family of believers.
· Any good you might come across from my ministry at Grace And Glory is the result of more of US and less of ME!
And I hope that you can say that your life has be touched by the influence of Pastor Noel, Bro. Herbison, Sis. Noel and others. Why? Because victory looks better on US, than must ME!
It’s time for the body of Christ to come together and claim what God has for us.
· The Bible says where two or three are gathered!
· The Bible says, that WE should ‘touch and agree’ in this or in that!
· The Bible says that WE are more than conquerors!
· The Bible says if WE ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
Yes, brothers and sisters, WE are a people born for victory!
· How bitter would it be if only one among us heard well done?
· How shallow would it be if one among us thought he or she built this church by themselves?
· How wrong would it be to try and claim victory, without giving credit where credit is due?
Consider the words of Hebrews 11, the great Faith Chapter. No less than 16 saints are mentioned by name. Each being credited with their display of faith toward God.
· Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
· Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God
· Noah built an ark, to the saving of his family
· Abraham obeyed God, and left his country, not knowing where God would send him
· Sara, though well past child bearing years, believed God, judging Him to be faithful to His Word
· Moses rejected the riches of Pharaoh’s house, choosing to suffering affliction with God’s people.
· Rahab, the harlot, hid the spies, without thought to her personal safety.
· And the list goes on and on..
Each one of these saints, and others, helped ALL OF US claim our victory. Every time we read or hear their stories, they help us again, and again, and again, lay claim to our own victories!
· Don’t listen to the lies of the devil, telling you that your victory can’t be won.
· Don’t give in to the deceit of the flesh, and believe that God has given you less than His best!
God does not lose! God CANNOT LOSS! And, He does not make losers! And He hasn’t called you to be a loser.
He has ordain ALL of His children to be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. How can we know this? Because the moment that you were saved, several things happened:
· Your reservation in the Lake of Fire was cancelled!
· Your sin list, that the angels had been keeping, was destroyed!
· Your name was written down in the Lambs Book of Life!
· Your mansion in heaven was put under construction!
· The Holy Spirit was placed inside of you, to be your Comforter!
· The Lord Jesus Christ began to intercede to the Father, on your behalf!
· You were placed into the Body of Christ, and surrounded by a hedge of protection
That’s why we can be “persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Why? Because WE are the people Born for Victory!
Thus far, we heard that NOW is the time for victory, and that WE are the people born for victory, lastly, I would like to share with you that THIS IS THE PLACE FOR VICTORY!
Look around you, right now. What do you see? Pews with Bibles and hymnals? A pulpit and organ? A room with four walls, a ceiling and floor?
Although I don’t encourage it often, I want you mind to drift to your home. To your neighborhood. To your job. To your school. What do you see there?
· A building?
· Your car?
· A classroom?
Whatever you see, THAT is where your victory will be won? No battle was ever fought or won without someone win a piece of ground, and someone losing that piece of ground.
On April 12, 1861 the United States of America went to war against itself. The Southern States, in resistance to the abolition of slavery, waged war against the North. During that 4 year period, some 600,000 Americans died, so as to set the Black man free. In the course of each battle, land, pieces of ground were defended, always to the peril of someone’s life!
Why would a man lay down his life for a piece of earth? That’s simply. Whoever held the most and best land at the end of the battle would be declared the winner.
And the same is true in our Christian lives.
· There’s a battle going on for your heart!
· There’s a battle going on for your mind!
· There’s a battle going on for your hands!
· There’s a battle going on for your feet!
· There’s a battle going on for your eyes!
· There’s a battle going on for your morals!
· There’s a battle going on for your emotions!
· There’s a battle going on for every aspect…every square inch of who you are.
The devil is trying to steal the hearts of God’s people, pulling back into the cesspool of the world. But, God the Spirit is fighting back. He’s tells us to love the Lord God with all our hearts!
The tempter is trying to take away our first love. He wants us to prostitute ourselves in the arms of another, a lesser love. Yet, the Spirit fights back and says, Love the Lord thy God with ALL your heart.
The enemy comes against us in our flesh, our Amalek. He uses the natural urges we have to cause us to sin against God. Yet, there is the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, showing us how to possess our vessel in sanctification and honor.
Yes, dear friends, there IS a battle going on right now for every iota of who you are. And you want to know a military secret? You and I make choices every day one WHO we will help win this battle!
· We can help the Spirit, by surrendering to his will, or we can help the devil by yielding to his temptations.
· We can aid the Spirit by reading the Word, or we can aid the devil by ignoring the Word
· We can work with the Spirit by crucifying the flesh, or we can work with the devil by giving the flesh everything it wants.
Everyday…every moment of everyday…we are making decisions to help the Spirit win, or to help the devil win.
But remember, WHOEVER wins, takes more ground!
· If your mind is on spiritual things, its because the Spirit is winning the battle for your mind. But if it’s on carnal things, then the devil is winning.
· If your heart is on the things of the Lord, then the spirit is winning. But if your heart is on the things of the flesh, then the devil is winning.
· If your morals are in line with ‘thus saith the Lord’, then the Spirit is winning. But, if your morals are in agreement with the lust of the world, yes, the devil is winning.
Take an inventory of your heart, your mind, your morals, your hands, your eyes, your feet…take an inventory of every iota of your life, …then answer this question: Who’s winning!
· Who’s winning the battle for your mind?
· Who’s winning the battle for your heart?
· Who’s winning the battle for your emotions?
Somebody’s winning…and somebody’s losing? Your actions are helping somebody, and your actions are hurting somebody.
So, let me ask you again…WHO’S WINNING?
If we’re honest with ourselves, painfully honest, we would have to admit that the devil has taken some precious ground from us. We would have to admit that we, at times, have HELPED him take that ground that once belonged to God.
Well, although we may be sick with grief, let us not he idol in our response.
· It’s high-time to take back the ground that the devil has stolen from us.
· It’s time to repent of being a traitor against ourselves and our God, and cast our full allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
· It’s time to accept NOTHING LESS THAN VICTORY!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in my Christian service!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in my Bible reading!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in my Prayer life!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in my giving!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in my morals!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in my emotions!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in WHO holds the keys to my heart!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in WHO controls the guards of my eyes!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in WHO is in control of what I say!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in WHO is in control of what I do!
o Nothing Less Than Victory in WHO is my King of kings, and my Lord of lords
Right now, you have a choice to make: either to be like Joshua and say, by God’s grace we are well able to overcome it…or to be like the other spies and say, “we can’t do it, we’re just grasshoppers”
My admonition to you is to choose ye this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! As for me and my house, we will accept NOTHING LESS THAN VICTORY!
Let us stand. The doors of the church are open.
Right Now, make a better choice. You may have chosen, in the past, to help the devil take your heart, take your mind, take your emotions, but right now, make a better choice.
Choose to accept NOTHING LESS THAN VICTORY!
Right now, …don’t worry about your neighbor,… make a better choice.
· Choose honesty over lying!
· Choose faithfulness over unfaithfulness!
· Choose Christian service over Christian slothfulness!
· Choose purity over fornication!
· Choose character over deceit!
Choose to accept NOTHING LESS THAN VICTORY!
What did the little cheerleaders say? V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! Victory! Victory! That’s our cry! Let me tell you something, Christians: God is not a loser. And, He didn’t create you, save you, fill you with the Spirit….to be a loser!
But victory is a choice, …just like defeat. Victory is a mindset…just like defeat.
Choose ye, this day, to accept NOTHING LESS THAN VICTORY!
