Last week the Lord declared that this month is a month of victory for us, and He led us to see the nature of our victory in Romans 8:37, where we were made to see that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. And today we will be looking at the nature of our victory. That’s why we are looking at Sustained Victory. It is not enough to be a victor; you must be a sustainable victor. Because you fought a battle and won once, it is not enough to call you a warrior or a champion. It is not enough to call you a champion because you fought once and won, no! It must be sustainable. And that’s why you see those that fight boxing, wrestling, they call them heavy weight champion. And they will have to come and defend their title.
We live as children of God haven been bestowed a title. In Romans 8:37, you will see that it said “you are more than conquerors”, that is a state; through Christ. We have been bestowed a heavy weight title. But is not enough to just carry that title, the way God has designed it is that you must defend that title. As a believer, as a child of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus has bestowed on us a title, as a victor, as a champion as an overcomer. But everyday as you live, you have the responsibility under God to defend that title. And that’s why we are looking at sustained victory, how can you defend that title? The title of a champion that has been bestowed on you by God. The title of an overcomer, more than conqueror that has been bestowed on you by God, how can you defend it?
How can you live a sustainable life of victory? Not that today you are victorious, tomorrow you are defeated, not that next week you are victorious and next year you are defeated. Can we sustain this title, and this life that has been bestowed to us? So, we are looking at Sustained Victory, The Lifestyle of The Spirit. And we will start our consideration from 1 John 5, that is where we are starting our consideration this morning as the Holy Spirit leads us. 1 John 5 we read from verse 7-8. It says; “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” We don’t need to over flog this, yesterday it has been thoroughly explained to us that there are three that bear witness in heaven, and they don’t work in isolation or separation, they agree as one. Verse 8; And there are three that bear witness on earth; meaning that verse 7 and 8 are joined together. Verse 7 gave precedence to 8. Because 8 starts with ‘and’. There are three that bears witness in heaven, and there are three that bears witness on earth. And what are the three that bears witness on the earth: “The Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
Just like the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bears witness in heaven and they agree as one. They don’t work in isolation, the same way on earth these three witnesses bear record, bear witness, they attest this fact, there is a testimony they have. And the testimony is that “they three” agree as one and they bear record on the earth. What does it mean to bear record? What does it mean to bear witness? When they say that somebody bears witness; it means that there is a true incident that happened. And the person was privy to that true incident in the true state of its purity without anything added or removed.
The person is a first-hand witness. So, what the person does is that he can’t witness to himself. That is how witnessing is important. You can’t witness to yourself by standing by yourself looking at the mirror and say I am witnessing to myself. Does it make sense? You witness where there is a controversy about the true state of something as a first-hand witness. Somebody that had first hand experience of what truly happened. And you say let us come together to solve this controversy, this problem. This is what happened and I was there. When you witness, you are coming to prove, you have the burden of prove. So, the Bible says in verse 7, that the burden of prove in heaven lies with the Father, the word and the Holy Spirit. So, in heaven the proof and the testimony of Jesus; because if you read from the beginning verse. Because when we read the Bible, we must read it in context. If you read it down, you will realize that the person, the subject being referred to was Jesus. So, when we got to verse 7 this witnessing, we talking about is not witnessing of something vague, or an experience that is outside Christ.
So, the Bible says in verse 7, that these three-bear record, they testify, they have the burden of proof to make us understand to make heaven acknowledge and come to the realization that Jesus is Lord, that everything He came to the earth for, is identifiable and it is true. So, the truth about what Jesus did and who Jesus is proved in heaven by the Father, the word and the Spirit. That’s why when there is a controversy on the earth, because it is good for us to give example at this point. When Peter, James and John followed Jesus to that place on the mountain and Jesus transfigured before them, and there was Moses and Elijah and they saw the glory of that moment, they saw the glory of that experience they said you know what? Let’s build tent here, lets tabernacle here.
On the earth there was nobody that can prove that Moses and Elijah their time and their dispensation was over. The Bible says and a voice came from heaven bearing witness, proving, bearing record; this is my beloved Son, not Moses, not Elijah, this Jesus is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear Him. That is the Father bearing record in heaven. So, everything that Jesus is and did are bore record in heaven by the Father, the word and the Holy Spirit. So, what happens on the earth? Verse 8 introduced us to what happened on the earth. In verse 8, it said; witnesses also bore on the earth. Its not just in heaven, so no longer will we just hear a voice, saying to us this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear Him. Walk in everything thing that He came to do, become everything that He came to do, no we won’t hear that.
It says these three bear witness on the earth. And it says; the Spirit, the first witness. Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit, He said; He will not speak of Himself, what is He saying to us? He will not witness Himself; He won’t prove Himself, but what will He do on the earth? He will prove Me. So that gives an understanding that the Spirit is actually on the earth. For some of us that say are we truly in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit? Is He truly on the earth? This Scripture answers it. Verse 8; And there are three that bear witness: so, the Holy Spirit is in heaven bearing witness, so also on the earth He is the first witness of Jesus. For us to have sustained victory, for us to walk into the dimension of Romans 8:37; “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” And this statement is proven by the Holy Spirit to be true.
So, the Holy Spirit is a witness to all that Jesus did for us. That’s why Jesus said He will not speak of Himself, as He hears He will say, what He sees is what He will reveal. He will witness Me; He will witness Jesus. So, the Spirit, the water, the word of God is a witness on the earth. And that’s why when we speak the word, we activate a witness, a prove of Jesus on the earth.
Number 3. The blood. The blood of Jesus is a witness on the earth, and these three don’t work in isolation, what did the Bible say? These three agree as one. They focus on the same person, they focus on the same thing, there is no divergence of opinion among these three. So, our victory is assured and guaranteed by the witness of the Spirit the word and the blood. Revelations 12 verse 11. “And they overcame him” talking about the devil. In that preceding verse 11, verse 9; it talked about the great dragon, verse 10, it said; the accuser has been cast down. To where? The earth! And it says; and they overcame him the dragon, the accuser that has come to the earth, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Their victory was sustained, their victory was actualized by the blood. Because their blood bears witness on the earth. These are fundamental principles of the kingdom. This is how we earn our victory and defend our title. You can’t just go to sleep because you read Romans 37, Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. You can’t go to sleep on that. There is an assignment, there is a posture, haven received that title, you must defend it. And that’s why we are going to look at Ephesians 6, how have we been called to defend this title? We will read verse 11 and we go ahead to read verse 13 to verse 18.
“Put on the whole armor of God.” Somebody would ask; if God has given me the victory why should I fight? Why am I putting on the whole armor? It says; put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Remember where we read in Revelations 12? The devil has been cast down, for this reason, you have to continue to battle. Because he knows that his time here is short. In the book of Job, God asked him where are you coming from? He said “I am coming from running to and fro, back and forth on the earth.” He is not resting. So, you can’t have a heavy weight title and relax because there is a devil, an accuser that has been cast down.
Who is ready to battle with everyone holding this title? Do you see any boxer aspiring to fight anyone without a title? That is why the devil hardly fight people in the world. If he wants to go towards them it is to make sure that their soul is secured in him, so that you wont escape. He is all out for those in the kingdom. Why? Because we have the heavy weight title. That’s why the Bible says here that put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to fight against; so, it is a battle. Let me read verse 12; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. So, you are not fighting the person sitting next to you, not your neighbor, it is not a human battle. “But against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Verse 13, because of this reason; “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, in verse 11 it says “put on” here it says take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, we need sustained victory, there is something called the evil day. They were in the end times and Apostle Paul said the end times will come, even the end time is already here, we are in the end time. Now what time are we in? the end of the end times. So, the evil day is not something of the future, it is something that we experience daily. “So, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” What does it mean to stand? To stand means that you are sustaining your victory. You remain standing, you are not defeated, you are conquering over and over again. And see what it says in the next verse.
Verse 14. “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, this is how you should stand. For you to experience sustained victory, this is how you should stand, this is your posture. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which, you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” If you carefully look at all that was listed here, in our posture of standing, is it not in agreement with the three that bears record on the earth. It says pray all kinds of prayer with supplication in the Spirit. It says; put on the belt of truth and hold the sword of the spirit, the word of God, so how can we have victory outside these three?
Our victory is rooted in these three witnesses. And they must agree as one in our lives. The spirits must agree. The Bible says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God the breast plate of righteousness. The water, the word, the Spirit bears witness must agree. The word must agree in your life, the blood of Jesus must speak for you, the Bible says; we have come to the blood of sprinkling the blood of Jesus that speaks better things. So, the blood must speak for your victory. And these three must agree as one. And in Romans 8:37, It says; yet in all these things we are more than conqueror through Him that loved us. How did He love us? He loved us by giving us His Spirit, His word and His blood. He died for us, so He gave us these three agreements on the earth. When He was leaving, He left us His blood, His word, and His Spirit as a witness. And these three are what guarantees us our sustained victory.
Romans 8:34-37. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Did you see how our victory is sustained? It is sustained in the person of Jesus Christ as He is. He is at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. Verse 37; “Yet in all these things, do we understand the precedence? No matter what we are going through, no matter what the evil day throws at us, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” It is important we understand that these three bears witness. And if you are not satisfied how the Holy Spirit bears witness, the Bible also speaks about the Holy Spirit, that He makes intercessions for us, we don’t know how to pray for victory as we ought, we don’t even know the battles we are fighting. I want us to see it in Romans 8:26-27. “Likewise, not only Jesus. When He was leaving, He said; I will release the Spirit to you. Here it says likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us, this is how we sustain our victory. He makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
So, when the Holy Spirit is pushing you to pray and you don’t understand what you are saying, what is He doing? He is sustaining your victory by making intercession because you don’t know what is going to happen. You don’t know what the future holds, but He is steering your spirit up to respond to a battle you cannot see. And that’s why in that Ephesians 6 it says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. If our battle is in the spiritual why do we think we can sustain our victory in the physical? It has to be spiritually done. “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” So, He makes intercession, He is a witness on the earth that bears record of our victory. Without Him we can’t attain this victory, we can’t have a sustained victory, we can’t defend this title.
The devil is mad about your salvation, he is crazy about it. Why should you be saved out of his claws? A heavy weight title has been given to you by Christ. And the devil wants to make sure he snatches it out of your hand. The devil does not fight you because you are beautiful, He doesn’t fight you because you are rich, don’t think the devil is interested in you because you have children, no! it is to the end that your salvation can be robbed. Jesus said the thief cometh not but to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I have come to give you life, and for that life to remain, to be sustained.
That is why sustained victory is the life of the Spirit. It is a spiritual experience, because we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. 1 John 2, the provision we have in Jesus is so full, its complete, its rich. Jesus did not give any room for error. See what the Bible says in 1 John 2:1. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” So, your sin will not be the reason why you will lose the title. Because that is the lie of the devil, the devil come to you and say because you lied yesterday, your title is gone, its not true. 1 John 2:1. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we the sons of God have an Advocate, He is with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” And that is why that Romans 8:37 is so true in every sense of it. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. The reason we can defend this title is because of Jesus. Outside Him we can’t defend it.
In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being in Him is the boundary of our victory. You can’t win outside Him. Isaiah 53:12. This had been prep ordained, prophesied concerning Jesus, “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” So, our sin is not a reason to lose. What makes you lose is you steeping outside Christ. Once you are outside Christ, you are defeated. What makes you loose is not that you sinned, because even if you sin, you have an advocate, Jesus makes intercessions for transgressors, that’s why He is there, and if this is the old testament, we saw it in 1 John 2:1. Little children do not sin, but incase you sin, we have an advocate, why is it there? If you go through the book of Revelation, you will see in the presence of God the Bible says; the Lamb of God is as though slain, So His sacrifice did not just speak, it is speaking. And that is why the Bible didn’t just talk about the blood, the blood speaks, because even in heaven, the lamb is as though slain.
The blood is still speaking. Don’t just think it was what happened in Golgotha, the blood just dripped and that was the end of it. The blood is speaking and the blood will continue to speak until every saint is raptured from this earth. It will speak. So, it is the lie of the devil that your sin is the reason you are defeated. Because what he does is that he allows you to sin to take you outside the covenant, outside Christ, because sin leads you away from God. Righteousness and obedience draw you to God. So that’s why because you sinned does not mean you should go outside God. You run to God for mercy. The Scripture says; let us come boldly before the throne of grace that We might obtain mercy. Why do we need mercy? Is not because we have sinned? So, we come to obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. So that we can continue to win. Should we continue in sin and ask grace to abound? No! God forbid, incase it happens, in case your foot slips there is one that sustains you. He sustains you by His generous Spirit that’s why the Spirit is the seal upon our lives until the day we are redeemed, when this mortality gives way to immortality. Until that day were, we are redeemed, the Holy Spirit is the witness that you belong to God. That’s how we win. Let the devil not get meddled with the father’s business. Enough of the devil meddling with our Fathers business. That is why apostle Paul admonished; if a brother slips call him, do not cast him away, and put him in order, brother what you did is not right, this is our Fathers business, we will not cast you out to the devil. What you did is not good this is the way to make amends.
Call him to order. Don’t join the devil in his ministry. There is still mercy in God. Don’t be the person to say the brother’s life is gone, is that what Jesus said? Yet in all these things, because you have come to recognize and know Jesus. You are more than conqueror, even though you sin there is an advocate. The privilege we have that Job did not have. When the devil came to accuse Job before God, there was no advocate. So, he said all he could say and he got away with it. There is an advocate, because of Him we win every day. Because of Him we defend our title and this three bear witness; the Spirit, the Word, the Water, and the blood. And as they agree as one in our lives, our victory is sustained.
I believe you have been blessed!
