The Battle Is Already Won
by Justin Horton
October 3, 2021 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Deuteronomy 20:4, 1 Samuel 17:37, Judges 16:17, Job 1:20, Mark 15:25

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/justin-horton--the-battle-is-already-won
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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well praise the lord thank you pastor i'm gonna jump right into i really appreciate it i do i'm honored today i'm going old-fashioned i lost my ipad so i apologize but hey the lord blessed us with paper correct jesus name with a total of 61 wins i made 61 fights 56 wins 37 of them kos and five of them losses he's on a 32 winning streak he was about to fight a man to prepare for war more than he was on march 8 1971 it was called the fight of the century and beginning with the 32 streak the man wasn't prepared enough for what was about to happen some say that some say that ali was being hard-headed and telling people he wasn't going to train because he's already there where he needs to be he's already ready for this next fight for this next battle he said i will not be defeated but until that day on that 1971 on march 8th frasier came out on top with a split decision on january 28 1974 ali and frazier fought again with ali winning with an anonymous decision on october 1st 1975 they met for the third time and ali knew he had to be on top to show the world he is the greatest of all time to show them that he is going to fight to the fight and during that match in 1975 on the 12th round he was going hit for hit body shot after body shot guard down guard up and in the 14th round the chief second of frazier threw in the towel as frazier went down being decayed owed by a decision made by his chief he knew that no matter what he did on the line was put in those four corners you see ali trains for the battle that he puts himself into to show the world what he is capable of now realize this there's 61 fights 56 of them wins 37 tkos and 5 losses many times we do put ourselves in the battle of competition to show what we are best at deuteronomy 20 verse 4 for the lord your god he is who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory and first samuel 17 37 it says david said moreover the lord that delivered me out of the paw of a lion and under the paw of a bear he would deliver me out of the hands of the philistine and saul said unto david go and the lord be with thee we all know the story about david and goliath but do we know the reason by david's technique in the sling he has trained day every day not knowing what to do we all know we picked up five stones out of the brook but did we not know for the first time when did he pick up that sling when did he pick up a stone there are probably times when david was at the pasture tending to his sheep when he had to pick up that sling again to defeat the lion that was entering his pasture the lord has been pairing him for years not only to tend to his sheep but to show that he is a sheep of the true shepherd when he fought goliath he did not understand the reasoning you see saul gave him the armor saul gave him the the shield the sword everything he needed but david could not lift it david was not strong enough but he had one thing that he didn't know about he knows what he has with him it might be the silliest thing you might be the best writer in the world you might be the best speaker in the world you might be the best fighter in the world but you are working for what you got no matter what you have it is part of the journey that god gives you forth the lord was preparing david before he even fought david i mean before he even fought goliath it was when the lord gives us that we got to be used in the way of battle in judges 16 17 that he told her all his heart and said unto her there have not come a razor upon my head for i have been a nazarite unto god from my mother's womb if i be shaven then my strength will go for me and i shall become weak and like any other man samson was defeated he's battled by his hair by the strength god gave him and job 1 20 then job arose and went and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground in worship job defeated his battles by worship mark 15 25 it was the third hour and they crucified him jesus defeated our battles by his blood oh that's when the blood-bought child of god has been prepared every day and defeat our battles by reading his word we're fasting we're praying our battles may not be physical but some are spiritual and we are fighting this battle we have already won jesus defeated battles years ago by his blood you see sometimes we gotta take off our jacket we need to roll up our sleeves we need to be prepared for what the lord is about to do it's not about how you look it's not about how you talk it's not about how you present yourself but what i'm telling you is if you are prepared what the lord has already given you if you are prepared for the battle the lord has already given you by the blood already again you see before then we had to shave our head to get away from our strength we had to get on our knees to worship which we still need to do today but on that cross the lord sacrificed himself for our battles already won by the blood our battles may not be physical but it may be spiritual you might have depression anxiety i might not be talking to you but i'm talking to me today if it wasn't for the blood already the lord does not leave us nor forsake us there are times in need when i am on my back when i'm thinking to myself i say god lord jesus touch my life today it does not matter about the fear doesn't matter about the anxiety it's about the job situation the money in the account the parents my parents my in-laws lord jesus it matters about me and you and our relationship right now and all those things would take forth for god church we gotta be in that situation don't let the devil attack you when the battle is already won that is when our feet get to trembling that's when some troubled waters need to start tingling on those toes and understand that hey i'm stepping into his something i'm stepping into the word i'm stepping into the water of baptism today because i'm not going to let the devil defeat me because i've already won it's when you understand and accept that the battle has won already for you it's not about what is going on already the devil cannot win addiction lust loneliness the lord has already won the devil can't attack us no the devil can't attack us this week i have been praying and seeking after god at work and i don't understand the concept of what's going on i don't understand life's decisions the defeat that i've been defeated but i understand that this is just life and i look at other people's situations and i don't look at them as in am i better than them is their situation worse than mine what i'm saying is don't let the battle defeat you when you're so close to your miracle don't let the battle change your standards don't let the battle weaken your spirit when you're allowing yourself to be vulnerable just this last month we have been testing hallelujah jesus there are times in my life where i've made decisions which i am dumb enough to think i have done but my my wife is a strong prayer warrior and i am so blessed to have her there are times when i am checking the banking account and there are not enough money to pay tithes my wife says pay it i said okay let's do it even though i know i have to do it there are decisions that have to be made with only certain amount of money in the account i'm looking at in three days they're bills that it be done there's things that need to be taken care of and in three days i get paid and everything's gone again am i gonna pay ties you are betting yourself i am i pay my tithes and again we are below a certain amount i'm like i can't do this god why in the world is this happening with tears in my wife's eyes she grabs him by the hand and tells the lord has us i look at my sweet baby boys i said the lord has as he has to he has to it's because he's already won the battle in the book of mark you see that's not all when i paid those bills i got a sudden deposit by the irs doubling my ties and doubling my check the lord provides in a way that i cannot understand and not only that i got a phone call last week that my settlement from my hand is coming in this week i looked at god and said why be you see there are battles that have already been run but we got to be patient enough you are drowning and you feel like you're drowning you don't understand that you might be in a little submarine chugging along the water but there's oxygen to breathe there's oxygen to breathe about those miracles that about to take place if you stir those troubled water brother dakota and you get into a place of an altar and understanding and wise and wisdom comes about for you it's not about the altar it's about where you put your knees to become the altar i am tired of the battle being defeated already and telling me i'm not good enough it's not about me i know there are people in here today the battles are being defeated by your decisions that you think you're making a wrong but i do understand that the holiness has to take place pastor it is then the standards come about that we understand that we can take place into a place of worship in a place of praise to understand if we prepare for battle you ever think about you're just watching the battle how many people just sit back and watch it why god takes place i know as a man we go and we gotta get something done i know i do i gotta get something done if it ain't done what's gonna happen something's not gonna happen i gotta get it done but god takes place and it takes the anointing puts it on the life of us and presses down and says i will not forsake you nor will i leave you you understand that moses walked away he defeated pharaoh by a staff buy a stick you know we have a sword right here we have a sword right here we have a shield we have protection but church i'm gonna kill you it is when we went down in baptism it's when we lifted up and lifted up of god and praising him and worshipping him is when god takes place and understands that my son my child we are not defeated he was crucified but what did he do during that crucifixion of three days i hope i'm reaching someone today brother duran you were singing that song never lost the battle when i walked in here for that thirty minute private at 10 30 for prayer that's when i walked in and i seemed to run he said hey we need to go through that verse one time and i'm so glad you did because that was confirmation that me said okay i'm in the right mind i'm in the right mind so right now as we worship god every day church there is no defeat in worshipping god there is no defeat worshipping god even though muhammad ali fought 61 times there are times that he lost i wonder how many battles god fought how many people are 71 here today right i know at least 71 fights that he has fought already how many battles have you won through the world that even every person has lived and gone through things there are fights that we cannot understand church there are fights that we cannot understand church we're going round for round pound for pound kicking oh getting those licks in getting those blood shed in tears we're closing rip and not understanding why we're fighting ourselves this whole time get up off the dirt and understand that no matter what we get up we are not defeated the battle is already won by the blood and it says to us if we get up and understand that we're fighting ourselves the whole time there's things in life that we cannot take under control but right now we can worship god i want to be like job he lost everything i don't know the pain he went through but at the end of the day it says if we worship everything is winned by worship everything is one everything is defeated if we are going through sickness we worship if we are going through pain we worship if we are at a funeral we worship there's a reason so right now church can worship him right now