Fighting the good fight of Faith by Apostle I.D Lawon
I would like to start this message by appreciating God for the Pastor, the elders and members of the church for the privilege to share the message this day. As I speak; I pray that if you’ve got any barrier you, today you will go past the barrier in Jesus name. I am here to encourage us to keep fighting the good fight of faith. It shouldn’t be a surprise to the children of God that the season we are in, is a season of war, a season of fight, when I look around as an individual, back in Nigeria, at the Church and all over the world; many of our brethren are been killed but thank God, He is closing the door against death permanently in Jesus name.
Also, note that it is good to preach and share the word for there is a necessity for us to preach the gospel to raise people that will preach the gospel after we are long gone.
I employ you to always have an attitude to listen and find God. God cannot be predicted, you cannot predict God concerning your situation, you cannot say for sure who God will use , so one needs to be alert spiritually with all activities in Church. One for sure I do not want to be a tout in Church, therefore I pray that someone will find God today as I preach.
1 Timothy 6:12- “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou had been called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses …”
Pro. 13:12- “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, when the desire cometh it is a tree of Life …” I want you to note that the “Tree of life after been mentioned in Genesis, you would not find it anywhere until this verse and then next in Revelation. This is very significant.
I pray a lot before I preach so I do not just talk but speak and share the mind of God with my experience. My first miracle as a married man started some days before my wedding and after my wedding. My sister-in-law came to attend my wedding arriving a day before the wedding, I met her at the station to pick her up but on her way back we forgot her box at the back of the taxi cab, which was very disturbing because her clothes and those of her children were in the box. Clothes had to be borrowed for them to wear for the wedding. After the wedding it became our first assignment as couple to get the box back. So my wife and I began to pray with the verse Matthew 18:18 & 19. The Monday after wedding I had to get somewhere and saw a taxi stated on it “this is the Lords doing and it is marvelous in our sight”. I read it thrice before it occurred to me that was the taxi. I finally got the taxi and got the box, the word of God worked and our prayers were answered.
I want you to understand that the word of God can be worked in your life not matter how big or small the challenge is.
Pro. 13:12.. this verse means that when you desire something and it happens in your life, it becomes a fruit not just for you but for everyone to eat of it , as a testimony. So you can expect that the fruit of God been produced in October, 2014 ; you will eat of it in Jesus name.
As a believer we are partakers of the eternal life, of the Tree of Life. It is good to testify and share testimony but you can get lost in the midst of testimony when you don’t hear right. A testimony heard rightly is like a prophecy into your life, which you can eat the fruit of “Tree of Life”.
The word “Meal” as the same word in Hebrew as the word “Testimony” in the Old Testament. In other words a testimony shared is a duplicated testimony that fills two hungry people when a meal is shared. Also, if you are in local church you have to get acquainted to maximally benefit from what is happening in the Church
The major word in my message is “Hope” it is a tool of fighting the good fight of faith. With emphasis “hope deferred makes the heart sick”.
When someone wants and seeks for something desperate and is not getting it, it is hope deferred. May you have been praying concerning your immigration, your employment, your financial status, your marriage, business embarked upon not flourishing? As you listen, I pray that your hope will no longer be deferred in Jesus name.
My testimony goes thus “In 1999 I was invited to a CAC church meeting, a meeting of Key elders in the ministry, to give insight on how they would operate beyond Year 2000. They were bothered on what was going on within the Ministry that is making the ministry stagnant. Meanwhile, there was an elderly Prophet at that meeting whose strategy of prayer was interesting and very good at that. After the meeting I went to meet him and asked him why he does what he does and why he looked so young at over 96. He looked at me and said “your matter deserves praise”. He made me understand that there are many issues in my life. At that time somebody close to me was mentally sick. Afterwards I kept praying, I prayed for over two years, they gave us drugs for him; the guy was not cured but he could go to school. One day we went for another church meeting and revelation was seen that the young man in question had a glass on top of his head sealed. Right there I knew he had received his healing, this young man later went to University, holds a Master Degree and right now he is a Pastor.
During those years I was waiting on God for this man’s healing it was hope that kept me going, when you are waiting on something a day is always a long time not to talk of years. I have used these illustrations for you to understand that God is always there, no matter how you are feeling and the circumstances surrounding you. When Hope is alive you cannot loose in any battle.
The devil creates needs, wounds through negative circumstances and this makes us sick even as a Christians. The devil can use our environment, siblings, relationships, anything to create an unpalatable situation for us to be injured.
One day I was listening to Daddy G.O and in the middle of the message, He said this message is for me, “God said, what I will do for you, you will say it is worth waiting for…”. That is a prophecy, prophecy is encouragement, encouragement is hope, hope is a vision. All these words mean the same thing spiritually. Paul told Timothy in the Scriptures not to forget the prophecies that I have spoken to me in order to be able to fight wars of these world.
In fighting in this life, if you no longer have hope, it is a terrible situation to be in. What takes away hope, is what the devil does, the regrets you keep remembering, the enemy makes you emphasize on the injuries of life till you lost hope completely.
Remember the Bible says 3 things will abide in the future; Hope, Faith and Love; God said these things abide.
A lot of people do not like hope or put Hope down and lift Faith. However, you need to understand that hope keeps our faith. Please note that the hope we use every now and then in our everyday lives is different from Bible Hope which gives courage and peace. The Bible explains that God is the father of Hope. Romans 15:13, “Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in Hope through the power of the Holy Spirit”. When this hope comes you are courageous, God told Joshua be courageous (Joshua 1:6), the moment you lose hope, your courage will go and you will be afraid of so many things. In the next 12months there may be something happening around you, that you will be the only one that has courage to encourage others. The Holy Spirit imparted Hope gives you courage, that you are not afraid to walk and fight the good fight of faith, Hope is good expectation. Courage is something that is linked to hope, you are not afraid to say that this is what goes says and stand by it.
Fear and Faith have something in common; which is, “something is going to happen”. What is going to happen now determines whether it is fear or faith.
Hope fills your heart with joy, peace and that is when you can start believing and have faith.
The kind of atmosphere God works is where there is Joy, Peace and Hopefulness.
The Bible describes 6 Helmets in Eph. 6. One of which is Helmet of Salvation. In 1 Thessalonian 5 :8 Paul describes the Helmet of Hope. Helmet of salvation is not salvation but something that defends your life. Thus the 6 Helmets are given to defend the mind so that you don’t throw it away by negative thinking,
To conclude, Sonship is very powerful, you cannot fail because you are a child of God. Do you know adoption in the Roman culture is ceremoniously done; at age 12 such child is celebrated as an heir and welcomed ceremoniously into the family. They bring a chair and make him/her seat. And If I was to be the one will read Psalm 2, Psalm 110. In Romans 3:12 it is stated that we have a measure of faith, Eph. 4:7 a measure of grace, a measure is either saved, re-invested, or wasted. These things have just told you are measures to be used to make us strong, when you multiply your Faith, it is difficult for the enemy to pull you down.
The secret of witchcraft they behave like spiders. They will throw around a web and the fly will get cut then the spider will sting the fly and move back until the fly is frustrated and die. Witchcrafts are crafty demons that keep putting ideas in our mind until frustrations and hopelessness comes. This day I have opened to you secrets and thus the devil is defeated over your life. Now you are more than Conqueror and you are no longer going to be where you are yesterday but instead you will move forward. God will give you Hope, Love, Joy and Peace that surpasses human understanding in Jesus name.
Excerpts of a sermon titled Fighting the good fight of Faith, delivered by Apostle I.D Lawon on October 19th 2014