You will turn in your Bibles
with me tonight to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Tonight is our first public worship
service in the new year. And the Lord has given me one
text for us. One text of scripture from this
chapter. One text that speaks to us all
that I believe that we want to do tonight in worshiping the
Lord our God. The text is verse 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Three things. Thanks be to God. which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. First, this evening,
we desire to give thanks to God. It's a shame to think that there
was a time in each of our lives when we did not give thanks to
God. We lived in a depraved state,
And part of that depravity was that we did not thank God. We
were not thankful. If you turn over just a few pages
to 2 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul describes things in the last
days. 2 Timothy 3, beginning in verse
1. This know also that in the last
days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof from such turn away. Paul describes the conduct
of men in the last days, and one mark we see here of man's
conduct is unthankful. unthankful. Man might not consider
this as the sin that God considers it, but think of the fact that
everything we have, our being, the air we breathe, our bodies,
the strength, the health, everything that we have, God gives us. In him, the scripture says, we
live, we move, and we have our being. And yet, you would think
that men would be thankful. But because of our depraved nature,
when we come into this world, we are unthankful. You say, well,
preacher, that's talking about the last days. Yes, it is. And we know since the Lord Jesus
Christ was born, Just over 2,000 years ago, we have been in the
last days. Hebrews chapter one and verse
one, remember it says, God, who at sundry times and diverse manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by or in his son. And we've been in
the last days, unless the Apostle Paul is speaking of the last
days of the last days. That may be true. But I think
as we read this list, we recognize we are in the last days. What
a description of mankind, lovers of pleasures more than lovers
of God. But the point I bring out to
us tonight is unthankful. It's a shame. It's a shame to
think that there was a time when we too, all of us, and maybe
you're here tonight and this is still your case, unthankful. The words of the text we see
were written to those. If you look back, now the text,
verse 57, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, who did he write these words
to? The Apostle Paul, he's inspired by God the Holy Spirit in writing
these words, but who, to whom did he direct these words? Well,
we go back to the very first chapter, don't we? First chapter
of 1 Corinthians. And we see to whom the letter,
the words of our text were addressed. And we find out here in verses
one and two, Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ
through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, under
the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. But thanks be unto God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, giveth
us the victory, who is included and that us, well, we say it
is those that are called. Those who through the preaching
of the gospel were called. God calls men, God quickens men
to life and men believe in Jesus Christ as they're under the sound
of the preaching of the word of God called, the called according
to the scripture. How different is it for those
of us who live in this dispensation, that is these who were called
in current, and those of us here tonight who are the called, how
different it is for us who live in this dispensation in these
last days from those who lived in that previous dispensation. How different it is. when there
were men actually set apart and given the job to give thanks
unto the Lord. Look back with me to 2 Chronicles
chapter 31. 2 Chronicles chapter 31. And verse 2. 2nd Chronicles chapter 31 and
verse 2. And Hezekiah appointed the courses
of the priest and the Levites after their courses, every man
according to his service. In other words, there were 12
courses, 12 months in the year. Their job in that one month was
to come and to be in the temple, every man according to his service,
the priest and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings
to minister and notice and to give thanks, and to give thanks
and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord. It was
what we might say their job, their assignment to give thanks,
these priests, according to their order. Now, when we say it like
that, it makes it sound mercenary, doesn't it? It was their job. They were set apart to do that,
to praise God in the temple and to give thanks. How different
is it for you and I, those of us who are called, and we who
live in this new dispensation, we too are priests. We've been
made priests unto God, as the writer of Revelation tells us,
who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and
hath made us kings and priests unto God. And it is not our job to give thanks. It's our delight. You see what
I'm saying? There were men in that old dispensation
we could say that was their job. They were set apart to do that.
They were Levites. They were part of the priestly
family. And it was their job in the temple
to give thanks. It's not our job. It's our delight,
isn't it? Giving thanks, the Apostle Paul
said. Giving thanks. Thanks be to God. And how do
we give thanks? How do we give thanks unto the
Lord? Well, there's a number of ways, but if you look in the
scripture, Hebrews chapter 13, this is one way that we give
thanks. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
15, by Him, that is by Christ, by
Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. When we were singing those two
hymns just a few minutes ago, never alone. Never alone. What were we doing? We were giving
thanks, were we not? Giving thanks as we were singing
these truths that His promise is that I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. We're giving thanks that our
God, our Father, our Savior will never leave us alone. And in
the midst of turmoil and all kinds of things that we may experience
in this life. We have his promise and we praise
him and give thanks unto him. We're never alone. I've told
you this before, but many times when I visited someone in our
church who was in the hospital and they were going in for surgery,
I've tried to remind them and encourage them You know, when
you go through those doors, all your family's going to be on
this side, and you're going to go back there. But remember this,
God the Holy Spirit is with you. He's not going to leave you.
He's not going to forsake you. That's His promise. And then
that other hymn we sang at the cross, where I first saw the
light. When the Lord Jesus Christ first
shined in our hearts, or God shined in our hearts to give
us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
when God enabled us to see and to understand and to know that
it is in Jesus Christ alone that we are accepted with God. at the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light. What are we doing when we sing
these hymns? We're thanking the Lord, are
we not? And I know we do so at other times as well. Every day
when we get up, we thank the Lord that God has given us another
day of life. When we sit down to eat our food,
we thank the Lord, do we not, that God has supplied our needs. When we say many in this world,
we say it, don't we? It comes into our living rooms
on television, we see people who are almost starving. And God has blessed us so abundantly. We give thanks, giving thanks,
but thanks be to God. But now, I want us to go back
to our text, and I want us to see especially what we give thanks
for. We give thanks unto the Lord
for these things I've just mentioned. But we give thanks for the victory. The victory. Notice that in the
text. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory. The victory. We didn't earn the
victory. We could never purchase the victory. but we are given the victory. Now in the context here, you
recognize of course, the Apostle Paul is especially speaking of
the victory we are given over death. But we know, and Paul
tells us, that being given victory over death means that we are
also given victory over the law, over sin, and by implication,
Satan, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. It was at the cross that the
Lord Jesus Christ won a complete victory. Complete victory. He didn't halfway win a victory. He won a complete victory over
all of the enemies of those who are the called, those who are
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's think about this for
just a moment. First, Satan, the devil. Satan is an enemy over which
we are given the victory. Thanks be unto God, which giveth
us the victory. Giveth us the victory, first
of all, over Satan. The Lord Jesus declared this
about Satan. He said he was a murderer and
a liar from the beginning. We know this refers back to the
Garden of Eden, when in the beginning he lied to Eve. Thou shalt not
surely die, even though God had explicitly told Adam, her husband,
that if you eat the fruit of that tree, you will die. But he lied. He's a liar and
he's a murderer. The fact that he tempted Adam
and Eve and Adam disobeyed God and brought death into this world.
But we know, and thank God we do know this, that immediately
When Adam sinned, we know he was our representative head.
And when he sinned, we sinned in him. But we know that immediately
God came and God declared to Satan, this murderer, this liar,
the seed of the woman will bruise your head. Now, of course, that
refers to the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross. He crushed the
head of Satan. He spoiled, the Apostle Paul
tells us, he spoiled principalities and powers. What does that mean? Principalities and powers. Evidently
there is an order among the spiritual beings, among the good angels,
there are cherubim, seraphim, angels. And even among the wicked
angels, the angels that fell into sin, that there's an order,
principalities, and powers, but Satan himself is at the head. He's at the head. And the Lord
Jesus Christ spoiled, this is what Paul said, he spoiled principalities
and powers. You read sometimes of the spoils
of war. An army goes out and fights a
battle and they conquer land, that's the spoils of war, they
conquer treasures, they conquer people, the spoils of war. The Lord Jesus Christ, he spoiled
principalities and powers. Satan himself was spoiled. What happened? He lost the power. He lost the power of the fear
of death by which he held men captive. He lost that power. Now he's still our enemy. There's
no question about that. And He's a real enemy, and the
Scriptures speak to us about Him. And we are to pray, lead
us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. Yes, that's our
responsibility. But yet we know that we have
been given the victory over Satan, so much so that the Apostle James
tells us, and he wrote this to believers just like you and me,
God's children, the called, resist Him, and He will flee from you. Now, how did we get that power?
How are we able to do that? Because Christ our Lord has given
us the victory over Satan. Number two, the law. The law
is an enemy over which we are given victory. It was an enemy because we had
broken. We had broken God's law and we
had brought a curse upon ourselves. We sometimes sing that hymn,
Christ receive us sinful men. And I love the words in that
hymn that say, now my heart condemns me not. Pure before the law I
stand. He who cleansed me from all spot,
satisfied his last demand. And that's what he did. He gives
us the victory over the law. The law was our enemy in the
sense because we had disobeyed it, it cursed us. The law pronounces
a curse upon each and every one who offends. The law itself,
and we are quick to acknowledge this, it's God's law. That means the law is holy. Has to be. It's God's law. The
law is just. Has to be. It's God's law. And God is just. God is righteous. And the law is good. It has to
be. Because God is good. The problem
was never with the law. The problem is that we have disobeyed. We have failed to obey God's
law and it brought a curse upon us. But thanks be unto God which
giveth us the victory. Our surety, the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's servant, as he is proclaimed in Isaiah 42, behold my servant,
he honored God's law. He satisfied God's law, and he
did it for each and every one of those who are called. But thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory over the law, which we have broken and
which curses us. Sin, number three, sin is an
enemy over which we are given victory. You know, sin remains
in us. that this body of sin is still
in us, our old nature, old man, as Paul says, but he's no longer
on the throne. He remains, but he doesn't reign. Just keep that in mind. He remains,
that old nature, sin, that body of sin that the apostle Paul
calls it. He remains, but he no longer
reigns. He's no longer upon the throne.
There's a new man. new man which is created in righteousness
and true holiness. And the Apostle Paul in Romans,
he exhorts believers, the called, reckon. That word reckon means
count it to be so. You say, I don't feel like it's
so. Count it to be so. Count it to be so. Reckon you
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. But thanks be unto God, which
giveth us the victory over Satan, over the law, over sin, and number
four, the world is an enemy over which we are given victory. The world with all its allurements,
as it is described in 1 John, You remember in Pilgrim's Progress,
as he was on his journey, he came to a place that John Bunyan
called Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair. And what was that
but a picture of all the enticements and attractions and things of
this world to take us and our minds away from Christ. John describes it Like this,
he says, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life, but thanks be unto God,
which giveth us the victory. He gives us the victory over
this world, this present evil world. Look with me in 1 John,
1 John chapter five. And verse four, for whosoever, or whatsoever
rather, for whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world. Our faith, our faith. Our faith
is Christ. Our faith. He gives us the victory. And number five, death. Death
is an enemy over which we are given victory. We know that death came into
this world as punishment. Punishment. Penalty. Penalty
of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. Punishment. Punishment for disobedience. But my friends, for those of
us who are called, death remains, but it will no longer come to
you as a child of God as punishment. It won't. It will not come to
you as punishment. It will come to you now as your
friend. Why? Because thanks be unto God
which giveth us the victory over death. If you look in 1 Corinthians
3, yes, if we live and the Lord
doesn't come in our lifetime, death will come to all of us.
And you know it comes unexpected to a lot of people, doesn't it?
This time of the year, watching local news, just reminded again
how quickly life is taken. Person driving their car and
someone runs a red light and that person who was minding their
own business is ushered out into eternity. That's the reason the
scripture says, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest
not what a day may bring forth. Behold, today is the day of salvation. We're not promised tomorrow,
are we? None of us are. We know this, those who are on
the call, death will come, but it's not going to come as an
enemy. It's not going to come as punishment. Christ has already
died in our stead and in our place. It will come, but it will
come as a friend. Here in 1 Corinthians 3, in verse
21 through 23, we read, Therefore let no man glory in men, for
all things are yours. He's writing to these who were
called. And they were divided, were they
not, in this church at Carth. There was some said, I'm of Paul.
Some said, I'm of Apollos. And Paul is emphasizing the fact
that everything is yours. Everything God has is yours.
And you are Christ. He's speaking to those that are
the call. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life
or death or things present or things to come, all are yours. And you are Christ. And Christ
is God's. Death, yes, but thanks be unto
God, which giveth us the victory over Satan, over the law, over
sin, over the world, and over death. Death now comes to a believer
like an usher, like an usher. When we attend a wedding ceremony,
it's common to have ushers, isn't it? They always take the lady
by the arm and usher them down to a place for them to sit. That's what death is for a believer.
It's like an usher, just opens the door and leads us down to
the place. The hymn writer said, farewell
mortality. Jesus is mine. Welcome eternity. Jesus is mine. Welcome. Oh, loved and blessed, welcome
sweet scenes of rest. Welcome my savior's rest. Jesus is mine. Thanks be unto
God, which giveth us the victory over all of these things. And
one last thing, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything, everything
over which we are given the victory is through our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one mediator between
God and men and every benefit and every blessing that God has
for man comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, through his
person and his work. People sometimes accuse preachers
of making too much. preaching too much about Christ.
How can you do that? How can you possibly preach too
much about Christ when everything that God has for a sinner is
found in Christ? And outside of Christ, there's
only judgment and wrath. Without Him and apart from Him,
we would have nothing but our sin. That's the only thing that
we can call our own, our sin. It's ours. It's ours. But we can't pay it, the debt
for our sin. And thank God he has, through
our Lord Jesus Christ. The one word, listen in closing,
The one word in that phrase, through our Lord Jesus Christ,
the one word that is the icing on the cake, the icing on the
cake, is that word our, our, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And I ask all of us here tonight,
can we call him our Lord Jesus Christ? Can we call him our Lord
Jesus Christ? My Lord Jesus Christ. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, look in one other place,
John chapter one. Are you able to call him my Lord
Jesus Christ? Look here in first John chapter
one, rather verses 12. And 13, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. Do you receive him? Do you welcome
him? Do you obey him? Do you believe
on him as your Lord Jesus Christ? What a blessing to think as we
begin another year, another calendar year, at least. that we have
been given the victory and all through the person and work of
our Savior. I pray that the Lord would bless
this word to all of us here this evening. We'll sing a couple
of verses of a hymn and be dismissed.