Fight The Good Fight
Fight The Good Fight
1 Timothy 6:11-12 NLT
“But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.”
The battle is not ours. It belongs to the Lord.
2 Corinthians 10:4 KJV
“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
We have already won. We know the end of the battle.
Just because we know the end does not mean that we don’t have to spend time in a fight.
I’ve said before that we are not merely physical bodies with a Spirit, but we are Spiritual Beings, in a physical body.
The same goes for the fact that we are in a war that is with unseen forces, not just the forces we THINK are coming against us through people or visible challenges.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The PURPOSE of that battle is to get us to stop, slow down, detour, or delay us in the plans and purposes of God.
We have to be well equipped and prepared for when the enemy comes seeking who he can, to steal to kill and destroy. We have to be ready and not caught off guard.
We spoke about the Armor of God in our series not long ago. And this message could probably be a follow up to that series.
Ephesians 6
Where we go…Have the Gospel ready
Speak the truth…Belt
The Righteousness of Jesus…Breastplate
Helmet of Salvation
Shield of Faith
Sword of The Spirit (The Word of God)
I Peter 5:8 NLT
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
Who is the someone he MAY?…
•Those who are spiritually unaware through blindness
•Those who are in a vulnerable place or in a weak season
•Those who are more earthly minded with cares of this life than to be tuned in to the battle before it blindsides them
Illustration with an experienced fighter, playing the role of the enemy and us trying to fight with no experience or training.
(Liquid Courage = False sense of Confidence)
Acts 19:11-20 KJV. - Sons of Sceva:
They saw the Apostle Paul successfully healing the sick and casting out demons in the Name of Jesus; so they thought they’d try to do the same thing!
They said, “I command you in the Name of Jesus that Paul preaches about.”
The demons actually turned to them and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, BUT WHO ARE YOU?!”
They were trying to come up against a battle without the preparation or relationship to have POWER to make anything happen!
In Acts 19:19, new believers burned their magical scrolls, valued at 50,000 "pieces of silver" (often drachmas). Today, this translates to anywhere from $13 million to $15 million
Romans 13:11-14 NIV
“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify (or please) the desires of the flesh.”
Flip the roll to where we are now the expert fighter in which we have the experience and the training over the enemy…
I can put on his uniform, but that does not qualify me to have the same experience and knowledge that he has.
Just like when Saul tried to equip David with his own armor, David said he couldn’t fight the battle with something that wasn’t proven by him - an Armor he was experienced with.
1 Samuel 17:39 NLT
David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.
“I can’t go in THESE,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again.
We need to have an understanding about how the battle against the enemy is won.
The battle is not won at the time a temptation or a trial, etc. is brought against us.
The battle is won BEFORE we enter into what is coming against us.
It is won in our QUIET TIME and in the preparation of our daily devotion and our knowledge of the Word when there is no opposition or challenge directly in front of us.
“But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.”
The battle is not ours. It belongs to the Lord.
2 Corinthians 10:4 KJV
“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
We have already won. We know the end of the battle.
Just because we know the end does not mean that we don’t have to spend time in a fight.
I’ve said before that we are not merely physical bodies with a Spirit, but we are Spiritual Beings, in a physical body.
The same goes for the fact that we are in a war that is with unseen forces, not just the forces we THINK are coming against us through people or visible challenges.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The PURPOSE of that battle is to get us to stop, slow down, detour, or delay us in the plans and purposes of God.
We have to be well equipped and prepared for when the enemy comes seeking who he can, to steal to kill and destroy. We have to be ready and not caught off guard.
We spoke about the Armor of God in our series not long ago. And this message could probably be a follow up to that series.
Ephesians 6
Where we go…Have the Gospel ready
Speak the truth…Belt
The Righteousness of Jesus…Breastplate
Helmet of Salvation
Shield of Faith
Sword of The Spirit (The Word of God)
I Peter 5:8 NLT
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
Who is the someone he MAY?…
•Those who are spiritually unaware through blindness
•Those who are in a vulnerable place or in a weak season
•Those who are more earthly minded with cares of this life than to be tuned in to the battle before it blindsides them
Illustration with an experienced fighter, playing the role of the enemy and us trying to fight with no experience or training.
(Liquid Courage = False sense of Confidence)
Acts 19:11-20 KJV. - Sons of Sceva:
They saw the Apostle Paul successfully healing the sick and casting out demons in the Name of Jesus; so they thought they’d try to do the same thing!
They said, “I command you in the Name of Jesus that Paul preaches about.”
The demons actually turned to them and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, BUT WHO ARE YOU?!”
They were trying to come up against a battle without the preparation or relationship to have POWER to make anything happen!
In Acts 19:19, new believers burned their magical scrolls, valued at 50,000 "pieces of silver" (often drachmas). Today, this translates to anywhere from $13 million to $15 million
Romans 13:11-14 NIV
“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify (or please) the desires of the flesh.”
Flip the roll to where we are now the expert fighter in which we have the experience and the training over the enemy…
I can put on his uniform, but that does not qualify me to have the same experience and knowledge that he has.
Just like when Saul tried to equip David with his own armor, David said he couldn’t fight the battle with something that wasn’t proven by him - an Armor he was experienced with.
1 Samuel 17:39 NLT
David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.
“I can’t go in THESE,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again.
We need to have an understanding about how the battle against the enemy is won.
The battle is not won at the time a temptation or a trial, etc. is brought against us.
The battle is won BEFORE we enter into what is coming against us.
It is won in our QUIET TIME and in the preparation of our daily devotion and our knowledge of the Word when there is no opposition or challenge directly in front of us.
Recent
Archive
2026
April
2025
Categories
no categories