This morning under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we would be looking at The God of Victory. I am sure somebody will say “I know God is a God of victory” but do you understand it? Because it is not enough to know and that’s why I said that the message the Lord sent to us on Monday is a strong platform for today. It is not enough to know God as the God of victory; do you understand that He is a God of victory and how is He a God of victory? That is why we would be looking at The God of Victory this morning. Let us turn to Romans 8:37, which has been the reference verse for this month for us. It says: “yet in all these things, we are more than a conqueror.” We the brethren, we the believers, we the sons of God, we are more than conqueror through Christ that loved us.

 

Why is that conquering, that overcoming, that victory important for us? Ephesians chapter 6:12, the Bible says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  The reason why yet in all these things, these things that are being spoken about in Romans 8:37 are the forces that we stand against on the earth. In the Evening Bible School, we are meant to see in Revelations, how that there was an announcement made that woe to the inhabitants of the earth because their adversary the devil has been cast down, and he has come down with such a great fury.

 

He is so angry, he is furious, and he is going about looking for whom to devour. And this is his strategy for devouring. It says “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” No! our war, our struggle, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against powers. So that we understand what you are contending for. Yesterday we were meant to understand that we must contend for our victory. You must understand what you are contending for. You are contending for your victory against powers. So, there are powers that exist whether you like it or not and you think it is African magic. There are powers that you must contend against to be able to protect your victory. So, there are powers.

 

It says: against powers, against principalities, against the rulers of ‘the’ darkness. In Isaiah the Bible says; “Arise and shine for your light has come, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, behold darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people. But the Lord will arise on you, His glory will be seen in you.” Meaning that the darkness is a prevalent and a constant thing that will occur on the earth. And it said; you are contending against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against Spiritual host. When we are talking about host here don’t think its hosting website. Host talks about armies, spiritual armies of wickedness. You are contending against spiritual armies of wickedness in the heavenly places.

 

So, when the Bible was speaking in Romans 8:37, that yet in all these things, despite the powers, the principalities, the rulers of darkness, despite the spiritual host of wickedness; yet you are more than conqueror. Why? Because if you look at this Ephesians 6:12, it is an intimidating force. If it is not flesh and blood, how do we fight? If we cannot see them, how do we wrestle? And that was why Apostle Paul was saying I do not fight as one that beats the air. Because if you are going to do it in your strength you are going to fight as one that beats the air because you can’t see. Its not flesh and blood, its not visible. It is not tangible; you can’t lay hold and that is why Apostle Paul understood it. I do not fight like one that beats the air, so how do I fight, war, wrestle? Because this contention is real. We must snap out of the ignorance and the veil that the devil has used to cover our eyes, that we are not walking in real time and age where there are spiritual armies of wickedness contending.

 

There is a foolish thought, please when I use “foolish” don’t see it as insulting, but rather look at the context in which we are speaking about it. Because there are actually two divides; you are either wise or foolish. There were virgins mentioned in the Scripture, it says; “they were all virgins, 10 of them, 5 were wise and 5 were foolish” it was not an insult, it was about what they did, it was about understanding. So, when the Lord mirrors you as a foolish person, don’t take it as an insult, take it as something you must step out from. So, there is a foolish thought in the body of Christ among some believers, that makes them feel as though there is no contention.

 

So, they live their lives in ignorance and false pretense of it. They think there is no contention anywhere, I am just living my life, I am just a young person, I did not offend anybody, nobody offended me, I am just an easy cool guy, going and doing my own thing. Its not about flesh and blood, that’s why Ephesians 6 quickly introduces us to the nature of the contention. It is not because you did not offend anybody, in fact you have decided you will be so quiet because the Bible says that “if you do not offend in words then you are a perfect person.” It’s in a context, not in all context. So, there are true contentions, we must not allow the devil to blind us from this. There are contentions. As long as you are a believer, you have obtained something. There is a contention for what you have obtained in Christ, the devil is fighting it, he wants to steal it, he wants to destroy it, and he wants to kill it. That’s his assignment.

 

So, this morning we want to look at this and what the Lord wants to open us to, is to understand that because you are not fighting flesh and blood you must not also contend in ignorance, you must also not contend with flesh and blood. No wonder Apostle Paul said when I was given my mandate, my instruction for living, he said I did not confer with flesh and blood I didn’t go to human beings and say how will I go about it, because I know this assignment of my destiny requires for me not to contend with flesh and blood. And he said I went, I separated myself. And no wonder his ministry was different. Understanding!

 

2 Corinthians 10:4. It says; “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God…” The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they are not flesh and blood, but they are mighty in God, “for pulling down strongholds” Now Ephesians 6:12 made us see that we do not fight against flesh and blood, and it says the weapon we now used to fight, because we know, we now have understanding that we are not fighting flesh and blood. Now it says the weapon, our arsenal, the armory that we are decked with is not of flesh and blood but it said its what? Mighty in God. The Bible says “God is Spirit.” So, if it is mighty in God, it is mighty in Spirit. It says it is mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Our weapon is mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments

 

Now the Holy Spirit is leading us into the strategy in which the spiritual armies, the principalities and the powers use in contending. Ephesians 6:12 says we do not contend against carnality, but against spiritual host of wickedness, rulers of darkness, principalities and powers. Now 2Corinthians 10 is letting us know how the rulers of darkness, the strongholds of wickedness, the principalities and powers, how they contend. It says our weapon is mighty in God for pulling down stronghold. So, they come with strongholds, “casting down arguments. They come by way of arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity, to the obedience of Christ.” 

 

So, they come by way of thoughts, arguments, strongholds, bringing them into captivity. Romans 8:37 says “yet in all these things, in spite of the strongholds, the arguments, the high things, we are more than conquerors through Christ that strengthens us.” And this 2 Corinthians 10:4 said; the weapon of our warfare is mighty in God. So, we want to see our God, the God of victory that this might rest in. How does this might rest in God? We are going to gain that understanding by the leadership of the Holy Spirit this morning. The God of victory. So, if you want to use by way of subtopic you can say; The God of Victory: Obtaining Victory by The Three-Fold Expression of God.

 

2 Corinthians 13:14. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” This verse shows us the three-fold expressions of God. 2Corinthians 13:14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the communion of the Holy Spirit. When these three-fold expression is with you, you are walking in that weapon that is mighty in God. You are connecting with the almightiness of God. Now we are going to look at it as a breakdown, these three-fold expression. We know that God is Trinity, we have God the Father, God the Son; the word, and the Holy Spirit. And you will see that these three-fold expression of God is the perfect expression of God.

 

Every time the three-fold expression of God is in operation, there is a perfecting. When God the Father expressed Himself to the children of Israel, it was a dreadful experience, many of them could not contain it. Because they were afraid, because when God comes down, there will be smoke, there will quaking, there will be so many activities on the mountain and they will run away. When the Son came expressing Himself in the physical form, in human form, He walked on the face of the earth as a man, there was a limitation to the places and the people that He could give victory.  So, people that were outside Jerusalem and places that Jesus could travel to, did not obtain victory, so they were not perfected.

 

And that’s why the Scriptures says in Hebrews 2:10; “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, talking about Jesus, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” The captain of our salvation who is Christ was made perfected through suffering. Now if you look at the Scripture, you would understand that even Jesus mentioned something to let us know that the best of that dispensation was not the best. He said in the kingdom, this current dispensation, the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist, meaning that John the Baptist was the last of the old order. When God expressed Himself as the Father, without the expression of the Son, that generation was not perfected, that generation still had a need. If you look through the book of Hebrews, when it was talking about our emergence of this generation, we are emerging to perfect the saints. Not because we are special, but because there is a dispensation of God that has come upon us, that makes us perfect. Every time, there is a completion of the God head, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, that is when the saints are perfected.

 

So, the perfection of the Israelites was imperfection. That is why Jesus said if the law was without fault, there won’t be a need for the new.  Meaning that the law was at fault, it was not perfected. And that’s why Jesus came in the flesh and when He came, still there was no perfection until He had to die. So, when Jesus died and the Holy Spirit was released, then the trinity, the three-fold expression of God was complete in humanity, making for the perfection of the saints. That’s why the Bible says; the Holy Spirit is the seal upon our lives until the day we are redeemed unto the Lord. So, the generations of the world have passed through times and dispensations, waiting for their perfection.

 

Imperfection started in Adam, and that imperfection perpetuated until Jesus died. So, when we are looking at three-fold expression of God, the God of victory, we should understand that we are looking at the perfection of our victory. What perfects our victory? Look at the children of Israel, they will walk in victory for a season, if you look through the book of prophet Isaiah, you will see how the children of Israel were falling, defeated, rising, they will walk in victory for a moment and they are back in captivity in Babylon, before you know it another kingdom has risen against them, fighting them, wining them over and taking them captive. And you will see the roller coaster of defeat and victory. When Jesus came, He came to give us victory, but look at the life of Peter, when Jesus came, Jesus was on the face of the earth, but you will see the roller coaster in the life of Peter.

 

Peter is the man that would see Jesus you are the Son of the living God, and it’s the same Peter that would say no you are not going to die,  and you will see Peter experiencing defeat and victory, but when the Holy Spirit was poured out and released upon him, the same Peter that denied Jesus three times before the cock crew was the same Peter that arose with boldness declaring, and we see the life of Peter how he transitioned, how he was able to do the works of Jesus and how he started walking in perpetual victory. When he was perfected. The law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus; the empowerment came through the Holy Spirit. So, the three-fold dimension of God is the perfecting of the saints for sustained and perpetual victory. We are perfected in this model, the three-fold expression of God. So, when the Bible was speaking about the fact that our weapons are mighty in God, its not mighty in the half of God, but in the wholeness of God, in the trinity of God.

 

 1 John 5:4-8. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. What ever is born of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith.” And we are going to see how that all these ties together. Whoever is born of God; born of the love of the Father, the grace of Jesus and the Holy Spirit overcomes. You are a Victor. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. The communication of our understanding of who God is. That’s our faith and the conviction of who God is. The Bible says; faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We hear so that we know and then we understand. So, we understand that who God is, and who God is and the communication of that faith is what gives us victory. So, whatever is born of God knows God, understands God and overcomes. “And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”

 

You see how that there is harmony of the trinity. Verse 7; for there are three that bears witness in heaven. So, you see the precedence before this verse, we are speaking about victory, we are speaking about overcomers, we are speaking about our identity in Christ Jesus, and how we are brought into this experience by Christ. And it says there are three; these three-fold expression bear record in heaven, sustains your victory in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. Remember where we read in 2 Corinthians 13:14? The expression of the trinity, perfects us. So, the Bible says these three bears record in heaven. No wonder Jesus said whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, whatever you lose on earth, is loosed in heaven; this is how our victory is communicated; by our faith. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one—they are not divided. And there are three that bear witness on earth: The Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

 

So, we see the harmony of the trinity, the three expressions of God. This is what perfects us. So, when we are talking about the God of victory, we are talking about the Father, the Son—the word, and the Holy Spirit. That’s the God of victory. So, if we look at it, we want to look at the three expressions of the God head; the Father. How does the Father portray His love for us? How does the Father show us our victory? John 3:16, For God so love the world that He gave; how God shows us our victory is in His love. God so loved the world that He gave, He gave Jesus, He demonstrated His love for us, by giving us Jesus. So, the love of the Father established our victory over sin and Satan by His love, His love expresses it, His love established it.

 

1 Corinthians 13:8. “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away” The Bible says; love never fails, the love of the Father never fails. So, have you ever thought is there a time when God will just become weak over me? No! Will the problem become much that God will not be able to handle it for me? No! the love of the Father never fails. The understanding of that sustains our victory. Isaiah 43:3-4. “For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; remember we are talking about the Father. I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.⁴ Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, And I have loved you; because of this your victory is sustained. Therefore, I will give men for you, And people for your life.

 

This is the Father speaking to you, communicating His love to you. When the Lord communicates His love; His love does not fail, the love of the Father does not fail. Psalm 89, we are sharing all these so that we can gain understanding. That our victory is not for a time or for a season. It is eternal in nature just like God. Psalm 89:33-35. “Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail. The faithfulness of God is the love of God. I will not allow My faithfulness to fail, He is committed. God is that committed to you.  ³⁴ My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.³⁵ Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David”

 

When God commits His love to you, His love is unconditional. And He does not fail. It says; I will not lie. Numbers 23, God is not a man that He would lie nor the Son of man that He would repent, He will not change His mind. He said; I will not alter; I won’t change the word that has gone out from My lips. The love of God is an expression of His faithfulness. The Bible says that while we yet sinners, Christ died. God communicated His love in His faithfulness to keeping it, in spite of who we were. God told Noah in His faithfulness, I will not destroy the earth with water again and He put a symbol and a sign out. Do you think the world has not gone worse than the time of Noah? Why didn’t God destroy it? When it was time for God to be angry, He didn’t destroy the earth, He destroyed the people called Sodom and Gomorrah and He didn’t use water, because He has said it. He used fire because God is that faithful. In fact, God is faithful, His name is faithful. 

 

So, God communicates His love, and in that love your victory is guaranteed. Your victory is guaranteed in the love of the Father, because He does not change. He said I will not lie, that is commitment. God is committed to your victory. No wonder that portion of the Scripture we read in 1 John 5, whosoever is born of God overcomes. God is committed like that. It is a covenant and God is a covenant keeping God. The second expression of the God head is the word, Jesus Christ the Son. Romans 10:17. We must understand how the three-fold expression of God, obtains and sustains our victory. Romans 10:17. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The word of God which is Christ. John 1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The word Jesus is an expression of God that sustains our victory.

 

I want us to see Isaiah 55 why we are looking at this is that we can see the interconnection in all these things. There is no stand alone, the trinity are always connected. And their connection speaks of their oneness and their unity. Isaiah 55:11. “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” So shall My word be, so shall Christ be, He has gone out from Me. Sometimes we want to limit the effectiveness of Christ. John 3:16 says God so loved the world that He gave; Jesus came out of God and He was sent forth, Jesus will not return to God empty, void until He prospers, until He accomplish that which He has been sent. What has Christ been sent for in your life? What is the assignment of Christ in your life? For us to receive salvation, is it just the salvation of our soul from sin? From sin and Satan.

 

Our salvation is a complete package. In Christ our salvation is a complete package. The word has been sent forth, God said; so, shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth. How did Jesus come into the world? A word that went forth from the mouth of God, God sent an angel to Mary and said blessed are you among women, you will have a child this is the word of God that has been sent forth. And the word was sent forth and the word became flesh and the word dwelt among us, settled in the womb of Mary and Mary gave birth to Jesus and it did not stop there. When God was going to confirm and perfect His assignment on the earth, and Jesus was at that place to be baptized by John the Baptist, and the Bible says and the Spirit of the Lord alighted on Him in form of a dove and a voice came from heaven.

 

So, you see that truly Jesus is the word that God sent from heaven. And God said; My word will not return to Me empty, Jesus in your life will not return back to God without profit. Jesus is the word; the word has been sent to you. Jesus is not just living in you to make you feel good, and to make you feel sanctimonious, no! He is in you for you to become a vessel is profitable unto God. He is the word that God had sent forth for the pleasure of the Father. So, Christ in you the hope of glory, not to man but to God, the hope that your life will give glory to God. The hope that you will group for Him, long for Him and walk in His perfect will. Christ is God’s investment in you. And God will not put His investment in you and leave it without security. And that’s why when you know that you are in the will of God, you know that you are actively in Christ, your victory is guaranteed. Because God is not a man that He will lie nor the son of man that will repent, He said the word that has gone out forth from My mouth it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please.

 

Christ in your life will accomplish what God pleases. And it shall prosper; Christ shall prosper in the thing, the purpose, the assignment, for which God has sent you. That is why it is not enough for us to have knowledge; we must gain and attain understanding. When you are spoken to, understand what your purpose is, why did God send you here, what are the things God wants you to do? Christ is not for a show, its for a purpose. Christ in you is not to make you feel sanctimonious, holier than thou, better than every human being, it is for you to accomplish your purpose. And it is in the fulfillment of that purpose that your victory is guaranteed. Because the word has been sent to you, Christ has been sent to you, by God in His love for you. Because there is a purpose, He wants you to fulfill. And as you are doing that purpose, as you are in that purpose, your victory is guaranteed and sustained.

 

I want us to see the operation of the trinity, in Genesis 1:1-3. This is the model in the operation of the trinity from the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. You can now replace the heavens and the earth because it’s a creation of God. Replace it with your name, so that you can gain understanding. In the beginning God created Omolara and the earth, a portion. Now, the reason is this; Keep putting your name so that you can obtain victory. ² The earth was without form, God created a territory, a force, a human being, a creature in expression of Him an extension of Him. And something happened, because is there any sense of saying I have victory if there is no battle? It doesn’t make sense if you wish for victory without battle? No! man has been created; in the beginning it was not so. Something happened in verse two that often happens to many lives and destinies, and that is why you shouldn’t be quick to excuse yourself from verse two. It says the earth was without from. There are lives that are without form, and void and darkness was on the face of the deep.

 

When something is empty, when something does not have form, can you say it has purpose? Can you say that that thing will be useful? No! and it says; “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. The Spirit of God was hovering over that life, ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” And God spoke His word into that situation. There are some of us that are going through some things, there are areas of our lives, where truly there is voidness, truly where there is emptiness, where we have not been perfected. God said there is a need for the Spirit of God, to hover over the face of the deep, then the word that God has sent forth will not return back to Him empty. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. Our wholeness, our perfection, our completeness is in the activity of the Holy Spirit.

 

I want us to see a Scripture in Isaiah 34:16, that will explain to us more what we just read. “Search from the book of the Lord, and read: Not one of these shall fail; do you see that Scriptures interpreting Scriptures? Not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it. My word has gone forth.  and His Spirit has gathered them. Do you know the meaning of and His Spirit has gathered them? The Spirit has put the word in motion. When the Spirit of the Lord was hovering, it was not static, what was the Spirit doing? It was gathering. This Isaiah 34:16 gives us a picture of what the Holy Spirit was doing in Genesis 1:2. He was hovering, His Spirit was gathering, He was setting the word in motion. This is the operation of God that speaks for our wholeness and our perfection, and our completion in victory.  The Spirit of God was gathering them, was setting the word in motion.

 

No wonder the Bible makes us to understand that the Spirit makes intercession for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered. And the next verse it says who knows what the heart of the Spirit is saves the Spirit of God? Who knows the mind of God? Who knows the pleasure of God? Who knows the will of God? Who can help you walk into a perfect alignment with the purpose and the will of God?  Saves the Spirit of God. He makes intercession, He stands in the gap, He is hovering, He is brooding, He is setting in motion the fragments of your life, arranging them in alignment with the word of God. It has not yet appeared what we shall be but when we see Him, we shall be like Him. When the word goes forth, we will align with the word, when the word is released, our life comes in alignment with the word of God. That’s our victory.

 

Philemon verse 6. “That the sharing of your faith may become effective- the faith that comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, can become effective. So, it is possible that you have faith but it is not effective. Ineffective faith is not a useful faith. That your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing. by the acknowledgment of the love of the Father, by the acknowledgement of the word of God-Jesus Christ that has been sent forth, by the acknowledgment of the operation and the motion of the Holy Spirit in your life; of every good thing which is in you. This is how we are perfected. That the sharing of your faith, that your conviction, that your life, because your faith is your life. You are fighting for your life. When Apostle Paul said fight the good fight of faith, he is saying fight for your life, contend that the sharing of your faith may be effective.

 

When the sharing of your faith Is effective, that means you are walking in sustained victory. Ineffective faith is a lifestyle of defeat. Effective faith is a lifestyle of victory. That the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of the God of victory. The love of the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ by the word, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. When these three agree as one our victory as overcomers and conquerors in Christ is sustained. When these three agree as one in the life of any believer, victory is sustained. It said the victory has been delivered to us, Jesus had died, He said it is finished the victory has been delivered to us, but how many of us are walking in sustained victory. How many of us is the communication of our faith effective?

 

I believe it’s a good time to pray!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Lara Gboyega Adedeji!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!