SPEAKER_00: Over the past several weeks, we've been talking about God's family.
SPEAKER_00: And last week, if you watched it or you were here in person, we recounted how Jesus fought for his family.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus fought for his family.
SPEAKER_00: Who is his family?
SPEAKER_00: It's God's family.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus walked to the cross because of man's sin.
SPEAKER_00: Family had been scattered.
SPEAKER_00: Families were messed up.
SPEAKER_00: The family that God created from the very beginning was headed down a road toward destruction.
SPEAKER_00: And there was only one way for family to be restored.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to tell you that this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If your family's going through problems, there's only one way for your family to be restored.
SPEAKER_00: There's only one way for family to be reconciled to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had to shed his blood.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had to fight for the family.
SPEAKER_00: Nails were driven through his hands, whipped, scourged, beaten, a spear in his side.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: A crown of thorns placed on his head.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't fight like most of us would.
SPEAKER_00: We got a lot of, we got a lot of, we we have a lot of Italians in the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: Do I have Italians here?
SPEAKER_00: And I know the Italians got some fight in them.
SPEAKER_00: I know the Irish got some.
SPEAKER_00: I think you all got fight in you.
SPEAKER_00: But yet Jesus didn't come fighting the way that we would think he would come fighting.
SPEAKER_00: No, what did Jesus do?
SPEAKER_00: We would have been kicking and screaming, but in Isaiah 53 it says he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
SPEAKER_00: He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shears is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: The fight Jesus fought with was with per perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: The fight Jesus fought was with peace.
SPEAKER_00: It was fought with meekness.
SPEAKER_00: And as he hung on the cross, what does he do?
SPEAKER_00: And I find it so powerful every time.
SPEAKER_00: As Jesus is hanging on the cross, what does he do?
SPEAKER_00: He cries out for forgiveness, not for himself, but for those who were lost, who were confused, who were deceived.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus fought with love.
SPEAKER_00: He fought with love.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Fighting for the family, he says this in his final words.
SPEAKER_00: He says, It is finished.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: With his final breaths, it is finished.
SPEAKER_00: It is completed.
SPEAKER_00: Lights out.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone thought that the match had ended.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone thought the fight was over.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone thought the death had won the victory.
SPEAKER_00: I could imagine the enemy was probably taking his victory lap.
SPEAKER_00: But the match wasn't over.
SPEAKER_00: The fight wasn't over.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to speak this to you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to imagine all the problems that you're facing right now.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's sickness, whether it's addiction, whether it's anything that has been hijacking your life that is not from the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to cede you with something this morning as we're celebrating Easter Sunday, as we're celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to imagine all those things that seem so difficult for you to get through.
SPEAKER_00: They've hijacked your life.
SPEAKER_00: They've hijacked your peace.
SPEAKER_00: They've hijacked your joy.
SPEAKER_00: Is anyone there with me?
SPEAKER_00: Is anyone walking through something right now?
SPEAKER_00: I want to seed you with this this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine that the same power that dwells in you, that power, the power of the Holy Spirit, is the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and walked out of the grave as a victim.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand that this morning?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that the same spirit that dwells in you through your belief in Jesus Christ, that's the same power that Jesus was able to walk out of the grave that dwells in you.
SPEAKER_00: Stop getting so hung up on your Easter dinner and realize that you have power within you to trample on snakes and upon scorpions.
SPEAKER_00: You have the power to speak God's word into existence all over your life and declare all over that addiction that is not who I am any longer.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a new creature in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Declare it over your family.
SPEAKER_00: That's not who we are any longer.
SPEAKER_00: We are new creatures in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Corinthians 15, and I'm almost done.
SPEAKER_00: Oh death, where is thy sting?
SPEAKER_00: Oh grave, where is thy victory?
SPEAKER_00: The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
SPEAKER_00: Can you read this part with me?
SPEAKER_00: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Receive it this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: We surrender our lives to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: God, I give you everything.
SPEAKER_00: I believe in your Son Jesus who died on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Forgive me of my sin.
SPEAKER_00: Make me a new creature in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Allow your word to be my future.
SPEAKER_00: And in doing so, we give our lives to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Everything belongs to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So now we fight, but not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against principalities.
SPEAKER_00: We fight for our peace, we fight for our joy, we fight for our families, we fight for the gospel's sake.
SPEAKER_00: Nearing the end of his life, Paul says this in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 7 and 8.
SPEAKER_00: What a wonderful example.
SPEAKER_00: He says this.
SPEAKER_00: I have fought what?
SPEAKER_00: A good fight.
SPEAKER_00: I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith.
SPEAKER_00: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.
SPEAKER_00: And not to me only, but also, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
SPEAKER_00: We fight the good fight.
SPEAKER_00: We fight the fight of peace.
SPEAKER_00: We fight the fight of love.
SPEAKER_00: Using Christ's example, the question we ask ourselves, well, Pastor Stephen, if Jesus has already won, why do we need to fight?
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus has already won the victory, then why do we need to fight and wait for this?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you allow, this can change your life.
SPEAKER_00: Why do we need to fight?
SPEAKER_00: When the Israelites marched into the promised land, the victory was already given to them.
SPEAKER_00: They just had to walk through and take possession of their territory.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to understand that when Jesus died on the cross for you and he walked out of the grave, he already declared victory over your entire life, over your body, over your mind, over your spirit, over your future.
SPEAKER_00: And just like the Israelites, yes, they had to walk into the promised land and they had to declare that this is our territory, the Lord has given it to us today.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand that this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Although we fight, the victory has already been been won.
SPEAKER_00: And as we fight, we are just taking possession of our territory.
SPEAKER_00: Can you say that with me?
SPEAKER_00: I'm taking the possession of my territory.
SPEAKER_00: Can you say that?
SPEAKER_00: I'm taking the possession of my territory.
SPEAKER_00: So what are we taking?
SPEAKER_00: We're taking possession of our peace because that's mine.
SPEAKER_00: We're taking possession of our joy because that's mine.
SPEAKER_00: You know what we're taking possession of because Jesus has already won the victory?
SPEAKER_00: We're taking possession of our families in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We are taking everything that belongs to us as children of God because that is our territory.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus fought and he won the victory, and now we get to fight.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Declare the victory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Declare the victory over your life.
SPEAKER_00: Declare the victory over your body.
SPEAKER_00: Declare the victory over your future.
SPEAKER_00: How about this?
SPEAKER_00: Declare the victory over your children, over your grandchildren.
SPEAKER_00: Declare the victory over your home and over your work.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that the Lord has blessed you with, declare the victory over it.
SPEAKER_00: We don't always declare the victory.
SPEAKER_00: Victory over fear, victory over addiction, victory over temptation, victory over death and the grave.
SPEAKER_00: We don't always declare the victory.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we show up to the fight forgetting that the battle has already been won.
SPEAKER_00: Today's a new day.
SPEAKER_00: We walk up to the fight forgetting that the battle has already been won.
SPEAKER_00: What are we doing?
SPEAKER_00: We're sweating.
SPEAKER_00: We're shaking in our boots.
SPEAKER_00: We're wondering, are we gonna make it through this time?
SPEAKER_00: But we thank Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, when I'm standing there sweating and shaking in my boots, and the enemy's trying to hijack my life.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for stepping into the ring for me.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for stepping into the ring.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for taking the beating so that I didn't have to.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for dying so that I didn't have to.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for the power that I have living within me through the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: So that I can declare the victory over every obstacle, over every circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm taking the territory that belongs to me.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to declare the victory.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to say, I've got the victory.
SPEAKER_00: Say, I've got the victory.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to your neighbor and say, You got the victory.
SPEAKER_00: And we're taking possession of our territory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the victory over death.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for sending your son Jesus to fight the fight.
SPEAKER_00: God, that through his fight, through his victory, we can now declare the victory and just take our territory.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're taking our joy, we're taking our peace, we're taking our families.
SPEAKER_00: God, and as we continue to move forward past Easter Sunday, into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, God, I pray that we would declare the victory over every obstacle in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in us, that raised Christ from the dead, I pray that there would be no fear.
SPEAKER_00: God, but we can march in the battle, know that it is already won through your Son Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for allowing us to be new creatures in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The old is gone and buried.
SPEAKER_00: And we lift our hands in victory this morning.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we say together, Amen.