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Sermon of the Week 
Saturday, February 23 2019

Before service today, my wife got a call. I reminded her to be sure to turn off her ringer. In one church that wasn’t the case…After ringing cell phones kept going off in a church service, the pastor, put a post in the following week’s bulletin that said "Let’s turn offour phones and turn each other on." Well, how about doing that and find two or three people and tell them, “I’m here to get you turned on”!!! (turned on to faith and authority in Christ, of course)  

The message today is “Don’t Stop Until You’re Finished” Spiritual warfare is not for sissies! Your flesh will want to quit on you….                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  The text I have chosen is…2Corinthians 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. v4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) v5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”                                                                                                                                                                                 Don’t get distracted from the real battle…..Let’s take some time to look this over….Eve was looking over the apple, took a bite, gave it to Adam, and strongholds entered the earth. After Adam bit the apple, in shame, he quickly covered himself with a fig leaf. Eve, also felt shame and covered herself with a fig leaf. And I heard that then she checked out a maple leaf, a sycamore, and an oak……(I digress) Don’t let the Serpent distract you, from the real battle. You can’t try everything or you’ll never get back to where you should be….You can’t be indecisive and stop the process of transformation, just because you had a bad day and you don’t feel like fighting. If you do, it will be harder to regain what you’ve lost! (and the children of Adam are still working on that one)

There came a day, when Israel had reached a stand off with the Philistines, because in their indecision, and their compromise, they allowed the enemy to strengthen it’s forces. When David heard the taunts of Goliath, saw the fear of his brothers and the size of the Philistine army, he decided to engage the enemy in WARFARE! Notice how he approached the enemy…

1 Samuel 17:48 “And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose,and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hurried, andran toward the army to meet the Philistine”. (He ran toward the enemy, not away)!                                                                                                                                                                                1 Samuel 17:51 “Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, (Goliath was down, but not deadyet) and drew the sword out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled”.                                                                                                                                              First, we see David hurrying to defeat the giant and now he hurries to FINISH the enemy off! You can't knock goliath down and not finish him off.Because king Saul was living in compromise and disobedience, he gave the enemy power. So, David ran and cut off his head(representing his power and authority). You can't stop when the enemy is simply knocked down. Cut off the head (which is the power and authority you have given it) and then- Keep going!Now, Goliath has 

been defeated, is that the end? NO way! 

David will have to face Goliath’s brothers… Just when you’re feeling good about the change in one area, TA-DA… 

you see other places where improvement is necessary….                                                                                                                                                                      2 Samuel 21:22  “These four giants were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.” David and his men had to kill the brothers of Goliath. One prayer won’t do it, we must walk in prayer and a fasted life. By Golly, Goliath has brothers and they will have to be faced eventually! Strongholds are places which have been built up over years and have become embedded in our lives. We can even begin to see them as who we are… our personality and well, just the way we do things….. Self-centered, quick tempered, negative, don’t trust anyone, shy, withdrawn, or loud and pushy….. We all have our strongholds…. There’s no exceptions….

2 Samuel 22:1 “And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2 And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; who savesme from violence. 4 I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” David was careful to give God ALL THE GLORY for the victories! You won’t have to do it all, but if you’ll start, God will make a way, and He will do what you can’t and He will finish what He has begun…. 

Let me give you five reasons people don’t finish well….(they all start with “P”) 

No Purpose, No Plan, No Preparation, No Push, and No Perseverance…. Satan doesn’t mind folks who make a great beginning, but when they get focused on the finish line and the outcome, they know God has available, and won’t quit…. That’s when he knows he’s in trouble…      

God gives all of us opportunity to conquer and win the victory but it requires perseverance, commitment, and consistency in our lives….Jesus came to guarantee that you can win this…. Our God has said that He was the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He not only gives us grace to start but He gives favor to finish. 

At the Mexico City Olympic Games, a runner from Africa fell and was injured, during the marathon race but continued to run. Long after the winners received their medals and the crowd was gone, this runner limped on toward the finish line. A news reporter stayed until the injured runner 

hobbled across the finish line. He approached the runner and said “You didn’t have to do this. Why put yourself through it all when there was no chance to win anything?” The African runner answered through his pain and discomfort, “My country didn’t send me here to just start the race, they sent me here to finish.” Church, We were not brought into the kingdom just to have a great beginning, but to finish the race set before us!                                                                         

Deuteronomy 33:25 says “as your days are, so shall your strength be”. In Christ, your strength will always be enough for your need. Your strength will match what you’re up against. You may be limping, but you can still finish! It’s not enough to believe that God can, but you must believe that He will!!!                                     

One guy heard a message from his pastor about finishing what you started. He said that so far, when he got home that Sunday, he finished two bags of chips, a pint of ice cream, and a chocolate cake. He said that he felt much better after finishing what he started…..(I do believe he missed the point)                         

The church was birthed in struggle and conflict.… and war produces its own Generals and heroes rise to the occasion. Jesus said “I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” His church has always found itself in the midst of battle! And it won’t stop until we are raptured!

King Saul and Adam and Eve, found out that It is dangerous to be engaged in battle (Which we are daily) and not stay in the battle till it is finished. If you are going to start a fight, you keep fighting until you get victory...King Saul never conquered his personal demons and the strongholds in his life, and it came back to destroy him. Much of God's army today is like Saul's army.  They're waiting for a David to come along and deal with their devils. They are looking for God to do something to them but not through them! 

While one pastor was giving his sermon, a large plant 

fell off the platform and crashed right in front of the pulpit, making a loud noise as it came crashing to the floor. Raising his eyebrows, the pastor said, "Well, that’s the first time I have everpreached a plant to sleep."

JUST OVERCOMING THE PROBLEM AT HAND IS NOT TOTAL VICTORY. GOD’S DEFINITION OF VICTORY IS REACHING YOUR POTENTIAL. Our potential is all that we are capable of in business, or in church, or in marriage or family and our personal lives… The purpose of Strongholds in our lives is to keep us from our potential. Is there anyone here who has reached your full potential?….. That potential for each one of us is different. If you’re a hand then your potential is different than the foot… the ear has a different potential than the eye, and so on….So reaching your full potential is what your unique, personalvictory is all about….If you begin to compare yourself with others in their progress, then you’re missing your own personal victory!

Martin Luther King Jr. said “If a man is called to be a street-sweeper, he should sweep streets like Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well”.

Sometimes, The Real Battle is After the Battle….The price of freedom is vigilance. For this reason, Israel was given the promised land "little by little"...                                         

Exodus 23:28-30 – “I will send the hornets ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. v29 But I will not drive them out all at once, because the land would become desolate and the wild beasts become too numerous for you. v30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have become strong enough to take possession of the land.”            

Strongholds want to desolate your potential.  When you've cut offthe power and authority of the enemy, strongholds are broken, the strongman is bound, and then, you can take back what he’s stolen! Jesus said that "the gates of hell shall NOT prevail..." But then, you can't linger in that victory because there are more giants that MUST be conquered. The bible says we go from victory to victory or faith to faith. That’s about vigilance!

The world may call it a predisposition, but God’s word calls it a stronghold…. Some folks have a stronghold, of never finishing what they start…. They are constantly changing jobs, starting projects they never finish. Marriages, relationships, promises they make, and projects they start are like revolving doors to them….Their lives are a cluttered pile of undone things….that is constantly robbing them of their potential….

But the news flash is, it’s not how you start in life or even where you are now, but how you finish in life that’s more important..

Mother Theresa was faced with daily challenges as she ministered to the thousands of poor and abandoned in Calcutta, so it was that those who assisted her, were constantly coming to her with another “problem”…. One day she called them all together and said, “From now on we are not to use the word “problem”, but instead we will say “gift”, because the challenge is to discover the hidden gift within the opportunity presented to us….The gift is there in the problem, we just need to open it, discover it and praise the Lord for it”. 

A shopkeeper was troubled and worried, when a brand newbusiness with the same merchandise as his own, opened up next door and erected a huge sign which read 15% off all merchandise. He was horrified when another competitor opened up on his right, and announced his arrival with an even larger sign, reading 25% off all merchandise. The shopkeeper began to panick, until he got an idea. He put the biggest sign of all over his own shop and It read...                             

“Main entrance”. Child of God, don’t quit, God will make a way, when there seems to be no way!!!

Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint (fail to finish) in your mind”…..

Remember: the REAL battle zone is in your thought life, so open up your mind and let the sun shine in!!! The secret is to catch the enemy when he attempts to slip into your thought life like the serpent in the garden. Don’t let the thought take hold. For this reason Paul says one of our primary weapons is the power to inspect and take thoughts captive as they enter your mind. We need to See this…. fainting or failure to finish, takes place in the mind. You may just need to get out of your own head. You won’t be able to think your way out of a problem that is caused by overthinking the problem to begin with.                                         Sometimes you just need to walk away or it will turn and bite you. Adam and Eve should have walked away, because we all got bit….They let the serpent get into their head….It gives an interesting twist to the scripture…”as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”….When the Apostle Paul talks to the Hebrews about fainting in your mind, he's talking about coming to a place where you think there is no way out, so if you think there is no way out it becomes true for you, or you think that you can't go any further, so if you think you can’t, you probably won’t. 

God Is For Us…..If you get out of your mind and into the mind of Christ, you can always take one more step, and keep going, and God will sustain you. You’ll never come to a hill where you won’t have the strength to climb it. You will never come to an obstacle you can’t get over. You will never get to a door that can’t be opened, unless God has a better one for you! 

Our God is not only with us and in us but He is for us. If God is For us, who or what can stand against us….!!! He is for your healing, your freedom, your full potential… Jesus came to guarantee that we could tear down strongholds in any area of our life… God is not only interested in winning the battle but winning the battle after the battle. If we win but never change, then God doesn’t see that as a victory. He is more interested in transforming us, because to Him, that’s the biggest victory of all!

A Stronghold is the battle within…. A stronghold of Satan is a cycle or pattern which keeps reoccurring that keeps you in guilt, condemnation and defeat. It is behavior or actions that refuse to leave and It isn't there for any beneficial purpose. Deep in your heart you know you need to change, but the cycle keeps repeating, so you accept it as just the way things are. 

The word “Recession” means that you have given in and decided to just live with it….It may be lust, a critical nature, self-consciousness that keeps you from being free, fear, shyness and intimidation, or condemnation from the past. And it only surrenders when Christ's power is exerted against it. Strongholds manifest in the form of worry, unhealthy thoughts, obsessivedesires, paranoia, internal heaviness, or depression.  

It’s kind of like sucking on a lemon, the results is always more sour that you thought at first. It’s only intent is to afflict, harass, burden, and keep you from your higher purpose and calling.  But take courage and know this, strongholds can be broken!  "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world!" In Philippians 1:6 it says He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

Recognize your delegated authority. Remember, the Greek word isExusia… Which is operating in authority bestowed upon us from a greater power.  

The primary principle, for Believers breaking strongholds is recognizing your authority to do so.  Christ has granted you power to defeat every enemy that would try to operate in your life. This is what the scripture means when it says, “I can do all things through Christ (Exusia) which strengthens me.” 

In the book, “Weapons of Your Warfare” the author wrote: “It's . . . your authority to stand up and declare that the spiritual powers of darkness will not lord over your life.  They won't rule you.  They won't govern your behavior.  They won't govern your thought life.  They won't pull you into sin.  As a believer in Jesus Christ it's in your power and authority to stand and say, "Jesus is Lord here." 

Amen! Ungodly habits shouldn't govern you; temptations shouldn't control you; an inferiority complex doesn't have to dominate you; fear and worry shouldn't master you. The lordship of our life belongs to Jesus Christ and when we trust and submit to that lordship victory is secured.  If this principal isn't understood all the hope in the world won't budge a stronghold….That's what Jesus is showing us in our text. 

Look at Mark 3:27 "no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house." None of this becomes our personal reality if it has not become part of our core values!  Satan wants to pollute and violate our core beliefs, but we have to affirm Christ's lordship and declare "Yes" and "Amen" to God's promises in order to walk in transformation. Every thought that hits you needs to be countered by another thought! Lies need to be answered with TRUTH. You need a proclamation in your mouth—there is an “IT IS WRITTEN!” for every battle. We affirm the lordship of Christ over our circumstances?  We declare, “Jesus in me, is stronger than the strong man”! He's the resurrection and the life! Jesus breaks every fetter! He sets the captives free….it has to be more than a slogan or a memorized recitation! We declare, “He's the Captain of my salvation….That means darkness becomes light before Him and the winds and waves are quelled at His command”? He changes times and seasons and the powers of life and death are in His hands!

Ephesians 6:10  “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”. Scripture talks about death, burial and resurrection. Don’t give up, don’t quit, it may be Friday, but Sunday is on it’s way….. Resurrection is coming.! We all will die, but the question is, will you die in faith? Will you go out of here still praising, still rejoicing, still worshiping the Alpha and Omega! Someone said, “My electric bill is so high, that when I die, I’m concerned that they will turn off the light at the end of the tunnel”

Goliath wasn't defeated when the stone sank into his forehead….he lost before David retrieved one stone from the brook.  David conquered Goliath when he understood God's covenant of deliverance and believed it. David battled with the word before he ever released the stone! I wonder if David didn’t run towards Goliath, so that no doubt wouldn’t have a chance to catch up to him!

Faith Knows….. Many Christians believe, rather generically, that God is greater, but when facing a mountain of impossibility,something in the pit of their stomach doesn't agree with what is in their core and they become divided and double minded.  In conversations they speak of God's power to deliver, in Church they can sing of His omnipotence, but they don’t apply it on the battlefield. Recognize your authority, believe God and march toward your stronghold like David towards Goliath. Faith isn’t just belief, it is knowledge. FAITH THAT IS SATURATED WITH THE WORD, KNOWS! It isn't ignorant and it isn’t blind.                   

Hebrews 11:3 simply says, "By faith we understand." Faith understands; it knows. You may not know God's entire plan but you know His Word and His Word won't return void. Think about this: The Israelite army had plenty of faith, it was just misappropriated. Their faith focused on the wrong thing, it focused on Goliath. Israel believed Goliath was invincible! As a result, it became a dominating stronghold, and they were paralyzed with fear.  Every time Goliath defied Saul's troops, Israel cowered and ran. That's what misappropriated faith does. It paralyzes your march against the enemy. 

There is a story about a seminary professor that drove into the campus parking lot.  Before getting out he applied "the club" to his steering wheel. He then stepped out, locked his doors, and then activated his alarm system.  A student saw what happened and said:  "Doctor, don't you believe in the sovereignty of God to protect your vehicle?" The professor replied, "Son, you know I teach the sovereignty of God.  But I also believe in the total depravity of man to put God’s sovereignty to the test!"

The Bible says: "resist the devil and he will flee from you." And that's exactly what 1 Samuel 17:40 says happened: "he took the rod in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, he hurried toward the Philistine” . David figured that if the stone didn’t work, he would hit Goliath in the knee with his rod! 

But David shoved Goliath's words right back down his throat and told him he would feed him to the vultures.  Then he loaded his slingshot and with one shot sank the stone between Goliath's eyes. When David brought down the stronghold that Goliath represented, it changed his entire future direction….

Let’s give the Lord the final say on the things you’re struggling with in your life! Let your faith get stirred up, and start marching into your potential.

He is the victorious One and He has given us the keys! Jesus has bound the strong man! He sets the captives free. He breaks down every stronghold! He’s the author and finisher, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. If the battle is the Lord’s, we can keep on winning and never retreat and, never, never, nevergive up! It’s not only about finishing but it’s about finishing well!

Every fisherman studies the skies to see what the day will be like. The good news is that for the child of God, there are clear skies ahead, as we walk in    the Word, stand in authority, and take it to the enemy through the power of Christ in us! Our God will always make a way…..

Hebrews 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, v2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Our Lord is a water walker and He will lift us out of every stronghold, still the storm and give us clear skies ahead. Let Him lead you out of every stronghold as you submit and surrender to Him….

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