Real Victory In The Christian Life Does Not Come From Winning In The Flesh, But From Staying Close To Jesus Christ And Keeping The Faith To The End

In the 2011 movie ‘Moneyball’ Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane said: “I hate losing more than I even wanna win.”. The quote highlighted a philosophy focused on eliminating mistakes rather than solely chasing victory. In his 1993 lecture series “Dead Doctors Don’t Lie”, Dr. Joel Wallach said that if you want to be healthy, you have to “avoid stepping on the landmines” of poor health choices and vitamin deficiencies. In the life of the Christian, we avoid “losing” and “landmines” when we put our eyes squarely on Jesus Christ and trust Him and Him alone for the victory. Our apostle Paul clearly defines “losing” and “winning” in the life of the believer.

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:57,58 (KJB)

SUNDAY SERVICE STUDY NOTES: It’s How You Played The Game

It’s How You Played The Game

Introduction

This lost world that we live in is obsessed with winning, but it has no idea what real victory actually is. To the lost man, winning is getting ahead, beating the competition, building a name, and protecting his own position. But in the Christian life, victory is not found in ambition, self-effort, or fleshly strength. The born again believer wins when he keeps his eyes on Jesus Christ, and he begins to lose the moment he starts trusting himself, fearing his circumstances, or walking by sight instead of by faith. The issue is not whether Jesus Christ can give the victory, because He already has. The issue is whether the Christian will stay fixed on Him.

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22 (KJB)

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (KJB)

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” Philippians 3:7-10 (KJB)

Point 1: Losing Begins When You Take Your Eyes Off Jesus Christ

Peter is one of the clearest examples of this truth in the whole Bible. As long as his eyes were on Jesus, he walked where no man could naturally walk. But the moment he looked at the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Peter did not start going down because the Lord failed him, he started going down because he stopped looking to the Lord. That is exactly how spiritual defeat works in the life of the believer. We get our eyes on the storm, the pressure, the fear, the bills, the people, the disappointments, and the uncertainty, and once our attention shifts from Christ to the problem, we begin to lose ground.

“And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” Matthew 14:28-30 (KJB)

That is why so many Christians lose long before anyone sees the outward evidence of it. They lose in the heart first. They lose in the mind first. They lose when fellowship grows cold, when prayer becomes empty, when the Bible gets neglected, and when the eyes turn away from Jesus Christ. A Christian does not have to fall into open scandal to be losing. He is already losing when Christ is no longer the center of his attention.

DL Moody said “This Book will keep you from sin, or your sin will keep you from this Book.” Moody, speaking about the daily faith needed in the life of the Christian, said “I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.”

Point 2: Victory Comes Only Through Jesus Christ, Never Through The Flesh

The Bible is plain that victory is not something the Christian manufactures by trying harder. Victory is something God gives through His Son. That strips away all boasting and all fleshly glorying. You are not victorious because you are disciplined enough, strong enough, or clever enough. You are victorious because Jesus Christ is sufficient. The flesh cannot win spiritual battles, and it never will. The believer who places confidence in himself is already on dangerous ground.

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJB)

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 (KJB)

This is why pride is so deadly in the Christian life. The moment you think you are beyond failure, you are getting close to it. The moment you start trusting your own strength, you are preparing for defeat. God never intended for the Christian to live the victorious life in the power of the flesh. He intended for him to live in daily dependence upon Jesus Christ. That is why Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 (KJB) The victory is through Him, the strength is through Him, and the endurance is through Him. Take Christ out of it, and all you have left is religious flesh pretending to be spiritual power.

In the book of Judges, God tells Gideon that his mighty army has too many soldiers, and needs to reduce the size of it, because if not, Israel will think that they won the victory instead of it being God who gave it to them

“And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” Judges 7:2-7 (KJB)

Point 3: Bible Victory Is Faithfulness, Not Worldly Success

This world defines winning by numbers, applause, influence, money, and recognition. God defines victory by faithfulness. A man can have everything the world admires and still be a complete spiritual failure. Another man can be battered, opposed, ignored, and afflicted, and yet be a total success in the eyes of God because he stayed true to Jesus Christ and kept the faith. Bible victory is not about being celebrated, it is about being faithful.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJB)

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;” I Timothy 1:12 (KJB)

That is the pattern right there. Paul did not say he had the easiest road, the biggest crowd, or the greatest earthly results. He said he fought, he finished, and he kept the faith. That is how God measures victory.

“For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.” I Corinthians 4:17 (KJB)

The winning Christian is the one who stays in the Book, stays close to the Lord, stays humble, and keeps walking by faith when everything around him says to quit. That is why fellowship with Jesus Christ matters more than outward activity. Martha was busy, but Mary was at His feet. One was distracted, the other was centered. One was troubled, the other had chosen the better part. A believer can be active in ministry and still be losing if they are no longer sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Conclusion

The Christian life is won or lost by where your eyes are fixed. If they are fixed on the world, you will drift. If they are fixed on yourself, you will stumble. If they are fixed on the storm, you will sink. But if they are fixed on Jesus Christ, you will have victory. The issue is not whether the Lord can overcome, because He already has overcome. The issue is whether you will abide in Him, trust Him, and follow Him when the pressure is on.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17 (KJB)

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (KJB)

So stop admiring the storm. Stop trusting the flesh. Stop measuring your life by worldly standards. Get your eyes back on Jesus Christ. Stay in the Book, stay on your knees, and stay close to the Lord. Real victory is not hype, image, or outward success. Real victory is keeping your eyes on Jesus Christ and remaining faithful to Him to the end. That is how the Christian refuses to lose, and that is how the Christian wins.

In conclusion, we find that one reasons sports are so popular in our modern-day culture is because we very much live in The Game. The people are the players, the game board is the world, the rules are found in the Bible, and we win eternally in Jesus Christ our Saviour who has in inheritance all set up and waiting for us.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 (KJB)

In his 1941 poem entitled “Alumnus Football”, sportswriter Grant Richland said this:

“Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine,
Let every game’s end find you still upon the battling line;
For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes—not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game.”

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