Introduction
I want to talk to you today about victory. The title of the message: “The Sweet Smell of Victory.” Let me give you some good news—some good news: When you were born again, you were born to win. And, God’s plan for you is perpetual victory.
Look in chapter 2, verse 14—here are the words of the Apostle Paul: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour”—that means the perfume—“of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour…”—a sweet smell—“For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:14–16). God’s plan for you is victory—perpetual victory—always and in every place.
“Now,” you say, “Pastor Rogers, aren’t you stretching it a little bit? Nobody can have victory always and in every place.” Well, I guess Paul just made a mistake, then. No, friend, if you’re not having victory, it is not because Paul made a mistake; it is because you are not appropriating the victory that is yours in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, how my soul burns today to lay that upon your heart! The Bible admits the possibility of defeat for the child of God, but never the necessity of it. Did that sink in? The Bible admits the possibility of defeat for the child of God, but never the necessity of it.
Now, look at this verse: “Thanks be unto God, which causes us always to triumph in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Look at the word triumph, and let me tell you about the word triumph. If you were to go to Rome—to the Roman forum—there, you would see an arch called the Arch of Triumph. And, that’s what Paul is writing about—the same thing that that arch was built for.
The Romans had a custom that, when a Roman general would go away to a war and he would win the victory for war, they would celebrate in the streets of Rome. And, here’s how they would celebrate: Sometimes they would build a monument like the Arch of Triumph, which actually celebrates Titus’ victory over Jerusalem—the emperor, or the general, Titus, who conquered and subjugated Jerusalem. They built this magnificent arch. You can see it today; it has a picture of the Roman soldiers carrying away the Menorah out of the temple of God. Go today, and you can see that. And, a herald would come, and he would tell the people, “Rome has won.” He was called a herald. They didn’t have CNN; they didn’t have Dan Rather. Well, that was a blessing. They did not have so many things that we have today—telephones and fax machines. There needed to be a runner, a herald, with the good news. How beautiful were his feet, because he would come, and he would give the good news, “Rome has won!”
Did you know that the same word for herald that was used for this man, and for a preacher of the gospel, is the same word in the Greek language? Do you know what a preacher is? He’s someone who stands before you and says, “Jesus has won.” We have the victory; and so, that’s what preaching is—it’s just simply announcing the victory that the Lord Jesus Christ has won. How beautiful are the feet of them that tell the good news of the gospel of Christ! (Romans 10:15). We are on the winning side. Jesus has defeated the enemy.
When that herald would come and tell people that Rome had won the victory, then, they got ready for a celebration. They would hang out garlands and festoon the city with flowers. They would build, as I say, monuments. People would line the streets and get ready for a parade, and the priest would take great bowls of incense and begin to burn that incense. The whole city would be filled with the sweet smell of victory. Have you ever been down to Florida, to the Promised Land, when the orange blossoms are in profusion? You just drive along, and the air is filled with orange-blossom perfume. That’s the way it was in Rome. It was incense. It was the sweet smell of victory.
And then, the returning general would come. He would be riding in a chariot; that chariot would be pulled by a magnificent white steed. And, the defeated general—they didn’t kill him; they had a better plan. They wanted him alive, because they were going to put him on display. And, they would put him in chains; and then, they would chain him to the victorious general’s chariot, and they would drag him along behind, naked—his beautiful uniform stripped from him; his medals, his regalia, gone. And, there he is, in humiliation, being dragged through the dust. And, the people are shouting the victory, because Rome has won. The general went to war, and he has come back victorious.
Now, for a long time, Rome didn’t lose any wars, but she then began to lose. But, Paul says, “Thanks be unto God, who causes us always to triumph in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 2:14). And, do you know who it is that is chained to Jesus’ chariot’s wheels, stripped, shamed, and subdued? It is Satan. He doesn’t want you to learn that—he does not want you to learn that you are to have the victory always and in every place.
I. The Dynamic Author of this Victory
Three things I want you to learn. First of all, I want you to see the dynamic author of this victory. Look again, if you will, in verse 14—look at it: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph”—now, look at this next phrase; look at it—“in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Your victory is in Christ.
Someone said to a man who had been saved, “Oh, I understand you’ve got victory over the devil.” He said, “No, I have the victor of the devil. It is in Christ.” That is where your victory is. Jesus has subdued the devil.
Now, take your Bibles, and turn to Colossians, for a moment. Keep the mark there, in 2 Corinthians; but turn to Colossians. It’s just a couple of books to the right. And, when you come to Colossians, I want you to look, if you will, in chapter 2 and verse 13. Now, we’re speaking, here, of the same thing that Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Listen to it. Here’s the victory that Jesus, the conquering general, won for you.
Now, put this in your mind: When the Roman general had won, Rome had won. When Jesus conquered, you have won. Now, here is the way Paul describes it, in Colossians chapter 2, verse 13: “And you…”—hey, that’s talking about me; that’s talking about you. So, let’s pay attention—“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened”—that means, “made alive”—“together with him” (Colossians 2:13).
A. The Lord Delivered You from Death
The first thing that the Lord delivered you from was death; you’re delivered from death. You see, the Bible says Jesus was manifested, that He might destroy him that had the power of death, and that is the devil: And, “through death He destroyed him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). Don’t get the idea that, when you were unsaved, you were just sick and needed to get well. When you were unsaved, you were dead. You needed a miracle. You needed a resurrection. You didn’t just need a makeover; you needed a new life. You were dead. And, Jesus destroyed the devil that had the power of death, and He gave you life.
I have a friend, Byron Richardson—he’s now in Heaven; but Byron was driving through the Smokey Mountains with his wife on a beautiful summer eve. It was a wonderful time. They were having great fellowship in those mountains. But, she looked over and saw that the gas gauge was getting over toward the left-hand side. She said, “Byron, here’s a service station. Let’s stop and get some gas.” He said, “Well, plenty of time—plenty of time.” And, he didn’t stop. Have you ever done that, mister? Well, he kept on driving, thinking he would find a place. He got on those narrow, winding mountain roads. They were on a back road. She went to sleep. That gas gauge kept moving to the left. He said, “There are no service stations out here. There are no stores.” He got a little panicky. He kept driving. It got darker. He said, “If she wakes up and finds out we’re on empty, she’ll kill me. And, if we run out of gas, I’m a goner. What am I going to do?”
He began to sweat, and to pray, “God, give me a service station.” That needle got all the way over on the left-hand side. It seemed like it was just running on vapors. He was… Fellows, you know how he felt. He was panicky, right now. And so, he said, “Lord, You’ve got to do something.” And, he went around a curve, and he saw that little mountain grocery store. You know the kind; you’ve seen them so often—just there, old-fashioned. And, there were some old gasoline pumps out front—not the modern kind, the old-timey kind. He said, “Boy, I hope those things still work.” He got out, knocked on the door. The old mountaineer came to the door. He said, “Can I buy some gasoline?” He said, “Yep”—about all he said, and came out. “Thank You, Lord—thank You.” The old mountaineer had his head down. He was putting the gas in the tank. Byron was feeling so good now. He just stretched and breathed the mountain air, and he said to the old mountaineer, “Man, it’s great to be alive.” The old mountaineer never lifted his head. He just said, “Don’t know. Never been no other way.”
Well, friend, if you’re saved, you have been another way. You were dead in trespasses and sin; and, when Jesus Christ died, He delivered you form death.
B. The Lord Delivered You from Debt
But, not only did He deliver you from death; He delivered you from debt. Look again in this passage of Scripture here, in Colossians, and see what our Lord delivered you from. The Bible says here that He did something very wonderful. In verse 13, he says He has “forgiven you all trespasses;”—that means, “debts”—“blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:13–14). Now, are you ready for a blessing? Not only did Jesus, your conquering general, deliver you from death, but He delivered you from debt.
What was “the handwriting of ordinances” that was “contrary to us”? Well, let’s suppose you had done a crime. You’re indicted for that crime. There is a handwriting of ordinances. That is, there’s the written law. The law says that, if you have committed a crime, here is the penalty. There it is; it is written out. It is the handwriting of ordinances; it is the written law. And, this verse says it is against us, because we are the criminals.
Now, in Bible times, in Rome, if you committed a crime, you would be hailed into court. The indictment would be read; the trial would be adjudicated; and then, your sentence would be written. This is the handwriting of ordinances that is against you: what you have done; what the law says, and what the penalty says. That’s all on the handwriting of ordinances that’s against you. Then, they would take you and put you in prison, if you were to be put in prison. They would take this handwriting of ordinances, and they would nail it to your prison door. And, there it is. If you want to know what this man is guilty of, just read it. You want to know how long he has to serve, what his punishment is—it’s right there. If you want to know what law he transgressed, it’s right there. It’s the handwriting of ordinances. That man would stay in prison until he had paid in full; and, when he had paid in full, the jailer would come and release him, take that bill from off the door, that handwriting of ordinances, and carry the man to the court. The handwriting of ordinances would be given to the clerk. The judge would say to the clerk, “Is this the man?” “Yes.” “Has he paid the penalty?” “Yes, he has.” The judge would say to the clerk, “Then stamp it, ‘Paid in full,’ and give it to him.” And, he would write on that handwriting of ordinances, “Paid in full,” and give it to him. In the Greek language, he would write, “Tetelestai”—“It is finished; it is paid in full”—and give it to him.
Then, should he be walking the streets, and somebody would say, “Aren’t you the one who did that crime?” “Yes, I am.” “Arrest him.” “You can’t arrest me. I’ve already paid. You cannot pull me into double jeopardy. There it is. It is marked, ‘Paid in full.’” That’s “the handwriting of ordinances” that was against us.
Now, notice what the Bible says that Jesus did on the cross: He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and He nailed it to his cross—against us, but to His cross (Colossians 2:14). All of those things—all of the debt—that we have done were nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ; and, Jesus suffered, bled, and died, in our place. And, when He had finished with our atonement, Jesus bowed His head. And, what did He say? “It is finished” (John 19:30). “It is paid in full.”
Now, the Bible calls the devil, “the accuser of our brethren” (Revelation 12:10)—“of the brethren.” He’s like the prosecuting attorney. You and I have sinned. We have failed. And so, Satan has access to Heaven to accuse us, as he accused Job, before God the Father. And, he says to God the Father, “You call Yourself a holy God? There’s that man down there named Adrian. He claims to be Your follower. But, You are holy. You can’t let sin go unpunished. He’s a sinner. And, I demand, if You’re a holy God, that You fling him into Hell.” But then, my defense attorney, my advocate, stands up—“If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1)—and, He says, “Yes, Father, he’s sinned. But, Father, look at this certificate of debt. It is paid in full. It is written, ‘Paid in full. It is finished.’” “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?” (Romans 8:33). Hallelujah! “He ever lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25).
And so, the devil says, “I’m not going to get anywhere up here. I’m going to go down there and torment Adrian.” So, he’ll wake me up in the middle of the night, or just before I get ready to preach, or some other time, and he’ll say, “Look at you, you miserable wretch! What right do you have, with all of your failures and all of your faults, to stand before those people and preach? You are condemned. You know what you’ve done.” I can just pull out my certificate of debt, stamped, “paid in full,” written in the crimson blood of Jesus Christ, and just wave it in his face and say, “Read that, and be gone!”
See? What did Jesus do? He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and nailed it to the cross. He went through the prison house of humanity—said, “I’ll take his list. I’ll take his list. I’ll take his, and hers, and hers, and hers, and hers, and hers, and his, and hers, and hers, and hers, and hers, and his, and his. I’ll take them all”— every filthy, dirty, wicked thing we’ve done. He took that handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and nailed it to His cross. And, when He died, He said, “Paid in full.” And, folks, that’s good news—that’s good news. Now, we’re not finished yet.
C. The Lord Delivered You from the Devil
Not only did He overcome, friend, our death, verse 13—I’m in Colossians 2—and our debt, verse 14; but He also overcame the devil, verse 15—look at it: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
1. Satan has been Stripped
Now, look at it. Look at the word spoiled. Do you see it? This is Colossians 2, verse
15. Do you know what the word spoiled is? It’s ekduo; it means, “to strip.” Satan has been stripped—all of his pomp, all of his circumstance, all of the majesty, all of the glory that he had as the chief angel. And, he was the chief angel. He was Lucifer, the son of the morning, before he fell and became Satan, the father of the night. But Jesus, at Calvary, ripped from him all of that pomp, and all of that glory, and all of that circumstance: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly” (Colossians 2:15).
2. Satan has been Shamed
Now, the word to make a show of means, “to be put to shame.” He has ridiculed Satan. Satan has ignominiously been dragged before and paraded before the peoples of this world. And, Satan still wants you to see him as some sort of a maniacal monster in control. But, his back has been broken. He is chained to the chariot of Jesus, and Jesus has made a show of him openly. He doesn’t want you to understand that, my dear friend. He has been stripped; he has been shamed.
3. Satan has been Subdued
And then, look: “Triumphing over them in it”—them referring to principalities and powers; Hell and all of its hosts (Colossians 2:15). There’s a triumph. Satan has been stripped. He has been shamed. He has been subdued.
And, at the cross, when Jesus died, He took care of your three great things, your enemies, that bring you into bondage—your death, your debt, and the devil have all been taken care of by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. That, my friend—that is the author of our victory, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is victory in Christ.
II. The Dynamic Arena of this Victory
Now, here’s a second thing I want you to notice: Not only the author of this victory, but I want you to notice the arena of this victory. Go back, if you will now, to this scripture—go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, and look in verse 14 again: “Now thanks be unto God, which…”—now, look at the next word—“which always…”—put a circle around it—“which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge in every place” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Put a circle around “always,” and put a circle around “every place.” And then, look up here, and tell me, when He said, “always,” and, “every place,” what He left out. Nothing.
I mean, when you’ve said time and space, you’ve said it all—“always” and “in every place.” It is not that you triumph sometimes. You triumph always, and in every place. There is no time that the child of God is not to be victorious. He is always giving us the victory in the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 15—not will give; not in the sweet by-and-by, but in the nasty now-and-now; not over there, but right now, where you are (1 Corinthians 15:57). In your circumstances, in your family, in your job, in your health, in your finances—where you are, right now—you are to be always triumphant in every place.
“Well,” you say “Pastor, that means that it will be just smooth sailing for me all the way—all honey and no bees, sunlight and roses, and, health and happiness, and joy.” Nope—nope. If you didn’t have any problems, you wouldn’t need to be triumphant. Friend, listen to me. Paul wrote this text right here in trouble. Look, in chapter 2, verse 12—he says, “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 2:12–13). He said, “I came to Troas to preach. Titus wasn’t there. Everything got messed up. I had to go over to Macedonia. My plan fell to the ground. I lost an opportunity, but I’m still triumphant—I’m still triumphant.”
Just fast-forward to chapter 4; look in verses 8 and 9. If you think that Paul didn’t have any troubles, or if you think that I’m being ridiculous by telling you that you’re to be in victory all the time, look in chapter 4, verses 8 and 9—Paul said, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). Paul saw himself as an athlete who always won. He knew trouble; he knew difficulty. Look at it: “We’re troubled on every side, but not distressed”—that is, “not without hope” (2 Corinthians 4:8).
I’m speaking to some people today—you’ve got trouble; I mean, big trouble. You’ve been to the doctor, and the doctor tells you that you have a malignancy; without a miracle, you won’t live. Some of you are getting old, and you’re lonely, and your children have been ungrateful. You go to a mailbox—there’s no letter. You wait for the telephone to ring, and it doesn’t ring. Some of you need a job; you don’t have a job. Some of you are preacher boys here at Mid-America Seminary. You’re trying to hold two jobs and go to school, getting further and further behind. And, you can’t learn that Greek. It’s hard. Some of you have kids that are breaking your heart. You’ve got a boy on drugs. You’ve got a precious daughter who’s sleeping around. Some of you have a husband who’s abusive and mean. You say, “Pastor, you call that victory?” Friend, that’s where the victory comes. The devil says, “I have got you; and, I have got you pinned to the mat, and you will not get up.” You say, “Jesus, help me to lift that shoulder,” and he can’t pin you.
That’s what he’s talking about—“troubled, but not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). The word perplexed means, “I don’t know; I can’t understand it.” “There is no way out, but I’m not in despair.”
Have you any rivers that seem to be uncrossable?
Have you any mountains you cannot tunnel through?
God specializes in things that seem impossible.
He knows a thousand ways to make a way for you. (Oscar C. Eliason, adapted)
“Persecuted, but not forsaken” (2 Corinthians 4:9). You have some enemies? Of course you will.
Have you been reading the paper now that it’s open season on Christians? I have been telling you for several years it’s coming. It has arrived. We are in a cultural war, and get ready to be persecuted. That’s what the word persecuted means. Don’t let it upset you. It just simply means you’re doing right: “Persecuted, but not forsaken” (2 Corinthians 4:9). Jesus is especially true, especially near, especially powerful, for those who stand up and refuse to bow the knee.
He says here, “Cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:9). Do you know what that means? It means, “Knocked down, but not knocked out.” Satan is counting over you, “One, two, three, four, five—uh oh, he’s getting up again. I’ve thought I’m done with him.” Friend, he’ll never be done with us, because Jesus has finished him, and we have the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul knew trouble. He knew heartache; he knew pain; he knew anguish; he knew temptations and trials. But, he said, “Thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Do you get it? Friend, if there’s no opposition, what do you need to triumph for? If there’s not difficulty, no trial, no heartache, no tears, no fears, no problems, then why do you have to be triumphant? The divine author of our victory. The dynamic arena of our victory is “always” and “in every place.”
III. The Delightful Aroma of this Victory
Last of all, I want you to notice the delightful aroma, the distinctive aroma, of our victory. Go back to our text now—2 Corinthians chapter 2—and look. Look, here’s what it’s all about. Now, as the priest in Rome would burn incense, what is the incense that is burned because of the victory of Christ? It is my life and your life. Look, if you will, in verse 15: “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15).
And, why do we do this? Well, look in verse 14: “We make manifest the savor”—the perfume—“of his knowledge by us in every place” (2 Corinthians 2:14). When we, in adversity, in trial, in heartache, in persecution, in distress, in necessities, when we then praise God, and then stand in the victory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is then, dear friend, that our lives become perfume, and we give a testimony to the fact that Christ has won the victory.
Let me give you the best illustration that I know of. It’s found in Acts the 16th chapter. Paul and Silas were God’s evangelists and missionaries. They had gone to the city of Philippi to preach and to build a church, and the devil had opposed them. And, there was a demon-possessed girl who’d followed after them, and said, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Well, wasn’t that right? It was right, but it was a trick of the devil to associate the gospel with the occult. The devil is very clever. And, Paul did not want the patronage of Hell. And, he turned around, and he rebuked that girl in the name of Jesus and ran the devil out of her. Her owners, who were making money through this fortunetelling, were incensed. They trumped up some false charges on Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas were thrown into prison.
Now, friend, if you think that prison conditions are bad in America, you should have known prison conditions in Bible times. The conditions were intolerable. There were no sanitary facilities. They were no toilets, no running water. People would sleep and walk in their own feces and refuse. There was no air conditioning—unbearably cold, unbearably hot; no light, except maybe a small ray of light seeping in through a little hole; scraps of maggot-filled food to eat. They would be beaten and whipped, kept in stone-cold steel chains. And, here’s Paul and Silas now, preaching—men of God. It was Paul who said, “God causes us always to triumph” (2 Corinthians 2:14). What are they doing now? Are they complaining? Are they saying, “God, is this the way You treat Your servants? Here we were preaching, here we were in a revival, and You threw us into prison. You allowed this God. Why?” No, they didn’t do that.
You read Acts chapter 16—the Bible says, at midnight, Paul and Silas were doing what? Singing songs in the night and praising (Acts 16:25). Now, you didn’t hear singing in jail—moaning, but not singing; cursing, but not praising. The angels come to look over the bottom of Heaven. There’s a smell that begins to arise. A sweet perfume is coming out of that jail. It’s going up to Heaven. God the Father smells it. God calls His earthquake angel, and He says, “Go down there, and shake that place”—the first jailhouse rock—“shake that place.” The Bible says the prison doors began to swing idly on their hinges (Acts 16:26). The bonds fell off these men’s hands. The jailer woke up out of his sleep. He sees the doors open. He says, “Oh, they’ve all escaped; they’ll torture me and kill me.” He draws out his sword; he’s going to kill himself. Paul and Silas say, “Do yourself no harm. We are all here”—not just Paul and Silas; every prisoner was there (Acts 16:28). That’s interesting—not a one of them left. They’ve been so awed by the power of God in these men’s lives, and the miracle-working power of God. They wanted to stay to hear the gospel. This man comes in. He sees that God has been at work. He smells that incense, that savor of life unto life, and he asks the question that you and I need to get everybody to ask, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).
Learn this, friend: Not only are we witnesses for Jesus; we’re part of the evidence. They need to smell that perfume—that incense, that sweet smell of victory. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). And, you know the answer—in Acts 16, verse 31: “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). That is, “If the people at home believe, they’ll be saved too.” And, they did. Think about it. The prisoners were saved. I believe they were. They stayed right there in that prison. The jailer was saved. The jailer’s wife was saved. The jailer’s household was saved. The devil said, “I am going to stop this revival.” He didn’t stop it. All he did was change the location. Amen? And, as a matter of fact, when he crushed them—when that rose was crushed—that’s when the perfume came out. And, they became a savor of life unto life. That is the sweet smell of victory, and your neighbors need to see it.
Conclusion
Friend, when you have heartache, and fears, and tears, and distress, and perplexity, I want you to open your Bible, and I want you to say, “Hallelujah! Thanks be unto God, who causes us always to triumph in Christ Jesus.” Satan has been defeated—he has been stripped; he has been shamed; he has been subdued. He sails a sinking ship; he rules a doomed domain. Jesus has won, and never forget it! We are triumphant in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have victory in Christ. But, this verse—verse 16—says, “We are a savor of life unto life, and death unto death” (2 Corinthians 2:16). If Jesus’ victory does not save you, it will condemn you. You’re on one side of the cross or the other.
There was a man who once was a citizen of France, and that man became a citizen of Great Britain. You will remember that the English defeated the French at Waterloo. While that man was a citizen of France, Waterloo, for him, was a defeat. But, when that man became a citizen of Great Britain, Waterloo, for him, was a victory. Now, friend, it all depends on what side of the cross you’re on—“a savor of life unto life, or death unto death” (2 Corinthians 2:16). You need to get on the victory side.
