BIBLE STUDY – FAITH: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
I. Fight the Good Fight (1 Timothy 6:12)
a. How can a fight be good?
i. “Kalos” – praiseworthy, noble, honourable
ii. What do we mean when we say that something is worth “fighting for”?
b. Why or what is Paul instructing us to fight?
i. “agonizomai” – to endeavor with strenuous zeal to obtain something; to compete for a prize.
ii. “agon” – the battle or the contest
iii. Paul is telling us to fight to win knowing what’s on the line.
II. The Only to Fail is to Quit.
a. Galatians 6:9 – Don’t quit! God will cause you to be victorious if you will believe His Word and not give up.
i. Just because you lose a few rounds doesn’t mean you lose the whole fight.
ii. If you put your trust in the Word of God instead of what you can do or see in the natural, you’ll be ready for the next round.
iii. When we suffer a loss, we need to get into God’s Word and get our spiritual “muscles” build up an then go back out there to meet the enemy in the ring.
iv. Scripture is filled with history making people who weren’t necessarily braver, wiser or smarter than we are. They just refused to quit.
v. Example: Pastor and I always had a pact in our marriage concerning a certain word that was not allowed to be spoken by either of us.
III. Make Up Your Mind (1 Kings 18:21)
i. Make up your mind to win the fight of faith when the circumstances get rough.
1. Who are you going to trust? The circumstances? Your fears? Or God’s Word?
IV. The Story of My Life (and so it is the story of all of us who will choose the life of faith in God)
a. Hebrews 11:12 (Read this)
i. (Have each person do say/do this)
And so…from this one (point to myself), and she (or he) as good as dead, came the promises of God (not will come but CAME.)
ii. The Lord spoke to me about the hindrance to my faith.
1. You don’t believe in you.
2. You believe He can.
3. You believe He wants to.
b. Refuse to Give Up on What God’s Word Promises You
i. Hindrances to your receiving God’s promises:
ii. You don’t realize what already belongs to you in the Word; and therefore, don’t receive it.
iii. You don’t feel you deserve it.
iv. You have been convinced that for some reason it just doesn’t work for you.
c. God’s promises don’t belong to us for any other reason than that they legally belong to us because of our inheritance through Jesus.
V. The Crowd is Cheering for Us!
a. Example: The Predators hockey team had a winning streak at home which many attributed to the roaring support of the crowd.
b. Hebrews 11:13-16, 12:1-2
i. The Greek Olympiad are ancient Greek games that Paul seems to be referring to here. The athletes wore heavy plates on their arms and legs to train for the games. This would produce stamina and endurance that they would need for the actual games. They would feel almost weightless as they removed the weights prior to the match.
ii. These verses display endurance.
1. Romans 8:35-39
2. James 1:2-4
c. It’s time for us to grow up in the faith that we have been given. Many choose to remain baby Christians but the Word directs us that God expects us to grow up.
Closing thought: A quitter never wins and a winner never quits! The person who succeeds in God does not know the meaning of the word “quit”. On the other hand, a person who fails does not know the meaning of the word “persevere”.