Our reading text for the Victory Series has been 1^st John chapter 5 verse 4, and we were made to understand from that verse that whosoever is born of God overcomes, and who is he that is born of God, he that believes that Jesus is Lord and from that Scripture we were made to see that because we are born of God and we are overcomers of the world and there is a tangibility of our faith that overcomes and it said for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world and we know that we walk daily in Victory, not because we have biceps and we have six packs or because we have been so trained in warfare but because there is a Spirit in man that brings us to the point of understanding that we are overcomers.

 

Listen to Podcast: THE SPIRIT OF VICTORY

 

We are overcomers! I am going to start by reading Revelations, the book of Revelations that we also quoted in the last message when we were looking at The Victory of our Faith. Revelations chapter 2, I will read from verse 7 and then I will read verse 17 also.

 

⁷ “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

Revelations 2:7

 

Revelations chapter 2 verse 7, It said He who has an ear, I don’t know if you have an ear, this Scripture is for those that have an ear. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, God said the seeing eyes and the hearing ears, I God has made. There is a ear. There is a ear that is natural, there is a ear that is physical that everyone carries around, and there is also an ear, an ear that responds to the frequency of the Spirit and I pray that’s a kind of ear that God will give you because that ear is so vital and it’s so important in your Victory. That is why everybody is not walking in Victory. Even though Victory is available for everybody. Everyone is not working in it because it is about he who has an ear. It’s not about those that have these two physical ears that everyone carries about. It’s about those that are inclined, those that connect to the frequency of the Spirit.

 

 So, he that has an ear this morning, let him ear. Let him connect to the tune of the Spirit. Let him connect to the frequency of God via the Holy Spirit. He who has an ear let him ear what the Spirit is says not what his flesh is saying, not what the carnal man is saying, not what the devil is saying but what the Spirit is saying. He who has an ear let him ear what the Spirit says to the church. You can coin it in your favor, Omolara that has an ear, let her ear what the Spirit is saying to her because there is something the Spirit is always saying.

 

And there is a constant message that the Spirit brings to us, the Spirit brings a message always from the Lord. The Spirit brings an instruction from the Lord and it’s those instructions  that the Spirit brings, those messages that comes from the Spirit of God to our spiritual ears that causes us to walk perpetually in Victory and He says let him ear what the Spirit is says to the churches. To him who is connected to the frequency of the Spirit, to him who overcomes, I will give. To him who overcomes, to him who is a victor not a victim, to him who has been liberated by the Spirit of God to walk in perpetual Victory because the Bible says, where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty. So if the Spirit of God is dwelling inside of you, you have liberty to walk in Victory because the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Victory. He said to him who overcomes, I will give.

 

There is an experience that comes with Victory. It’s not every child of God that walks in Victory but the children of God who overcomes. Victory is not an automatic ticket in the kingdom of God. Victory comes via our overcoming experiences and we are going to see that in details as we go along. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat, there will be an experience the person will have. He said, I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in midst the paradise of God. Now, let me pause a bit here and burst some people’s spiritual bubbles. This church that Jesus was talking to was not a raptured church. I want you to get it. Jesus was not talking to a church that has been raptured because if it was a church that will be raptured, they will not be divided into seven, it’s one church but Jesus is talking to people on the earth. Members of his body on the earth because if you see from verse 1, he says to the angel of the church of Ephesus write, Ephesus is a physical location on the earth and He said these things says He who owns the seven stars. This is what I am saying to you, I know your works, your labour, not in heaven, on the earth.

 

So, Jesus was talking to people on the earth, just like you and I are on the earth but He is talking about an heavenly experience because some of us think okay, its until we go to heaven and see Jesus that is when we can partake and eat of the tree of life. No! These experiences are Victory experiences because see, what happened is that, when man fell from dominion, when man fell and sinned against God and he spiritually died, he lost everything, he lost the heaven on earth experience. When we were looking last week at The Victory of our Faith, we realized that the Victory of our faith brings us an heaven on earth experience, where on earth we command the attention of heaven. Heaven attends to us on the earth and see the same thing Jesus is saying here, He said he that is victorious, he that overcomes. He said, I will give to eat, you will partake of a spiritual heavenly experience even though you are on earth. He said, I will give you to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. The same thing Adam lost.

 

He said, when you are victorious, you will start enjoying the life Adam lost because when we are talking about Victory in the kingdom. It is not that we now died and we went to heaven, that is not the total package. The total package of Victory in Christ Jesus is that you are on earth and you are having heaven on earth experiences, where you are commanding situations and situations are responding to the word of God on your lips. When you are walking upon water, the same way that Peter walked upon water when Jesus commanded him to come, that is Victory, Victory is about dominion. When you are not under circumstances but you are over circumstances,  that is Victory. And He said he who has an ear this morning, hear what the Spirit is saying, that this Victory experiences, is not something you will have after you have died, that even as you are walking on the face of the earth that you walk in Victory.

 

¹⁷ “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’

Revelations 2: 17

 

Revelations 2: 17, to he who has an ear, I always love this intro because this is the beginning of it, this is actually how you get it. He who has an ear, let him ear what the Spirit says to the churches because what we are talking about you can’t hear it in the world, the devil does not want you to know that you can live a life of Victory on the earth. He doesn’t want you to walk in that dominion that God has mandated for you to walk in. He wants you to live that beggarly, child of God life and you are praying everyday to go to heaven. The devil is pleased with that because he knows that once you start walking in dominion on the earth, you have rubbished him and robbed him of everything he has been trying to protect.

 

He said he who has an ear, let him ear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who overcomes, because this is the prerequisite. not to him that is a child of God. To him who overcomes. So, there is something standing between us and dominion and it is Victory. It is us overcoming. There is a hurdle we must jump to move into that experience, and that is that we overcome. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna, it is not available to everybody, it is hidden manna, to eat and I will give him a white stone and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it. You will receive an assignment that no one knows. There is a purpose that will be imprinted upon your spirit; you will capture something in God on the earth. Not in heaven, on the earth. Then you will start walking in the realities of God like never before. You will start hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit ordering your steps, telling you what to do but the prerequisite is that you must overcome. There is an hurdle that stands between your present experience and your heaven on earth experience is that you overcome. And when we are talking about this overcoming, what does it mean? As children of God, what does it mean? What must we overcome? 2^nd Corinthians chapter 10 and I will read verse 3 -6.

 

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

2^nd Corinthians 10: 3- 6

 

It said for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war because for there to be Victory, there must be a war. For you to overcome, there must be an obstacle and that’s what the Bible is making us to understand in this 2^nd Corinthians 10 verse 3- 6.  for though we walk in the flesh, we are mortal man walking, we do not war according to the flesh. Verse 4, for the weapons of our warfare, they are not carnal. The weapons that we use to engage, they are not carnal, they are not fleshly. He said but they are mighty in God. We engage in the almightiness of God. We engage in God. We don’t engage in ourselves. We engage in God and that’s why we are citizens of the kingdom of God. So, we engage in him.

 

That’s why the Bible says, in Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being. What does it say, but mighty in God, what does it do? For pulling down these obstacles, pulling down strongholds, pulling down the things that are mitigating against the experience that we are supposed to enter into and verse 5, it says, we pull down strongholds, we cast down arguments. That’s why you understand that see, when we are talking about overcoming, it’s not for you to go to a territory physically, killing people, no!   It’s about the war that is going on in your mind. The battle to please God, the battle to please the world, the battle to be in the kingdom of light, the battle to be in the kingdom of darkness. If you can overcome, there is an experience waiting for you.

 

Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself, this is the things we must overcome. Every day in our lives, we must be able to pull down strongholds, those things that stand between us and our experience of heaven on earth, those things that stand and stare us in the face and say see, you can’t cross, those traditions of men and elders, those traditions of your father’s house, those African culture that is standing between you and your heaven on earth experience. And that is why he said the Victory that overcomes is our faith; Our faith in the love of God, our faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, our faith in the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now see, he says this is the way you can pull down strongholds, you cast down arguments. There is something going on, do it, don’t do it, the lust of the eyes, you must get this car now, you must start working towards it, you must get that new phone now. Cast down arguments! That’s how you overcome. Casting down arguments and every high thing; every high thing, every association that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, every fellowship that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, every job that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You must be able to cast them down. And it said bringing every thought, see this Scripture captures everything, it said bringing every thought, so you bring the thoughts into captivity, you bring those thoughts, those thoughts that do not want you to please God, those thoughts that have been warring against you living the life that God has called you to, bring them into captivity.

 

That’s why we were looking at the full arsenal of God, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, your feet been shod with the preparation of peace, you, having the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. Those are the things that enable you to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This is what we need to overcome. On a daily basis, thoughts will be raging but what did the Bible say? bring them into captivity. There will be strongholds but what did the Bible say? Pull them down but understand that we do not war against flesh and blood, what we are going through, this battle, what we must overcome is not fighting against human beings, no! But against the wiles and the deceptions of the devil!

 

And he said in verse 6, and being ready to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. So, when we are talking about overcoming, this are the things we must overcome, cast down imaginations, cast down arguments, pull down strongholds, those things that are limiting you from expressing the life of God. Overcome them. Now understand this, some people ask the question, how come but I have been told that when I give my life to Christ, all my problems will go away. I have become a new creature in Christ Jesus, old things have passed away behold all things have become new. Then I will answer by saying, go to Matthew chapter 4 and see how Jesus, the Son of God had to overcome to step into his own experience and the Bible says, He is the first born among many brethren, that means He set the example, He showed us the way.

 

When you come into the kingdom of God truly, God is your king and you start operating in his economy but He has set laws in place that He Himself cannot change, so much so that he did not change it for Jesus. Jesus had to go through. I want us to see that Scripture in Matthew chapter 4 so that it doesn’t look as if we are just quoting it, we are just making reference to it and we are not seeing it ourselves. Mathew chapter 4, because he that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

 

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Matthew 4:1-4

 

Matthew chapter 4 verse 1, then Jesus was led up by the Spirit, did you see that? He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. So, there is an opportunity, God will always present us with opportunities to overcome because strongholds will arise, arguments will come, thoughts will come, and he says this is your opportunity to overcome. And when he has fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward, he was hungry. Verse 3, now when the tempter came to Him, he said if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. You are hungry, you are in a state when you need help, you need counsel. You are in a state where you need help and I am offering you help and I am saying to you. So, the devil introduces a thought, you are in a financial mess, the devil comes, he doesn’t bring the army of Russia or Hitler to come and meet you, no! The army you face is your thought. He introduces a thought, why not just do that? Why not just compromise, why not just do this? And understand that, that is your opportunity to overcome. It is your opportunity to overcome. It is your opportunity to cast down arguments. It is your opportunity to pull down strongholds.

 

And he says, but he answered and said, it is written. He answered. He responded. He did not slap the devil. He answered. He did not cast and bind the devil, like some of us will do. ‘I bind the devil, ah! Back to hell, I bind. No! Jesus didn’t do that.’ He answered and said, remember Jesus was wearing the full arsenal of the Spirit, He had the sword of the Spirit, He had the breastplate of righteousness.  He had the helmet of salvation. He had his belt of truth. He answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus was able to pull down the stronghold of the devil. He was able to cast down that argument, by the word because it was His opportunity to overcome. I don’t want us to spend so much time, but there is a list in that Matthew chapter 4, of the different stages where the devil tempted him and how he overcame and that’s why the Bible says in Revelation, we overcome by the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimony and how He was able to overcome. I want us to move quickly to verse 11 of that that Matthew chapter 4.

 

¹¹ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Matthew 4:11

 

He said, then the devil left him, behold angels came and ministered to him. Do you see he had crossed, when He was on this side, when He had not jumped the hurdle, angels didn’t come and minister to him. He had to overcome before he stepped into his heaven on earth experience. So when he overcame he stepped into Victory, he stepped into the realm of dominion and he started walking in heaven on earth experiences then angels came and ministered to him. Now, I want to move to verse 17,

 

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17

 

He said from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Now, after this experience, Jesus started walking in the fullness of his assignment, He became a force to be reckoned with, why? He overcame. If He had lost it to the devil in this place, the devil would have shut up his voice forever, the devil would have silenced him forever but he was able to come out. The devil knows and that is why he will always come to the children of God. Now you will say, what is God doing, why is God just looking at us and allowing the devil to come to us? See, God was also looking at Jesus when he came but this is it, God was certain because of the preparation of Jesus. And that’s the same thing, the Holy Spirit is doing for us, He is taking us through a preparation, we are at different phases in our work with God.

 

Some of us are at that preparatory phase when we are being schooled, when we are being taught on how to overcome. And some of us are already facing the trials, we are already led by the Spirit of God into experiences that will bring about our Victory. Whatever phase you are, He that has an ear, let him ear what the Spirit is saying. I love the word, it’s not what the Spirit said, what the Spirit is saying, present continuous tense. What the Spirit is saying. So you must always be hearing. For you to overcome, you must always be hearing because the Spirit will continue to say. There is something the Spirit is saying. About the phase where you are in right now, there is something the Spirit is saying.

 

There is something the Spirit of God is saying and Jesus is so concerned about our triumph. Romans chapter 8, we might not be able to go through all the Scriptures but we must understand this, I think this is so important and the Holy Spirit is emphasizing on it, you must hear. How do you walk in Victory? You have received not the spirit of fear but you have received the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of love and of a sound mind. That Spirit is the spirit of Victory. And that Spirit is saying. He is speaking. He is always speaking over your life. He is always speaking as regards your situation. Are you hearing? He that has an ear let him hear how you walk in Victory? Concerning the phase you are in right now, there is something the Spirit is saying, are you hearing? Romans chapter 8, I will read verse 11, then I will jump to verse 37

 

¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11

 

But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Now the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, now what did the Spirit of God do for Jesus? Jesus died and on the cross, He said it was finished; He was buried, after three days, he rose again. The Bible now says, it is the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. It is the Spirit that gave Jesus Victory. That’s why Jesus died and Christ Jesus arose because when Jesus was walking on the earth, He was 100% God and 100% man but when Jesus died on the cross, when the body, that feeble body died on the cross, He resurrected in Victory, He was quickened by the Spirit of God and the Bible says that same Spirit is available for you. He said, he who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So the Spirit of God dwells in you and his assignment is to quicken you. Quicken you to start walking in Victory. Quicken you to live the life that God has called you to.

 

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Romans 8:37-39

 

I want to read from verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Verse 37, so that we don’t read verse 37 in exemption to the earlier verses, yet in all these things, what were the things, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword. Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities or powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height or depth or any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Now, our Victory in Christ Jesus is not in mundane things. I know I have Victory in Christ Jesus when I buy a new car, no! Apostle Paul said, shall tribulation or distress, will it be famine, will be nakedness. He said yet in all these things we are conquerors, we overcome, and this is the reason.

 

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

 

That Romans chapter 8 verse 28, it says and we know and this is the understanding we must all have, and we know that all things work together for good, we know, we must know that’s why faith is so important, what is your belief system. When you are going through experiences, do you think they will consume you, do you think that is the end of it, do you think God is not aware, do you think God is not seeing you and we know that all things for together for good, the hunger, the pain, the suffering, they all work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to your purpose, we must understand this, we know, this our belief system, this is how we function.

 

This is how we walk in perpetual Victory. We know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory after we have jumped this hurdle, after we have crossed this obstacle, the glory ahead of us is nothing compared to this light affliction because these light affliction is turning to us for a testimony. This present circumstances we are going through is turning to us for a testimony. This present circumstances, we are going through is turning to us for a testimony. God is giving us an opportunity to overcome. You have been married for 9 years and trusting God for the fruit of the womb and the child is not coming. God is giving you a reason, God is giving you an opportunity to overcome and when you overcome, there is heaven on earth experiences because what is standing between us and  our heaven on earth experiences is that we overcome and when we overcome, we start walking in all that God has prepared for us.

 

I want you to go back to that Revelations and all the things that God said to the seven churches, those are heaven on earth experiences that God has promised, Jesus has promised to overcomers and they will be your experience if you will walk in Victory, if you will hear what the Spirit is saying because the Spirit of Victory is the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Victory is the Spirit of faith and if you walk in the understanding and walk in the fullness of Spirit, you will overcome and that will be your experience in the name of Jesus.

 

In our kingdom, we don’t run, we don’t retreat but we stand firm, we advance and we overcome. That’s the Spirit of the kingdom. We don’t retreat, we don’t shy away. We don’t lay our hands on the plough and look back. No! In this kingdom of God, in this kingdom, we hold on. The Bible says though a righteous man falls down seven times, yet he will rise again. No matter what you have gone through, you’ve sinned against God, stand up again, don’t let the devil have the last laugh over your life, stand up again and tell God, I am ready Lord, I am ready to continue, I am ready to battle with the enemy, I am ready to put on the whole armor of God. I am ready to face every obstacle that is coming my way because I know, Romans 8:28, that all things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to his purpose.

 

Amen!

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!