Win A Little

Pastor Stan Mons

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Sermon Transcription:

We're going into the Word. Win a little. I want to read to you Psalm 3, verse 3. Very much seeing the worship and what the worship leader prepared lining up with what the Lord has been giving me. That always promises to be a good Sunday. Amen. Psalm 3:3: “But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head.” Here we see the people of God raise a song to the Lord, and it calls Him by one of His names, being the lifter of my head. And the question I want to propose is, so how does the Lord do that? If He is the lifter of our heads, how is one—how, how does He do it? What is one of the ways that we can learn today that God actually lifts the heads of people that have much reason to let their hands hang, to let their head hang, and to be kind of defeated and maybe even hopeless in certain situations? How is the Lord going to lift my head? How does He do it? Well, one of the ways that He does it is through winning. He does it through winning. He does it through victory. That is how the Lord, in one of His ways, causes our heads to be lifted, our spirits to be lifted, our attitude to be lifted, our droopiness to be lifted, our discouragement to be lifted off. He does it through winning.

I was at a Blazers game this week. That’s basketball for y’all. I was quizzed by my wife. I told her, “I’m going to a Blazers game. I got invited.” And she said, “Do you even know what that is?” And I was like, “Now that you ask me, I’m doubting.” But pretty sure it’s basketball, and I got it right. But I was there, and I’m not a basketball fan. I’m not a Blazers fan necessarily, and, and, and I’m at a Blazers game for the very first time, and I’m—I, I love to observe, and I love to learn. So, I’m just watching. I’m like, all these people are really, you know, getting it going, and how come—how come they’re so easily excited, you know, how, how? And I began to realize that people are naturally, literally made to be attracted to victory. You know, they’re not yelling the whole game, but when a three-pointer is made, no matter which team got one—like if you are there for the Blazers, or in this case, if you were there for Idaho, what—whoever you’re there for—the moment they actually make a point and take a step towards victory, people get all excited and riled up a little. And I didn’t think that would happen to me, ’cuz I’m not a basketball fan. And about halfway through the game, I’m finding myself standing up, and they gave us these blow-up things to hit against each other. And I, I got all excited, and it really gets you going when you are at a game. And when you know your team is taking steps towards victory, or they appear to be winning, you get very excited. And the more you near the ending of the game, the more excited you seem to be getting.

And I’m sitting there at the same time kind of processing this and thinking it through. Why did God make us so attracted to victory? And I started thinking about Bible stories, and I started thinking of different situations. I’m asking myself, is this my flesh? Am I, am I getting, you know, stirred up in my flesh and all excited? Is it wrong? And I’m realizing throughout the Word, people are always attracted to victory—always getting excited about victory. God didn’t need to make us that way, but He did. What’s the message? God made us like this. He made us in such a way that we like to win. We love to win. Kids, no matter how young they are, when they lose a game, they get upset. They’re not happy. When they win, they’re glowing, you know. And no matter how little they are, the moment they start to understand stuff, winning is just a spirit lifter, and losing is very much not. We are called to be winners by virtue of creation. And we have been made by God to be attracted to victory, to desire, to love, to celebrate victory. And with that in mind, I want to take you to the first win-lose situation that we know about ever took place in the universe. Because winning and losing, really, in contrast, as far as we know, did not exist before that.

But let me read to you Luke 10, verse 18 and 19. Jesus speaking, and He makes a boss statement. He’s like, I was there. I was at the game. He says, “And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’” I was there. I was there when the victory took place. Verse 19: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions.” In the Bible, we always see serpents and scorpions being a spiritual reference to the workers, the forces of the enemy. And He continues, “And over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

Jesus says, “I was there at that battle when they were battling for victory. I was there, and I saw Satan lose. And you who are so attracted to victory, by the way, I’m going to give you everything you will ever need to walk in victory as well, and not to end up losing like the enemy lost.”

That very first winning and losing situation in the universe that we know about. Now, if you believe in Jesus, the Son of God, and at the same time you have been feeling a little wiped out, a little defeated, and a little discouraged, I want to suggest that you win a battle or two and see how you feel. Because you can have work on your mind, and you can have some challenges on your mind, and maybe there’s not that much money left in the bank, but when you go to a Blazers game and they are winning, and you’re there for the Blazers, you get pretty excited. Your spirit gets lifted because we are made to desire, and to celebrate, and to love winning. We are made to be on the side of winning, as God is always on the side of winning. And we are not made to be the losers at the game of life, and especially the game, if you want to call it that, for eternity. Win a victory, win a battle or two, and see how you feel.

Some of us that have believed in Jesus, we’ve gotten to a place where we take unnecessary defeat weekly. And because we take unnecessary defeat weekly, as much as we have believed in Jesus—He has washed us from our sins, He has set us free—we’re not really walking around feeling like we’re winning. And I’m not talking about the worldly sense of getting everything this world has to offer, and looking better than other people, having more than other people. That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about a sense of: I know who my heavenly Father is. I know what He is like. He is changing me from glory to glory into His image. He has never lost a battle. I have, but slowly and surely He is transforming me, and I’m winning more and more. But when we begin to stop having that fighting spirit, when we stop believing that we are winning, and we stop even fighting before, you know, the battle has started, and we just take the defeat because we have been washed by the blood of Jesus and we can afford some defeat, your spirit becomes a little droopy, a little discouraged. It gets a little quiet on your side of the court when defeat seems to be what you believe is in your future.

People do really, really well with victory. Their spirits are really lifted when they experience victory. Even when people you love and are close to you have a big victory in their life, it gets you all riled up and excited. And so I want to read to you Deuteronomy 1, verse 28. Deuteronomy 1, verse 28: “Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. Moreover, we’ve seen the sons of Anakim there.’” Here we have that heart’s attitude that says there’s no point in even showing up to the battle because our brethren—some voice in our life—has discouraged our heart. And their opening statement is, “Where can we go up? Where can we go? How could we ever enter into the promised land?” That was the battle that was at hand. How can we go up? Because our hearts are discouraged. And now I can see what my heart sees, what my mind understands, is all the reasons why this is not going to work.

And what is so powerfully problematic in this story is that they didn’t even try. They didn’t even try to enter the promised land. They didn’t even try to walk out what God had put before them because such a powerful thing had happened in their heart. Their heart had become discouraged, and they stopped fighting even before the battle showed up. They said, “We’ll never win,” and they stopped trying. They just stopped trying. Even though here is what the Lord says to His people in the same book, Deuteronomy 20:4: “For the Lord your God is going with you. He will fight for you against your enemies, and He will give you the victory.” That’s what the Word says to the children of God. And when you believe victory makes sense—get this—when you believe victory is going to happen, fighting makes sense. Believing victory is going to happen doesn’t mean you don’t fight. Believing they’re going to win this game, the Blazers are going to win this game, doesn’t mean they sit down and say, “Well, we’re taking this game by faith. We believe we’re going to win.” No, because they believe they’re going to win, they’re going to press even harder, and they’re going to fight even harder, and there’s a good morale, and there’s an excitement, and they press forward.

When you believe God and you believe the victory will be yours, now fighting makes sense. It makes sense to put in a little effort. It makes sense to show up. It makes sense to push because you believe that you’re going to win. And people that stop trying, people that give up fighting for relationships in their life, people that stop trying to see their loved ones saved, people that give up on having victory over certain sins, people that stop trying to get out of debt, people that stop trying to grow in self-control and become healthy in their body—people that stop trying, people that give up fighting—they no longer believe that God will give them the victory. They believe that others may get that victory, but I can’t, or I won’t, or God won’t give it to me. And slowly but surely, they get to a place where fighting doesn’t make sense anymore. If you believe you’re going to lose, fighting makes no sense. Fights can be really tough, though. A fight is not a gentle, kind, soft word. Fights can be really tough, and the fight of life in many areas of your life can be really tough. But just like that Blazers game, it has some similarities, because every moment that builds victory—every moment they get that three-pointer in—like everybody gets excited. They haven’t won yet, but it is a step in the direction of victory. And instantly, you can feel it in the room. If you’ve ever been to anything like it, you can feel a switch go off in the room, and excitement fills the room. People smell victory. Excitement fills the room.

But the opposite team also scores regularly, generally at a basketball game. And when all of a sudden, five times in a row, the opposite team scores a three-pointer, it’s not a lost situation yet, but the morale—it can be tanked in a matter of minutes at a game. You can feel literally the atmosphere change. Can we win this? Can we? And that is how so many Christians live today. Can I win? Can I be victorious in my sin battle? It becomes a question mark situation and not a confidence, not an “Oh, I know God is going to give me the victory.” So that’s why I am fighting forward, continually fighting the good fight of the faith, continually running the race, as Paul describes it as also a sports event. He uses a sports event as well to explain to us that there’s this effort that is put in this race that we run because there is a victory that is waiting for us. But when a team, or the captain of a team—your household is a team—when a team or the captain of a team begins to doubt whether or not they will be able to gain victory, whatever area of life that will be, when they doubt if they will get the victory sooner than later, they stop trying. They stop fighting.

Fighting don’t make sense if you don’t believe you can win. And the most impactful moment at that game, as I was watching, was about the last 30 seconds of that game. It touched me so deep in my heart while I was there because I was learning something. And what I saw, as much as the Blazers did win, I saw something happen in the opposite team. And the last 30 seconds was just walking around with the ball, doing a little bit of this, and there was no trying anymore. It didn’t matter anymore. We can’t win anymore. And I want to suggest that there are so many of us that walk around at the game court of our life, and we got a ball, and there is a way to take steps towards victory and to continue to push for victory. But when that thing enters into our heart—this battle I can’t win anymore, this doesn’t make sense anymore—fighting doesn’t make sense when you don’t believe you can win anymore. And here we are at an NBA game. Big deal for Stan to be there. And the last 30 seconds, there was no fight. There was no battle. There was no trying. There was no spirit. And it amazed me that there was no hunger, no fight. And so many Christians, they struggle in that place because they say, “I’ve tried everything I know to do, and I no longer believe what God says. I no longer believe I’m going to have the victory.” And fighting, battling, does not make sense anymore.

If you’re feeling defeated in areas of your life or discouraged, you’re really being forced upon—get this—you’re being forced upon what the enemy feels, what the devil feels. Because God has never felt discouraged. God has never been at risk of losing. Remember that first game that took place? Jesus says, “I was there. I saw him fall. It was great. You’re going to be a winner. You’re not going to end up like the enemy. You’re going to be saved. You’re going to be forgiven. I’m going to give you authority. I’m going to give you power. You’re going to be able to bring other people onto the winning side and the forgiven side, standing right with God. I was there when it took place.” But if you’re feeling defeated and discouraged, the enemy hates you so much that he wants you to believe that your game is going to end like his. That’s what he tries to convince us of, so that we stop showing up, so that we just sit down on the court and say, “Well, there’s only so much time left. What’s the point? There’s no way for me to still win. There’s no way for me to still get victory.”

So, how do we choose victory? How do we do it? Clearly, God made us to like victory. He’d be really evil if we couldn’t have it. Amen. God made us to love victory, to celebrate it. We’re attracted to it. We want it. Jesus says, “I was there at the first great victory, and you’re going to be a part of that victory.” How do we choose? How do we get a part of that victory? Let me take you to a story in Judges, chapter 20. We’re going to start reading at verse 18. Judges, chapter 20, starting at verse 18. We’re going to read to verse 35. Judges 20, starting at verse 18: Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The Lord said, “Judah first.” Let me stop right there. Here is a situation. The people of Benjamin were committing painful, horrible, horrible, family-tearing-apart kind of sins. And the people of God say, “We want to see victory in this area. We don’t want this in our lives.” Just like you and I can say, I see things in my character, I see things in my heart, I see things in my actions. I belong to the people of God. Now, I wouldn’t like to see that in my life. They begin to face this battle, and this is the beginning of it.

Verse 19. So, the children of Israel rose in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. That’s a city. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel put themselves in battle array to fight against them at Gibeah. Then the children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and, on that day, cut down to the ground 22,000 men of the Israelites. They were not winning. And the people, that is, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves and again formed the battle line at the place where they had put themselves in array on the first day. Here’s what an encouraged man does: he keeps showing up for the battle even though it’s not always a victory. Even though not every three-pointer that is being scored is for your team, that doesn’t mean you stop playing. And scoring one three-pointer is great and we cheer, but that doesn’t mean you’ve won the battle yet. There’s a showing up that is required. And that showing up really only happens when your heart is encouraged and you say, “I believe that we’re going to see the victory, so I’m going to continue to pursue the little steps towards that victory.” Let’s continue. They encouraged themselves.

Verse 23. Then the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until evening, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, “Shall I again draw near for battle against the children of my brother Benjamin?” And the Lord said, “Go up against him.” So the children of Israel approached the children of Benjamin on the second day. And Benjamin went out against them from Gibeah on the second day and cut down to the ground 18,000 more of the children of Israel. All these drew the sword. Lost again. Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until the evening, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. The ark of the covenant of God was there in those days. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, saying, “Shall I again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease? Shall I give up? I’ve tried.” And the Lord said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”

Then Israel set men in ambush all around Gibeah. They didn’t sit down on the court and say, “I’m going to take this one by faith.” By faith, they showed up to fight even harder. They said, “Men in ambush all around Gibeah.” And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah, as at the other times. So the children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways, one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah, and in the field about thirty men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them. The Lord defeated Benjamin before Israel, and the children of Israel destroyed that day twenty-five thousand one hundred Benjamites. All these drew the sword.

Choosing victory. How do we do it? See, there comes a moment where you realize that not every point that is made in your life, in the battles that you face, not every point is in your favor. Some are, and there’s also points that you take in defeat. The question that arises in this story, and that arises in all of our lives, is: does it make sense to still show up for me? Am I still going to win this? Does it make sense to fight with all of my heart still in this battle? Does it make sense for me to put aside all of the things of this world and focus only at this point of the war that is taking place, to not rest until that victory is mine? Does that still make sense? Or is this a battle that I could never win, and I’m somehow called to always be in a fighting attitude, but I can never expect to walk away with the victory? “I’m not a winner.” That’s what begins to happen in the heart. Can I actually win this? And so many Christians, because they’re not so sure anymore, throughout their weeks and days and hours, they are taking beatings of the feet just because the morale in the team is down. Just because you, as the captain of your household, or you as the leader of your ministry, or you as a manager at the job, or you who lead maybe only one other person—when you, as the captain of your team, do not believe anymore that we can win this, when the team morale goes down, you can see it in a game when that happens.

They become a little desperate. They start shooting off even though they used to be hitting it. Something is now off. The heart is worried. Can I actually win this? And when it happens to the believer, it is such a disastrous but unnecessary part of their life. They start to miss the kind of little victories that they used to be able to achieve. And the heart says, can I still—does it make sense to put all this effort into this battle of running the Christian race, running my race? Well, do I really—does it make sense to live with all of my life for God and the things of God? Does that even make sense? Can we even win this thing? Will my loved ones begin to trust Jesus and receive forgiveness for their sins? Will there be a victory? Does it make sense to still show up?

And the people of God in this story in Judges 20, they learned such a simple, practical truth—so spiritual, but so practical. And it’s this: I’m going to show up ’cuz I was told I’m going to win. It’s that simple, church. I’m showing up. No matter what yesterday looked like. It didn’t matter what the day before looked like. I’m showing up ’cuz I was told I’m going to win.

It is childlike faith that says, “My God told me I’m going to win. Of course I’m going to show up. Of course I’m going to put in every little bit of my strength. Of course I’m putting in all of myself.” Church, it’s not wrong to use your strength for the things of God. Not everything is flesh. Not everything is wrong. You trying is not wrong. The Word of God says, “Young man, you are strong.” And you can use that strength not to purchase for yourself salvation, not to somehow impress God and activate His promises into your life, but to wage war for the weak, to keep the team going, and to get somebody to shout and get excited about a victory that they begin to believe is yet again ahead of them. You get to stir up this generation and say, “God created you to be on the winning side. God promised you you would have the victory. Would you show up and put in some effort at the game of life?” “I’m going to show up ’cuz I was told I’m going to win.” Has your heart learned that yet? Does your heart feel that way? I’m showing up ’cuz I was told I’m going to win.

First John 5, verse 4 and 5: “For every child of God”—I’ll read it again—“for every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” You see, that’s not, “Oh, I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I’m going to sit down on the court, and just by faith, it’s going to miraculously appear.” No. I believe in the Son of God. That’s why I show up at the court. That’s why it makes sense for me to start this battle. That’s why it makes sense for me to pick a fight. That’s why it makes sense for me to begin to pursue and put in effort and wage warfare for those that are weak and defeated and discouraged, because I was told I can actually win this. I can be a part of this victory. I’m showing up because I was told I am going to win.

2 Corinthians 2:14. Paul speaking: “Now, thanks be to God who always leads us into triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” Church, you are a part of a people that is supposed to be a celebrating people, exuberant, maybe even a little uncomposed like at the games. Excited. I was told I can win this. So, I don’t care if I sweat. I don’t care if I push. I don’t care if I get some points against me. I’m showing up ’cuz I believe and I know that there’s victory that awaits for me. You’re not called to be a people of defeat. You’re called to be a people of celebration. You belong to the winners. And the greatest win of all times is that you can stand before God clean. Somebody like you can stand before God clean, made right with Him. Nothing the enemy can do about it. No power of hell can overrun that work. And God wanted you to experience that win. He wanted you. He wanted to give you that victory. He wanted to give you a taste of victory. It’s the most important victory. No other one really ever matters until that one is yours.

But God wanted you to first of all have that greatest victory of all, because something happens when you own, when you have already achieved with no strength of your own. You believed God, and He just gave it to you. You turned to Him with all of your life, and He rearranged your life and brought order and peace and joy, authority, power upon your life. God wants you to have that greatest win of all first, but He wants you to have it because it will create a winner’s attitude in your spirit and in your heart. Because if you have the victory to the greatest battle of all times, then it becomes easy to believe that any battle can turn into a victory for you. Not because you’re that great, but because of whom loves me, because of whom gives me these victories, because of how the Father responded to me. Even when I was full of sin, He wanted me to be on the winning side, so He sent His Son to bring the victory right to my doorstep. If God did that for me, then surely these small battles in my life, surely they’re going to turn into wins. Amen. When you believe you’re going to get the victory, it makes sense to show up for the fight.

If you believe this morning that through Jesus Christ, the Father is willing today to give you the greatest victory of all time, the washing of your sins—there’s nothing the enemy can do to still hold you guilty, make you guilty, or treat you as guilty. If you believe that because of Christ Jesus and His sacrifice, the Father will give you that victory, then in just a moment, when other people come forward, I want to ask you to come forward with them as well. I want to pray with you. And for those that have been made right with God already, maybe you are watching online today, you’ve been made right with God already, but somewhere halfway through the game of your life, you kind of stopped believing in certain areas that you’re going to be a winner. And it’s been affecting your game. It’s been affecting the way that you lead the team. It’s been affecting the way that you fight, the way that you show up.

If that’s you and you need to take on a fresh attitude towards your battles, and you just need to start winning a battle again and beginning to feel so different about this game that is going on, if you say, “I need to tell God, God, I’m going to keep showing up. I believe Your Word. I believe You’re going to give me the victory,” if you have to shift to believing that again and declaring it again and showing up like it again, I want to invite you to take a step of faith to come out of your seat to the front right here so we can pray together, if that is you. Or if you say, “I believe God is going to give me that greatest victory of all,” come and join us right here at the altar, and we will pray together to Jesus. And we will declare to Him that, God, I’m going to keep showing up. God, I believe Your Word. You are going to give me the victory. Whatever area you’ve been defeated, whatever area you have felt discouraged, wherever you’ve kind of given up, you used to trouble the enemy and really do some damage, and you have become timid in the way that you cause a ruckus in the areas where the enemy thinks he’s the boss, as I pray over you.

-Pastor Stan Mons