You Can Win!

Pastor Stan Mons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmVHpPPzqFY

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Sermon Transcription:

This morning, the Lord has given me a word for you that just before service, he saw fit to change some things, and I'm extremely excited and grateful to get into it with you. The title, the new title, is: You Can Win. You can win. As I was in prayer, the Lord began to show me that there is people who have been under attack in their thinking. First and foremost, the enemy trying to accomplish a work in your mind and in your heart that ultimately has the result that you come to a place where there's certain areas in your life where you feel you cannot win. Other people can. You may have even seen people do it, but you, you cannot win. Not that victory. Not that level of faithfulness towards the Lord. Not that level of praise. Not that level of involvement in God's kingdom. Not you. You cannot win. Let me take you to the book of James, who was addressing this very issue. James 4, starting in verse 5. We're going to eventually read five to verse 10. He starts off like this. In verse 5, "Do you think the scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to Him." And see, the devil seeks to convince you of exactly the opposite of that.

You cannot be faithful to Him. Other people can. Other people have really truly experienced the touch from God, and their life is turned around. But you cannot be faithful to God. You cannot be faithful to what He placed in front of you. You cannot be faithful to what he's asked you to commit to and to walk out. You cannot be faithful to Him. That's what the devil seeks to convince you of, that others can do that, but you cannot do that. You cannot be faithful. And the scripture says, James right writes right here, that God gave you his spirit so that you should be faithful to him. So that you can walk in that faithfulness. You can actually do that because God has given you his spirit. Verse six, "and he gives grace generously. As the scriptures say, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Another thing, the devil doesn't want you to believe that. The devil will flee from you like a dog with his tail between his legs. The devil doesn't want you to believe that. He wants you to believe that he has unlimited resources, that he has unlimited patience, and that he will keep grinding away at you until you give in. The word tells you the opposite.

Humble yourself before God. In other words, start listening to what God is saying. Stop giving so much notice to the devil. Stop listening so much to what he says about you or about your situation. Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil. Don't listen to him. Don't give him room, and he will flee from you, from somebody like you. He'll run off. And what the devil has been whispering into hearts, as James is speaking this, is designed. It has been thought through. There's workers of the enemy. There's workers in hell that actually think through what they're going to do. That look at your life and say, "Oh my, she's beginning to believe Jesus. He's beginning to think about making choices of actually following Jesus. What can we do? What can we set up? What course of action can we begin to set out so that that doesn't get too bad and they don't get too passionate about Jesus? They don't get too committed to Jesus. They don't start walking out their call. God forbid they become fruitful in the kingdom and people start getting saved. Let's make, what can we do to make sure that we limit the damage this person can do? What can we do?" He's thought it through. And there's a strategy to try and make you stop listening to God. I'm not saying that you don't want to hear Him anymore, but there's listening, and then there's listening. Amen?

Anyone that's ever had kids knows there's listening. I know you heard me. And then there's listening. And the enemy tries to do things in our life. He tries to cause a cycle of events. He tries to cause things that don't look like he is at work to get you and I to a place, to get us to a place where we're still hearing God, but today, right now, we're actually not listening. We're not applying it. We're not walking it out. We're not doing it because there's other things. It's thought through to make you stop listening. And then the second thing that he does, he thinks it through for another goal: to make you stop coming to God. Here's verse eight: "Come close to God and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts for your loyalty is divided between God and the world." See that word loyalty really at the core means that it is someone who has become dependable. So if if someone has my loyalty, they can depend on me. They can depend on me to be there. They can depend on me to pick up the phone. They can depend on me to take care of my responsibilities. I have become dependable. I have shown loyalty towards that person. And here the scripture says your loyalty is divided between God and between the world. He says something has gotten in your heart in the verses before and now your loyalty is divided.

Sometimes the Lord can depend on you to listen to Him. Sometimes the Lord can depend on you to give Him your attention. Sometimes the Lord can depend on you to give him the first fruits of your morning and to take some of your time in the morning and to say, "Lord, I'm starting my day with you. I want to know what's on your heart for this day. I don't want to walk this day without you. I want to have your heart. I want to have your mind." The Lord sometimes can depend on you to give Him a bride that gives Him attention. And there's other times that the world can depend on you to walk by the wisdom of this world, to just be in a rush, be in a hurry, get done here on earth what needs to get done here on earth on time, with all of your effort and all of your strength. Whatever you can do to get it done. And then verse 9 and 10, "Let there be tears for what you've done." In other words, this is a really serious challenge. "Let there be sorrow and deep grief." It's making sure we get the point. "Let there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." James says your loyalty is divided. Your faith is not fed in one place. What you believe you end up doing. Amen? What does the Bible say? As a man thinks, so he is. In other words, what gets to dwell on your mind, what you believe is true, is what you end up acting out on. And and he says your loyalty is divided, that that whoever gets to speak into your mind and you actually believe it, it is beginning to affect your actions now. Lo, your loyalty is divided. Your faith is pulled left and right, up and down.

But I want you to see that this is really the gospel message that James is sharing because he's telling them, listen, I can tell that your loyalty is divided. That must be that you're not resisting the devil very well. You're letting the devil speak into your mind. And then other days you're really listening to God and letting God speak into your mind. What he's really telling them is there's so much more room for you to experience God. There's so much more room for you to be changed by the presence of the Lord. Because everything that is going on in your life right now, if you start listening to God, if you start coming to God, you will have so much room as to what God is going to do with it. What you're going to experience God do. What you're really going to see is that when you come to God, you're going to see God come to a man like you. God wants you to experience that you can actually win. That's what James is writing right here. Says you're not winning right now. You're struggling with that divided loyalty. But really what is going on is you're not getting it. You're not seeing that the enemy is getting away with whispering thoughts into your mind. And when you believe those thoughts, you begin to live them out. And now you stay stuck in this situation where you hear God and you would love to be a man or a woman that does what God puts in front of you, but you always seem to stay in the same place and kind of stay stuck between everything that needs to happen here on earth and what actually needs to happen for eternity.

God wants you to experience that you can actually win this. You're called to be faithful to Him. You're called to listen to Him. You're called to come to Him. You can actually do all this. Not just anyone. You can actually do all this because Jesus has paid and washed you clean. But the devil seeks to make you feel like you, he singles you out. He always does. He never points at a group. He always points straight at you, and he does it so subtly that you often don't realize it is him. But slowly and surely, that plan that he's thought out to get you to stop actually listening, doing the word, that plan that he's thought out to actually get you to stop really coming to God with zeal and with effort and with a go-getter mentality, he seeks to get all of that ironed out of your life so that you come to a place where now your loyalty is divided. But what James is writing is saying you are still called to come near for a very particular purpose. Not because God needs your work. Not because He's far away. He says, "When you begin to believe that you are on the winning side and you, out of all people, you can come to God, forget how the devil tries to single you out. Forget how he's trying to make you feel that you, out of all people, are not going to be a growing spiritual woman, a growing spiritual man."

He singles you out. Don't believe him. Don't listen to him. James says you can win the presence of God, out of all people. You, any time of the day, any place you are, any situation you're in, you can win the presence of God. You draw near to God. You who have believed that Jesus is the Son of God, you don't need to do anything other than turn away from what the enemy is whispering and turn towards the Lord. And what your spiritual eyes are going to see is a miracle that the cross has accomplished. You're going to see God draw near to someone like you. Every doubt of your standing with God will be eradicated. Amen. Give him glory. Every doubt will be eradicated when the eyes of your heart see God choose you time and again. When you see God choose to give his presence to you and take a step towards you, every time your life, your heart, your day, your situation is going to be changed, is going to be put in a whole different light. God making a decision to come to me. Psalm 66 verse 5 reads this: "Come and see what our God has done. What awesome miracles he performs for people."

See, there's this call all throughout Scripture to come and to see because there's something that happens. That's how God made it. When we come, when we turn from wherever we are listening and we turn away and we now come to Him, there is now a seeing that begins to happen. A seeing that doesn't exist until a person decides to come.

Jesus says it time and time again: come to Me and learn from Me. Every time we see it in the Word, this call to come and then the seeing happens. "Come and see what our God has done. What awesome miracles he performs for people." There's so many in the church that try to see what God has done without coming to him, that try to see in the Scriptures what He has done without listening to Him and coming to his Word and allowing his Word to transform the way that we build our schedule and the way that we live our lives, the way that we prioritize things, people, stuff. There's this call to come. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 17 and 18: "Therefore come out from among unbelievers and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." Here's what he says. If you answer the call to come to Me, you get God to yourself. Out of all people, you get God to yourself. God will draw near to you. God will speak with you. God will make you his son or his daughter. He will come to you because there's this call, this desire in the heart of God.

We're going to see Jesus say it literally, this desire in the heart of God for you to begin to see that God would choose to draw near to a man like you. You see, Jesus came into this world, and he is now high and lifted up in heaven. And we can right now not see him be born into this world and physically come into this life to take care of me or to take on my sins. But God says the miracle is ongoing. When you respond to my call, when you believe that you out of all people can actually come to Me, and you begin to come, you are going to see Me come to you. You are going to see that I came to this world for you. You're going to see that I reach out into your life. If you answer the call, church, you get God. You're not going to get more church. You're not going to get more religion. You're not going to get a to-do list from God. You're going to get him. You're going to get a relationship. You can win. No matter what is in your life, no matter what is going on, no matter how divided your loyalty may be, that's James' message. You can win.

Start listening to God again. Start coming to God again with all of your heart, believing what Jesus said, that you can actually do this. That it's not true what the enemy's been whispering. It's not true that you will forever stay out of your Bible or that every time you try to get into it, you fall out of the habit. It's not true that you will only be a bedtime Christian that only prays before they go to bed. It's not true that you will never be involved in the kingdom and never walk out your call. It's not true. That's what the devil's been whispering to get you to stop actively listening to what God is saying today and to get you to stop coming to Him because you don't need him that much anymore. You're just doing stuff you can do now, you can actually win. John 6 verse 37. However, Jesus speaking: "However, those the Father has given Me will come to Me, and I will never reject them." Jesus says those whom the Father has given Me will come to Me. They're going to come to Me. They're going to take of their time, and even though there's so much to do on earth, they're going to take of their time, and they're going to set it apart, and they're going to start coming to Me. They're going to start talking to Me. They're going to start seeking Me. It is a promise that He has given us.

There's no coincidence that you are here this morning. There's no coincidence that you're watching online. The Father wants to give you to the Son. That's why you can't walk away from God. God knows some of you have tried. That's why you can't get him off your mind. That's why you can't get the songs out of your heart. He wants to give you to his Son. And Jesus spells it out for you. Jesus spells out what God wants you and I to experience. John 6:37 to 40: "However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them."

In other words, the Father says, "This is what I want for him. This is what I want for her. I want them to experience they will never be rejected." "For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God, who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day."

He says, "Here's the will of God for your life. You will never feel lost again. You'll never feel lost. You will feel found. You will experience that God has found you. You will experience that he's picked you up. You will experience that you're not alone. You will experience that you will never be rejected and that you will never ever be lost." For it is my Father's will that all who see His Son and believe—there's that seeing again, come and see—all that see what Jesus has done, all that see who the Son truly is and believe in Him, should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day. Church, Jesus came from heaven so that you could come to Him. He is Messiah. You can call on Him. You can come to Him anytime, anywhere, any place. Out of all people, you can come to Him. God says, "Come to my Son," and to anyone who actually does, you are going to see God make the choice that he is going to come to you. It is going to be a miracle revealed to your heart that the King would get up from his throne to make his way straight to you the moment that you consider Him. And when the eyes of your heart see that God himself would decide to come and draw near to you, it's going to change your heart. It's going to change the way you see yourself. It's going to change the way you see God.

He's going to come to you when you run. He's going to come to you when you doubt. He's going to come to you when you feel shameful. He's going to come to you when you're having a stubborn moment. He's going to come to you when you sin. The word says he's even going to come to you the moment that you actually die. God is going to come to you and he'll raise you back to life. You can win, church. It doesn't matter what the situation is. You, out of all people, can win. You were on Jesus' mind when he cried out, "Now it is finished. Now all the problems, now all the sins, now all the reason for separation between him and God have been taken care of." I'll read to you again, James 4:7: "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Church, let the Father give you to Jesus today. Stop agreeing with the devil. Stop letting him have a way in your mind where he says you're not worthy. You're not worthy to praise Jesus. You're not worthy to be that forgiven. You're not worthy to call yourself clean. You're not worthy to participate in the kingdom. You're not worthy to speak up about Jesus. Who are you that the Holy Spirit will show up and cause anointing and actually save someone? You are not worthy.

The word says you are washed. You're made clean. You're made a son and a daughter in the company of God. He has a company. Salvation is his business, and He got a lot of kids, and He has sent them out into this world to spread the word that there's a better world coming, and that whoever believes on the name of Jesus Christ will receive the remission of sins and will be changed from the inside out to become an adopted son or daughter of this incredible family as well, that you may have purpose alongside and work alongside your Father. Church, you're no longer going to hell. Resist the devil when he comes and tries to affect what you believe. Resist him. Humble yourself before God and begin to believe His message. Begin to believe what He has said about the cross. Begin to believe what He has said about your life. Humble yourself. Let God have his way. The devil will flee from you every time you give in to God.

Hebrews 10 verse 7 to 18: "Then I said, 'Look, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written about me in the Scriptures.' First, Christ said, 'You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them, though they are required by the law of Moses.' Then he said, 'Look, I have come to do your will.' He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God's will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time." Church, let God have his way. This is what God wants. He wants you to be made holy by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once and for all. Let God have his way. Verse 11: "Under the old covenant, the priests stand and minister before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins." Some of you have experienced that old covenant. You've come to God again and again, saying sorry, bringing a little sacrifice of prayer or whatever it was you tried to take to him, always seeking a way for you to come back again because you did wrong again, and you felt the need that something needed to be changed or washed away or forgiven again and again and again.

That's how you know you're still believing things under that old covenant. Day after day, it feels as if something could and should still get fixed. Verse 12: "But our high priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy." And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, "This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord. I'll put my laws in their minds, and I will write them in their hearts." Then he says, "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds. And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices." Church, Jesus has made a way for you. As far as the enemy's accusations go, they can only stand while he upholds that old covenant: if you do wrong, God is upset; if you do right, God is pleased. That's the old covenant. The new covenant says God is only pleased with Jesus. And Jesus gave his life away for you. So when the Father looks at you, it's as if He sees Jesus. He treats you the same way that He would treat His Son.

Church, you can win. It don't matter what you're facing. It don't matter what battle you've been going through in your own heart, in your own mind, the things you don't like about yourself, the ways that you feel you haven't been able to come to God or you haven't been able to pick up your Bible and read it, you haven't been able to properly pray, you can win. Jesus has made a way for you. Draw near to God. The devil's been whispering to your spirit that you cannot win. You want to be a man that draws near to God. You want to be a woman that draws near to God. You believe that somehow, someway, in your dreams, these things could be possible even to minister in his holy name. But something in your spirit is defeated by Satan and not really trying anymore right now. You're not really trying to go into the Word every day. You're not really trying to truly separate time and grab a hold of God in prayer. You stopped trying because something got defeated in your spirit. And today, God wants you to begin to believe that he has spoken over your life already, and you can actually win.

You can actually do what used to be impossible for your life. You can actually be a man of God. You can actually be a woman of the Spirit of God. The devil's gotten you to a place where you simply feel you cannot win. Resist the devil this morning. I don't care what the challenge is. Jesus is with you. Jesus made you a man, made you a woman that can win. Resist the devil. All that He wants you to believe. Humble yourself before God. Believe again what God says. You are going to win. You have heard from Jesus. You are going to be a man, a woman who draws near to God, a man, a woman that sees with the eyes of their heart every time God Himself draws near to a man, a woman like you. God making a choice to divert His attention straight to you. You're going to be changed by his holiness, by his love, by the power of God's Spirit. And you will be raised from the dead on the day that Jesus comes and visits you in the weakest of all circumstances, when this body gives in. That's the God who has spoken over your life, that you're going to win. That's the God who has loved you.

See, there's a scripture in Proverbs that says, "A broken spirit who can bear." And that's the man, that's the woman that the Lord is speaking to this morning. Something broken in your spirit. A fight you've given up, a battle you feel you've lost, and you've given up on it in the sense that you don't believe you're going to win that one in your lifetime. It's a defeat. It's a broken spirit. Today, I believe the Lord is asking you to make a courageous statement and to say, "Jesus, I believe I'm going to win. I believe again that I am going to win. I believe you've noticed me, Lord. I believe you have paid for me, Lord. I believe you're calling me to come to you that I may see that you would come to someone like me. I believe, Lord God, that I'm going to win. I'm going to draw near to you, Lord. I'm going to do it. I believe that because of Jesus, I can." Lord, I'm going to do it right here today at church. Lord, I'm going to do it at home. Lord, I'm going to do it in the morning when I wake up. I'm going to draw near to you, Lord. I'm going to do it in the evening. I'm going to draw near to you, Lord. I'm going to be a man of prayer. I'm going to be a woman of the Word. I'm going to be a man that fulfills his call. And every time, God, I will see that you choose to draw near to someone like me. Every time, Lord Jesus, I'm going to win.

To say to God this morning, "Father, I'm going to win." Jesus told me to believe him as his child, his son, his daughter, purchased with a price, to say, "Father, I'm going to win. Father, you know the battle. You know the burden. Father, you know where I stopped fighting. Father, you know where I stopped pursuing. But Father, I'm going to win." Jesus spoke to my heart today. Father, I just want to celebrate with you that I'm going to win. Jesus has told me. If that is you, and if you want to say that to the Lord, "Lord, I believe I'm going to win. Jesus has spoken to my heart. He's brought something up to my mind this morning, and he's asking me to believe that I'm going to win," if that is you, I want to invite you to come forward so we can pray together to our Lord and our Savior and to begin to choose to draw near to him as we believe that he has called us to win whatever battle, whatever challenge we face. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

-Pastor Stan Mons