We invite you this morning if
you have a copy of the Word of God to turn to the book of 2nd
Samuel The book of 2nd Samuel chapter 23 We want to begin reading with verse
8 and read down through verse 12 verse 8 through verse 12 These be the names of the mighty
men whom David had. The Takmanite that sat in the
seat, chief among the captains, the same was Adino the Ezzonite. He lift up his spear against
800 whom he slew at one time. And after him was Eleazar the
son of Dodo the Ahothite, one of the three mighty men with
David when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together
to battle and the men of Israel were gone away. He arose and
smoked the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand
clave unto the sword and the Lord wrought a great victory
that day and the people returned after him only to spoil. And after him was Shammal, the
son of Agee, the Harite, and the Philistines were gathered
together into a troop where was a piece of ground full of lentils,
and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in
the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines,
and the Lord wrought a great victory. Let us have... I want this morning, God helping
me, to speak on this subject, a great victory. A great victory. Now in the passage of scripture
that we read this morning, we find the names listed of the
mighty men of David. And it speaks of one named Eleazar,
and says that this man Eleazar, that this man arose and smoked
the Philistines until his hand was weary, until his hand was
tired and he claved to the sword. But in spite of the fact that
he was a man of war, a man of courage, and a man of bravery
that lifted his hand and smoked the enemy and continued in the
effort until his hand was weary, The Bible says it was the Lord
that wrought a great victory. It was the Lord that wrought
a great victory. Now how important it is for us
to remember that the real source of every victory that we'll ever
win in our lives, this side of glory, that it is in Him. It is by His power, it is because
of His mercy, it is because of His grace that we have any victory
at all in our lives. Now in verse 12, it speaks here
of another of these men, Shamal. And he stood in the midst of
the ground and defended it, the scripture says, and slew the
Philistines, and the Lord wrought a great victory. The Lord wrought
a great victory. So in both of these instances,
though the men that were involved in the battle are mentioned,
it indicates that it was the Lord that wrought a great victory. Now the victory was not won without
these two men, these courageous men of war, yet it was not won
by them because the Bible says it was the Lord that wrought
the victory. Now, God uses means, brothers
and sisters in the Lord, this morning. I think most of you
would agree with me that God does use means, no doubt. He
uses men as human instruments in His hands. Now, I want you
to understand what I'm saying here, that when I'm talking about
God using instruments, that we know that we're laborers together
with God. That's what the Bible teaches.
But now it only adds, and I believe this firmly in my heart, it's
a conviction of my soul, that it only adds to the glory of
God to use men, for men are such poor tools to work with. I heard of a celebrated painter
who gained quite a reputation by using old worn-out paintbrushes
to paint with after his good ones were stolen. His skill was
admired in that he could produce such effects under such disadvantageous
conditions. Everybody said, my what an artist
he must be because he's used these old worn out brushes and
the work has turned out so wonderful and so marvelous. So when beloved
we shall look at men, when we look at them in the light which
eternity will shed upon it will reveal that even the best of
men that God used in this world, I'm talking about the Eleazar's
and the Shamal's that God has used in this world, that God
has been pleased to win victories with, that they have been but
just men at the best, and they have been poor vessels but God
has been pleased to bless and use and put His power within
them and to use them for His honor and for His glory. So you
can bring up the name this morning of any instrument that God Almighty
ever used in this world. Bring up the name of righteous
Abel and from there on, all of those instruments that God has
been pleased to bless and anoint and use in this world to spread
the gospel of His grace, and you will find that right down
to the very last preach of the Word, which God will ever use
in this world, that it shall become desperately true that
the victory that was won, whatever was accomplished, whatever God
was pleased to do through their lives, that it was God who won
the victory, it was God that deserves the praise, the glory,
it's God that ought to be exalted. In 1 Corinthians 3 and verse
6, Paul said, I have planted a palace watered, but he said,
but God gave the increase. And then in verse 7, he went
on to say, so then, Neither is He that planteth anything, neither
He that watereth, but God that gave the increase. And then it
was He went on and said that you're God's husbandry, you're
God's building. He was speaking to the Lord's
people. You're those that God has been pleased to raise up
and bless. Sure, He's used men, but you're the increase of the
Lord. It's God that has been pleased
to bless and give the victory. Now the right thing for us to
do, the right attitude for us to have, is to work as if all
depended upon us, and yet to look to the Lord alone, knowing
that all really depends upon Him. It's in His hands to give
the increase. It's in His hands to give the
victory. Now we must, if you please, be
humbly God-reliant and personally resolute As the old saying was
that I used to hear when I was a kid, trust in God, but keep
your powder dry. That was an old saying that came
from the battlefields of long ago. Well, beloved, this morning
let me ask a question of you that I've been asking myself.
A question that has haunted me, and that is this. How many times
do we think, as the people of God today, in terms of victory? How many times do we think in
terms of God doing great things, marvelous things in our time? Of God winning great victories
in our day? We find that Satan often attacks
the souls of God's people, and we're rather filled with thoughts
of defeat and discouragement than of victory. How many times
have you thrown up your hands and said, I'm just a failure? My whole life has been nothing
but one failure after another. I just haven't done what I should
have done. I have missed so many opportunities
to do good in my life. I've come so far short. I see
what a great sinner I am. I'm just a miserable, sinful
wretch. That's all I am, a miserable,
sinful wretch. Well, now wait a minute. Now
wait just a minute, my friend. I know, and I acknowledge this,
that there is a place where that we ought to acknowledge our sinfulness. We ought to admit how great our
need is. We ought to admit how much. We are dependent upon the grace
of God and how much we need the cleansing of the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ in order to have right standing before God
and acceptance with God. But now hear me out, if we spend
all of our time talking about how weak we are and how poor
we are and what failures we are, then we may not see that kind
of victory that these courageous men, Eliezer and Shammel, that
these courageous men of David saw. Do we think on terms of
victory, brother, sister, or are we just bogged down with
our own weakness and our failures and with those situations in
our life which we look upon as being tragic and disastrous?
Now these men, they arose, they went forward to face the enemy,
they went out smiting the Philistines, and Eleazar continued until his
hand was weary, and he clave unto the sword. He did not say,
this is a difficult task, I think I'll just quit, I'm tired, I'm
weary, I'm going to back off. No, he continued and the Lord
blessed him to see the victory. The Lord blessed him to see the
victory. What I'm saying is, today, beloved,
is that we need to turn our eyes from our own weakness to the
strength that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, beloved,
if you're in Christ, I mean if you're a blood-bought, if you're
a Holy Spirit-regenerated child of God, if you're a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're in Christ, and Christ
dwells in you in strength and power. There is a power that
is at work in you and we need to recognize it. No doubt every
one of us could make a long list of our failures that we've experienced
in our lives. But can we not also this morning
speak and have we not seen victories and have we not experienced victories
by God's grace and by God's power in our lives? I mean, have we
had any experience with the Lord? Have we had any travels with
the Lord? Has the Lord done anything in
our lives? Should we not, in spite of the
fact that we're weak, anticipate additional victories in the future? Should we not expect the God
of victory, that God who is able to give the victory, should we
not expect Him to appear on our behalf and to deliver us? Now
wherever you are this day, I'm sure this morning that you need
this encouragement. I'm sure this morning that you
need to have somebody remind you of the God who is the God
of victory. And you need to get your eyes
upon this God. And you need to quit looking
at yourself and thinking so much about your weaknesses and frailties
and about those miserable situations that you find yourself bogged
down in this morning. We're weak, it's true, but He
is strong. He is the omnipotent, sovereign
God, the almighty God of the Bible. We're unworthy, but He,
the God of the Bible, is a faithful God. Even when we believe not,
the Bible says, He remains committed to His promise. Because God is
a God who is absolutely faithful, and whether you're faithful or
not is not going to change that. How wonderful to realize that
the God that we worship and serve is a God that can give victory. He is a God of victory. Now the
scriptures declare it, and we ought to believe it. We ought
to believe it. This God gives victory, and we
ought to trust that. In 1 Chronicles 29 and chapter
11, or 29 verse 11, as David blessed the Lord before all the
congregation, he says, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and
the power and the glory and the victory. and the majesty for
all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Thine. Thine
is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Thine, O Lord, is the victory. Now if we believe in a God who
is omnipotent, if we believe in a God who upholds all things
by the word of His power, if we believe in a God who is sovereign,
should we not anticipate great and mighty things which we know
not? Should we not, as a people, shouldn't
we be trusting and looking to this God who can do things that
are far above and beyond our ability to ask or think according
to that power that worketh within us? Should we not lift up our
heads above the defeats and the setbacks and the troubles and
the heartaches of this life and look to the victory that can
be gained? The victory that the Lord can
give. Now the Psalm that Chet read
to us this morning, Psalm 98 and verse 1, I'd like for you
to turn there with me if you will. Psalm 98 and verse 1, listen
to what it says. It says, O sing unto the Lord
a new song, for He hath done marvelous things. His right hand
and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory. The Lord hath
made known His salvation, His righteousness hath He openly
showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered His mercy
and His truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the
earth hath seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise
unto the Lord, all the earth. Make a loud noise and rejoice,
and sing praise, and sing praise. His right hand and His holy arm
hath gotten Him the victory. Now, beloved, we become so intimidated,
do we not? We get the idea that if we're
going to praise God, we've got to do it quietly. We've got to
be very quiet about it. If we're going to sing a song,
that we ought to sing it very softly. If we're going to have
any music, it ought to be like the music in a funeral parlor.
But beloved, this is not the case. Yet it says in verse 4
here, that make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth.
Make a loud noise and rejoice. and sing praise. Now, I thought
when I read this verse of that expression that we find in the
Word of God, the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. I'm talking about people that
have the anticipation in their heart of victory, those that
have seen victory, the people at a distance, I heard the joy
as God's people praised the Lord for the victory that He had given
them, and when the walls had been restored and rebuilt, Once
more around Jerusalem, and the city was fortified, the Bible
says that the jaw of Jerusalem was heard afar off. God had given
a victory, and the people were joyful, and they praised the
Lord with a loud voice. Now not only do we see God to
be the God of victory by the plain declaration of Scripture,
But we see it in the example that are so frequently set before
us in the Word of God. I want to talk about two examples
that we have in the Word of God that declares that the God of
the Bible is indeed a God of victory. Now, first of all, I
want to just mention the great deliverance and the victory that
God gave the ancient Israelites in Egypt as he brought them out
of Egypt and brought them across the Red Sea. Now, you think of
this victory, if you will. This was an impossible situation
from a human point of view. How could these people who had
been in bondage for a full hundred years, how could these people
possibly leave Egypt as a free people? How could they be delivered? How could they be brought out?
From a human standpoint, it seemed to be absolutely impossible.
It seemed like that it could not be done. And there wasn't
anybody as wise and as meek and as faithful a servant of God
as Moses was. He could not do it. God had to
do it. Now, why would Pharaoh let them
go? He had them enslaved. They were
making brick. They were the backbone of the
Egyptian economy. Why would he turn them loose?
Well, he would not until God brought to bear upon him his
power, until God began the work of victory, until God began to
deliver them. And you find that when the plagues
came, one after another, until the death of the firstborn that
Pharaoh said, you may go. But his heart then was hardened,
and even then he sent out his army. As the people of God started
on their journey, he sent his host. in hot pursuit. Now the
people of Israel, they heard the horses' hooves coming, and
they heard the rattling of the chariot wheels, and they stood
there facing the Red Sea. They'd come up to the Red Sea.
And how can a million people get across this Red Sea? How can they be delivered? Well,
one thing that Pharaoh had not anticipated, he had not anticipated
the power of God. It was evident. Now listen, you'd
think that he'd seen enough by now after all the plagues, and
after the avenging angel had come, the death angel, and had
killed the firstborn throughout the land. You would think that
Pharaoh would have had enough, but when men are blind, brother,
sister, to spiritual things, they're certainly in the dark,
are they not? They're in the dark, and therefore he just went
on in pursuit. Now, but Moses, as the story
goes, he stretched out according to the commandment of the Lord,
his rod over the sea and the water stood up like a great wall. It stood up here on either side,
and when the Israelites, they marched through, then the Lord
released those waters of the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's host coming
after them, all of their horses and all of their chariots, As
these drivers of the chariots, they were all drowned in the
water of the Red Sea. What a marvelous victory that
God gave them that day. And I know the scoffers and I
know the skeptics, they don't believe. They don't believe that
this actually happened. I remember a conversation that
I heard about that took place between a scoffer, a skeptic,
and an old believer. And this offer, he said to this
old believer, he said, now you know that it's been scientifically
proven that at the place where those Israelites went across
the Red Sea, and at the time of the year they went across
the Red Sea, that the water was only six inches deep. And the
old believer, he thought just a minute, he said, well, praise
God. He said, Amen. He said, bless
the Lord. And the skeptic said, what are
you blessing the Lord for? Because, he said, I've already
shot down your God and all this theory that He marvelously, by
His strong arm, His right hand, gave the victory to the Israelites. And he said, what are you, what
are you praising the Lord for? And he said, well, he said, it's
a marvelous and wonderful thing. He said, I never heard tell of
such a thing in my life, that God could drive. And this is
the way that the Lord has got his fame. This is the way the
Lord has got a name for himself. This is the way that the God
of the Bible has received the praise and the glory, is by intervening
and doing that which is impossible, and by giving the victory. And oh, the new song that they
sang. They did not sing an old song
that they had learned and that they had sang back in Egypt.
No, my friend, the old songs was not up to date. This generation
had experienced deliverance. This generation had seen the
victory of the Lord. And so a new song was required
because new mercies and new deliverances and new triumphs demand new songs. And so neither, beloved, do I
think that Moses and Miriam had any difficulty in getting these
people worked up to sing this new song either. Now folks, we
really want you to sing out. No, no, it wasn't necessary for
them to say that unto this bunch of Israelites standing there
on the shore after God had given them the victory. They weren't
just going to sing about deliverance. They saw deliverance. And they felt delivered. I believe
that. And I believe that's what makes
God's people sing. Is because they have experienced
something down here on the inside. God's people have been touched
from heaven and they've experienced deliverance and they felt deliverance.
And they wasn't just talking about deliverance. They knew
what it was all about. And so they could sing the new
song. Now they weren't saying, they
weren't taking any credit for what happened. They didn't say,
my, isn't Moses a great genius? Isn't he a great strategist? No, no. And neither
did they say, well now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now,
now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now,
now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now,
now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now, Now we're
really something ourselves because this happened and it happened
in our history. Well surely, it ought to have
humbled them. I'm sure it did humble them.
And they sang this song. They sang, the horse and his
rider hath he thrown into the sea. The horse and the rider
hath he thrown into the sea. It was God's work. It was God's
victory. Now they gave God the glory and
the honor and they never did get finished singing about that
event because throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament
there's references made to this song of the Lord's deliverance
of his people through the Red Sea. You see when God does something
people just don't get tired talking about it. Now I know that some
people they tell stories and and sometimes when people start
telling stories we've heard it over and over we say well we're
going to have to sit through that again and listen to that
but beloved listen whenever somebody begins to talk about what the
Lord has done when somebody begins to talk about the victory that
the Lord has won damn beloved it's new it's exciting and it's
interesting every time and you don't get you just simply don't
get bored with people telling about the victories that the
Lord has won and I thought about this when I was preparing this
message and and it blessed me and I got excited myself to think
about how God had delivered this huge band of people, how He broke
them out that He might bring them in to the land, that good
land that He was going to give them. And of course I thought
about the great deliverance that God has given to my own soul
and bringing me out of sin and bringing me out of sin's depth.
and bringing me out of the bondage of sin and that armed bondage
that comes, the slavery of sin and how God has been pleased
to break the shackles of sin and to give victory. And all
of God's people can share and say amen, that God has been pleased
to give the victory. Now when we think of these people
praising God for His goodness and His mercy and His mighty
power and His great deliverance, Beloved, listen, we get excited. God is a God of victory. Now then, I want us to spend
the rest of our time this morning thinking about one other example
of God being a God of victory. And beloved, the greatest victory
that I see in all the Word of God is that victory, the greatest
victory that was ever wrought by the hand of God in this world
is that victory that was wrought by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. His Son, the Lord Jesus, in His
life, in His death. in His resurrection from the
grave, in His ascension on high, and in His coming back again.
The great victory that God has wrought through that. In Psalm
98 and verse 1, where it talks about His holy arm, His right
hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory. I think this
unquestionably has specific reference to the sternest battle, if you
please, and the grandest conquest that was ever fought and won
on the battlefields of this world. You know, when the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world, He came into this world to die. That was the purpose of His coming.
He said, Lo, in the volume of the book it is written of Me,
I have come to do Thy will, O God. He came into this world and He
came in to die, to die for sinners. to die for His people. And we believe that the cross,
that it was the hour of crisis. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ,
during His lifetime, that there was efforts made to kill Him
and to take His life, but the hour came when He was yonder
on Calvary's cross. And it was there that this was
the hour that was the crisis of the world. This was when the
Prince of the world was cast out. Now through the victory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, those of us who are in Christ, and
we're in Christ from the foundation of the world, beloved, we're
on the winning side and we shall be more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. His victory makes us victorious. And you and I this morning are
victorious only in the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought about our Lord
Jesus Christ, and I thought about John in the book of the Revelation
in chapter 5 and in verse 5, 4 and 5, where John said, I went
much. because no man was found worthy
to open the book and to read and to loose the seals thereof. And one of the elders spoke up
and said, Weep not, weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Root of David hath prevailed to open the book and
to loose the seals thereof. Now that speaks of the Lord Jesus
Christ and how that He has prevailed. Now brother, sister, no man in
and of himself, in a state of nature, that is as he's come
forth from the womb, can prevail with God. No man can prevail
with God, with a thrice holy God. Now then, the Lord Jesus
Christ is that one that has prevailed, and we have prevailed in Him
if we are in Him this morning. If we're in Christ, we have prevailed. The Lord Jesus Christ, He prevailed
with the Father. Ah, the Lord Jesus, He was the
beloved Son. He was that one that God, that
had been set forth from the bosom of the Father. He came into this
world, the Son of the Father's love. And He came down here into
this world and He And as he lived out his life, he lived a life
of perfection under the law. He magnified the law. He honored
the law. He obeyed the law. He fulfilled
every jock and tittle of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ was
without sin. There was not one sin found in
the Lord Jesus. Never was there an impure thought
that went through his brain. The Lord Jesus came into this
world to be our substitute. He came into this world to be
our representative before God. Now friend, Jesus Christ prevailed
with the Father. He prevailed with Him. And He
provided a righteousness that would satisfy the inflexible
justice of God. And God has been pleased With
the righteousness of His Son, He's been propitiated and He's
satisfied, God is. And so Jesus has won the victory. He has prevailed with the Father. And then not only has He prevailed
with the Father, but He has prevailed with His sheep. He's prevailed
with His sheep. John 6 and 37 says, that all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and they that come
to me I will in no wise cast out. The Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, our beloved, with the names of His sheep written
upon the breastplate. He came into this world knowing
all of His sheep. And He came into this world having
power over all flesh that He might give eternal life to as
many as the Father had given to Him. And He comes into this
world and He calls His own sheep by name. And every one of those
that were chosen to the Father and given to Christ in that eternal
love gift from the foundation of the world, every one of them
are called by the Holy Spirit. Every one of them wooed by the
Spirit and drawn unto Christ. No man can come to me, Jesus
said, except he be drawn by the Spirit. Unless the Spirit of
God draws him. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
will have all of his own. He will have all of his own.
He will prevail with his sheep. because he's victorious and he
will not fail. God has never, never, never been
conquered. God will prevail. You say, Preacher,
I don't know whether he'll ever get me or not. Well, let me tell
you this, that God has a million ways to get to your heart. A
million ways. You say my will is pretty stubborn.
It may be pretty stubborn, but your will must bow before the
crushing will of God. God will have all of His people. Jesus Christ will prevail and
He will have His home. Whatever He has to do. Wherever
He has to go to get them. He'll have his own. He'll have
his sheep because he's prevailed with the Father and he will prevail
with his own. The Father's been satisfied on
the behalf of everyone in the elect. All of the sin debt has
been paid in its entirety, in its full, and all the debt is
satisfied. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
in the world to give salvation unto his people, and he'll do
that. And he'll do that, my friend.
Now listen to me. I said that he would go wherever
he had to go. You know the example in the Bible
of him going out, seeking the lost sheep, looking for the lost
coin. Well, he'll find his people.
He really will. Thank God he found me. I know
that he found me. I know he was looking for me,
and he found me. He found me. Now listen to me
this morning. I recognize that some people
have some difficulty with the message of sovereign free grace
in Christ. But I just want you to understand
that salvation is of the Lord in the beginning, in the middle,
and the end. Salvation is altogether of God and you must come to believe
that. And you'll never be able to really
believe and worship the God of the Bible until you understand
that salvation is indeed the unique work of God alone. And
that the victory is the Lord's. I read a story about a lad that
lived down in eastern Kentucky back about the time of the Civil
War. And there was a church, a Baptist
church at the mouth of a holler in eastern Kentucky. Most of
you probably know what a holler is. If you come from down south,
you know what a holler is. Well anyway, this Baptist church
was sitting at the mouth of this holler. And the preacher preached
faithfully the gospel of God's grace, and there was a young
lad that came in. He would always come in after
the service started. He would come in and sit down
on the bench in the back. And just before the meeting closed,
he'd get up and leave because, I mean, people tried several
times to catch him outside because they wanted to find out who he
was, and they were not able to do so. And so one Sunday, the
preacher's text was Psalm 98 and verse 1, how that his right
hand and his holy arm has gotten him the victory. And this little
boy, he listened and then he was gone. And a month or two
passed and the boy didn't come back. And so one day there was
a knock on the preacher's door and there was an old man came
and he was shabbily dressed and he said, my grandson is ill and
he's about to die and I'd like for you to come. He just wouldn't
hear of anybody else. He wanted you to come and to
see him before he died. And so the preacher said, OK,
I'll go. It was raining outside. He got his hat and his coat,
and he went about six miles back in that holler. As Scott Richardson
would say, it's so far back in there that you couldn't stick
a butcher knife. And so he went back into this holler, and he
come to this old rundown shack. And the old man took him in,
and he walked in the door. And over on a straw tick, most
of you know what a straw tick is, this little boy was lying
there and when he saw the preacher, he sat up in bed and raised up
his hands and said to his right hand and his holy arm, have gotten
him the victory. hath gotten him the victory,
and those were the last words he spoke in this world. God had
reached his heart. God had delivered him. God had
saved him. And so, my friend, wherever God
has to go, if it's six miles up a holler, wherever he has
to go to get his own, he'll get them. God will save his people
from their sins. Now then, there's another thing
that I want to impress upon you, and that is this, that the God
of the Bible, that he has prevailed also with his enemies. God will
prevail with his enemies. Now you might be a rebel against
the God of the Bible and a rebel against all of God's truth. And
you might say, well I just simply don't believe what you're saying
this morning. I don't believe these gospel
truths, these truths of the grace of God. I don't believe them.
I don't accept them. And I'm not interested in accepting
them. My friend, you're a rebel against
the God of the Bible. God will prevail with his enemies. all of his enemies will lick
the dust and they shall be his footstool. And the Bible says,
kiss the son lest he become angry with you and you perish from
the way. My friend, God's going to prevail
with all of his enemies. There's not going to be one enemy
of the Lord that's not going to be put down, that's not going
to be made to bow and to confess with his tongue. that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now it would be too late
for salvation, but not too late for the purpose of God, and that
is that the name of the Lord would be glorified and exalted. And so remember that. These three
things, He prevailed with the Father, He prevailed with His
sheep, and He prevailed with His enemies. The Lord Jesus Christ
is victorious. He is victorious. And I thought
about the Lord Jesus Christ as He was laid. He went to the cross
of Calvary. When He died, He satisfied the
justice of God. And there He was in that tomb. And He had said that He would
rise from the dead. He said that this is the Father's
commandment. that he would rise from the dead.
And vainly they watch his bed, the poet said, vainly they seal
the dead. Death cannot keep his praise,
he tore the bars away. There came that morning, that
first day of the week, when the Lord Jesus Christ, he came out
of the grave. Those bands of death, he burst
them asunder, and he came out of the grave. Robert Lorre, in
his old song, said, up from the grave he arose with a mighty
triumph over his foes. He arose a victor. from the dark
domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He
arose, he arose, hallelujah, Christ arose. And you know I
thought about the great celebration that's going to be of the victory
of the Lord when we come to glory, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes
back. Thanks be unto God, He is coming back. He's coming back
to this earth. And I'd like for you to turn
with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter
15. I'd like for you to just look
at a couple of verses here this morning. Notice, if you will,
in verse 51, he said, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the
twinkling of a dot, the last trump. For the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now as we think
upon these things and upon that day when we're going to be with
the Lord, that day when the Lord's going to come and we're going
to be caught up to be with Him in the clouds, our bodies going
to come out of the grave, Even though they have been sown in
weakness they'll come forth in power on resurrection morning
and we're going to all gather there in glory and beloved this
great victory of our Lord we're going to celebrate. You know
I thought about the when I was just a lad myself and the Second
World War was over and I thought about the great celebrations
that took place in those days. Of course we didn't have television
but we would read the newspapers and I thought in those days and
times that probably when there wasn't any war there wasn't any
newspapers because the newspapers were full of nothing but the
war. But then there came a day when
I was told that the war was over. The war was over, and there was
great celebrations everywhere. And then even in this last summer,
and I think July the 4th, there were celebrations all over this
nation, celebrating the victory of the United States and its
allies in the Persian Gulf War. And is it right to celebrate
a victory? Is it right? Well, my friend,
I think that the victory that I'm talking about this morning,
I'm talking about that victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
talking about how He prevailed with the Father and with the
sheep, and how He's going to prevail with these enemies in
the end, and I thought about how that He's going to catch
us up and we're going to have new and glorified bodies and
we're going to be like the Lord Jesus because it says that it
doesn't appear now what we're going to be but we know when
He shall appear that we're going to be like Him because we're
going to see Him as He is and we're going to see Christ all
the glory of that. Oh, the joy of that, to see Him
as He is. And so when this takes place,
beloved, that will be a tremendous celebration. And I think that
you and I will gather around the throne of God, and we begin
here right now on the Lord's Day, and we begin to celebrate,
do we not? We're celebrating today. Every
first day of the week we celebrate the fact that our Lord Jesus
Christ came out of the grave and that he is the victor. Now then, what I'm trying to
say is that there's coming a time in the not too far distant future
when we, as the people of God, when we're going to be in the
presence of God gathered around that throne. And there, in that
marvelous, matchless glory, we're going to sing a song in that
day along with others who are gathered on Mount Zion. Oh, there'll
be 10,000 times 10,000 gathered there, warriors of God that will
surround the Lord Jesus Christ the great conqueror and will
sing that new song which they will be singing before the throne
worthy is the lamb to receive glory and honor and power because
by his blood we have been redeemed out of the nation of the earth
and so let us as we close this morning This message, and as
we live from day to day, let us anticipate, let our onward
march be brightened by the music of song and the celebration of
our captain's praise. For his right hand and his holy
arm hath indeed gotten him the victory. And may the Lord be
pleased to give you this morning the victory through him. Now,
as I thought, I hope this morning that somebody here Will trust
the Lord Jesus Christ I hope that you will trust Christ that
you will come to him his love will meet you as you trust him
and all This morning his terrors they await you if you die in
unbelief If you die as a rebel his terrors await you his love
will greet you if you come in faith to him even today, but
the Lord must win the victory and he must have the victory
and he will have the victory. God has never been conquered
and he never will be conquered and the Lord Jesus Christ will
leave no prisoners in the hands of the enemy. Not a hoof shall
be left behind. The Lord Jesus Christ will have
every one of his own he'll save them all and keep them unto eternal
glory and they shall all sing together around that throne the
glorious anthem of his praise the praise of him who wrought
a great victory. May the Lord have his this morning
his praise from each one of our hearts. Mike would you lead us