Date:      18th February  2007                                                               (Sunday PM)                                                                        Ref: A0291

Place:     Kambah P.S.

Title: Go Forward

Text:        & Romans 8:35-37

Illust:     We all need the victory – We need to see God move

I.                   Enemy at the Gates

A.               Enemies of Life

i.                 First off this pm, agree & understand that we all face enemies at the Gate. A term from a novel about the Russian defence of Stalingrad during WWII. – The picture is of a city besieged, by enemies.

ii.               We have very real enemies; opposition in our lives. Sickness, Mental & Emotional torment, grief, Temptations, the lusts of the flesh, anger, resentment, unforgiveness. These come against us they torment us

iii.             A very real enemy, satan the accuser, then enemy of your soul; brings these things against you.

          Matthew 13:39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, …. (NKJV)

B.               Pressing at the Gates

i.                 Sometimes it can seem that they are pressing at the gates, threatening to overwhelm, to break through – Its night & as far as you can see in every direction is a sea of flaming torches of the enemy that has surrounded you - the battering ram is smashing continually against you life:

          2 Corinthians 4:8 We are hard-pressed on every side, (NKJV)

          Psalm 56:2 My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, (NKJV)

ii.               It can seem overwhelming, how can I make it through

          Psalm 69:2 I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me. (NKJV)

          Psalm 143:3 For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in darkness, Like those who have long been dead. (NKJV)

iii.             You can feel just like the psalmist, that all this opposition, has crushed your life to the ground. – Like the devil is stomping on you & grinding his boot into your face

II.                 Our Ally

A.               Shield & Defence

i.                 This evening you need to know that you don’t fight this opposition alone, No! You have a God who fights on your side, who is for you, & will help you. – Wonderful story in 2 Kings

         The king of Syria is at war with the king of Israel but every time he lays a trap, Elisha warns the King of Israel, so he avoids the ambushes. The king of Syria is vexed at this & accuses his own staff of betraying him, but one of his advisers says, No it is Elisha the prophet somehow he knows & he tells the King of Israel. SO the Syrian King says lets go & get Elisha ~ & 2 kings 6:14-17

ii.               God is your shelter in the storm, he is your shield & the solid foundation that you can rest your life & defence upon.

          Psalm 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. (NKJV)

          Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. (NKJV)

          Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (NKJV)

B.               Overwhelming Force

i.                 Think this through, when God is your shield & Defence, when God is on your side, you have unlimited power; During the recent war that the Lebanese Hezbollah launched against Israel. ~ The western media were all against Israel, accusing them of a disproportionate use of force. i.e. they were trying to win & therefore apparently not playing fair. ~ I am not sure when fairness became a fundamental doctrine of war ???

ii.               Truth is God doesn’t fight fair, He is God, and He has all power & authority. In spiritual warfare, I am into what I saw on a T-shirt – “I support the disproportionate use of force.”

          Luke 1:37  For with God nothing will be impossible.” (NKJV)

          Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength. (NKJV)

iii.             Everlasting strength, the Lord omnipotent, all powerful, reigns. God created, God can change, you and God is not a majority, it is overwhelming force

III.              Outcome

A.               Victory

i.                 There can be only one outcome, in this battle when you allow God to fight for you, to help you – that is victory. – We win, we have it sewed up. An unfair advantage - Hoorah

          Psalm 108:13 Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies. (NKJV)

          1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

ii.               Through Jesus Christ you have the victory! ~  But how do we make it real?

         I am not suggesting that it will be easy, for it involves a paradox: Living by faith is hard work, but the reward is unbelievable freedom and joy.

         Living by faith doesn’t mean that you believe real hard so that nice things will happen magically. Living by faith means that you saturate your mind, soul, and heart with the living truths of the Scriptures. Then you submit to those precepts in your day-to-day existence.

         Living by faith simply means walking with our loving heavenly Father in humble, childlike trust and obedience, as stated in the old gospel lyric: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.” [1]

iii.             You will be an overcomer!

          1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. (NKJV)

B.               Advance

i.                 But more than just overcoming, more than just having the victory you will be as it says in our text “more than conquerors” – A picture of not just winning but advancing, pressing out & taking ground. You pushing the enemy back, not only from your own life, but seeing him pushed back from others as well.

ii.               The Christian life is not to just hold on until Jesus comes back but to advance to go forward, this has always been the exhortation of God for our lives

          Exodus 14:15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. (NKJV)

iii.             Saturate your mind & soul with the word of God, Walk in faith & advance forward in victory & power, more than a conqueror through Him

IV.             Altar Call

----

[1]Bulkley, E. (1993). Why Christians can't trust psychology (122). Eugene, Or.: Harvest House.