The Gift Of Victory

But thanks be to God he gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. What a word today. I want to talk to you from an unusual topic. I want to speak about the gift of victory. I want to give you. Go ahead, put your hands out, because I want to give you your

first Christmas gift. You hadn't open anything yet, have you all right? We'll get ready for this, the gift of victory. Somebody shot is mine, It's mine, It's mine. I want it. I take it. I receive it. It's mine, it's got my name on it. Huh, let's unwrap this together. Today you be seated in God's presence, the gift of victory. I think my oldest son, Elijah put it best one time.

I don't remember how many years ago this was, but he was having a hard time in school because they were dividing up and playing this certain game with this certain team at recess, and they kept losing. And one of the girls in his class said, Elijah, quit having such a bad attitude. It's not if you win or lose, it's if you're having fun. So he came home mad every day. You know, we lost again, and whatever her name was said, it's not whether you win or lose,

it's whether or not you have fun. After about three days of this, he comes home. This is the most brilliant thing that has ever been said in the furdic howhole. Listen what he said. He said, Dad, today I got her. I said, you got who you'll want. He said, no,

we still lost. But when she said that, after we lost, his teammate who kept saying it's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you have fun, he said, I was ready, and this time when she said it, she said, Elijah, it's not if you win or lose, it's whether you have fun. I said, well, I'm not having fun if I'm not with that's my boy. That's my boy. He's got that anointing of antagonism, not anointing us counter attack based in sound logic. That's the truth. Man, I'm not

having fun if I'm not winning. And maybe you're not competitive, you little Pollyanna positive. It's not whether you win or lose. That's fine. But our family is very different. Our family does not have game nights. Oh we try. They were too bloody and traumatic. I figured if I kept having game nights with my kids, the therapy bill would be through the roof when they get older. Because it just

always it always ended poorly. And y'all pray for Holly because she has this competitive spirit that would come out at game night. You'll believe that, y'all believe she was the problem. Be a first time guest. If you believe that. Now it was all of us, really, every single one of us. We're now we have a lot of good family traditions. I mean, I think that our family is pretty cool, really cool I'm really proud of our family we got we have. We had a family lunch club.

When the kids were smaller, we had a uh, we had a Pixar challenge. You know. It's funny though, even when we set out a few summers ago to watch every Pixar movie as a family. We made it a competition of which Pixar movie was the best? Oh man, we got issues and Monopoly no, mm hmmm, I can't even say Monopoly without my family feeling some uh some PTSD.

But I think the reason I wanted to use that kind of as an example before I get to this scripture that I read you in First Corinthians, I really want to illustrate isolate and hopefully the Holy Spirit will illuminate the principle in the contrast that Paul is giving here in First Corinthians. Because he speaks about the victory that God gives put up verse fifty six again or verse fifty seven rather where he says thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's a wonderful scripture. Is the kind of scripture that you often see hanging up like in a weight room or football locker room. God gives us the victory because he doesn't like the other team. His favor is on us, So we're going to win because God is with us. Mighty warrior, and other scriptures that are taken out of context, But it's good. It's a good scripture to put up in a locker room, is an amazing scripture to put

up anywhere. I just want to point out that in this particular passage, Paul is not so much concerned about external victories as he is about the internal victory that God has promised us over sin. Is no good to win in every other area of your life if the victory over sin in your life is theoretical and abstract. In other words, Paul is saying that there will come a day where the perishable will put on imperishable, where

the corruptible will put on incorruptible. He's talking about the resurrection of the righteous, which will come in the last days. He's basing this expectation in the example of Jesus Christ, who did exactly that when he got up out of the grave. I mean, that's a pretty big win when you beat death. Floyd Mayweather is still undefeated, but death isn't death got its first loss after Jesus hung on

the cross said is finished. But I'm not done, because after I get the keys to death, hell and the grave, I'm gonna go tell my brothers you get up too. That's awesome. There is a principle in the text of Already and not Yet that is as Paul is giving them an expectation of a future event of resurrection in their life, he is giving them an exhortation, which simply means to urge in a very determined fashion. It's an

expectation and an exhortation. He says that God has given us the victory, or more specifically, he gives us the victory. And I make that distinction because it's something that continues to happen, not something that happens once and then just stays that way. He gives us the victory. Every day I wake up is a choice will I win this day?

Every time that the sin in my life that rears his head and says you belong to me, tries to defy the righteousness of God that Jesus Christ imparted through the Holy Spirit into my life, it is an opportunity for me to either fi the sin that claims to have mastery over me, or to deny the power that lives in me, because of what Jesus already did for me. He gives us the victory. You see what I'm saying. And it doesn't happen all at once. It doesn't happen

all at once. It happens incrementally. It happens gradually. Oh yeah, it's a victory that you can depend on, But it is not a victory that you can deposit and forget about it and live off of the dividends. It is a victory that is given to be received with every rising of the sun. And nothing feels worse in life, I'm telling you right now, especially for a competitive person, nothing feels worse in life than to give yourself to something that you can't win at. Nothing feels worse. That's

why I quit tennis. I was going out there all the time and Larry Hubacka beat me, and he had not played in six years, but he played in middle school. And once I figured out I couldn't win, I quit. That was my last tennis lesson that day he beat me. Still feel bad about it. I'm thinking about challenging him to a wrestling match, because that's what I did in middle school. Let's see who wins on the mat. How

about that? I came across the term in Harvard Business Review recently that was describing what the author claimed was a social phenomenon, yet the Bible has been clear about long before they got a hold of it in the business community. He was talking about how employees are now rather than leaving their jobs, withdrawing their hearts, and he called it the quiet quit. If you feel underappreciated and undervalued in the workplace, don't leave your paycheck or your benefits.

Don't walk in the office, stand up on the desk, burn something, throw it in the trash can, light the place on fire, and go to jail. Just show up, but not really. Just come at the last minute and leave at the first opportunity. Don't stay late, don't offer to do anything that's going to inconvenience you in any way.

It's called the quiet quit, That's what he said. He said that this is not only a trend that we now have a cute name for, but it is a human instinct that when I am giving to something where I do not feel i'm winning, that it may not happen all at once, and I may not announce it. I may not throw a party. This is my last day. Y'all can kiss my ring finger. This is going online. So I just say things in a certain way so

it can be acceptable. It's called a quiet quit. Quiet quit when Paul says in First Corinthians, and I'm going to illustrate this in just a moment, but first, let me preach the principle that God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the expectation when he says in verse fifty eight, Therefore stand firm, letting nothing move. You always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

That is the exhortation. And I wonder did God give me this word today, called the gift of victory To someone who is in the middle of a quiet quit in your life. You have not announced that you are an atheist, and you don't plan too. You didn't change your bio on Instagram too. I hate good dot com. But deep down in your heart, since you're not winning, it seems like the only logical response is to quietly

quit trying. Because if I quit trying, then when I don't win, I'll understand why if I quit trying, if I completely give in to the sin, I will no longer have to resist it. So I won't feel weak because I won't be fighting. If I lay down and die and quit trying to be a joyful, positive person and completely give into the cynicism that tries to run the operating system of my life, I won't lose because

I didn't show up. And if I take my ball and go home, if I take my belief and go home, the devil can't whip me, because if he can't find me, he can't beat me. So I'm going to hide behind excuses and pretend like I don't want it and settle for stuff that I used to struggle against. And I'm not going to announce it because if I announce it, somebody might come get me and pull me out of it.

So what I'll do rather than announcing it, rather than quitting in a way that people can perceive, I will just show up in my body, but I will not be present in my mind. I will not bring my best I will not bring my heart, I will not bring my ideas. I will not bring my playfulness. I will not bring who I really am, because if I don't bring who I really am, then you can't beat who I really am. I will hide behind the excuse

that I don't want it anymore. What could be more miserable than to live as a Christian with the promise that God gives you the victory, but to live far beneath the reality of that promise, to know that you are forgiven, but to live without victory over sin. I saw bumpersticker one time. It's that Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven.

I'm like, dang, that's good, and that's kind of not true. Okay, we're not perfect, that part is true, but just forgiven, Like that's the whole goal, right, Like, Hey man, we run around, we lie, we talk just like everybody else. We're hateful just like everybody else. We don't really have any different standard. We're just forgiven. The world definitely wants to join our team. Hey, come to church with me. My life sucks just like yours. I make the same

excuses you make. I have the same old broken patterns you have. Come to church with me, get some of this. You know. To be forgiven, but not to live in victory. It's misery because I know I'm supposed to be able to get over this. I know I'm supposed to be able to forgive this. I know I'm supposed to be able to say no to this. I know I'm supposed to be able to pray this away. I know I'm supposed to be better than this. I know I'm bigger

than this petty offense. But I'm forgiven. So you think the whole goal for life is for God to just get you to fall into forgiveness and never get back up and live in victory. I see a lot of people in culture these days who are really good, even in Christianity. I'm not talking about the world. I'm talking about us who are really good at falling into forgiveness. And hey, I have to do it too. I had to do it Friday. Friday, I saw myself doing something

so dumb. I'm like, oh God, wait, if I was gonna do something this done, why did I do it on Monday so I'd have time before I preach to get this out of my system. That's too close to preaching to be messing up like that. And I had to ask him, God, help me, help me. I got people coming to hear me talking I'm an idiot. God help me, I have to do that too. But is that all that he died for? Just so I have to fall into the same pit over and over again.

And I'm just forgiving and I'm just frustrated because it's no fun if I'm not winning. It's no fun to come in church and sing songs about victory and go back to defeat over and over and over again. And that's why some people just watch online every six weeks now. Because I did a quiet quit, because I didn't stop believing in God, but I did stop coming to church. I'm not talking about those who are and are you fami, who are giving and contributing and serving and praying. That's wonderful.

I'm talking about the quiet quit. I'm talking about when you keep on watching sermons in the background if you don't have anything more important. The quiet quit. I'm talking about picking the scriptures that aligne with your lifestyle, and never the ones that challenge you, and only quoting the ones that make you feel good, the cute ones. I'm talking about the quiet quit. But thanks me to God who gives us the victory. He didn't die just so I could be forgiven. He didn't die just so I

could fall. He died so I could rise with him. And I expect resurrection because the stick promised it. He gave me an iou with him, We rise with him, We rie say with him, I rise just like he did. So there's an example of an expectation that the perishable will be swallowed up an imperishable. And he uses the best example. If Jesus beat the grave, what do you have permission to stay down in? Because that's the ultimate right. If I bene three hundred, you better get this one

fifty five. And I did do that one time. I'm not going to tell you how long ago it was, but I did do it one time. Jesus said, if I got up out of this, do not use forgiveness as permission for failure. Am I preaching a good Christmas sermon? Or what y'all are like? Where's the manger? A little baby Christianity that just wants to keep Jesus quiet and cute the little Lord Jesus. What's the hymn that says

the little Lord Jesus? No crying? He makes well? Not only did he sweat drop some great blood when he went to the cross, but the Bible says, because if we want to take Jesus like that, it's just a symbol of our salvation. But he does not become the spiritual dynamic by which we overcome temptation in our life. Then what are we to do with the fact that when Jesus was dying on the cross, it said he endured it, despising its shame for the joy set before him.

He wasn't just dying up there. I know how this kind of message can sound. It can't sound super Baptist. It's like stop sinning. I'm not saying stop sinning. I'm saying stop stopping. That's what I'm saying. Because if I were going to say stop sinning, then I would have had to reach a state of sinless perfection and I would be Jesus and I would not be here. If I was Jesus, I'll be in heaven with the angels, getting ready to have my birthday party on December twenty fifth.

But thanks v to God. Don't you love the way he frames that? He said, the sting, how do you say it? I want to get it right? Verse fifty six, Verse fifty six. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law? Oh no, what am I going to do? If the power of sin is the law that God gave so that I would know how to live, But that very law that had the power to show me how to live, I was powerless to do it because of my sinful nature? Then what what thanks be to God? In this phrase is

very paradoxical. Who gives us the victory which doesn't even seem to be a real thing because a victory is not something that is typically given, is something that is won. Think about, think about, think about, think about when he said give me the verse again, he gives us the victory that in itself is a miracle, because a victory again again, If somebody wants to give you socks this Christmas, they can give you socks. If somebody wants to give you this Christmas, I mean, what are you hoping for

for this Christmas? A microwave oven? Where they can give that. If Oprah wants to give you a trip to Australia, she can give you a trip to Australia. I can't do that. I'm not on the Oprah level. But when he said he gives us the victory, it's almost confusing because it almost sounds as if God is co opting a participation trophy mentality of salvation, like He's just gonna give you stuff without you having to go for it. That's why I'm really excited about the exhortation that follows

the expectation. He said, he gives us the victory verse fifty eight. Therefore, stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord. So here's what I want to ask you today, brothers and sisters, like Paul asked the church at court, I want to ask you on behalf of the Holy Spirit. Are you more committed to verse fifty seven than you are verse fifty eight? Cause verse fifty seven talks about what God gives the victory. Verse fifty eight talks about what you

give yourself. And if you don't give your self to it and expect God to give it to you, you are gonna live your whole life frustrated, wondering why I'm still staying down in stuff that Christ gave me the power to rise from. That's the message God said, I'm gonna give it to you. But then because you've got it, somebody shout, I've got it. No, I need you to shout that better than you shouted it. Say I got it. I've got the victory, I've got the joy, I've got

the promise. I've got the assurance. I've got the blood of Jesus. I've got the pardon of sin. I've got reconciliation. I've got the name of Jesus. I've got a great high priest who intercedes with me. I've got wisdom. I've got knowledge that God wants me to have. I've got the experience for the thing I'm going through now. Shout I got it. Look at your neighbor like you got something to be proud of. Say I got it. I got that thing. I got it on the inside. You

didn't give it. You can't take it. I'm not asking you for it. I'm not begging for it. I'm not posting about it. But that doesn't mean I don't got it. I got direction from God. I got new mercies when I woke up. I got it in my cup of coffee. I got it when I lay my pillow, I got it. I got the assurance and the hope of Heaven. I have a heavenly calling. I got a shame breaking annointing that makes it possible for me to triumph over the works of the devil. Let's get out three high fives.

Tell somebody, I got it. I got it, I got it. I got that thing. I got that thing. I got the anointing. What got the victory? He cut the power? What cat resurrection? This in my polls. I got wrecked the prasim. I got strength to praish. I gotta right the prashm. I got permission to praism. I got the INDs to do the thing he gave me the deal. I got the seed of the world of God. It's a little bitty, but it's gonna grow. I got faith.

I got not moving faith. I got grace, gully washing, grace, sideration, and grace. I got it. I got it, I got it. I got it. It's a gift. I didn't learn it, don't deserve it, but I got it. Couldn't work for it, couldn't clide to it, but I got it. Try to run from it, fright for the diet. Tried to get away from it. But I got it. I got good this, I got mercy. I got him like it. My dad gave it to me. I got it. He put it

on the tree, not under the tree. When he died on the tree, on the old rugged cross and his flood ran down, he gave me the victory. Thanks be to God. You got me if I fall for this indescribable gift. He gave it to me. He gave it to me. He gave it to me. But sometimes I don't give myself to it. And Paul said, is expectation, But there's an exhortation. If he gave it to you, you gotta give yourself to it. You can't quiet quit. You can't loud shout in church and quiet quit at home.

Shout on that. But you better keep south. And when it gets hard this week, you better get shouting when you look at those bills this week. You better get shouting when it comes over you this week and you think, O God, I'm about to go crazy. I can't quit something eternal, imperishable, incorruptible, the seed of the Word of God. Y'all sit down before I break my neck. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. Catch it, I got it, catch it, I got it, catch it,

I got it. I got it. I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it. So when you won wrestling yesterday, that's different than this text. Five matches in a row he won. Uh uh huh. I tell him all the time. This is Graham our middle So Abby's gonna be mad because I hadn't told a story about hering the sermon. They always I told you, we're so competitive. They fight over who got to be in my sermon the most. This is how dysfunctional your first family is. All right, let me say our Christmas

card us smiling. One day, I'm gonna send you all the Christmas card of what happened before the smile and after the smile, and put it on your fridge when your family is freaking out and you feel better. And I always tell him, hey man, you know I'm a state champion because when I was in eighth grade, seventh grade, they gave me the state championship medal. And you know what I did to get it. Nothing. The resting program

in South Carolina was so pitiful. Nobody else showed up in the weight class, so they gave me a medal. No takedowns, no half melson, no cross faced cradle, just gave it to me, and I think we shout over fifty seven kind of like that. I want a medal, I want a miracle. I want maturity. So what really got me going on this text about the gift of victory is that it is an oxymorn, which becomes true

because of the Gospel. That's what God does. He makes stuff that makes no sense makes sense by his spirit. So then I can be like it. I don't feel victorious, but I got it. I don't see how this is gonna work out, but I got it. And truth be told, some of us have never lost bad enough to appreciate when we win. When when I was growing up watching the Clemson Tigers, a ten and two season would have been a miracle. But now Dabbo has got these fools so used to win in they're talking about ten and two.

Oh God, we lost to the game Cocks, and you know what, I'll come back down there, lay hands on you, all right, Pray for me that one game everything on that season when the Clemson Tigers lost to South Carolina Game Cox last weekend, like the sea, Yeah, go ahead, go ahead, you can do it again in eight years, eight years from now, you can do it again, Go and get your eight years shout in every eight years you can shout about that. But watch this, Watch this.

You mean one loss ruins the whole season. You mean one area of your life where you don't have it together. Even in Ezekio, when they saw the river flowing from the sanctuary, he said, there's still gonna be salt marshes, even though the river's fresh, Even though it's going to turn from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, there are still gonna be some swamps. There's still gonna be some secrets that you keep about what you deal with. And are you really gonna let that make you quit

on all the good things God has given you? Are you really gonna make the three annoying things about your wife? Tell me about your wife? My wife is perfect. The three annoying things about your wife keep you from seeing the three hundred amazing things about her and the three thousands screwed up things about you, You little jack, a lowe hyphocrit, you pharisee, you whitewashed to them. No victory. Not only is it a gradual realization, it is a focus.

It is a choice. And I feel like there are some things that God has given to you, that you are not giving yourself to it. You're in a quiet quit all right. I went home and I'm gonna give you Old Testament scripture. We're gonna get out of here. But let me tell you a story. I went home and told Holly a while back, I think I'm gonna quit songwriting. No sooner did I finish saying it to her and go off by myself. The Holy Spirit had this very frank comversation with me, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit.

But this was just between me and God. Okay. You know how when preachers say God spoke to me, and you wonder like, why don't he do that to me? I never hear anything like that. Man. Okay, first of all, because preachers are crazy, and second they're lying and exaggerating. The Lord don't talk out loud like all that to most people. Most people that the Lord talks out loud to. I just want to give you this little word of wisdom.

Most people that the Lord talks out loud to, he may do that occasionally, but if he has to do that for them all the time, that means they haven't matured enough to hear him speak in the silence as well, so you know, the Lord didn't speak over the intercom or anything like that to me in this, but here was the sense. Okay, And I'm gonna give you this because I think he wants to say it to a few hundred of you. I said, I think I'm a quit songwriting Lord said, did I say you could quit? Boom?

Can't quit? I gotta give myself to it out of gratitude that God gave it to me. And if he gave me a gift, if he gave me a victory, if he gave me a seed and I quit on the gift, it will quit on me. Now take this. You're like, I don't write songs. What's the point you're raising kids? Well, I'm not gonna put them up for adoption. Preacher, I'm good. Have you quiet quit? Well, I'm not leaving. I'm good. This message is not for me. Have you quiet quit? Because Paul didn't say keep showing up for

the work of the Lord, Teddy. He said, give yourself fully. You heard it, Give yourself fully, Give yourself fully. How can we expect total victory and live in partial obedience? How can I try three times? How can I try five times? I had a friend who went to therapy once said it didn't work. Well, maybe get a new therapist, but don't quit the issues you're wrestling with. You're gonna go to one therapist and because they didn't have the answers in an hour to fix the life you've spent

fifty three years messing up. You're just gonna quit on the process. You're just gonna quit on the church. You're just gonna quit on your dream. You don't get to quit until God says quit. That's not how this works. He who began a good work will be faithful. But you gotta bring you to it. I got the gift I've got. God gave you a gift to do it. God gave you a charge to do it. God gave you the ability to do it. God gave you the sling. He gave you the stone. He gave you the opportunity.

But you are not giving yourself to end. And it's no fun if you're not winning, and you won't win if you don't give yourself fully to it. That's why I was standing on your chair, because I'm giving myself to this. I'll come up here to preach to you and go. Are they ready for a word today, ready or not. Here, I'm gonna put myself in this message. I'm gonna sweat all the way through this sweater until it's nasty when I take it off. And if you

don't want the word, somebody else can get it. On Tuesday. I'm giving myself to this. And you know what, some of you are just like me. You've got the gift

of keeping going us. You have the belief that if I don't quit, that if I keep believing, that if I show up enough times not feeling it, that if I keep doing it in God's name, that if I keep getting better and learn from the losses and learn from the pruning, and learn from the cold nights, and learn from the mistakes, if I don't quit, I'll win. Why I got the gift. In the scriptures, there was a prophet named Elisha. Everybody say Elisha, Elisha with the sah,

not Elijah. That's the one who came before him. Elijah, the one who came after him, did twice as many miracles as his predecessor. I love preaching about Elisha because he had the gift. Oh man, he had the gift. He could do it well. Listen what he could do. They'd come to attack Israel. He was the prophet of Israel, so they would come to attack. God gave him a gift. He could see him coming before they started lining up, so he go over tell the king. He'd be like, Hey,

they're gonna attack you seven forty five am. And wouldn't it be good to have a prophet who could tell you when the devil was gonna get on your last nerve. Now look, your daughter's gonna bring in drama in here, So go ahead, get everything done an hour early. Pray, goot Philippians, listen to Bethel, and get ready for it because it's coming. Well, he had the gift not only not only the gift, not only the gift of power in the battle, but a preemptive gift of perceiving the

battle before it happened. And that's why I love reading about his life, because you see things one scripture. I used to preach this this passage all over the world, and I quit preaching it for a little while. But uh, I'm gonna do it one more time in the next uh seven minutes and twenty four seconds. And it's over in Second Kings, chapter thirteen, And I'm gonna tell you this story, and I'm gonna get out of the way, and I'm gonna change out of this sweater and I'm

gonna go home. I'm gonna eat eggs, bacon, cato, biscuits. Let's hurry up and get through this so I can eat my biscuits. In the Bible Book of tewod Kings, chapter thirteen, Get Ready for This, it says that Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. And I watch this. He didn't die until God was done with him. So the illness didn't kill him. God

took him. Because you don't understand how big God is, how suffering God is, how great God is, how vast his plans are, how awesome his might is, how strong his armies are. The devil can't do anything to you that God does not permit. He just can't do it. He can try it, and even if he does it, God will use it, because that's how big God is. He had been suffering from the illness from which he died. But that's not the part I want to preach. I

want apprecibout this. Jeho Ash, king of Israel, went down to see him. Why do you go see him, because he had the gift. He needed to know who am I going to be fighting and how can I win? And some of us come to God only when we're in battles, because Jehosh the Bible says, what an evil king who did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But now when he needs the word of the Lord, he knows where to go to the one who had the gift of discernment, the gift

of prophecy, the gift of instruction. He went down and wept over him. My father, my father, He cried the chariots and horsemen of Israel. Elesa said, Uh, get a bow and some arrows, and he did so. Take the bow in your hands, he said to the King of Israel. And when he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. I don't know what God's going to call you to do when this sermon is over, but it's going to involve putting your hands on something

that you already have. God is not going to speak to you about something you could do if you had someone else's stuff. Stop comparing, stop lusting, stop even wishing. Don't make a wish list. This Christmas. Make a weapon. List of what I already have that if I point it forward in the coming year, God will give me the victory. Say that God will give me the victory. And he told him what to do, and he did it. He said, get a bow, and he did it. And get some arrows and he did it. And look at

verse seventeen, open the east window and he open. Everything is going good. He's doing everything that the Word of God says, everything that the man of God says, nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't know where this is headed. He doesn't understand how it all works together. He's just doing it because he knows that God has given the word that he needs for victory inside of this man who's dying.

And even though he's a king, he knows that God's word is what gives him the wisdom to win the victory. I want you to get that it is God. Don't care how high you are, how smart you are, how good looking you are. It is God's word. It is God's will that gives you the wisdom to win in the areas of your life that matter the most. Now, he said, open the east window, and he opened it, and then he told him shoot and he shot, everything's going good. Watch this victory verse. This goes exactly perfect

with what I read you to start my sermon. This goes so good together because he said, thanks be to God that gives us the victory. And watch what the brophet said, the Lord's arrow of victory. Who's whose victory is it? The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram. And we can substitute in whatever you're fighting, because everybody in this room and everybody online has an Arab.

It might be addiction, it might be bitterness, it might be resentment, it might be a prodigal child away from God and away from you and away from how you raise them. Everybody has an arem, but everybody has an arrow. And if you've got the arrow of the Lord's victory, little weapon formed against you, shall be able to prosper. So he said this, he said this, He said this said, I'm closing. I'm closing. I'm closing. You will completely destroy the Aramians at Aphec. And if it ended there, I

wis shall. But the Bible says that after he told him about the victory verse eighteen, then he said, take the arrows the king took him. Elisha told him to strike the ground, and he struck it three times. The next part is the quiet quit and stopped. Well, nothing wrong with stopping, pastor Steve. I mean, after all, the prophet didn't tell him how many times to strike? What's what the prophet said? Prophet was angry, Elisha had an attitude,

Elisha had a temper. The Man of God was angry with him and said, you should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have defeated aaron and completely destroyed it. Now you will defeat it only as many times as you did what I told you to do. But you told me that the Lord gave me the victory. But then I told you that if you didn't get down on the ground and do something that corresponded with what I spoke to you, you would not realize everything that I reveal. How could he have

known that he needed to keep going. I think it's pretty obvious, y'all. The prophet didn't say stop. You keep doing it until God says stop you hear me, I need you to stand up if this is your word, because it's a temptation to quit right now. In fact, there is a generational spirit that is not limited to millennials. It's all of us. We're all thinking we can just quit stuff whenever we want to quit stuff and walk away from stuff. The first time it doesn't work, and

the moment it it's hard. We quit because we don't feel it. But feelings are not Lord. Jesus is Lord. We don't walk by feelings. We walk by faith. And if God didn't say quit, you don't get to quit. Let me be a prophet for a moment. You can't quit on yourself. You can't quit on your freedom. You can't quit on your destiny. You can't quit on your assignment. You can't quit on your anuiting until God says quit. And I prophesy over your life today that you have

the gift of victory. It is not of works. So watch this. We don't fight for victory, We fight from victory. So what I know in my spirit, y'all help me, you'll help me. I know in my spirit it's that God gave me a preview of my purpose. He showed me what I could be in him. He showed me and told me what I could do through him. He gave me a word. I got a glimpse of it. I saw that arrow flying, I saw my kids getting through it. I saw myself recovering. I saw myself rebuilding it.

I saw myself finishing it. And now I'm gonna do it as many times as it takes for me to receive what God has reviewed. This is a word for those who are weary and because you haven't felt like you were winning you Withdrew, I'm gonna tell you a secret hold on. You can play, but play something like

pretty there we go. When you feel spread so thin that you feel like I'm not winning anywhere, that's the time you're tempted in when you feel like winning in one area of your life is always to the expense and detriment of another area of your life. The temptation is, well, I'll just carve myself into pieces, and I will not give myself fully to any of it, because if I quit, then nobody can see how hard it is for me. You might be like the King in Second Kings thirteen,

who gave himself but not fully. You may be like Martha in the New Testament, who let Jesus in her home, but not like Mary, who let Jesus in her heart. You might be like the mom or the dad who feels like God Man, I keep getting it wrong, and every time I show up to try and make a mess of it. So I'm just kind of like, I'm gonna just check out. I mna show up enough to get credit for being in class, but I'm not applying

myself to any of it. The danger for the Christian is not that you won't be forgiven of your sin. That's what Christ did, is that he would forgive you of your sin, and then you would never get to the place of victory over your sin. God wants me to live in victory. God wants you to live in victory, and you don't get that way with a little three time half effort, half effort. The grace of God doesn't make it so I could just give up and depend on him. It makes it so. I'm so confident. I'm

so confident in this gift. I got the gift. I got the gift. I got the gift of grace. That's how I'm gonna fight it. Because I got the gift. That's how i'mnna show back off. Because I got the gift. That's how I'm gonna move through this swamp. Of shame and come out clean on the other side because I got the gift. Somebody suted I got the gift. You gotta be like David who said I see the giant. But guess what I got. I got the gift of victory. You know how, I know a fat of lion and

a one, a faunt of bear and a one. So check my resume. If you doubt God can do this, look back on my past. I got the gift of victory. I am an overcomer. I am more than a conqueror. Come on, do like victorious people do. Lift your hand, say lift your hands, and say lift your hands, and say, ah, God, the gift. Now, Father, we lift our hands in victory, and we lift our hands in surrender. We lift our hands to you because we need you, and we lift

our hands because we know you over every life. Today I declare, with Apostle Paul himself, thanks be to God who gives us the victory. And since we've got it, God, you've got us. We're coming back full on all the way. Not January first, but from the moment I say, amen, I'm moving forward in the gift. I'm moving forward in the grace. I'm moving forward in the glory and the

restoration of God and in the power of His presence. Well, thanks for joining us today for the message, and we trust that God spoke to you right where you are as we're in this year end season. If God is speaking to your life and you'd like to begin tithing or give above and beyond, we would invite you to head over to Elevationchurch dot org. There you'll find all of the information available for you to take part in the year end offering. If you haven't begun tithing, we

would always encourage you to start there. Place God first in the air of your finances and begin tithing and make that a part of your every day life. If you already tie, then would like to go above and beyond and help expand the ministry here at Elevation Church, you can also do that through the Year end Offering. All you have to do is click the banner at Elevationchurch dot org. You can select the campus that you're

a part of. If you're a part of our online community, select online, and if you're part of one of our physical locations, make sure that you select one of those campuses. Then you can select how much you'd like to give and be a part of all that God is doing right here at Elevation Church. Again, we thank you for being a part of the family here and we can't wait to see how God works in and through your life as you open up your hands and ask God

to use you right where you are. Thanks for being a part of God bless