Two Victories in Christ

… God's victory in Christ for his own glory and tomorrow night the Christian's victory in Christ. Let's keep the two evenings separate. I feel indebted to the local brethren for the suggestion and my prayer is that your heart like mine might really enter into this whole subject of victory. I was reminded and perhaps you'll be reminded of certain experiences in our history when we've seen something of these evidences of victory. I'm not very old, I may be a little older than some here, but I can remember in the past war that we for victory was one of the signs that sustained the nation and of course when the consummation was with us in Trafalgar Square in Buckingham Palace indeed there was a celebration. If you're older still you might go back to the first world war or if ever you're privileged to stay in the house where I'm staying and you sleep in the bed where I'm sleeping you'll see on the wall Britannia triumphant the most decisive and glorious victory ever gained by the British navy on the 21st of October 1805. That was about it. Now if you give these matters sober thought I think the impression must come home to you as it comes home to me how very short-lived are the victories. One of the poets you know has said that laurel leaves quickly lose their colour and so it is in man's world the victory is of a very short duration. So what we want to talk about tonight is what the Lord spoke of, the weightier matters. These are substantial matters, matters that concern eternity. It's become almost a catchy word hasn't it in modern conversation, star wars. You know superpowers engaged in a tremendous conflict. Believe you me tonight we're engaged with far weightier matters than that. The matters of concern, sin, death, judgment. And so tonight I thought we might seek to put some sort of order into such a tremendous subject and I want to talk about God's victory under three heads. Now I purposely do this because victory is stamped upon so many scriptures in the bible or the new testament. You may feel at the close of this little talk that I haven't just dwelt upon the subjects that are in your mind. So I have limited myself to three areas. Mind you they're pretty big areas and I'm hoping that I may even include what you're enjoying in the meditation that we have together. So first of all I want to talk about God's victory in Christ in relation to the devil. Now it's a good thing to identify and then to isolate where all the trouble lies. And we want tonight to draw your attention to the fact that there has been a tremendous challenge to the power of God and this has come from one who we know in the scriptures as the devil. We don't need to mince matters we just need to draw your attention to the scriptures and if anyone here doubts the power of the enemy I'm sure sooner or later you'll become very conscious of him. Well tonight we want to just open the scriptures and remind one another of one or two scriptures in regard to him who's the great enemy of our soul. The God, Prince of this world, the Prince of the power of the air. A murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of it, this is the devil. And we do well to just take account of what the scripture says concerning the origins of this terrible being. We live in a day when the mystery of iniquity does already work. We live in a day when satanists are becoming quite open in their declarations and in their venomous attacks and we ought to just be able from the scriptures to understand the source from whence all this poison comes. It was with that in mind that I asked you to read with me those few verses in Ezekiel 28. It seems from the scripture that the devil coming from the hand of God and even the creator was really in some respects the crown of God's creation up to that time. The anointed chariot, the cover, every precious stone was his covering. Full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. He fulfilled his service until iniquity was found in him. And if you read in the 14th chapter of Isaiah you find that iniquity entered the universe when satan said I will. In that chapter which we didn't have time to read you find that this creature said I will ascend the hill of God. I will be like the most high. I will. Now that's where sin comes in. Sin is always us. You find here one of God's creatures challenging the throne of God and saying I will. Well in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel you find that his doom is stated. No sooner is he described and his iniquity noticed than the judgment of God falls upon him. I will destroy him. And tonight I just want very quickly to look at some of these scriptures that tell us of the activity of satan and also the way in which God has gotten the victory over him in Christ. It may be helpful to remind ourselves from the book of the revelation that this awful creature is described in his full title. Let me remind you of it. He is the dragon. He is the old serpent. He is the devil and he is satan. Let's give him his full title. As the dragon he is the destroyer. As the serpent he is the deceiver. As the devil he is the accuser. As satan he is the opposer. Now if we had time and time is our chief difficulty tonight, I could substantiate all those things because we want to bring the devil out into the full light and to show how God has dealt with him. You remember in Jude, I forget the particular verse at the moment, when Michael the archangel was contending in relation to the body of Moses, he does bring no real accusation against satan but he said the Lord rebukes him. He has the power. Too great for you in faith. Too great for Michael the archangel but oh how glad we are to say tonight not too great for our blessed saviour. Not too great for Jesus. That's why we turn our attention to this scripture in Luke chapter 4. Already satan had been busy in connection with the birth of our blessed Lord. Remember how the edict was sent out that all the children in Bethlehem Judah under the age of two should be killed. Satan sought to destroy the Lord as soon as he was born. No cross that could be fulfilled was taken out of Egypt, shall I call my son. We know that behind it all there was this satanic attack to kill Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ even as soon as he was born. God's got the whole situation at hand and in the fourth chapter of Luke we find a most important encounter between the Lord Jesus Christ and the devil. In the end of the third chapter at Jordan's banks the heavens were opened upon the Lord, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. The trinity comes into manifestation and in the fourth chapter Jesus fled, carried or driven into the wilderness in order to have this encounter with the devil. A most important moment in the history of mankind satan up to this point had gained a victory over every other man but now there comes onto the scene one who can take up the fight with the devil. How different the circumstances were from the Garden of Eden. In the Garden, Genesis 3, man was put into a garden. In Luke 4, the Lord Jesus was carried into the wilderness. But the temptations were the same, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. The red, the high mountain, the kingdom, the edge of the temple, cast thyself down, the Lord was tempted in exactly the same way as Eve was tempted. Whereas Eve was in the transgression, the Lord Jesus was triumphant. And we find in chapter 4, verse 13, a better translation says And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him. Here was the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, manhood according to God, a man approved of God. What a picture to see him putting the devil to flight. There's a scripture you know we sometimes quote, it helps to see the context, strong man armed keepeth his palace and his goods are increased. That's the devil, strong man armed. But if a stronger than he come upon him, he taketh away all the armor in which he trusteth, and he is fired at his feet. The Lord Jesus is stronger than he. And from that moment, at Jordan's banks, and from that moment, and the victory over Satan, Jesus went about doing good, healing them that were oppressed of the devil, because God was near. You see, those goods deliberated, souls were set free from sin and bondage, and the Lord completed his earthly ministry. But of course the adversary only departed for a season, and then he came back at the end of the Lord's pathway. And you notice, it wasn't just a demon who entered into Judas, it was the devil who entered into Judas. And you find in those closing scenes, the full power of the adversary was raised against Jesus. He said, this is your hour, and the hour of darkness. And we do well, dearly beloved, fellow Christian, just to consider the Lord Jesus in those closing moments of his life. We often speak of it, don't we? Gethsemane, Gathasar, Golgotha, where he faced up to the issues. And you remember how in the garden he said, not my work, let thine be done. And on the cross, when the full weight of death was pressing upon him, love never faileth, he went through. And you find, don't we, in the scriptures, the spoiled principalities of power. True indeed, he was laid in the grave, but now he is in the highest heaven. And all power in heaven and upon earth is given unto Jesus, he has authority over all flesh. Reading further in the book of Revelation, which would need a lecture in itself, you find that Satan is cast out from heaven, he comes down to earth, knowing he hath but short time, woe to the inhabitants of the world at that time. The children of Israel will go through the time of Jacob's trouble. But Satan always defeats himself, he serves God's ends, be it with the saints of the present time, or with Israel in the coming day. Victory, victory is seen when an angel lays hold upon the Satan and confines him to the bottomless pit for a thousand years. He has to be released, as we know, for a short season. But then, after the thousand years reign of the Lord Jesus, fire comes down and devours all the adversaries, and Satan is confined to the lake of fire, forever, where the beast and the false prophet are. So much for the victory of God in relation to him who is the enemy of us all. Oh don't let's underestimate the power of the enemy. He has access into God's presence. He was used in the discipline of a Job. Sometimes, by permission, he is allowed to touch you and me, only by permission, a messenger of Satan debuffedly. But he has defeated himself. And we want to leave that impression on your heart, my heart. God's gotten victory over him who is the enemy of us all. Now in the second part of this address, I would like to speak of God's victory in relation to death. Now I handle this quite feelingly. I dare say everyone in this room has got a grave that they visit. But sometimes, or rather, death touches us. I don't know whether it's been your experience, but I seem to have had quite a bout of this lately. But my patience. I still go to the practice. He retired. You know, one of these country cottagers with his wife. Nine months ago. And I learnt on the last day, his wife has died suddenly. You know, death is very much with us. This world is a great graveyard. Now what we have to notice tonight is that death comes in because of sin. The soul of the sinner that shall die. You see, KJV verse 4, verse 26. The wages of sin is death. It's one thing for death to come in, but when you see that death is the judgment of God, you begin to see that death is a terrible blight upon the whole human race. Death is something that God has to take up. And how glad we are to notice, aren't we, in a chapter like the 11th chapter of John. Remember in that chapter, Lazarus had died. The Lord said, take away the stone. Have a look at Lazarus. Four days dead already. By this time he's stinking. Let the full weight of that rest upon your spirit. And there, we catch some sense of the feelings of our God, Jesus, roaming in himself, came to that grave. How glad we are tonight to know that if this king of terrors is still with us, the matter of death has drawn out the compassions of our God. And tonight, we want to bear testimony to the fact that our God has gotten a victory over death. Death has been taken up by God. Listen. The Lord Jesus laid in the grave. But God raised him from the dead. There's God, isn't there. Romans 6 verse 4, he was raised by the glory of the Father. John 10, I have authority to lay down and authority to take it again. There's the Son. 1 Peter 3.18, put to death in the flesh but quickened in the spirit. The triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, staring this matter of death full in the face. I like that verse in Hosea 13 verse 4 that we read. About 900 years before Jesus was born, O death, I will be thy claim. O death, O grave, I will be thy destruction. Before ever the Lord Jesus came into manhood, the prophets knew that victory would be gained in this matter. When the Lord Jesus was here and had been into death, we get the implementation of prophecy. And the one who was in the dead, who verily was dead, dead already, laid in a tomb, he had risen triumphant in the grave. Now this is too big a matter for the Old Testament to skip over. And although the light of resurrection was very dim in the Old Testament, in the light of the New Testament we can look back and we can see that in type this victory was ever before the Spirit of God. Let me remind you of a few scriptures. You remember in connection with Samson, it says that a young lion roared upon him. And the Spirit of God came upon Samson and he raked him like a kid. That's one of the pictures. And then in the sixth chapter of Daniel, you remember how Daniel the prophet was put into the lion's den. Did you remember that Daniel came out of the lion's den. You remember again how Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a fish. But the fish, it was too much for the fish. He vomited him up on the dry land. There are many pictures in the Old Testament that confirm what we know so well from the New Testament, that death has been thoroughly conquered. And it was with this in mind, I just read to you the passage in Ephesians 1. You needn't turn to it. The greatest demonstration of power that this world has ever seen was when God took the Lord Jesus Christ from the tree. A mighty act of power of course, when he called the universe into being. He spake and it was done. Commanded and it stood fast. But when it comes to the matter of resurrection, if we had looked at it, you get the catalogue of four different forms, four different words in the Greek. Everyone here knows Greek I suppose. That demonstration of power has taken the Lord Jesus and set him at his own right hand, far above all principality and power, might and dominion. He has entered into the unsullied glory of God. Every name that is named, given him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of it, the center of it, all in one. There wasn't time to more than read the passage in 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter. Now is Christ risen to become the first proof of the blemished flesh. In Adam all died. In Christ all made alive. Christ, every man after his own order, Christ the first proof, and then those that are Christ's that is coming. And you find in a new scene, filled with living men, the last act that shall be fought is death. Wonderful subject. Well, we dealt in a very brief way with God's victory in relation to Satan, and God's victory in relation to death. Now we come briefly to the last one, God's victory in relation to the world. Now the world, dearly beloved, is spoken of in various ways in the scriptures. The world is spoken of as God's creation, I mean the fair creation, the world in which we are found. Secondly, the world is spoken of as the men in it. God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, John 3, 16. But the world is also spoken of as a great system which is opposed to God. When Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, Genesis 4, he proceeded to build up a world, if back was on God, a world that was comfortable for man. Stringed instruments and organs, artifices of iron and brass. The world as a system opposed to God found its origins in the day when Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Now I'll just throw it in as I pass, as a matter of the greatest interest in scripture, that every advance in civilization was marked by a further corruption in morals. Let me explain. When man began to wear clothes in the garden, it was the occasion of sin coming in. When man began to live in cities, it was the occasion when murder came in. When nations sprang into existence and we get the problem of language, Genesis 11, Tower of Babel, you find man saying, we will make ourselves a name. And God came in and said, there's no limit to what man should do. He came down and he confounded the language. And most of us have to say, he made such a good job of it, we can't understand that. But every advance in civilization has been marked by a declension in morals. And if today we've reached a stage of civilization which is par excellence at the top, it seems that we've reached a stage where it's a shame even to speak of the things that have done to man. Well, let's view the world in regard to Jesus. There was no room for them in the inn, no room for Jesus, no room for those who are his enemies. You remember how the religious world said, this is the heir, come let us kill him. That was the reaction of the religious world. What of the educated world? We read, none of the princes of this world knew else, had they known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. This world had no room for Jesus. And they were not content until they put him on a cross of wood. And this world was stained with the blood of God. Is that the end of the story? For your good, Chia, I have overcome the world. We read, don't we, now is the judgment of this world, now is the prince of this world judged. At the cross, we come to the crisis, the point where God intervened. We read that the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the headstone of the world. God has started to build a new world. In the first creation, man came in on the sixth day as the crown of the old creation. But in new creation, God takes the Lord Jesus from among the dead and proceeds to build a new world in relation to him. That's a wonderful verse that I read to you, if I may say so, in 2 Peter 3. There are three worlds in that particular chapter, if you noticed. There's the world that then was, that's the antediluvian world, underwater it perished. There's the world that now is, it's reserved under fire. But there's a third world. We look for new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness dwells. Do you ever hear of the third world? We're interested, profoundly interested in the third world, the world to come of which we speak. That's a new world where sin, nor want, nor woe, nor death can ever come. A new world. And I would like to leave you with a little impression, just as I come to a close, of some of the elements of that new world. A kingdom. Yes, God has got a new kingdom in mind. The first king, Nimrod, his name means a rebel, he was a mighty hunter from the Lord. And man's world is a world of hunters. Outwardly elegant, educated, polished. Underneath the surface, selfish. Marked by commercial rivalries. And with a showdown only force. Governed by satanic principles. I'm reminded as I stand on my feet of Mr. F.B. Hall, who is known to some of us here. He said, the world, when first you see it, is like a beautiful maiden. Can you see her? Beautiful maiden. But then, you take off her veil, and you find she's a wrinkled old hag. That was the way Mr. Hall described the world. And if God sets aside the Nimrod world, he builds up a new world. A kingdom wherein dwelleth righteousness. Righteousness, peace and joy. Every man shall dwell under his own vine and his own philtre. Men shall beat their swords into plough chairs, and their spears into pruning horns. The desert shall rejoice in awesome demands. I think that amount of transfiguration, you know, gives us a little picture, a sort of preview of God's kingdom. See the Lord? See Him. His face? Like the sun. His garments? Quite as light. The Father's voice is heard. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Moses, Elias, the heavenly company. Can you see them? Peter, James and John, the Jew. They'll be the head of the nations in that day. And at the bottom of the mountain, the Gentiles. Brought into this wonderful kingdom. What a day that will be. Even so God will be. It's not only the kingdom, it's the house. Where God dwelleth. They that dwell in thy house shall still praise thee. And I would like to finish this little talk with that verse in Psalm 150 verse 6. Where we find that God shows us His triumph in Christ. Where the devil is consigned to the lake of fire forever. Where death is conquered, confined to the lake of fire forever. And what remains is God's new world. Many families in heaven and upon earth in victory. And what are they doing? They're praising God. Every family in heaven and upon earth is found responsive to God's love and God's power. We find in that wonderful third chapter the fusion unto Him, God. Glory in the assembly by Christ Jesus unto the ages of ages. All that have breath shall praise the Lord. What a climate to God's intervention and grace in this new world. Well this is the subject that has been given us by our beloved brethren in Bromley. This is the first half of the subject. I'd like to leave this meditation with you. God's victory in Christ. Perhaps tomorrow night we'll continue on the line of the Christian victory in Christ. And see some of the practical implications of this for your life and mine as we look to the Lord. …

… On the past evening, we consider a little God's victory in Christ. In relation to the great enemy of our souls, the devil. In relation to death, and in relation to the world. And we ended with the glimpse of a new heaven and a new earth, wherein righteousness dwells, God surrounding himself with the multitude of the redeemed, and all that hath rest. Now tonight we continue with the Christian's victory in Christ. Now one feels increasingly that this brings the whole matter of these meetings very much nearer to our hearts. You see, we are born in sin, shaped in iniquity. As children of Adam's race, we drink up iniquity like water. We are really found in the very pit of sin. Secondly, we are also subject to death. Every one of us. Appointed unto man wants to die. There is no escape from that appointment. But in addition, we are also citizens, denizens if you like, of a world that is frightening for judgment. So here we are embedded in a situation that can be met only by God himself. But what is our meditation and consideration tonight, is that God gives us victory in Christ. We shall again approach it like we did last night, under the three heads of sin and death and the world, and we'll see the issue. But it is necessary to say right at the commencement that there is a difference, an important difference. A difference that we have to take account of right at the beginning of the meeting. A difference between what is potentially possible and what is actually brought into experience in the history of our lives. A very big difference. What's potential? What's possible? Through God's grace, wonderfully possible. But on the other hand, sadly, not always the experience of ourselves. So let us consider a little the three subjects that we have hinted at. First of all, our victory in relation to sin. Well, there are several catalogues, you know, in the Bible as to our position in nature. None righteous, no not one. None that do a good, no not one. And none that understand, none that seek after God. Pretty desperate, isn't it? Or we can think of another catalogue, you remember in Titus we read, We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, deceived. Living in malice, envy. Serving divers lusts and pleasures. Hateful, hating one another. It's not a very pretty picture, is it? Or take Ephesians 2. What we were, dead in trespasses and sins. Where we were? Walking in this world. What we were doing? The pleasures of the flesh and the mind. Not very pretty, is it? And that was our position, every one of us. And if we take up the position of the Jew and the Gentile, most of us here, Gentiles I suppose, dogs of the Gentiles. My dear friends, our position was hopeless indeed. And we do well at times, just to have a good, sober, long look, as to what we were by nature. Now however, could we contemplate deliverance from a situation like this? And then we come to promises, exceeding great in promises. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered? Yes! And that's what we're going to talk about for a short time tonight. There is a victory, and that victory is in Christ. He is the sinner's only saviour. And if this were a gospel meeting tonight, of course, we'd spend a lot of time quoting scriptures. They all say, worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He did no sin, you know sin, in Him was no sin. He was nailed to a cross of wood, we hear Him say, it is finished. Yes! He's able to reach you and me in the situation which we're found. Listen to the words of Jesus. Man, thy sins be forgiven thee. Woman, thy sin is forgiven. It's music, you know, to the sinner's ear. If there should be someone here who's still in nature's darkness, perhaps this would work for you. But that isn't all the story. It isn't God's thought only to have our sins forgiven, and leave us to find our way through this well till we come to glory. No, no! God has got far greater thoughts than this. He proposes that He transfers you and me from Adam to Christ. Adam, marked by disobedience, by sin, by guilt, and by death. And God, as it were, takes you out of Adam and puts you into Christ, where we come to obedience, and justification, and righteousness, and life. This is the great subject of Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8. Here we find that the subject of sin is taken up, the matter of the law is taken up, the matter of ourselves is taken up, and God sets us free. Our guilt taken care of, chapter 3, the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, but our deliverance taken up in these wonderful chapters in Romans. And of course we would need a separate series of readings to handle this matter. But all I'm going to do tonight is to give you a simple illustration that what is so clearly delineated in doctrine in the Roman epistle is also clearly demonstrated in the Gospels. And I would remind you for a moment of the maniac of Gadara. There was a man who got the gain of this teaching. Have a look at him. He had an unclean spirit. He was bound with fetters. Neither could any man tame him. He dwelt among the tombs. And we read that he'd wear no clothes. You know, in scripture, if you wear no clothes, it's a picture of exposure to judgment. But this man came into contact with Jesus. What have I to do with thee, thou son of God? And every man has to do with him. Well, he had to do with him in grace. And we find at the end of the story that this maniac is sitting at the feet of Jesus, seated and clothed and in his right mind. Now, you're going to say to me, and it's perfectly justifiable, you've only told me part of the story. Well, that's true. Because what God has in mind is not only setting us free from the guilt of our sins and not only giving us deliverance from the power of indwelling sin, but we find in the further consideration of Paul's teaching that he's going to bring you into something infinitely blessed and positive. And what's more, what Paul teaches us in doctrine exemplifies in his own experience. And in Philippians, we learn something of practical Christianity. His earnest expectation and his hope that in nothing he should be ashamed. But now, as always, Christ may be magnified in my body, whether in life or in death. For to me, to live is Christ. Now, here we come to a real victory. The triumph of God is the continuation of the life of Jesus and his people. Lord Jesus is seen in the saints. He's going to be admired in the coming day in the saints. But the victory of God is that the Lord Jesus is seen in the saints now, personally, in the household, in the business sphere, in the assembly line. What's coming to light? It's the life of Jesus in the saints. And we can't see the full picture of deliverance until we see it in this wonderful way, exemplified in the apostle, but seen also in the saints. Now, these things are not only found in the Bible, thank God. I suppose all of us in our history have met Christians like that. I was thinking about this, and I expect you may meditate on it. I have found a few who exemplify this teaching. I can think of one at this moment. I'll call him D.D. A man about 20 stones strong, in his unconverted days, when he had the beer in him, it needed three policemen to hold him down. But when he got converted, October 1962, the one who was a raving maniac of God, was found sitting at the feet of Jesus. He had about 50 or 60 prison convictions. And of course now, he's a lively witness in the prisons. I could tell you a lot of stories about a man like that. I expect you've met them too. The triumph of God in the changed life of a Christian. But I want to tell you another too, and he lived to nearly a hundred. If you were to knock on the door in Barnstable, in a previous century, you'd say, and how are you today, Mr. Chaplain? Oh, I'm satisfied with faith. Fool, Latin fool. Now there's a man, who is exhibiting what Paul speaks of, for me, today. Well, let's move on to the second section. The Christian victory in relation to death. Very practical matter. We looked at it last evening. The wages of sin is death. Pointed under, man wants to die after this, the judgment. Serious matter. The earliest book that was written, Job, you read about death, you read about death, chapter 18. King of terrors, still is. Read again of the time of Jacob's trouble, Jeremiah 30. All faces gather pale on us. I remember we had in our house, a year or two back, a postgraduate student, who was doing some work in Birmingham University, come from Turkey, and he used to come regularly to us on the Lord's Day for lunch. And I remember I asked him once, what it was like to live through an earthquake, I hadn't had that experience, and his English wasn't too good, his wife helped him out, she said, you know, suddenly everybody's face goes pale. That's what it's like to be in an earthquake. Another story, bear with me. James Butler Stoney. You've heard that name perhaps, Mr. Stoney. He was a student in Dublin, and there was an outbreak of cholera, in Dublin. And he said to his servant, don't know what his name was, Patrick I suppose, he said, Patrick, I'm gonna die. And the Irish servant said to him, Master, I think you'll die. And that really wakened up James Butler Stoney, and a man who had been somewhat indifferent in regard to eternal matters, faced up to the fact that he would surely die. And if God says you'll die, you'll surely die, you certainly will die. I won't multiply the stories, we could all do that. But the only answer to death is to turn your eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I read to you, from 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse 10, he has abolished death, and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. The Lord Jesus was made in death, but he's out of it, and now he has the keys of death and of Hades. Death, the greatest power over men's bodies, Hades, the greatest power over men's souls, where are the keys found? They're found in the hand of Jesus. For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, that's human nature, he himself likewise has taken part of the same, notice how his perfect manhood is gone. That through death, he himself went into death, he might deliver them who were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. He is the one and the only one who can really come along to your fearful soul and say, fear not. And that's why I read to you in 1st Corinthians, chapter 15. It's a very interesting fact for you who know your Bibles well, that in 1st Thessalonians 4, there was a problem in regard to Christians who had died. In 1st Corinthians 15, the problem was in regard to Christians who were still alive. In regard to those who died, God will bring them with him. In regard to those who are alive, we shall be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. We shall all be changed. That doesn't tell us how. And you know, we ought to be thankful sometimes for the silence of Scripture. We just couldn't take it in. The idea of you and me suddenly being changed, given a body of glory, it wouldn't be comprehensible if God were to begin to explain, thanks be to God, we accepted by faith. And I want to underline for you tonight what the Scripture says, thanks be unto God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It does not say, thanks be unto God who will give us the victory, but thanks be unto God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now when faith really lays hold upon this, death assumes quite a different character. All things are yours, says the apostle to the Corinthians, death is one of them. Death comes as a servant to take us into the glory of God. You find in that chapter, we so often quote it at funerals, don't we? It is so appalling. And we put our loved ones into the earth. Corruption in the light of incorruption. Dishonor in the light of glory. Weakness in the light of power. A natural body in the light of a spiritual body. And if on the past evening we consider the prophecy in Hosea, you remember almost a thousand years before Jesus was born, oh death, I will be thy plagues. Oh brave, I will be thy destruction. Before ever Jesus came into the world, you are moved forward in your minds to a day when a great redeemed company will say, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy betrayal? Now this is the scripture that says, thanks be unto God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, giveth us the victory. It's not God's victory only, but he gives you and me the victory. And if we're to talk tonight about the subject of victory, the scripture supposes that we can enter into victory now. Of course, when you turn to the scriptures for examples of this, there are plenty of them. The apostle, he had a desire to depart. He couldn't get there quick enough. Have a look at Stephen. He looked up steadfastly into the glory of God and saw the glory in heaven, saw the glory of God in Jesus. Death wasn't any problem with Stephen. The stones might hit him, but he died like his master. Lay not this sin to their charge. And we don't need to only look at the scriptures, you know, for examples of this. If ever you're finding you're getting a bit jaded and down in your soul, just have a wee reread of the lives of the martyrs. Tertullian said, you know, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. And as you see the triumph with which these men went to the stake, women too, as you saw the afflictions of the Christian company, doesn't it make us ashamed sometimes for the immediate response from our own hearts. I remember hearing about a hypothetical conversation in heaven. They were all around the Lord and somebody who had slipped in, as we might say, he was speaking to his companion, said, how did you get here? Well, he said, I was one of those who was a burning torch for Nero. So the enquirer was reduced to his right side. And how did you get here? Well, I gave my life on the mission field. Left his bones there. How did you get here? Oh, they burnt me at the stake. And after we looked round a little bit at the sufferings of the church of God, doesn't it raise us up, you know, as to how far we've entered into scriptures like this. Thanks be unto God, for giving us the victory for our Lord Jesus Christ. I must tell you one story, if I may be permitted. Of course, in my work, I met a lot of people who were facing death. In a brief summary, I'd say to you that those who feared death the most lived life the shortest. And those that feared death the least lived lives the longest. That was the brief summary. And I remember one patient, she came from a very interesting household, paralysed she was, from middle to downwards, she was kept at home. They kept her at home, kept her at home. But presently her sister, who looked after her, active Christian, she went off to a conference, and they had to put this dear soul into the geriatric hospital. And of course, the patient had been on her feet, put to bed, promptly developed bed sores, and she never got up again. But she knew the Lord. And she was such a bright witness for the Lord, they didn't move her into the geriatric wards, they kept her in the admission bay. She did everybody so much good that they kept her just at the doors of entrance. And her witness was very simple. How are you today, Miss R? Oh, she said, I'm under the blood. That was her simple answer. She was always under the blood. And what can you tell us today? He is precious. These were the two notes of her witness. She was under the blood. And he is precious. And she left such a mark on the hospital that after she went, they struck a little ball. He is precious. That was a testimony that she left as she went out of this world. Dead. Conquered. Now when we come to the third of our sections, that is the Christian in relation to the world, again I just want to remind you of one or two scriptures. We had a pretty close look on the past evening as to the real character of the world. It's not a very pretty picture. Cain, you remember, went out from the presence of the Lord and proceeded to build up a world, his back on God, comfortable. And every advance in civilization we noticed was marked by a declension in moral. Now I read to you that scripture in Revelation 11 to show you something of the features of this world, the city, which spiritually is Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. This world as a system antagonistic to God and under his judgment needs many pictures in the scripture to show its awfulness. Sometimes as Egypt, the places of sin for a Caesar, sometimes as Sodom to show you the depths of depravity into which men can sink. Sometimes as Tyre, the business world. Sometimes as Athens, the educated world. Sometimes as Babylon, the religious world. Many pictures to bring before us what God thinks about this world. And you know there are solemn warnings given to us in regard to the world, the adulterers and adulteresses. Know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity against God? Serious matters. You remember in the early chapters of Proverbs, you get a little talk about the wise son and the corrupt woman. And you remember that corrupt woman in the seventh chapter, it says very briefly that many strong men have been slain by her. Powerful scripture that, isn't it? In 1 John 2, describing the young men, we are strong. Word of God abides in you. You've overcome the wicked one. Love not the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. These things are antagonistic to the love of the Father. You can neither, you can't go on with both at the same time. It's either the love of the Father or the world. And the world in the scripture is delineated as a place to be feared. We were just talking today, some of us, about the attitude of Christians a century ago in regard to the world. Kept as far away from it as possible. This naughty world. Would they go to the crystal palace? No. Unless they should be found wandering after the beast. Wandering after the beast. Oh, you laugh at that. Yes. Yes, but we don't laugh at their piety. Those men of God had a proper sense of what this world is. And they kept as far away from it as possible. Now this leads me to this important passage in 1st John chapter 5 verses 4 and 5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. It's the possibility of overcoming. Overcoming the world. And then the question is raised in the fifth verse. Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. And again, this is the victory that overcometh the world even your faith. Now we came to the point last night that if God has set one world aside he has created a new world and the Son of God as being the center of that world becomes the object of faith to the Christian. And when it says this is the victory that overcometh the world even your faith. The only ones in this world who successfully have overcome it are those who have had the Lord Jesus in their hearts. Now in the scriptures again there are some wonderful examples of those who have overcome the world. I'll just give you one that's quoted in the 11th Hebrews Moses. An interesting case. He refused to be called the daughter of Moses the son of Pharaoh's daughter esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Now if you do a little bit of history study so we're told Pharaoh's daughter had a brother who was handicapped and he couldn't take up the throne. So when Moses was taken into the house and educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians mighty in word and deed he was being prepared for the throne. He could very well have had a pyramid in Egypt. But his parents father and mother had done their work well and that little chap Moses he'd been brought up to understand where true values lay. And when he was of age he made a decision and he turned his back on Egypt but he threw in his lot with the despised people of God. He had respect under the recompense of the Lord. How about some more modern examples? Have you ever heard of any? Oh yes, I think we have. William Kelly he's buried quite near here, isn't he? Brilliant fascist. The fascist said to him William settle down here you'll make a fortune. William Kelly said for which world? Give you another example back in the thirties before ever I was in the meetings or even took up medicine I went to Westminster Chapel and there was a young doctor there I think you may know him Martin Lloyd-Jones fifty years ago he'd just given up his position as assistant to Lord Corder he was a good doctor Harley Street you know tops of the profession and he was discoursing upon the third chapter of Philippians the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Here was a man who had the Son of God before him here was a man who had faith and which testimony would you like to leave in this world? A good doctor? Or one who had served the Lord? I think that's the point really, isn't it? For which world? How much have you got? The death can't touch. How far are you and I living in the victory? So we come somewhat to the end of our section tonight victory in relation to sin victory in relation to death victory in regard to this world and I thought it would be suitable if we were to finish tonight and finish this little series by having a little look at this verse in 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 Thanks be unto God which causeth us always to triumph in Christ. Maketh manifest the slavery of his knowledge by us in every place. Now this is a scripture that has a background in the contemporary world, I mean the world in which the Bible was written. The highest honour that was ever paid to a victorious general was a triumph. The victorious general had to be either a dictator or a consul or a praetor or in the days of the empire the emperor himself. The battle hadn't to be a civil war but a major battle which brought glory to the kingdom or the empire. And when a triumph was granted to the general all the expenses were paid it was conducted in Rome. The streets were daily decorated and there was a procession a procession to the capital. It took this form that the senate in person went first and then there came the trumpeters and then all the beauty of war and all the crowns and decorations were given to the victorious general. And then the captives came. Some to die some to live. And then the chariot in which the victor was found, notice it was drawn by white horses and the victor suitably clad was there in all his glory. And at the rear came along the soldiers singing their song to triumph. Now says the apostle that's what I'm talking about. Thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ. He could see his pathway through this world as in a triumphant procession. He was connected with the king of kings, the lord of lords. Forever that day dawns when he comes forth riding on a white horse suitably attired. He sees himself as caught up in the triumph train. The triumph train. There are some who are appointed unto death. Who are they? There are some who are appointed unto life. Who are they? They are those who listen to the precious gospel that he was preaching. Christ died for our sins. He's the only answer to our sins. Turn your back on him, you'll certainly die. Christ was raised again. He has given us life and glory. Accept him as your saviour, certainly you'll live. There are these captives, some appointed to life, some appointed to death. But at the back there are these soldiers who are enjoying the song to Christ. Who is sufficient for these things? I think this is the word we've got to leave with one another at the close of these meetings. Who is sufficient for these things? Not that our sufficiency is of ourselves, our sufficiency is of God. And I ask you tonight as we come to a close of this meeting, isn't it fitting that we're found giving all glory to God? On the past evening we saw that God is going to surround himself with the great company of the redeemed, all praising him. Tonight we see the possibility of being caught up in the triumphal train. Wouldn't we like to do it? Wouldn't we like to enter a little bit more into these things? Well, let us cast our all upon God and ask him to work it out in a practical way in our lives. May the Lord bless the world. …