Dr. Daniel Olukoya (G.O MFM Worldwide)

Text: Hebrews 12:4, James 1:14-15

The Bible makes us to understand that faith is a fight. It says “fight the good battle of faith”. The song we heard before the sermon says ‘Keep on the firing line.’ The song writer says “you must fight against all evils”. There are various things to fight, but the major one we are talking about this morning and we might have to continue another time.

A lot of born again Christians and churchgoers will go to hell fire because of defeat against stubborn and obstinate sin. Sin that they just cling unto. Sin that they keep gluing themselves to. Lay your hand on your chest and talk to the Lord like this:

===> I bind and cast out every spirit of death and hell, in the name of Jesus.

Your knowledge of the Bible no matter how much theology you have learnt, is rudimentary and elementary if you are yet to comprehend that everything in the Bible is only concerned with one thing: Hatred of Sin. That is the major thing. All fancy Bible studies that do not deal with sin are a waste of time. As long as you live and hide your sin in darkness, and you refuse to bring it to light, satan the lord of darkness has a claim on you.

This is what people do not sometimes understand. And they think that when preachers tell them not to do this or that, they are taking away their freedom or that they are not being led correctly. Some even look at the preacher and say “you are old school. This is a modern world. Everything has been modernised.” Really? Have you not read the scriptures which say God is the Ancient of Days? He cannot change, He does not change. He is the same. It is you that are trying to change.

God cannot be modernised. There is nothing like modern christianity. Christianity is still the old time religion. If you continue to excuse your sin and you continue to have words of self pity for sin, you are just deceiving yourself. All the sin you refuse to bring to light, that you are hiding and thinking nobody is seeing you, you are just wasting your time. Sin will take you farther than you want to go. That is why somebody calls SIN – Success In Nothing.

If you handle sin with kids’ gloves, it will kill you. If you ask me for a motto that all Christians should bear as a badge, that all heavenly bound Christians should have on their foreheads, it is “dead to my sin”. We are faced with an enemy, please try and understand, that is constantly inciting us into sin. He knows that God hates sin and he knows that as long as you do not remain in that sin, God remains your friend; so his greatest assignment is to incite many to sin.

So, we need to battle against that sin. What is the greatest fight? Striving against sin unto blood. Do not spare yourself. Do not pamper sin. Take concrete measures. If you are struggling with a particular sin, spend quality time in prayer against it. Be genuinely repentant. When the sin is asking you to go one way, you go the opposite way. God honours and respects a contrite and broken heart, with Godly sorrow. Set goals of holy standard and pursue them with prayer and determination.

Bring all your sins into the light. Make restitution where necessary. You need to fight. The song writer says “we must fight against all evils”. We must fight. We have to keep on that firing line. You must fight that good fight of faith. We must contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. We must know that we are reckoned as peculiar people, strange people that do not merge, and look like the world. When you cannot differentiate between those going to worship God and those going to disco parties, then there is a problem somewhere.

Do not leave this gathering today without bringing your sins to light, and all those inner motivations that are wrong; because when God judges sin, God does not start with your activities, He judges the innermost intent of your heart. He judges the pining of your heart. He judges what you are thinking in your heart, what is going on inside that heart. You must fight it. You must give it a fight. That is why the Bible says “be strong in the Lord and in the fullness of His might”. Why is the Bible asking us to be strong? It is because we have a strong enemy.

So, we must be strong. We need to fight. Let me tell you some of the giants that we need to start waging war against:

• one giant to fight is the love of power: a domineering power; not wanting to subject to anyone else. The love of power that tramples upon anyone who stands on their way. Anyone who persists in this kind of sin comes under severe judgment of God and the Bible says “your sin will find you out”.

Domineering spirit bosses people around, and always wants to have its way. Are you the one that has a domineering spirit? You cannot have a marriage. Are you a man with a domineering spirit? You cannot have people who really like you. Domineering spirit is lack of humility to the extreme. It is setting up yourself on a self manufactured throne. It is riding the horse of a cockroach. This is a serious matter.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your innermost desire. Ask those around you: “Do I make like difficult for you by my domineering attitude?” If they say “yes”, then change. Ask for a repentant heart and the Spirit of humility. Take actions that others may think are degrading. You are used to being greeted by other people, now start greeting others first. You are the boss, but start greeting.

And do not be the kind of person that responds condescendingly to others when you are greeted or not even respond at all. A domineering spirit is a sin you must fight.

• the second giant to fight is the giant of lust. In James 1:14, we see that lust will start first, then it conceives and bring sin. When sin too has finished, it brings death. Lust has a way of suddenly arising in our hearts. Lust has an overpowering force that rebels against the commandments of God. Oftentimes, it is the desire for the opposite sex. When the forces of lust are inside a man or woman, it causes this mysterious blindness and that blindness will make men and women disregard divine commandments.

The consequence is uncontrollable sexual indulgence, marital or extra marital intercourse, abortions and things like that. Anyone who has allowed the lust leading to sexual immorality to cage him or her, such a person will weep and lament in satan’s kingdom – the kingdom of torment. There is an unchangeable law in the spirit realm which is: sin will always give birth to death. That is why the first message to be preached in all deliverance grounds is repentance from sin.

It is sin that breeds platform for all kinds of troubles and problems. If you are here and you are satisfying the lust of the flesh, all you will get is death. Do not tolerate lust in your life. Bring it into light at once. Face it and renounce it. If it is becoming stubborn, begin a daily battle of prayer. Pray prayer points like “I want to die to lust. I want to be crucified with Christ. I want to arise in Christ to a new life in glory”. Then avoid listening to anything on radio or watching anything that will nourish impure thoughts in your hearts.

Run from pictures, video clips, television, anything that will create lustful thoughts or evil daydreaming in your heart. Avoid demonic arguments like “but it is not my fault Pastor. I found someone who can offer me what my husband cannot offer”. Because of that, you went into iniquity. The man would say “when she explained her problem to me, I felt for her”. Is that why you went into iniquity? Heaven will not listen to those excuses. We must unmask the camouflage of temptation and avoid anybody whose presence is nourishing sin in our hearts.

You may have to tear up letters or pictures that can bind you to lust. We must fight this radical battle for eternity. Again, the songwriter saying “we must fight”. The Bible says “fight the good fight of faith”. It is a fight. The Bible says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places”. We need to fight them.

PRAYER POINTS
[Before Message]

1. Negative dreams, crying against my next year, die, in the name of Jesus.
2. (Pray this 3 hot times) Wicked powers wanting me to struggle for what belongs to me, your time time up, die in the name of Jesus.
3. (Lay your hand on your head, chest, stomach) Coven prison, break! Coven prisoners, come out! in the name of Jesus.
4. Drinkers of blood, eaters of flesh, lose your hold, in the name of Jesus.
5. Holy Ghost, arise, renew my youth like Eagle, in the name of Jesus.
6. (Lay your right hand upon your head) Resurrection power, wake up my organs, in the name of Jesus.
7. Conscious and unconscious poison, in the dream, come out! in the name of Jesus.
8. (Hit your head, your chest, your stomach) Death in my head, die! Death in my chest, die! Death in my stomach, die!
9. Powers, attacking my celebration, die in the name of Jesus.
10. Vampire demons, sucking the blood of my blessings, vomit them now, in the name of Jesus.

[After Message]

1. Every altar of wickedness in my life, blood of Jesus, wipe them away, in the name of Jesus.
2. I bind and cast out every spirit of lukewarmness, in the name of Jesus.
3. Every power that wants me to fail God, disappear from my life, in the name of Jesus.
4. My life, my life, my life; refuse to obey the enemy, in the name of Jesus.