May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the first
epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 15, and read verse 57. The first epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians, chapter 15, and reading verse 57. But thanks
be to God. which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. What a very simple and yet very
wonderful truth these few words convey, and how we need to understand
and be able to enter in to the truth of these great words, to
be able to come and say from our heart, thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And that victory is over sin,
over death, over hell, and over the grave. It is a great and
glorious victory which we are not able to obtain in and of
ourselves. It's that which God gives to
us. Thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And as the Spirit
of God teaches us and instructs us, I believe we will learn more
and more the inability of ourselves, the lack of spirituality in ourselves,
the lack of strength in ourselves, and everything we recognise emanates
and comes from the good hand of our God, and that freely. Freely. And so it is. the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ, he gives. Well, tonight, how wonderful
to consider and to have that good hope in our heart that the
Lord has given us the victory. And if so, must we not say, but
thanks be to God. I suppose we're pretty backward
usually in being thankful to our God. We pray, I hope we pray,
about everything really in our life. And then when God helps
us and when God provides for us and when God answers our prayers,
how easy it is to forget that God has heard and God has answered. And we need to pray that we may
be reminded of what God has done and therefore be able to come
and say, yes, thanks be to God for all that he's done, for all
his mercies, for all his favours. We always have reason to say,
but thanks be to God, every day. We have reason to say that. Our God is such a great God,
and He's such a merciful God, and He's such a gracious God. How little do we really appreciate
the wonder and the favour of God to such unworthy sinners. If we were to be a true judge
of our own situation, we would come to a conclusion
that we were really a continual failure in the things of God. We continue to sin, we continue
to fail in our lives, an utter, utter failure. And so there was no hope, and
there is no hope in ourselves, however we may try to reform
our condition and reform our position. We need God's help. We need God's power. I might give you just a very
simple illustration. We read the Bible, don't we?
We read the Bible. We read that beautiful chapter
tonight in the 15th of Corinthians. Well, do we follow it through
very carefully? Or did our mind wander when we
were reading it? You see, we might have said,
I want to follow that through. And it was a good desire. But you know, the old devil is
very powerful. And he brings everything that
he can to destroy our spiritual life and to turn us away from
the great things of God. And sometimes we might read a
part of God's Word and get to the end of whatever it is, a
chapter or a portion, whatever, and we can't remember what we
read. And perhaps we might feel, well, I'd better read that again
and read it again and we may not do much better the second
time. It's most amazing, isn't it, that these great truths,
the truth of God, which should, as we think, totally occupy our
minds, flood our minds. It's so wonderful is the truth,
and yet we find that battle, we find how hard it is sometimes
to concentrate on the great things of God. Well, that's the battle
between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh and the spirit, what
a battle it is. And how wonderful it is when
we can come and say, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory,
gives it the victory. He gives us the victory. Sometimes
I think of a situation, you think of people, they might go and
watch a football match, their mind doesn't wander, does it?
They're concentrating on everything they see. And when they come
out of the football match, they're still talking about it. Well,
bless God, you see, if the Spirit of God moves our heart to concentrate
upon the things of God and moves us to speak about the things
of God, then there is reason to say, thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And I
believe it's in these situations, in these times when by his grace
we overcome not because of our strength, through his grace we
overcome. We then realise it is his grace,
it is his favour, it is his mercy. And then it is that we come and
say, oh thanks be to God for controlling my mind, for controlling
my thoughts, my words, my actions. It all comes down to the mercy
and grace of God. Well, the Apostle Paul here is
speaking in a more direct vein, I've been general in that comment,
but he speaks here in a more direct vein. And he really commences
in verse 51 when he says, Behold, I show you a mystery. He was
speaking, of course, principally to the Corinthians, I know it's
the Church of God, but to the Corinthians who weren't willing
to believe the great truth of God. And so he describes it here
to them as a mystery. And then he tells them, we shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Well, those who die
before the end of time will sleep. He's speaking here about believers,
not speaking about the unbelievers. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. And then he illustrates that
and says how it will happen. And what a scene is set before
our heart, isn't it? In these few words, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye. Well, that means with immediate
effect, doesn't it? When these things come to pass,
they will come immediately. Immediately. And what would have
occurred is that time will have ceased. Time will have ceased. The day of grace will have forever
passed away. The day of mercy will be gone. When that time comes, as the
Apostle describes it here, and it will come, it will come, And
every day is a day nearer to that day. So when it comes, it will be
like this, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump, for the trumpet shall sound. You may remember, back
in Moses' day, there was, in the wilderness there, when the
Lord came down, there was a sound of a trumpet. getting exceeding
loud. But who heard it? Just the Israelites. It wasn't a trumpet that was
heard all around the world. But when this trumpet sounds,
it'll be sounded and everyone throughout the world will hear
it. The deaf will hear it. Everyone
will hear it. No one will be able to avoid
it. The trumpet shall sound. And
what will the effect be? The dead, those who have died,
shall be raised incorruptible, never to die again. Incorruptible. And we shall be changed. If we
are on the earth, we shall be changed. And we will all put
on incorruption. It's hard to imagine, isn't it?
Idle minds to try and assimilate such an amazing truth. So the
Apostle goes on, for this corruptible must put on incorruption and
this mortal must put on immortality. Today you and I are mortal. Our life naturally will come
to an end. But when we put on immortality, there is no end. That incorruptible body will
be immortal and there will be no end. And that's why we have
these statements, then shall be brought to pass the saying,
it's written, death is swallowed up in victory, in victory. Death will not be able to hold
the Church of God. Death could not hold the blessed
Saviour. When on that third day of that
glorious morn, the Saviour rose from the dead. He rose from the
dead a conqueror. Oh, what a victory that was,
was it not? Can we not say because of that
tonight, oh thanks be to God, for that great and glorious victory
of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because of that
victory we're able to come here tonight and to worship and to
praise our God and to look forward to our eternal inheritance. It's
through that victory that the Saviour brought to pass on that
cross at Calvary so many years ago. So the apostle goes on to
say, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy
sting? Death is painful. Oh death, where
is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. It's sin which is a sting. And the strength of sin is the
law. A soul that sinneth it shall
die. The law of God. And so there
we are, you see, naturally condemned, but thankful to know and to believe
that there is that great and glorious victory through and
in our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Apostle comes
and says then, but thanks be to God, which giveth us a victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't a victory that we obtained
ourselves, was it? But it was a victory that the
Lord Jesus Christ obtained for us. What a gift, what a blessing. What was the gift? It's the gift
of eternal life. This victory gives us eternal
life. Again, it's hard to imagine eternal
life. It's good sometimes just to sit
down quietly and try and ponder what it means. Remember, in glory,
it's one eternal time of light. We cannot really say day, we
cannot say it's not night, because there is no day. It's one eternal
time of light. No sadness and no sorrow, because
there's no sin. See where there's no sin, there's
no sadness and no sorrow. But in this world, it is a world
of sin and sadness and sorrow. think of that glorious scene
where there's no sin and no sadness and no sorrow. Thanks be to God
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now surely such a consideration
must put an immense value on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it was through his work,
through his death, that he conquered. He has received the prize. He's run the race on our behalf. He's gained the victory. He's gained the victory. It is
done. It is finished. tonight. Oh bless God if you
and I can rest in this great and glorious promise which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we do possess
the victory if we have that blessed knowledge in our hearts that
we are those whom the Lord Jesus Christ came in this world to
save from their sins, to deliver us from the wrath to come. I wonder, have you sometimes
trembled at the thought of the wrath to come? Have you trembled
perhaps when you were not saved? didn't know you were saved, and
you trembled to think that you might awake in hell and be there
forever. There's no way back from hell.
Have you trembled at such a thought as that? Man by nature passes these things
off, have no effect upon him. My friends, if the Spirit is
working in our hearts, I believe it does sometimes bring us into
these situations where we tremble before God. We fear what would
happen to us. We fear to die. We're really
concerned, perhaps you may have been concerned, to go to sleep
at night in case you woke up in hell. Now you see these are very real
things and they're not things that the old devil puts in your
mind because he wants you not to be worried. He doesn't want
you to be concerned. He wants you to think everything's
smooth and plain sailing and you're going happily along on
a wonderful Christian path and you'll arrive to heaven without
any trouble. Well, the devil is a liar. Don't forget The cause of sin
that came into the world was because the devil told lies. Don't think the devil's changed
today. The devil still tells lies. He tries to lull us to
sleep, as it were, and not to consider the important issues
which relate to the eternal state of our soul. And so it would
have been a good thing if you have been afraid to go to sleep.
And if you have been afraid because you thought you might wake up
in hell. And it may be that you don't
know really what to do. You don't really know what to think. You may just be in that kind
of situation. where it would be a wonderful
favour if the Lord comes and directs you then, not to yourself,
but to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe this prayer is
a real prayer and it's a good prayer to pray unto the Lord
that not only will he show you yourself, but also that he will
show you himself. And then it may be as though
the curtain's drawn. There it was all dark. You couldn't
really understand. You couldn't really see things.
But when the Lord comes, as it were, and draws the curtain back,
and the light shines in, as it does naturally on a sunny day
into a room, so if the Lord draws back that curtain in your heart,
the light will shine in, and what will it show? It will show
the Lord Jesus Christ as a mighty Saviour. And then to have that
applied to your heart, that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Saviour,
that He's died on your behalf. I believe then you'll enter in
to a statement like this, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In the life of the Apostle Paul,
the Lord had come to him at Damascus Road and called him by grace,
but he was blinded really, he got scales in his eyes. And it
wasn't until those scales fell away that he then saw things
clearly. We don't always see things clearly.
In fact I think we don't see things clearly initially at all.
We perhaps struggle on. Again there was that other occasion
when that man received his sight and the Lord asked him, what
did he see? Could he see clearly? And he
said no. He saw trees as men walking. He didn't see people
clearly. And it's a blessing to be honest
in the things of God. Never pretend to understand things
if you don't. Always be ready to seek unto
the Lord and ask him. You can ask other people as well.
They may not know, but you can ask other people. And never be
afraid, never be ashamed to ask of things you don't understand. Perhaps people might be a bit
harsh in their answers, but I believe a truly gracious person won't
be. They'll understand where you are. They'll understand you're
a seeking soul. They'll understand your condition
and they'll be willing, as it were, to take you by your hand
and lead you on safely. Well, what a blessing it is then
to understand and to know that God comes and gives us this view
of ourselves and the view of himself. So just to move on a
little, when the Lord's light shines it may show us what we
need, a saviour. And again we may not really understand
what that means, to need a saviour. But what a favour when the Lord
then comes and opens our understanding, opens our understanding. And
what does he show us? He shows us what he's done. And what has he done? He's laid
down his life so that we might be given life. My friends, these
things are always precious to consider. They never become boring to listen
to because they are The life of our soul. Because the life
of our soul resides in a risen Christ. A crucified Christ. A persecuted Christ. A Christ
who has stood in our place. A Christ who has died for us.
What does that all mean? A very suitable saviour. One who understands us and one
who comes right down to our condition, to our low place. He stoops down
where we are. He lifts us up. Blessed be God. You can't get too low in your
own estimation. The Lord knows where you are. And my friends, when we are low,
It's then that he picks us up. It's when we are high in our
own estimation, we struggle on, we battle on, don't make any
progress, hard-hearted, rebellious. But when the Lord brings us down
and we are humble, then it is, the Lord comes to us where we
are and he lifts us up. Now the truth is what's being
worked out. is the blessed work of God in
our hearts to lead us and direct us to the victory that the Lord
Jesus Christ has gained for us. And as the Lord then reveals
these things to our heart, I believe we come and say, then from our
heart is not a theory. Real religion is not a theory.
It's what God has done in our hearts. It's his work. And because it's His work, our
heart goes up to Him in praise, and we say, but thanks be unto
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord then receives the honour
and the glory. My friends, God always will.
Blessed be His name, He always will. He is worthy of all our
praise. For all that he's done in redeeming
our soul and granting the victory, the victory over sin, death,
hell and the grave. Just think of those points. It's
a complete victory. There's nothing lacking. It's
not just a little battle. It's the victory in the war. The whole victory will be obtained
so that we enter into glory. And the Lord has fought the battle.
The Lord has won the battle. Satan has been destroyed, really. I know he still goes about, but
he's not able to destroy the Savior. That work is complete. Bless God for it. A complete
work. It is finished. It's finished,
devil. It can't be rescinded. Now, these
things should be a wonderful strength and encouragement to
the Church of God. And it's for that reason, I believe
the Apostle goes on to say, therefore, my beloved brethren, given this
great and glorious truth, these wonderful facts, concerning the
gift that the Lord has given in this wonderful victory. He
says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord. Because I believe what
we will have proved is that our strength is in God. It's not
in ourselves. And that we're not on a sandy
foundation. We're on the rock Christ Jesus,
because it's what he has done for us. And because of that,
you see, we are steadfast, and by his grace we are unmovable.
And then, to realise this great truth being performed, always
abounding in the work of the Lord. We are not to be self-centred. We are not to just look after
ourselves. Here is the truth of God, spoken to the Church of God,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, always willing to
be found serving the Lord in whatever position that may be. I often think of Mr. Wood when he used to say sometimes,
you in your small corner and me in mine. You see, that is
so, that it gives us each a corner to be in. But bless God, if you're
in that corner, we are abounding in the work of the Lord. For
as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. That's the secret. We're not
to do it in our own strength. We're not to do it for our own
gratification. We're not to do it for our own honor, but we
are to do it for God's honor and for his glory and to seek
his help and his blessing. This really shows to us a fruitful
church, doesn't it? It shows to us the body of Christ. Every member forming part of
that body, all necessary, all individual, all forming part
of it. Well, what a blessing it is to
realise that by his grace we are part of that body. We each
have a little part to play, but may we be used for his honour
and for his glory. And come tonight and to thank
him if we have a good hope through his grace of eternal life. My friends, it is the most important
thing that you and I can possess, the gift of eternal life. And that gift is founded upon
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, what he's done. And I believe when the Holy Spirit
grants us this realisation in our hearts, our hearts will go
up in true praise to God and we shall enter in to the expression
that the Apostle writes here, but thanks be to God. which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.