VICTORY IN JESUS
THIS MORNING, I AM GOING TO SPEND MUCH OF OUR TIME TOGETHER IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS. I POINT THAT OUT BECAUSE PAUL’S LETTER TO THE CHRISTIANS AT ROME IS SUCH A FANTASTIC BOOK AND WE CAN LEARN SO MUCH ABOUT OUR FAITH FROM THAT SINGLE BOOK.
ANYWAY … BEFORE I GO THERE … THERE IS A WONDERFUL HYMN OUT THERE, WHICH WE WILL BE SINGING IN A FEW MINUTES, CALLED VICTORY IN JESUS.
HERE IS HOW THE CHORUS GOES …
“OH VICTORY IN JESUS, MY SAVIOR FOREVER … HE SOUGHT ME … HE BOUGHT ME WITH HIS REDEEMING BLOOD. HE LOVED ME 'ERE I KNEW HIM AND ALL MY LOVE IS DUE HIM. HE PLUNGED ME TO VICTORY BENEATH THE CLEANSING FLOOD.”
I OPEN WITH THIS BECAUSE WE AS HUMANS ARE AN ODD RACE WHEN COMES TO OUR SPIRITUAL WELL BEING … AND EVEN IN SOME CASES OUR SECULAR NATURES.
FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS MORNING HOWEVER, I WANT TO ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTION – “WHY DO WE FEEL DEFEATED WHEN IN FACT THE BATTLE HAS ALREADY BEEN WON, AND WE SHOULD BE CLAIMING VICTORY INSTEAD”
BECAUSE OF THAT, MANY CHRISTIANS FALL VICTIM TO WHAT PAULADDRESSES IN OUR SCRIPTURE READING FROM ROMANS 6, WHERE HE WRITES –
“WHAT SHALL WE SAY, THEN? SHALL WE GO ON SINNING, SO THAT GRACE MAY INCREASE? BY NO MEANS! WE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE DIED TO SIN; HOW CAN WE LIVE IN IT ANY LONGER?”
PAUL IS WRITING TO THOSE WHO THINK THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE SAVED THEY CAN GO ON SINNING BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN IN CHRIST.
HE IS IMPLYING … HOW IDIOTIC IS THAT … ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE CONSIDERS WHAT PAUL WRITES, LATER IN THAT SAME PASSAGE, WHICH READS AS FOLLOWS:
“WE KNOW THAT OUR OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM SO THAT THE BODY RULED BY SIN MIGHT BE DONE AWAY WITH, THAT WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN – BECAUSE ANYONE WHO HAS DIED HAS BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN.”
PAUL IS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO WRITE ABOUT OUR SPIRITUAL VICTORY.
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, IN PSALM 44, THE PSALMIST WRITES – “YOU GIVE US VICTORY OVER OUR ENEMIES, YOU PUT OUR ADVERSARIES TO SHAME. IN GOD WE MAKE OUR BOAST ALL DAY LONG, AND WE WILL PRAISE YOUR NAME FOR EVER.”
OUR ENEMY TODAY IS THE DEVIL … OUR ENEMY TODAY IS SIN … ‘BUT THANKS BE TO GOD WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY’
THAT LAST STATEMENT IS ACTUALLY AN EXTRACT FROM ROMANS 7, WHERE PAUL STATES THAT THE INTERNAL SPIRITUAL BATTLE IN CLAIMING VICTORY IS NOT AN EASY ONE.
LISTEN TO THIS … ROMANS 7, VERSES 14 TO 25:
“WE KNOW THAT THE LAW IS SPIRITUAL; BUT I AM UNSPIRITUAL, SOLD AS A SLAVE TO SIN. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I DO. FOR WHAT I WANT TO DO I DO NOT DO, BUT WHAT I HATE I DO. AND IF I DO WHAT I DO NOT WANT TO DO, I AGREE THAT THE LAW IS GOOD. AS IT IS, IT IS NO LONGER I MYSELF WHO DO IT, BUT IT IS SIN LIVING IN ME. FOR I KNOW THAT GOOD ITSELF DOES NOT DWELL IN ME, THAT IS, IN MY SINFUL NATURE. FOR I HAVE THE DESIRE TO DO WHAT IS GOOD, BUT I CANNOT CARRY IT OUT. FOR I DO NOT DO THE GOOD I WANT TO DO, BUT THE EVIL I DO NOT WANT TO DO – THIS I KEEP ON DOING. NOW IF I DO WHAT I DO NOT WANT TO DO, IT IS NO LONGER I WHO DO IT, BUT IT IS SIN LIVING IN ME THAT DOES IT.
WHAT A WRETCHED MAN I AM! WHO WILL RESCUE ME FROM THIS BODY THAT IS SUBJECT TO DEATH? BUT … THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO DELIVERS ME THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!
I BRING UP THAT PASSAGE BECAUSE THAT IS ONE PASSAGE THAT SOME USE AS AN EXCUSE TO GO ON SINNING, AFTER THEY HAVE BECOME A CHRISTIAN.
LET ME THEN OFFER SOME ASSURANCE OF OUR VICTORY AND CONFIRMATION THAT WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS.
A COUPLE OF POINTS TO CONFIRM THAT THEN … WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS IN THE FACE OF TRIALS.
IN ROMANS 8, FOR EXAMPLE, PAUL IS WRITING TO CHRISTIANS AT ROME, OFFERING ASSURANCE OF THEIR VICTORY IN JESUS. HE OPENS WITH THE WORDS – “THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS”
IN OTHER WORDS … BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN REDEEMED, NO ONE CAN ANY LONGER CALL YOU GUILTY … THE PRICE FOR YOUR SIN HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL.
THEN LATER IN THAT SAME CHAPTER HE DESCRIBES A LIST THAT SAYS THAT NOTHING CAN, AND NO PERSON CAN, TAKE AWAY CHRIST’S LOVE FROM THE BELIEVER.
WHEN PAUL WROTE TO THE CHRISTIANS IN ROME, THEY WERE NEW CHRISTIANS. HOWEVER, SOME NOW THOUGHT THEIR LIFE WAS GOING TO BE A PATH OF EASE AND LUXURY. VERY QUICKLY THEY LEARNED THE OPPOSITE, THANKS TO THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS BY ROME.
PAUL THEN HAD TO POINT OUT THAT THEY ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS BECAUSE CHRIST LOVES THEM SO MUCH. HE WON THE FIGHT AGAINST SIN AND DEATH.
THAT IS THE POINT GOD WANTS US TO REMEMBER TODAY. IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVING AND IN THE YEARS OF OUR LIVING AND DECADES AND GENERATIONS OF OUR LIVING, WE ARE GOING TO FACE DIFFERENT DIF-FICULTIES IN OUR LIVES.
TAKE NOTE OF THIS THAT PETER WROTE IN HIS FIRST LETTER … 1 PETER 4 AND VERSES 12 AND 13, WHICH READS – “DEAR FRIENDS, DO NOT BE SURPRISED AT THE FIERY ORDEAL THAT HAS COME ON YOU TO TEST YOU, AS THOUGH SOMETHING STRANGE WERE HAPPENING TO YOU. BUT REJOICE INASMUCH AS YOU PARTICIPATE IN THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, SO THAT YOU MAY BE OVERJOYED WHEN HIS GLORY IS REVEALED.”
CONSIDER THIS … WE PRESENTLY LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS FILLED WITH SIN AND SIN AFFECTS ALL OF US. JUST LOOK AROUND AT WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE WORLD TODAY.
IN ADDITION … THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO DO NOT LOVE GOD AND DO NOT LOVE THOSE WHO LOVE GOD, SO, BECAUSE OF THAT, THERE IS ALWAYS A STRUGGLE BETWEEN BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS, BETWEEN WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG.
THEREFORE … THE CONCEPT OF FACING TRIALS IS THE NORM , BUT WE SHOULD TAKE COMFORT IN THE FACT THAT THE BATTLE WITH TRIALS BUILDS CHARACTER.
PAUL ADDRESSES THAT MATTER EARLY IN ROMANS 5. LOOK AT WHAT HE SAYS THERE …
HE STARTS WITH THIS … “SINCE WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED THROUGH FAITH, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.”
THEN HE GOES ON A COUPLE OF VERSES LATER, AS FOLLOWS:
“WE ALSO GLORY IN OUR SUFFERINGS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT SUFFERING PRODUCES PERSEVERANCE; PERSEVERANCE, CHARACTER; AND CHARACTER, HOPE.”
I KNOW TIMES OF TRIAL AND SUFFERING ARE NOT FUN TO GO THROUGH, BUT TAKE CONFIDENCE IN WHAT JAMES WROTE TO HIS READERS IN JAMES 1.
HE WRITES – “CONSIDER IT PURE JOY, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHENEVER YOU FACE TRIALS OF MANY KINDS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT THE TESTING OF YOUR FAITH PRODUCES PERSEVERANCE.”
FINALLY THEN … WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS BY WAY OF A VICTORY IN JESUS.
NEAR THE END OF ROMANS 8, PAUL ASKS … “WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST”
AT THAT POINT, PAUL GOES DOWN A LIST IN VERSES 38 AND 39 … AND THAT LIST IS PRETTY ALL INCLUSIVE. IT LEAVES NOTHING TO THE IMAGINATION AS TO WHAT THE SPIRIT DOES BATTLE WITH.
“NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE, NEITHER ANGELS NOR DEMONS, NEITHER THE PRESENT NOR THE FUTURE, NOR ANY POWERS, NEITHER HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.”
HAVING SAID THAT … THERE IS ONE THING THAT CAN SEPARATE THE UNBELIEVER FROM GOD’S LOVE … AND THIS IS PRETTY SCARY.
A HARDENED HEART. WHEN AN UNBELIEVER UTLIMATELY STATES THEY WANT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THE GOSPEL AND HARD CORE REJECT IT … GOD WILL CUT THEM OFF.
LOOK AT ROMANS CHAPTER 1. PAUL WRITES ABOUT VARIOUS SINS AND AT A COUPLE OF POINTS MAKES THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT ABOUT THEM:
“… THEREFORE GOD GAVE THEM OVER IN THE SINFUL DESIRES OF THEIR HEARTS …” THAT’S VERSE 24. THEN IN VERSE 28 WE FIND THESE WORDS – “FURTHERMORE, JUST AS THEY DID NOT THINK IT WORTH WHILE TO RETAIN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, SO GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A DEPRAVED MIND, SO THAT THEY DO WHAT OUGHT NOT TO BE DONE.”
REMEMBER THEN THAT WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH THE LOVE GOD SHOWED THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST … TO EACH ONE OF US IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
AS A CHRISTIAN, YOU SHOULD TAKE CONFIDENCE AND KNOW, BELIEVE AND BE CONVINCED OF THIS POWERFUL TRUTH BY FAITH.
1 JOHN 5:4 STATES: "EVERYONE BORN OF GOD OVERCOMES THE WORLD.
THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH"
BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS WE ARE DEFINITELY MORE THAN CONQUERORS AND CAN CLAIM VICTORY IN JESUS.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE OF THAT CAN BE FOUND IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15, WHERE PAUL WROTE:
“‘WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?’ THE STING OF DEATH IS SIN, AND THE POWER OF SIN IS THE LAW. BUT THANKS BE TO GOD! HE GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.”
WE CAN THEREFORE CLAIM VICTORY AND CLAIM THE VICTORY OF CHRIST’S STATEMENT TO HIS DISCIPLES, WHEN HE TOLD THEM, AS WE FIND AT THE END OF JOHN 16 …
“IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE. BUT TAKE HEART! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.”
SO … BECAUSE OF JESUS’ OVERCOMING, WE ARE OVERCOMERS.
WE HAVE THE TOOLS TO FACE ALL OF OUR TRIALS KNOWING THAT JESUS IS VICTORIOUS.
SINCE JESUS IS VICTORIOUS, WE ARE VICTORIOUS. WE ARE EVEN MORE THAN VICTORIOUS, MORE THAN CHAMPIONS. WE ARE MORE THAN CON-QUERORS THEN THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
SO … KNOW IT … BELIEVE IT … CLAIM IT … LIVE IT … A VICTORY IN JESUS!
“I HEARD AN OLD, OLD STORY, HOW A SAVIOR CAME FROM GLORY HOW HE GAVE HIS LIFE ON CALVARY TO SAVE A WRETCH LIKE ME. I HEARD ABOUT HIS GROANING, OF HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD'S ATONING. THEN I REPENTED OF MY SINS AND WON THE VICTORY.
LET’S STAND TOGETHER FOR THAT CLOSING HYMN … A VICTORY IN JESUS … NUMBER 473 …
(BENEDICTION)
THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU;
THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON YOU, AND BE GRACIOUS TO YOU;
THE LORD LIFT UP HIS COUNTENANCE UPON YOU, AND GIVE YOU PEACE.
AMEN.
THE LORD BE WITH YOU.
