Enemies of victory

Messages for October 2016: Our Month of Victory

Message for Sunday the 30th of October 2016

Theme: Understanding the Power of Gratitude and Praise in receiving and sustaining our victory

Topic: Enemies of Victory

Introduction: As we have seen so far in the course of the month, victory is our birthright as believers in Christ. We are even told in 2Cor.2:14 to give thanks to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ. We are also made to understand in 1Tim.6:12 that the fight we are involved in as believers is a good fight. The bible calls it the fight of faith.  It is described as a good fight because we are destined to be victorious in it for several reasons. Some of these reasons are that we have been ordained by God to win. For this reasons, He has blessed us with spiritual weapons that guarantee our victory all the time. 

However, the use of these weapons place certain demands on us that if we fail to attend to these demands, we make ourselves vulnerable and make God look like a liar in our lives when we fail to attain to divine expectations. There are reasons for this kind of failure and I want to tag it the enemies of faith which we shall be looking at today. I believe that as we gain understanding of these truths and make the necessary adjustments in our lives, our victory which is guaranteed cannot be tampered with no matter how hard the enemy tries. 

Enemies of Victory: below are some enemies of victory that I want to identify from the word of God:

1. Unbelief: We are told in 1Jn.5:4 that the victory that overcomes the world is our faith. Therefore, without faith, we cannot begin to talk about victory. Even the fight we are engaged in is referred to as the good fight of faith. The reason it is a good fight is that where faith is present, victory is guaranteed. On the other hand, unbelief is the opposite of faith. In fact, people end up in hell forever because of unbelief. In Jn.3:17-18, we learn that the reason for condemnation to eternal destruction is unbelief. On another occasion, Jesus made his disciples to understand that they were unable to cast out an evil spirit because of their unbelief. See Mt.17:19-20 – also, without faith, it is impossible to please God and we must please God to be assured victory. In Heb.11:6, we are told that it is impossible to please God without faith. Thus when there is unbelief in a person’s heart, faith cannot be there at the same time. This makes unbelief an enemy of our victory. The solution to this problem is to be in the word day and night so as to build enough faith to destroy unbelief and establish faith in our heart to enable us manifest the victory we have been destined for in Christ Jesus.

2. Fear: Fear is an evil spirit sent by the devil to cripple us from exercising faith that would help to establish our dominion over the obstacles of life. In Numbers 13:25-33, we see an example of a people defeated by fear and therefore prevented from entering the Promised Land. If one does not overcome fear with faith and courage, then its crippling effects could hinder its victim and rob the person of their divinely determined victory. We are destined to triumph always in Christ Jesus. God assures us that if fear tempts us, it is not given by Him and makes us understand in 1Tim.1:7 that He has given us the spirit of Power, love and a sound mind.  

3. Carnality: Carnality is the sensual nature of man which is always at war with the Lord. See Rm.8:5-9 and Gal.5:17. Anything that fights against God is indeed an enemy of our victory because we are only victorious through Christ. Consequently, we cannot be victorious without God. this makes carnality one of our greatest enemies. See Jn.15:5 Rm.8:37-39

4. Unforgiveness: One of the keys of the kingdom of God which Jesus Christ handed over to us is the key of forgiveness. The only commandment we are given as New Testament saints is to love one another as Jesus Christ has exemplified to us. This is why the Lord immediately told Peter and His other disciples about the importance of forgiving those who offend us just after He promised to give them the keys of the kingdom about forgiveness in the book of Matthew chapter 18. Further on two occasions when the Lord taught on faith and prayer that would yield results, he showed us that the condition for victory is that we forgive when we have “ought” against anyone. Also,  our sacrifices to God would not be accepted by Him if there is unforgiveness in our hearts. Therefore unforgiveness would make victory impossible for the believer even though we are destined to win in all the battles of life. This makes unforgiveness a great enemy of victory. See Mk.11:23-26 [kjv]; Matthew 6:12-15; 18:15-35; Jn.13:34-35 and Jn.15:5.

5. Discouragement: Someone once said that God can never use a discouraged servant. To be discouraged means in other words to give up your confidence. Simply put, victory cannot be demonstrated without confidence in God and what He has made you. After the demise of Moses, the first thing God told Joshua whom He raised to continue the work was that he should be of good courage so that he would be able to successfully implement his task of settling God’s people in the promised land. From the events that followed God’s instructions here, it is quite clear that courage was the back bone of Joshua’s victories. In prophecy, the Messiah Jesus Christ was described as one who would not be discouraged until he has set judgement on the earth. See Joshua 1:8-9; Isa.42:1-3 and Acts 2:22.

6. Ingratitude: When people forget the kindness of other people to them and reciprocate the good of others with evil, they are said to be ungrateful. The greatest victim of the ingratitude of people is God. The reason is that in spite of all that we benefit from God, many of us are still unthankful. We murmur and complain at the slightest inconvenience we experience in life. The result of persistent murmuring and complaining is that one ends up incurring the wrath of God and the murmurer would fail in any battle contrary to God’s desire to give them victory. See the story of Israel in Numbers 13-14 especially 14:28. Also, see Lk.17:11-19 and Prov.17:13.

7. Pride: This is a very repulsive attitude in the sight of God as it heralds Satan’s nature operating in a person. The result is that pride announces the fall of the proud as it guarantees the failure of anyone who has embraced that attitude in the conflicts of life. This is why we are told that pride goes before a fall. Anyone who is given to this attitude cannot enjoy victory because this carnal nature would make him or her an enemy of God. God will not give victory to his enemy. The proud must therefore be denied victory. This makes pride an enemy of our victory. No matter how well a person has been doing, if God finds pride in the person, the person would lose grace and enter into disgrace. So pride is an enemy of victory. To enjoy victory consistently, you must overcome pride. See Prov.16:18; Jas.4:6 and 1Pet.5:5-6. 

If you are reading this and find what we are saying strange, it may be because you are yet to make a decision for the Lord. The good news is that you are not far from the kingdom. You can come in right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall be saved:

Heavenly Father, 

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen. 

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