John Gray - Worth Fighting For
Guess what scripture I want you to go to. Isaiah 53. That is called harmony in the spirit. And I'm gone use the new King James version. And it says this, Isaiah 53, starting at the fourth verse, "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray".
Just in case anybody in here thinks you floated in, you didn't. You and I are both broken. All of us have made mistakes, we have all fallen short. We've missed the Mark, it's called sin. And we've all done at least one thing wrong. Many of us, many things wrong. I won't get no amens online on that one. They're like nah, I'm perfect. It says, "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord, Yahweh, Most High God, has laid on him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all".
Now I want you to go to Ephesians 6:12 or you can write it down. I'm gonna read it. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities". That's what's been Messing with you, that's why you can't seem to get sleep, that's why drama keeps popping up and you're trying to live right then all of a sudden the phone rings and it's that one person that knows what to say to bring you back into the thing you thought you got delivered from. This is the season where the enemy is pulling out all the stops. The thing that you thought you were from, it's gone show up one more time, and it's gone show up smelling good, and it's gone show up dressed right, and it's gone be packaged nice, but ask the Holy Ghost to show you what's behind the curtain so that you don't make an eternal decision looking at a temporary shine. Get that dirt off your shoulders.
"We're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities". Somebody say spirits. Principalities against powers, against rulers, "Against principalities, against powers, against rules of the darkness of this age. Against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places". Four times it says against which means there's somebody opposing you. There's something opposing you. Can I offer you this humble opinion? If you're walking and everything's going let me say that again because some people, "That don't sound like Jesus".
Here's what I'm saying, if it's too easy. If you don't have anything pushing you to grow, if nothing's stretching your faith, if you don't feel anything tugging on your spirit that you need to develop, that you need to let go of, if this is a season where it's just this is great, I'm climate controlled in the spirit. Everything is fine, I like my world. Everything is well, L.T. Gray. Dude, that just works, I'm keeping that. That's mine now. If it's too easy, it might be time for you to go to the intermediate level. 'Cause you're passed the beginner level.
Anybody play video games? I know you play video games, so just go ahead and lift your hand. Anybody play video games? Sometimes if you master a certain level, it kicks you up to the next level. Somebody say next level. But the next level has new enemies. Enemies that you didn't see at the beginner level, and sometimes when you get to the next level, your skills developed on the first level are not necessarily honed to the point where you can master the next level easily. So sometimes you be like forget this second level, let me go on back down here to basic.
I want you to know that God has graduated you, and took the first level away. You couldn't even go back if you tried. I'm trying to help somebody in here. Try to walk back through that door, it's a wall now. God is literally pushing you forward. He loves you too much to let you live average. He loves you too much to live a regular life. He loves you too much to let you think that where you are is the best that he can do because this is not about you, this is about him getting glory out of your life and the only way that God gets glory is by stretching you and by pushing you, and by developing you, but it hurts! We're wrestling. Wrestle. Wrestling. Against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, of wickedness and high places.
So we've got a scripture over here, a prophecy from Isaiah that somebody was coming who was gonna take the blows for us. Then it says we're not wrestling against flesh and blood. So I need you to understand, you don't have a people problem, you have a perspective problem. If you're taking notes, you need to get this because some of you have keyed in on a person as if they're your enemy, they're not. They're being used by your real enemy. So you don't have a people problem, you have a perspective problem. Married folks, stop going after each other. It's not your spouse that's the issue, it's the spirit that's trying to maneuver into your marriage to create strife which will create separation which creates division which creates space because the enemy needs space in order to operate, but this is why marriage is a contract, a covenant or a rubber band. So no matter what the enemy does, y'all always end up back in the same place, bounced back together.
I'm trying to help marriages in here. That's why the Bible says, "Don't let the sun go down on your wrath". Even if y'all beefing all day, y'all get in that bed together. Amen. Where my married people at? If your spouse is with you, go ahead, grab their hand. Tell 'em we gone fight for it. Go ahead, tell 'em we gone fight for it. Some of y'all wanna didn't do it. You're like I don't wanna do that 'cause people gone know we've been. Girl, we already knew. People saw you when you was pulling up arguing. Praise the Lord! We saw you. You know what the enemy does? He shows up and he tries to corrupt the thing God wants you to go after. He tries to smear it with the scent of brokenness, smear it with the scent of disapproval, smear it with difficulty and opposition and surround it with so many thorns and broken things that you don't see the value of pursuing it anymore.
I want you to know tonight that is the same way that Jesus saw us when we were in our sins, but this scripture is also my title, worth fighting for. I'm gone say it again, worth fighting for. Anybody ever been on a playground and it got bad? Yo mama! What you say about my mama? You mama, she got a big 'ole head. She look like a hot air balloon. Uh-huh, yo mama so big, she jumped up in the air and got stuck. What you say about my mama? Y'all ever circled each other? Say something, say something, say something. Do something, do something, do something. No, you do something, you do something.
Nobody wants to throw a punch, just talking to him. Touch me, touch me, oh, oh. I triple dog dare you, touch me, touch me, touch me. Touch me again. You don't swing, y'all just start wrestling, just. Man, get off me. You get off me, no you get off me. Get off me, you better be glad my mama coming. You didn't fight, you wrestled. Somethings you can walk away from, but other things are worth fighting for. I need you to understand for whoever walked in here feeling like your life is beyond redemption, broken beyond repair. You have been sized up and it has been determined by men that you are no longer worthy of affection. You are no longer worthy of beauty and value. I need you to know that there is somebody who thought you were worth fighting for.
The Bible says that we are the bride of Christ. Somebody say I'm the bride. It's funny, I remember there was a girl that I liked in the seventh grade, she had a Jheri curl. That's when that was in. If you have one now, go to the hairdresser now. Ask the Lord to deliver you, no I'm playing. Seventh grade and she was great and me and this other dude named tony, we both liked the same girl, but he was cool, he had the new Jordans. I had the ordans, they weren't the real ones. My swoosh split in two at the end like, okay, you can take 610 or 50, whichever one you want. But one day it got back to him that I was trying to talk to his girl.
Now I'm 12 years old, maybe 13. Acne, braces, 'cause I used to suck my thumb and he's like, "Yo, you trying to holler at my girl"? I was like "Nah, man". Oh nah, man. Somebody lied to you. L.T. Gray. Bye, man. Just saying, don't be talking to me girl. I was like sho' nuff bro, I don't even know her. I don't even know where she is, I can't see no way. I need contacts, I can't even see. I don't even know where I'm at. I don't know who I am. What's her name? I forgot. She was a nice girl, sweet. But she wasn't worth fighting for, but this one on that front row. Girl, with them red bottoms blessing my life. This one, I'll fight for her.
You can't say whatever you want about her, why? 'Cause she's not my girlfriend, she's not even my fiance, she's my bride. And if she fell in mud, she still fine. She's just fine in mud. In the morning without makeup, still fine because fine is not a product of the external, it is the function of the internal. And even when there are disagreements, her value does not change. I would still give my life for her. If we arguing, there are times when I've said I'm mad at you, I'm not gone be your friend, you get on my nerves and I would die for you right now. Mess her up, she like, "Well, first of, thank you".
You know that wasn't fair, you know I was trying to be mad. I can't even be mad at you. Here's the thing, her value doesn't come from anything external. It comes from an invisible commitment called a covenant that we made and she carries my name. So nothing that she does can change her value. For you in here, you need to know that when you come into relationship with Jesus Christ there is nothing that you can do to change his mind about you. You want to drink? Go ahead. You want to smoke? Go ahead. Sleep around, go ahead. I'mma still be right here because I already paid the price for you and you belong to me. I don't care how much dirt gets on you, as long as you realize it's not in you because I'm in you. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world.
When you confess Jesus Christ, you get a new heart, you get a new mind, you get a new spirit. It doesn't happen overnight, but if you keep being intimate with Jesus, eventually his character will show, his power will show, and there is value even in the middle of your struggles. Somebody needs to give God a praise. You're worth fighting for. I'm tired of certain religious areas and religious conversations trying to make this about actions and activities like that makes you valuable to God. You're valuable not because of what you do, you're valuable because of who you are and you belong to him, and the Bible says he's married to the backslider. Anybody in here ever backslid? Three people, they're like, "No, I'm not sure that I've ever done that". You ever done something wrong? That the Bible would classify as sin? He's still married to you.
When we sin, that would be categorized as being unfaithful, but the Bible says when we are faithless, he is faithful for he cannot deny himself. You are worth fighting for. Is anybody being blessed by this so far? But since we wrestle not against flesh and blood and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty in God to the pulling down of strongholds. We don't war as the world wars, Jesus is our example. I need you to understand that there was a heavyweight title fight going on for your soul, going on for your affection. There was a war, a literal struggle between good and evil, heaven and hell, light and dark fighting for your very soul. You don't think you matter?
Let me tell you, we lost the first round. We were in the garden just sitting in there, and a serpent walks up. He says, "Did God tell you not to eat"? Mhm, we're not supposed to have that. And he knows you gone be like, "God, you better go ahead and eat that". "Girl, you look good". Well, thank you. You know y'all be falling for compliments. He was all in your ear. Adam just standing there, oh okay. Look, there's L.T. Gray. The enemy got us, Johnny. He won round one, pastor Lisa. He got us out of the garden, he got us away from our promise, from the place of intimate fellowship that we shared with the father, and ever since then it's been a heavyweight battle through prophecy, thousands of years, working through the children of Israel, working through the sons of men, working through wars, working through Isaiah and Ezekiel and working through the prophets and then coming up to Malachi and then 400 years of silence.
And then suddenly one night shepherds in a field see a vision with angels in the middle of the sky saying, "Cheer up, for unto you this day is born in the city of David a Savior 'tis Christ the Lord". We might of lost round one, but we came back with round two. And round two wasn't a 6'3, 240 pound chiseled up man. But God's biggest weapon, his biggest blow to the enemy was a wah, wah, wah. Because the weapons that God uses are not the weapons that man would use. The enemy was probably looking for a vast army and God sends a baby.
I don't know who this is for, but God's about to free you and he's going to send somebody unexpected to do it. I'll shout for you right there, I needed that one. You're in the middle of some things that you can't get free from on your own and God is about to send your answer in a way that you don't expect. See, the enemy can only see so far. The enemy doesn't have discernment 'cause you have to have the Holy Ghost to have discernment and so the enemy can only see you on your surface. So, he said, "Hey, I heard there's a prophecy in the earth. Apparently the anointed one of God is somewhere around Bethlehem". And by the time the enemy got wind of it, the baby was almost two years old. The wise men show up and tell Herod, "Hey, hey man, we came to worship the king". He said, "When you find him, let me know so I can worship him too".