May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the second epistle
of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter two, and we'll read verse 14. The second epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians, chapter two, and reading verse 14. Now, thanks be unto God which
always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the
savour of his knowledge by us in every place. And then we can link this with
the last verse in the ninth chapter that we read in the second of
Corinthians, which is, thanks be to God for his unspeakable
gift. That gift, of course, is none
less than the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful blessing for
us to be able to come and to be thankful to God for his mercies,
for his blessings, for his favours. And, of course, we won't be unless
we have the evidence of God's mercy and God's favour toward
us. So what a blessing it will be
if you and I tonight are able to cast our minds back in our
life to see whether we have received the mercy and the favour of Almighty
God and thus be able to truly be thankful in our heart unto
God. We should be thankful, shouldn't
we really, every day and many times a day to realise that it's
a wonderful blessing to possess the knowledge of Christ toward
us in that saving way, to realise that the blessed God, the second
person in the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this
sinful world with that great and glorious objective to die
in the place of unworthy sinners, indeed to save his people from
their sins. And of course, all of us need
to know that blessing of forgiveness. So easy to just wander on aimlessly
in our life. But what a favour it is if the
Holy Spirit brings us to that condition and position before
a holy God, that we realise we do need a saviour, we do need
salvation, to realise we cannot save ourselves from that terrible
destiny of hell. We are utterly unable to. because
we are guilty sinners ourselves and we can never justify ourselves. And therefore, what a wonderful
blessing if the Holy Spirit has directed us to none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ and brought us to that position to be able
to say from our very heart, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. When we think of that term it
really means that it's just beyond our natural ability to formulate
words to speak of the greatness and the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what a thing it is to think
that he has been given by the Father as that wonderful gift
to the Church of God and was so willing to come into this
sinful world to save us. Oh, my friends, may we know the
application of the word of God and to know that Jesus came to
die for us in a personal way as we stand before a holy God
with no righteousness ourselves, Indeed, as the Word of God tells
us, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And the reason
for that is that even with our best endeavours, sin is mixed
with all we do. And therefore we must have the
righteousness of another. And the only one who can give
us that righteousness which is acceptable to God is the great
and glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well tonight, what
a mercy if we have a good hope, a good hope through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ that this has been granted to us And
if we don't have that hope, and if we don't have that evidence,
oh may we earnestly pray to God that he will grant us the evidence
that we do possess his righteousness, which he brought about through
his death upon that cross at Calvary. You know, it's so easy,
isn't it, to become familiar with these great truths contained
in the Word of God. But it's a great blessing if
the Holy Spirit has applied these truths to our very heart so that
we're able to confess before God I know whom I have believed. What a blessing that is. And
what a favour it is. Because if the Lord Jesus Christ
has indeed died for us, then our eternal state in glory is
secure. And this verse, this 14th verse,
really points us to that wonderful security tells us now, thanks
be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. We can't triumph in and through
our own ability, but we can triumph through Christ, through what
he's done. And if we do triumph through
Christ, what a mercy it is to think that the Almighty God has
looked upon us in our lowest state, for his mercy endureth
forever. What a blessing tonight, if we
can trace out that the Lord has looked down from heaven, he's
looked upon us, perhaps he's stopped us in our mad career,
perhaps in our career in this world, going after the things
which do not profit, the things which will not bring us home
to glory. And yet if the Lord has come
to us and put forth his hand and stopped us in our mad career,
well, what a favour if you and I have a testimony to this end. You know, we talk about testimonies,
don't we? And it's good to have a testimony. And that means it's good to have
the evidence of what God has done for our souls. It's not
what we've done for God. It's what God has done for us. Because if we're able to testify
and to tell and to remember and recall what God has done for
us, You see we have the evidence then of his great gift toward
us. His great gift, thanks be unto
God for his unspeakable gift because through his death he
gives the great gift of eternal life. How often we seek after
things of this world, don't we? Often we think, will it be nice
if we possess this and if we possess that and that will make
us happy and I'll be able to enjoy this and enjoy that. But
let us realise, as Jesus so clearly and wonderfully said, one thing
is needful. He was speaking Of course, to
Martha, who was questioning him about Mary and what she was doing. And he told her very clearly,
one thing is needful and Mary has chosen that good part, which
should not be taken away from her. Well, tonight, it'll be
a blessing if God has put in our heart a desire to seek after
Christ, the church's ever-living head. And as such, has blessed
us with this great privilege of being able to say with the
Apostle Paul, now, thanks be unto God. Well, I wonder tonight,
before God, if you and I can be honest and save, from our
heart. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. Thanks be to God, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ. It's a great blessing, isn't
it, to have the wonderful evidence, which it is, of the work of the
Saviour within us. Because what has that work done?
It's brought us from that condition of darkness, from that condition
of death, to that condition of light, and to that condition
of life. We're able to say, with that
one of the scriptures, one thing I know, whereas I was blind,
but now I see. What had he been blessed with?
He'd been blessed with spiritual sight, to recognise His condition
lost and ruined in the fall. He'd been blessed with spiritual
sight to view by faith the glory of Christ as his blessed savior. Well, what a mercy then for all
of us here tonight. If the Lord God has given us,
given us eyes to see, spiritual eyes, to view the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and also spiritual ears to hear His voice. These
things are very simple, aren't they, really? But they're so
good and so important because if we possess these favours,
then these words will be true, which always causes us to triumph
in Christ. You and I won't triumph ourselves. We have no ability to triumph,
but we can triumph through what Christ has done. He fulfilled
the law of God. He kept it perfectly. He made
it honourable. He did his Father's will. He
didn't fail in one small jot or tittle. He kept it completely,
rightly and holily. And he kept it on our behalf. What a mercy then tonight if
we are amongst those for whom he did keep it and to therefore
come and to have the wonderful evidence that we are complete
in him, not outside, complete in him, once in him, in him forever. It's a unity, united to Christ. What a blessing, my friends,
that is. You know, if you and I are united
to Christ, there's no failure. Once in Him, in Him forever. There's security in Christ. That's why there is triumph in
Christ. You see, the blessed Saviour
triumphed on that cross at Calvary. And don't underestimate the cost
of our and your salvation, what the Saviour had to endure in
order to bring about that salvation. What a cost was paid. Never weary
of remembering the cost, never weary about going to the, we
might say the upper room, and reading in that wonderful sermon
that the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples then. And then as he
went to Gethsemane, knowing what was before him, and we're told
being in agony, he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling
to the ground. It's an agony which you and I
don't know anything about. Yes, he had to carry the sins,
not of your sins, not of my sins, but the sins of the whole Church
of God. Just try and think of that. No wonder it was an enormous
weight. And the blessed Saviour there,
as he prayed to his father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. And then think of the wonderful
words, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. That is a
glorious testimony and a glorious evidence for us in our lives. to be able to come and say, in
our lives, whatever it is, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. What is the will of God for you? What is the will of God for me?
Perhaps we might be fearful. Perhaps we may be afraid of what
the future might hold. Well, let us never forget, the
great words of the Apostle Paul, who tells us, I can do all things
through Christ that strengtheneth me. Not in our own strength,
we'll fail, but by the grace of God, we can do all things
through Christ that strengtheneth me. And you know if we receive
that help, so to do, we shall be able to recognise therefore
how the Apostle was able, by the grace of God, to pen these
wonderful words. Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes
us to triumph in Christ. No failures in Christ. He never failed. He never failed
in that guile of Gethsemane, did he? And then as he was taken
as a captive, as a prisoner to the judgment hall. Yes, and there
condemned for sins not his own. What was he doing? He was bearing
the punishment instead. It's good to sometimes again
think of what he endured in that judgment hall. Great opposition. Yes, lashed on his back. Great sores there. Beaten on his face. Great disfigurement
there. You see, so often today we see
drawings of the Saviour, some wonderful, beautiful man. Well,
my friends, His face, His body was more marred than any man,
any man, any man. Just think of that. and it was done so that you and
I might triumph over the devil and all his plans to make us
fall, all his plans of making us deny him, all his plans of
turning us away from God. Oh, what a blessing it is to
realise that through this great and glorious Saviour, We are
more than conquerors. The devil could not, he could
not conquer us because Christ died in our place and our stead. Well, my friends, it won't mean
anything to us. Is it nothing to you, you that
pass by? What does it mean? As you and
I, not in a physical way, But in a mental way, we pass by the
great truths of Scripture and we think about them, I hope we
do. What does it mean to us? Is it
nothing to you? Is Christ's death nothing to
you? It will be nothing to you if
you don't have a debt to pay. But if you do have a debt to
pay, and if you know it's a debt that you can't pay, you'll then realise what a great
need you have of a Saviour to take away your sins, and come
then to this position and be able to say, yes, thanks be unto
God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. You know the result will be that
the name of our Saviour will be honoured and glorified. Because if this is true in your
life and my life, you know there will be a great desire to honour
the Lord for what He's done. in delivering us from the wrath
to come. It's a wonderful consideration
to consider there was wrath to come and we deserved it because
we've disobeyed God. I wonder sometimes if we stand
there as a condemned sinner before our holy God, and realise that
you and I have nothing to pay, no currency that will redeem
our souls. We're guilty before a holy God
and then to be led, led to see by faith the suffering Saviour
and then given grace to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
to be saved. Oh, as the Apostle said to the
Philippians, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. He wanted to know what must I
do to be saved? What must I do? It wasn't any
option. It was a necessity. Thanks be
unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Christ then becomes a blessed
Savior. There was a time in our lives
when, as I've said, to nothing to you that passed by, Christ
meant nothing to us, just a name, just an historical name, just
a name that we perhaps thought about perhaps at Christmas and
perhaps at Easter, And apart from that, we've carried on in
our life with no real consideration. But what
a most wonderful favour it is when the Holy Spirit comes and
causes us to consider. Paul tells us when he wrote to
the Hebrews, consider him. consider him. I wonder tonight
if you were able to say by the grace of God I have considered
the Savior. I have considered the cost of
his salvation and it's brought me to this place to say thanks
be unto God for his unspeakable gift. What a mercy that is if
you and I have come before God to thank Him for what He's done
in redeeming our soul and don't
forget the cost of our redemption and to redeem means the price
had to be paid to take away our sin. You know naturally in courts
when sometimes people are found guilty they're fined and they
have to pay that fine to take away the cost of what they've
done. Well, my friends, the cost of
our sin was death. And you and I could not pay that
because we were and are sinners. But the price was paid. And the
price was paid by the Lord Jesus Christ. And it wasn't just some
casual death. Again, if you pass through the
judgment hall and then see the Savior in his utter weakness,
not strong enough to carry his cross, someone else had to carry
it. And then there he was at Calvary
and there the cross put into the ground and the Savior hung
upon it, nailed to the cross. Try and imagine The absolute
agony the Saviour was in. What he'd endured already. All those lashes, all those beatings
on his face, more marred than any man. Don't overlook that. And then with those nails through
his hands. Try and imagine nails being driven
through the palms of your hands into a lump of wood. How painful. Not only that, also through his
feet. And there he was then, hung in
that way, all the weight of his body pulling on those nails. What an agony the Saviour had
to endure. And it wasn't, of course, just
for a few minutes, no. He was there hanging on that
cross. And what a blessing it was on
that glorious occasion. Yet there were those two thieves. One cared nothing. The other
moved by the Spirit of God to confess and be able to say, we
indeed justly deserve the due reward for our sin. But this
man hath done nothing amiss." Well, it's good if you and I
can come and stand, as it were, alongside that thief and draw
the same conclusion and then ask for the same favour as he
did. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Well, of course, it's many days
now since the Saviour died, but we still need the glorious Saviour to remember
us. So that when we come down to
the day of our death, we shall be remembered and we shall be
received into glory because of what Christ has done. Nothing
because of what we've done. to think this great God, unless
often we perhaps demote the Saviour. But He was God Himself, God Himself,
dying to come and to stand in our place and to hang in our
place and to bear then that ultimate position of his father hiding
his face from him. Three hours of darkness. Never
before had they been parted, as it were, from eternity, again
beyond our imagination. But now the father hid his face
and the Saviour cries out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken
me? Why was it? It was done so that
you and I might receive the great and glorious
gift of eternal life. Well, says the Apostle, now thanks
be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. And so surely we must ask ourselves
the question tonight, is that true of us? Is it true of us? By the grace of God do we triumph
through what Christ has done which always causes us to triumph
in Christ for his great and glorious work that he's completed at Calvary's
cross. It is a price that was paid to
redeem our soul and to think that price was paid, and because
of that, to therefore believe our names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life, and that one day, by the grace of God,
we shall be in glory forever, forever. What a mercy, and what
a blessing this is. Well, surely then, do not true
believers have constant cause to praise God. How often do you
praise God? How often do you thank God for
such a great and glorious salvation? My friends, let us be very concerned
to have the evidence that we are amongst those for whom Christ
died. Indeed, let us not give the Lord
any rest until we have assurance that we are amongst those for
whom Christ has died because the evidence of it in our souls
and the confession of it if we confess our sins he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
is to believe that through his grace one day we shall be with
Christ, which is, as the Apostle Paul said, far better. And it's good when the Holy Spirit
leads us to appreciate that great truth. You see, we live in time. We're occupied with the things
of time. Very often we can be absorbed
by the things of time. But what a good thing it is to
realise that the place in glory is far better, far better than
anything that this earth can bring to us. What a mercy then. Now says the Word of God, now
thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. And then it tells us, and maketh
manifest that's shown to us, it's manifest to us, the savour
of His knowledge by us in every place. Well, the savour of Christ. What does it mean? It really
means a fragrance, the fragrance of the Saviour, the fragrance
of His work, in our soul, the finished work. Or is it a fragrance
to you and to me? Yes, this wonderful blessing,
because we're told, and maketh manifest. You see, sometimes
we seem to pass over these great truths. My friends are here for
our encouragement. Because these things are real. And these things are blessed. And these things are eternal. The devil doesn't want you to
listen. He doesn't want you to think
that these things are the blessings which God gives. He wants you
to think that there's no chance of you having a blessing like
this. Well, we have to continually
point the devil to the Word of God and tell him very clearly
that the Word of God, as the Lord Jesus said, Thy word is
truth. And therefore not believe the
lies of the devil. He always has been a liar right
from the Garden of Eden. And he will be right down to
the end of time. But don't forget. And this is
the great, wonderful favour. The devil is a defeated foe. He was defeated at Calvary. and he was defeated through the
resurrection on the third day when the blessed Saviour rose
from the dead. Yes, he'd done his father's will
and he died that sinatonian death and now he rose a conqueror. What a wonderful, wonderful view
it is to faith, to believe the great and wonderful finished
work of the Saviour. And to think that now he intercedes
in glory for us today. Yes, there he's seated on the
Father's throne. And my friends, these are not
just figments of our imagination. They are the very truth of God.
They are the very life of our soul. If it's not so, there's
no point in praying. If it's not so, there's no point
in worshipping God. There's no point in reading the
Bible. But my friends, let me assure you, it is so. And it's
wonderful if we have the evidence that God has heard an answer
prayer. We have the evidence of it. We
can say, yes, By the grace of God, I know these things to be
true. Well, some of us do know that.
It would be a great blessing if all of us know it. Because
before we die, we must know it. To have the wonderful evidence
that this Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior. And then to think,
although He is so great, He is the friend of sinners. It's a wonderful consideration,
isn't it? We can go to this God as our
friend. He understands all about you
and me. He knows all our fears, all our doubts, all the difficulties. that we face the evil heart of
unbelief, which the devil keeps on trying to persuade us that
it's no point in believing. Well, it is a blessed favor to
receive that grace of God to believe. Oh, my friends, what
comfort it brings when the Holy Spirit encourages us and convinces
us that we possess that gift of God to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and to therefore anticipate glory at last. Because believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. We'll never be lost, we can't.
Because Christ has died, or rather is risen again. Now then, the
saviour of his knowledge, What a savour it is to know about
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a sweet savour to the living. There's no savour to the dead. They don't smell it. They have
no spiritual smell. But you see, to the spiritual
in Christ Jesus, it's a sweet savour to us. And my friends,
the death of Christ was a sweet savour to the Father. You only have to go through the
Old Testament and trace out those many occasions of the wonderful
sacrifices which were offered up, which were a sweet savour
to God. And then to know that that one
sacrifice for sin forever The sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when he gave his life himself. What a sweet savour that was,
ascending up into glory. We must never underestimate that
sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ, you see,
he gave himself. He gave himself. Yes. It is finished. Yes, the work
was done. He gave up the ghost. Yes, what
a wonderful truth it is. What a wonderful account we have. Ponder it, my friends, the birth
of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus. Yes, the
resurrection, ascension and now today intercession. It's a wonderful
and glorious theme to consider. and to think that one day, by
the grace of God, we shall be with him, to view him as he is. Yes, without a veil between. Now we see through a glass, darkly,
through faith. One day we shall see faith turn
to sight and we shall view the great and glorious God. It's
a wonderful thought. I hope it is. I hope it's a glorious
prospect to each one of us to look forward to that time
when we shall be forever with the Lord. Yes, no parting forever,
forever. It's a great truth, isn't it? Hard for us to understand, perhaps
I should say impossible for us to understand. But nonetheless,
it is so, forever with the Lord. No separation, no possibility,
because there is that triumph in Christ. And the truth of the
word of God can never be taken away. It remains forever. Well, tonight, I hope we can
come and join with the Apostle and say, now thanks be unto God
and also thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour
of his knowledge by us in every place. Amen.