Fight to Win

TITLE

Fight to Win

SERIES KEY VERSE

Proverbs 28:1 NKJV

1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

SCRIPTURE

Judges 7:18 NKJV

18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”

MESSAGE

A Lot of Christians Live in a Perpetual State of Defeat

Gideon and the Israelites were living in a perpetual state of defeat at the hands of the Midianites.

The Midianites were constantly coming against them to steal, kill, and destroy.

As a result, Gideon and the Israelites were living in a constant state of fear | frustration | failure.

A lot of Christians today never seem to get victory over the enemy.

The Bible declares that God’s will for us is:

to be overcomers.

to be more than conquerors.

to have life more abundantly.

to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers.

But too many times we find ourselves frustrated in defeat because we are:

Fighting the wrong battles.

Fighting with the wrong weapons.

Fighting in the wrong spirit.

Fighting without the power of God.

Fighting in our own strength.

It’s time we FIGHT TO WIN!

1 Corinthians 9:26 NKJV

26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.

1 Corinthians 9:26 ESV

26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

It’s time we stop:

Giving up territory to the enemy!

Allowing the enemy to oppress us!

Allowing the enemy to determine what kind of mood we are in!

Allowing the enemy to determine the level of our praise and the depth of our worship!

It’s time we start:

Taking back what the enemy has stolen from us!

Walking in spiritual victory every day!

Taking off the garment of heaviness and start putting on a garment of praise!

FIGHT TO WIN!

What’s going to happen:

We will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country!

We will be blessed when we come in and blessed when we go out!

The fruit of our labor is going to bring an increase!

We are going to reap a harvest of 100 fold!

We are going to be the head and not the tail!

We are going to be above and not beneath!

Our enemies will come against us in one direction and they will flee in seven directions!

Miracles, signs, and wonders are going to take place!

Sinners are going to be saved!

Drug addicts are going to come to the Lord and get clean!

Alcoholics are going to come to the Lord and get sober!

Marriages are going to be restored!

Relationships are going to be mended!

God is going to pour out His Spirit on those who are thirsty for a move of God!

But we’ve got to FIGHT TO WIN!

Fighting to Win: Five Strategies for Achieving Victory

Stand Up Against the Enemy

Judges 7:1 NKJV

1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

Gideon Took His Stand

Gideon was nicknamed “Jerubbaal” because he tore down the altar of Baal.

“Jerubbaal” means “Let Baal Contend with Him.”

He brought the fight to Baal, but here in Chapter 7, he finally decides to obey God and bring the fight to the Midianites.

Gideon and the Israelites “rose up early and encamped” against the Midianites.

They had taken the oppression from the enemy long enough.

It’s Time We Take Our Stand

We’ve got to be willing to contend with the enemy.

You can’t let the devil run all over you.

We need some Holy Ghost boldness.

Quit worrying about hurting the devil’s feelings.

STAND UP AGAINST THE ENEMY AND FIGHT TO WIN!

Give All the Glory to God

Judges 7:2–8 NKJV

2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. 4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. 7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.” 8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

God wanted Gideon and the Israelites to Understand He was Going to Win This Battle

God told Gideon to reduce the number of soldiers so that they wouldn’t be able to take the credit for winning the battle.

32,000 showed up for battle.

22,000 were afraid and were sent home.

9,700 were not paying attention and were sent home.

Only 300 remained.

God said He could use the 300 who were unafraid and paying attention to defeat the Midianites (at least 135,000 Judges 8:10).

All the Glory Belongs to God for Your Victory

The battle is not yours, it belongs to the Lord.

Since the battle belongs to the Lord, so does all the glory for the victory.

Some folks walk around with some sort of spiritual superiority complex.

They think they are the only one who’s got it.

They walk around like their sin doesn’t stink in the nostrils of God.

Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Let a man take heed lest he fall.

Let humility be your trophy.

GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO GOD AND FIGHT TO WIN!

Don’t Overestimate Your Enemy

Judges 7:9–15 NKJV

9 It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. 13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” 14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” 15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”

God Allowed Gideon to See Behind the Scenes

God told Gideon to go down and fight against the Midianites.

But God told Gideon if he was still afraid, to go down with his servant to the enemy’s camp and He would allow Gideon to overhear something that would encourage him.

So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the Midianites’ camp.

Notice what they saw and what they heard:

They saw the Midianite army spread out “as numerous as locusts, having camels without number, as the sand by the seashore in number.”

It looked hopeless.

300 of Israel against so many of the Midianites.

But when God is involved, numbers don’t matter.

The heard one Midianite soldier telling another Midianite solder about a dream he had:

In his dream, a barley cake rolled down the hill and hit one of their tents and knocked it over.

Barley was less expensive and was considered inferior to wheat. This represented the fact that Gideon and his army seemed inferior to the Midianites, but God was about to do something miraculous.

The other Midianite said, “This is none other than Gideon. God has given us into his hands.”

This gave Gideon the confidence he needed.

He realized that the enemy was more scared of him and the power of his God than he was of them.

Our Enemy is No Match for Our God

Don’t overestimate your enemy and let it paralyze you with fear.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper.

DON’T OVERESTIMATE YOUR ENEMY AND FIGHT TO WIN!

Expect the Unexpected

Judges 7:16–23 NKJV

16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ” 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” 21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. 22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

God Instructed Gideon to Use Some Unconventional Warfare

Instead of swords | shields | and spears, God told Gideon to use trumpets | empty pots | and torches.

I think here is where Gideon must have finally gathered the strength and mustered the boldness that God saw in him from the beginning.

Gideon split up the 300 men into three companies of 100.

They came to the outpost of the camp at the middle watch, just as the new post was coming on.

Gideon blew the trumpet and the 300 blew their trumpets, shouted “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” smashed the empty pots that were used to hide the torches, and then held up the torches.

All of this caused so much confusion in the Midianite camp that they turned and started fighting with each other. Judges 8:10 indicates that as many as 120,000 of the enemy died in the chaos without Gideon and the Israelites having to lift a sword.

We’ve Got to Come to the Place Where We Expect God to Do the Unexpected

Every time we show up to the house of God, we should be ready for the unexpected to happen.

We should expect miracles to take place.

We should expect God’s presence to show up and show out.

We should have an expectation that something good is going to happen before we ever walk through the door.

God might ask you to do something unexpected like bring a trumpet to a sword fight. Trust Him. Obey Him. And watch Him do what only He can do!

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED AND FIGHT TO WIN!

Don’t Try to Accomplish It Alone

Judges 7:24–25 NKJV

24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan. 25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

Gideon Called on Some Friends for Help

The Tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh had already joined forces against their enemy.

Gideon called on the Tribe of Ephraim to join them as well and help chase down those of the enemy who fled.

Ephraim captured two of the princes of the Midianites, Oreb (“The Raven”) and Zeeb (“The Wolf”).

They killed them and sent their heads back to Gideon.

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Christian Community

God did not call you to be a 007 Christian.

He does not expect you to fight your battles alone.

Yes God is on your side. Yes God will fight your battles. Yes God is the One who gives the victory.

But God created and established His Church to be a place of community.

There is strength in numbers.

There is a support structure in community.

Pray for each other | Encourage each other | Support each other | Love each other

DON’T TRY TO ACCOMPLISH IT ALONE AND FIGHT TO WIN!

CLOSING

Stand Up Against the Enemy

Give All the Glory to God

Don’t Overestimate Your Enemy

Expect the Unexpected

Don’t Try To Accomplish It Alone