II Timothy 4:7
Paul said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
Paul said he fought a good fight, and the question is not simply that Paul fought a fight. The question is: How did he fight? What weapons did he use? And are we fighting the same way? Because whether we realize it or not, every believer is in a spiritual battle. You are in a fight right now. You are in a war right now. But this is not a natural fight; it is a spiritual fight.
That means you cannot fight this battle with your hands. You cannot fight it with your emotions. You cannot fight it with your own intellect. The scripture says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. II Corinthians 10:4-5.
You need spiritual weapons for this fight, and one of the greatest weapons God has given us is faith.
Paul said he kept the faith, so faith must be an important weapon. Ephesians 6:16 says, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."
This faith is a part of our armor; we use it to defend ourselves. Jesus said, "I have prayed for you that your faith fail you not."
Why did He say faith? Why didn't He say joy or peace?
Because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6.
Notice the words "above all." Faith protects everything else. If the enemy can weaken your faith, he has weakened your defense. And when he has weakened your defense, he begins gaining ground in the battle. That is why Satan works so hard to get believers to doubt God.
When you lose faith, you lose the fight. Because when you lose faith, you stop trusting and believing.
We are running a race, and during this race, we will encounter obstacles and attacks from the enemy, which is our enemy, Satan and the demonic spirits. We are not fighting against people, even though Satan works through people.
Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Sometimes we think our enemy is a person. We think it's our boss, a family member, a neighbor, or someone who has hurt us. But Scripture reminds us that the real battle is spiritual. Satan can work through people, but our fight is never against flesh and blood.
We need our shield of faith to fight the good fight because Satan and the demonic spirits are constantly throwing darts or punches at us.
The enemy does not always attack with something obvious. He often comes quietly. He attacks with a thought, a feeling, a suggestion, or a temptation. He throws darts of fear, discouragement, lust, jealousy, doubt, condemnation, and unbelief. His goal is always the same: to get you to stop trusting God.
When he throws a punch or dart of fear at you, raise your shield, which is your guard, and say, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." II Timothy 1:7
When he throws a dart of discouragement at you, say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13.
When he throws a dart of lust or envy or jealousy at you, say, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes." Psalm 101:3
When envy or jealousy comes, remind yourself that "love envieth not." 1 Corinthians 13:4.
When Satan attacks your identity and tells you that you are worthless or forgotten, remind him of what God says: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1.
Remember, you do not fight feelings with feelings; you fight lies with truth. Every lie Satan tells must be answered with the Word of God, just as Jesus answered him in the wilderness, saying, "It is written."
No matter what it looks like, no matter what it seems like, no matter what it feels like, you have to keep trusting God.
Faith does not ignore the things happening in your life; faith chooses to believe that God is greater than those things. Faith does not deny the storm; it believes that God is Lord over the storm.
- When people walk away, you have to keep trusting
- When it seems like the way is dark and there seems to be no way out, you have to keep trusting
- When the money runs out, you have to keep trusting
- When you are sick in your body, you have to keep trusting
- When you can't see your way forward, you have to keep trusting.
Abraham was someone who trusted God; he was 100 years old when Isaac was born. He waited 25 years for God to fulfill his word. Abraham had every reason to quit, but he kept believing. Joseph was also someone who waited on the promises of God; Joseph had every reason to become bitter, but he kept trusting, and he went from Potiphar's house (where he was a slave) to the second in command under Pharaoh. They kept trusting God even though their circumstances looked dark and without hope.
And their circumstances changed because they refused to let go of God's promises.
Your situation might look dark and without hope, but you have to keep trusting. Pray your way through it and stay connected to Jesus. Stay connected to the people of God. Don't allow the enemy to separate you, he wants to nudge you away from the shepherd and the other sheep so that he can destroy you.
One of Satan's greatest strategies is isolation. He wants to separate you from God, separate you from the church, and separate you from believers who will strengthen your faith. An isolated sheep is easy prey for the wolf.
So stay connected. Stay praying. Stay in the Word.
You might be in a situation where there is:
- No food to eat, but you say-"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" Psalm 37:25.
- You lose your house, but you say- "And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" Job 1:21.
- You get a bad report from the doctor, but you say- "Heal me O Lord and I shall be healed" Jeremiah 17:14, "I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord," Psalms 118:17.
- Your spouse or child dies, but you say, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" Proverbs 3:5.
- You lose your job, but you say, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God," Psalm 42:11.
- You are in a car wreck, but you say, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28.
- Your teenage son gets thrown in jail, but you say, "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears." Psalms 18:6.
- Your teenage daughter gets pregnant, but you say, "Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone that loveth, is born of God and knows God. He that loves not, knows not God; for God is love," 1 John 4:7-8.
- Your friends turn their backs on you, but you say, "For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5.
- Satan says God doesn't love you, but you say, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." St. John 3:16.
This is how faith speaks. Faith answers every attack with the Word of God. Faith refuses to allow circumstances to have the final word. God's Word always has the final word.
Paul said he was running a race. He was running to receive a prize. The prize we will receive is eternal life. To win this race, Paul kept his body under subjection.
How did he do this?
He did it by not giving in to the lusts: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
Paul was a man who had a reason to be prideful, because he was born a Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews but he counted it all as nothing.
His title was not important to him; the only thing that was important was that he did the will of God.
Paul resisted the temptations of the flesh, unlike Eve, who gave in to these lusts.
When Satan came to Eve and tempted her, she should have told him no, she should have spoken what God told Adam, and fought the desire to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but she gave in to the flesh.
Adam was not deceived, but he did not listen to God, and they did not keep the faith.
Every victory and every defeat begins with a decision. Eve believed the serpent instead of believing God. Paul believed God instead of believing in the flesh. Every day we make that same choice: which voice will we believe?
As I said earlier, we are in a fight and an actual war, and it is important for us to recognize this.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
This is why Jesus told Pilate His kingdom was not of this world. Because if it was then His servants would fight a natural fight with natural weapons. St. John 18:36.
The battle is invisible, but it is real. We cannot see the enemy with our natural eyes, but we can certainly see the effects of his attacks. Every temptation, every lie, every fear, every attempt to draw us away from Christ is evidence that we are engaged in spiritual warfare.
We cannot fight Satan and his demons with natural weapons, with knives and guns and fists.
We cannot get into a literal boxing ring with the enemy, but we can get into a spiritual ring.
Imagine yourself in a boxing ring: you and God, and Satan.
You're in a boxing match.
The bell rings, and the fight begins.
He, the devil, says things to bruise and weaken you.
He throws punches of doubt.
He throws punches of fear.
He throws punches of pain.
He throws punches of pressure.
Some of his punches succeed, and you begin to fall to your knees.
You eventually get brought down, but you are not defeated.
A knockdown is not the same as a knockout.
Many believers have been knocked down, but they have not been knocked out because God is still with them.
You begin to call on the Lord, and you use the Word of God.
As you use the Word of God, the effects of the blows begin to weaken and become less effective, and with each verse you begin to rise.
Strength begins to return.
Faith begins to rise.
Hope begins to rise.
Courage begins to rise.
You struggle back and forth until eventually you rise to your feet and stand tall. You become like a tree planted by the rivers of water, and you won't be moved.
Many years ago, when I was a young girl, there was a toy on the market called Weebles.
This toy was made to wobble back and forth when you touched it, but you could never get it to stay down. Sometimes we are like the Weeble.
The saying was, "Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down."
That is what a child of God looks like.
We may wobble under the weight of trials.
We may bend under the pressure.
We may even fall to our knees.
But because Christ is in us, we do not stay down.
We get back up.
That is what faith does.
In this battle, you have to be equipped to fight your enemy. Just like in a natural fight, a professional fighter prepares for a natural fight. They train and learn offensive and defensive moves, and anyone can learn to fight naturally. You can learn how to defend yourself in the event someone tries to harm you. They are taught how to overcome and give punches.
A person can defend themselves by using different techniques and targeting sensitive parts of the body such as the ears, simply take your hands and box them on their ears just as hard as you possibly can. You can hit someone in the nose, a sharp, hard punch to the nose itself can cause considerable pain, and you can also hit someone on the back of the hand.
So, in the natural, so in the spiritual, this is the same way we fight the enemy. We have to learn different moves, and we learn these moves through the instructions given in the Word of God.
No boxer walks into the ring without training, and no Christian should walk into spiritual warfare without knowing the Word of God. The Word of God is our instruction manual. Faith is our shield. The Holy Spirit is our strength. The name of Jesus is our authority.
God has already provided everything we need to stand against the enemy.
Paul said in II Corinthians 4:8-10, "We are troubled on every side..." (hemmed in with no way out, or so we think, because God always makes a way of escape so that we will be able to bear it),
"...yet not distressed;
we are perplexed..." (often uncertain, and in doubt what will become of us, and not always without anxiety in our minds because of what we are going through),
"...but not in despair..." (because we know that God is able to support us and to deliver us, and in Him we always place our trust and hope);
"...Persecuted, but not forsaken..." (God will never leave or forsake us);
"...cast down..." (sometimes we begin to fail in our spirit),
"...but not destroyed..." Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
Notice Paul's confidence. He never denied the reality of his suffering, but neither did he allow suffering to define the outcome. He knew that every trial had a "but."
Troubled...BUT not distressed.
Perplexed...BUT not in despair.
Persecuted...BUT not forsaken.
Cast down...BUT not destroyed.
That is what faith is all about. It always remembers that God has the final word.
Paul said, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." I Timothy 6:12.
We have to lay hold to eternal life, which means we have to seize it. We fight the good fight by following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness, I Timothy 6:11.
Paul did not tell Timothy to admire the faith, talk about the faith, or study the faith only. He told him to fight the good fight of faith. Faith must be lived every day. Every decision we make is either moving us closer to God or farther away from Him.
We are to remember the former days when we first got saved, how we endured the afflictions and trials. We have to remember how we felt.
Why should we remember the former days? Because God's word says that we will receive a reward if we endure until the end. We are to hold fast to that which is good. Fight the good fight because your life, honor, and soul are at stake. We have to live the gospel, not just speak it.
Remember where God brought you from. Remember the prayers He answered. Remember the times He made a way when there seemed to be no way. If God was faithful then, He will be faithful now. Those memories become fuel for your faith during your next battle.
Paul also said we are not to cast away (thrust from you) your confidence in the Lord. "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward." Hebrews 10:35.
This fight that we are in is a fight of faith. Fight the good fight of faith.
Remember when you lose the faith, you lose the fight. The scripture says the just shall live by faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God and receive anything from him.
We fight the good fight of faith by drawing near to God. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." James 4:8.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that He is with us always, He has promised never to leave us or forsake us, Hebrews 13:5.
We draw near to God through prayer, fasting, studying the Word and hearing God's Word.
We also fight Satan through our testimony, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." Revelation 12:11.
The closer you draw to God, the stronger your faith becomes. The farther you drift from Him, the easier it becomes for the enemy to attack. Stay close to Jesus. Stay in His Word. Stay in prayer. Stay where your faith can grow.
To fight the devil, we must use the shield of faith. This shield quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16.
When we have faith, we trust.
- Faith is trusting in God's word as truth.
- Faith is trusting that God will provide for our needs.
- Faith is trusting God will protect us from the evil one.
To trust is to rely on, to put confidence in.
When we have faith or trust, we are relying on the character of the one we are trusting. We can do this because we are assured of their character, and we are assured of their ability. Trust is built through experience. When we trust, we are confident that we can rely on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone.
Faith is not based on what you see. Faith is based on what God said. Faith is confidence in the character of God. We trust Him because He has never failed, never lied, never broken a promise, and never abandoned His children. Our confidence is not in ourselves; it is in Him.
We have confidence in God based on our experience with Him. If you tell me you are going to give me $100 tomorrow, then I will take what you have said as fact, depending upon what I know about you. If I know you to be a trustworthy person, then I know I will get the money from you because your character has been proven, but if I know from experience you have let me down in the past, I am less inclined to believe you.
To believe is to have confidence in what someone says; it is to have faith or trust in that person.
In order for a person to come to God, that person must first believe in what God has said about Him giving His only Son so that we might gain eternal life. That person must believe that what the Bible says about our needing a Savior is true. Scripture says when we first come to God we believe (we have confidence in). To have faith is to trust God even when you cannot yet see the outcome because His Word and His character have already proven themselves trustworthy.
We exercise our belief, our faith, and trust every day. When we get in our cars, we believe they will start because they have started in the past. When we get on an airplane, we believe we will reach our destination safely because we and others have done so in the past. When we turn on a light switch, we believe there will be light because we have gotten light in the past. When we sit in a chair.
Abraham believed God; he relied on the truthfulness of what God had spoken to him about. Before Isaac was born, there was no proof other than the word of God that Abraham and Sarah would have a child, even though God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations. There was no proof when Sarah was beyond childbearing years. There was no proof when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Yet he chose to have faith; he chose to put his confidence in and rely on God. Abraham still believed God, why? Because he knew the character of God, he knew God’s word was true, he knew he could put his trust in God, and when Isaac was born, his faith increased. When God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Abraham obeyed because he believed God would somehow keep his promise that he would be a father of many nations. He had no proof, but because God had proven himself in the past and he knew God could not lie, he obeyed, and God provided a ram for the sacrifice instead of his son, and his faith increased again. Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness.
Every time we have an encounter with God, and he comes through for us, our faith increases, and our belief becomes firm. Jesus told Thomas he believed (trusted, had faith) because he saw for himself. He said blessed is he who believes without having seen. How can we have confidence or believe in something we haven’t seen? Because faith is a choice, we choose to believe that God is real, until we experience that he is, then we know for ourselves.
We choose to believe in the word of someone when they tell us that we need a savior. We choose to believe when they testify about what God has done for them. Jesus said that he prayed for everyone who would believe and have faith in him through our word.
Every time God keeps a promise, our faith grows stronger. Every answered prayer becomes another reminder that God is faithful. Abraham's faith was not built in a single day. It was built through years of walking with God. The same is true for us.
Jesus told Thomas that he believed because he saw for himself. He said Blessed is he who believes without having seen. How can we have confidence or believe in something we haven't seen? Because faith is a choice, we choose to believe that God is real until we experience that He is, then we know for ourselves.
At first, in our walk with God, we believe because someone told us about Jesus. Later, we believe because we have walked with Him ourselves and have experienced His faithfulness firsthand.
As our faith increases, we must also have the Word of God to sustain us. We have to feed the inner man. We cannot stand up to the devil when he brings an attack if we have nothing to fight with.
When he throws a dart at you, attacking your faith, you say: "I will hold fast the form of sound words..." II Timothy 1:13.
You cannot say God made me the head and not the tail if you have no word in you. You cannot quench the fiery darts if you have no strength in your shield.
When we become weary and burdened down from Satan's attacks, if we have no word in us, we cannot know that Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30... “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
That is why the scripture says in Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
No Word means no weapon. The more of God's Word you put into your heart, the stronger your shield of faith becomes. The enemy fears believers who know the Scriptures because they know how to answer every lie with God's truth.
Read the 11th chapter of Hebrews, called the chapter of faith. All of these people died without receiving the promise; they fought the fight of faith and were able to say as Paul said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." II Timothy 4:7.
Are we able to say this?
Are we using the spiritual weapons God has given us and fighting a good fight of faith?
One day, every one of us will come to the finish line of our race. Titles will not matter. Wealth will not matter. Recognition will not matter. The only question that will matter is this: Did we remain faithful to Jesus Christ?
Will we be able to stand before the Lord and say with Paul, "I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith"?
This fight is not optional. Your soul is at stake. Your purpose is at stake. Your testimony is at stake. Your eternity is at stake.
So, I leave you with this question: Are you fighting...or are you surrendering?
Church, fight the good fight of faith. Keep trusting. Keep praying. Keep standing. Keep believing. And when your race is finished, may you also be able to say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
