Month: December 2018

1. 137. Triumph

2 Corinthians 2:14a Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.

God causes us to triumph in Christ. We thank God because he does this always. That would mean that in every circumstance in which defeat looms we triumph. Christ does not just triumph for us; He also causes us to triumph. Every day we walk from victory unto victory. Every day we deal with an enemy that would bring us down, whether Sin, Death, or the Devil. They are relentless; we go from battle into another battle. Sometimes we lose, but the promise says that we can win every time. When we take our eyes off of Christ and trust in our own resources and strength we cannot win, but when we turn to Christ in faith we can win.

The word triumph implies a battle in war. We know we will win the war because we have read the back of the Book (Revelation). This promise also says we win the individual battles in the spiritual war. The first thing we must do is recognize that we are in a war. We enlisted when we believed: the Spirit came to live in our spirit, and immediately the flesh and spirit within is at war. The second thing we must do is recognize when a spiritual battle is taking place. The third thing we do is apply Law and Gospel to the battle by remembering our Baptism through repentance and faith in the Gospel. Then the fourththing to do is pray for God’s help and pray against the Sin and Evil within ourselves and in the world around us. And finally, fifth, enjoy the triumph.

Triumph looks like this: we are forgiven for our sin and fault; we are children of God under His protection and care; we are righteous by faith in Christ and therefore we choose life and the right thing to do; we thank God for answering our prayer and giving us victory. This does not mean that bad things won’t happen, but it does mean that the bad things won’t winand get the advantage over us. This does not mean that the bad things always go away, but we will always lift up our heads and hearts in confidence and peace and joy. No bad thing can ever take away our peace and joyunless we give in and give it up. Instead of giving up we take hold of this “triumph promise.”

The only way we can lose is to give up our faith in Christ, but triumph means that the Lord keeps us through the Gospel so that we never lose our faith. We always win because we stay in the Cross. Triumph is in the cross: take it up and follow Jesus, and go on to resurrection glory.

1. 136. Satan gets no Advantage

2 Corinthians 2:10, 11 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us.

This is a conditional promise: if you forgive, then Satan will not get an advantage of you. The warning implied in this promise is that if you do not forgive then you are giving space and a place to the devil somewhere in your soul. Once Satan has an opportunity he will gain an advantage. Unforgiveness, or holding a grudge, in the heart can be a situation that the devil can manipulate and deceive into bitterness and resentment, which eats at the soul and produces rottenness. Satan cannot get an advantage either in the church or in an individual when forgiveness rules. If we take this as a conditional promise then we can believe the power of forgiveness to thwart the devil’s ability to steal, kill and destroy.

In First Corinthians Paul had written to the church that they should “excommunicate,” shun, or turn a blatant sinner over to Satan so that he may repent and turn back to the Lord. Now that this has happened, Paul, in this second letter, encourages the church to forgive, as he has forgiven, this man and welcome him back into the fellowship and prayer covering of the church. The example is used to give all of us a lesson in the value of discipline and forgiveness. One lesson learned is to believe the implicit promise that forgiveness prevents Satan from getting an advantage of us. It seems that Satan has no weapon against forgiveness; when there is forgiveness God rules and Satan has no power.Forgiving one another, as God has forgiven us, wields an immense power against the Enemy, and forgiveness builds up the hedge around a marriage, the family, among friends and in any relationship. “Forgiving those who trespass against us” wields a mighty spiritual weapon and puts up a defensive shield around the soul. A “root of bitterness” will not spring up and we do not let the “sun go down on our wrath.” Then we have a promise: Satan will not get an advantage of us.

1. Sealed

2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

God has established and anointed us in Christ, and He put His seal on us, and with it he gave us the guarantee of the Spirit in our hearts. A seal means something is defined and secured as authentic. Whatever is sealed has not and cannot be interfered with; it can be trusted. We are sealed in Baptism with the Holy Spirit. We are marked and secured as authentically accounted saved children of God. Nothing and no one can interfere with that truth. We are free to live securely under the seal of God by faith in Jesus Christ. We know who we are and whose we are; we know the future and we know where we are going; we are safe and secure and will be preserved and protected until that day when we are ushered into the glory of the Lord to live in bliss forever. If only we could see that seal; then we would have no fears or worries about anything. Our life is locked up with God.

That seal is also the earnest, the guarantee, of the Spirit in our hearts. We have a guarantee. God Himself guarantees our security and life eternal. A guarantee means that we can count on the reliability of the product or service; if anything goes wrong it will be fixed.

Another metaphor for “earnest” is a down payment; when we make a down payment we are making a guarantee that the rest of the loan will be paid off. As a down payment, the Holy Spirit in our hearts is the guarantee that Sin, Death and the Devil will be finally defeated and the originally good-created soul will be united with a resurrected and glorified body.

We are saved and have eternal life now, but how do we know we will still have such a promise later on when we die? We know because we have a seal and a guarantee. This is the Spirit living in our spirit. The Holy Spirit in us is as sure as anything can possibly be. Yes indeed, we are sealed.

1. 134. All Promises are Yes

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

God has given His people over 1000 promises in the Scriptures. Here the Scripture says that all of the promises of God in Christ are Yea and Amen, yes and truly for sure. All the promises of God are guaranteed and absolutely certain. Some are based on the blood of Christ, some are based on the oath God swore by Himself, and some are simply based on the character of God 

From God’s point of view the promises are yea and amen: there is no doubt. From our point of view we need to say “yea and amen” to all of God’s promises. It is unto the glory of God by us. It is up to us; it is on us; it is by us; we receive the promises: this is faith. Thankfully, faith is given to us by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel preached to us. By faith the promises are received, made alive and made effective, just like justification and salvation is. Faith comes through the very hearing of the Gospel. The promises are real in us by the same hearing of the Gospel. The “by us” involves faith. Faith is the key that connects our lives to the promises. The promises are given to all people, but the promises are not active in the people who have not mixed that word with faith.

We give all the glory to God, that is, we praise the glory of His Grace. It is all by grace; it is all God’s doing; God does the Gospel; God keeps His promises. We are the passive recipients. Faith receives the promises; faith activates the promises; faith energizes all the promises of God. Faith says “Amen.” All the promises of God are in Christ: in him they are yes, and in him Amen. It is because of Christ that the promises are sure and certain; it is not because of us or our faith that the promises are certain. We passively receive them and actively give thanks to the glory of God. This promise motivates us to discover all the promises of God. What is it that I have received? We have received all the promises.

1. 133. Deliver

2 Corinthians 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.

I was delivered from death; God does deliver in the present; and God will deliver us in the future. Our whole life is covered, past, present and future. The hardest tense to believe is the present. We pretty much know Christ delivered us in the past; we are fairly confident that He will deliver in the future at death and after; but we are not always so ready to believe He does deliver today in the present. The present problems and worries are crushing in on us and we want help right now. This promise says you have deliverance now. If God did deliver and He will deliver, then He is delivering today.

God, through Christ has delivered us from so great a death. We trust in Christ that He will yet deliver us at our last day on earth and also at the Final Judgment. That He “doth deliver” in the present moment is the heart of the promise that we need to take hold of every day. How does He deliver us from death in the present time? He delivers us from the fear of death and from slavery todeath.

God is delivering us from the fear of deathby faith in Christ. The Christian is truly not afraid to die; he does not want to die, but he is not afraid; he knows that death is the opening up of life eternal, in which there is no death at all, ever. Many Christian martyrs through the years have demonstrated that when the fear of eternal death is taken away and the fear of temporal death is removed because it only leads to life, then they choose eternal life in place of temporary life. All fear is gone.

We are also being delivered from slavery to death. Death does not hold us in its grasp and determine for us what we do. We have surrendered to the God of Life and God’s Love becomes our Master. We are free to determine what to do according to the Law of God, which does things that lead to life instead of death. One example (out of thousands): we choose to love our spouse instead of commit adultery; one choice produces life while the other produces death. We are delivered from death’s rule.

1. 132. Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:4, 5, 7 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ…And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the suffering, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

God promises Comfort. We need comfort. We need to be comforted when confronted with death; we need to be comforted when sick or injured; we need to be comforted when feelings are hurt; we need to be comforted when stress and anxiety are overwhelming; We need to be comforted in many situations. The good news is that God comforts us in all our troubles, any trouble. We probably need comfort almost every day since troubles of all kinds follow us daily. 

God does not promise that He will take all our troubles away, but He does promise that He will be with us in the midst of the tribulations and give us needed comfort. And the comfort He gives is always greater and stronger than the troubleand tribulation we experience. Jesus even says you will be blessed: “Blessed are those who mourn; for they shall be comforted. [Matthew 5:4]” 

Sin is always around us and in us, but Jesus is also always around us and in us. Sin brings death and grief; Jesus brings life and comfort. Every word of Jesus is comforting. We need to open up the Word and hear those words of comfort. One word from God has more power to comfort than all the trouble in the world. A word of Gospel has power to comfort. The word of forgiveness comforts. Just listen: let God speak that word to you when needed.

1. 131. Labor is not in Vain

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

We need this promise in order to help us be steadfast, unmovable and abounding in the work of the Lord. We don’t have to wonder if it is worth it. The work of the Lord does not always have immediate payback, or even feedback. If often feels as if we are working for the Lord and giving up selfish ambitions to do the Lord’s work and not seeing the results we would like to see. We may sometimes feel like our labor is in vain. It is not producing anything worthwhile, it is a waste of time, and we even get negative feedback.

We need to know that nothing that is done with the Lord is useless. No good work has a negative result. The Word of God never comes back empty. Something good and positive always happens even if we do not see it. God wants us to know that God is doing something good every time we do a good work or say a good thing. If we support the work of the church, particularly the preaching of the Gospel, some positive benefit will result for someone somewhere. It is not in vain.

God sends out His Word and it will certainly accomplish that for which He sent it. God sends us out into the world and the good we do has a reward. “He who gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones will in no wise lose his reward.” Any work, no matter how small, done by God in us and through us will always have a good result and will never be done in vain. Everything we do or say has a result and a purpose; it may be for good or evil, for life or death, but there is an effect. We will never know the ripple effects of small acts of kindness, but we can be assured that it will not be in vain.

Take heart, therefore, and be encouraged by this promise. Continue to be faithful and abounding in the work of the Lord. Whether a good work or a good word shows an immediate result or not does not matter. We have this promise: your labor is not in vain.

1. 130. Victory Over Death

1 Corinthians 15:54b, 57 Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory….But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The promise is Victory. God gives us the victory. Victory swallows up death. Death is destroyed and victory remains. Everyone loves a winner, and everyone wants to be a winner. No one wants to be a loser, and no one wants to be associated with a loser. The loser in this case is Death. Death appears to have the final say. Death rules over life, and in time death claims every person. But Jesus has the last word. He wins the victory. He destroys Death. And by His death and resurrection He has given that victory over death to us. Now, in Christ we win.

The death of Jesus Christ destroyed the devil who has the power of death, and Christ “delivers all those who through the fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery [Hebrews 2:15]” We who believe in Christ no longer fear death and we are no longer subject to lifelong slavery. We are truly free, but death and the fear of death still tries to hold us in bondage, since all fear, worry and anxiety stems from the fear of death and the little deaths that loss of health and money and security brings. If we are free from fear of death we are also free from all worries. But no one actually lives without worry because we are more prone to live by sight instead of walking by faith. Thus we need this promise.

Taking hold of promises like this Victory Promise is vitally important for the enjoyment of everyday life. This promise is needed because it is not easy to live without worry. Faith in the promise changes how we live life, Victory over Death (and Sin and Satan) is present as well as future. 

1. 129. Incorruption and Immortality

1 Corinthians 15:53, 54a 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,

Incorruption and immortality is a promise for the body that shall be resurrected, and it means that that resurrected body will not ever again be corrupted with any weakness and disease, and it means that the body will not suffer mortality ever again. Mortality is the human condition because of sin, and it is the only cause of death. When sin is gone from the body (sin is forever removed in “the change” of death and resurrection) the cause of death is removed: thus immortality becomes the new human condition. The so-called human condition should really be called the sin condition. When Christ takes the sin away the true human condition shows itself; the true human condition is a life without death. There is no more sickness, no more pain, no more tears, and no more death. Incorruption and immortality is the true and eternal God-created human condition.

It is not a sin to be human. Sin has totally corrupted the human body and sin creates the “human condition.” Original Sin, in which every human is born, is the problem. Jesus has come to die for the human to forgive and take away the sin that corrupts and causes death. It is not that Jesus died for our sins, but He has died for us, the sinner. He died for the Sin, the cause of all our sins and problems. We do not know what it is like to be human without sin, but we do see Jesus who is a human without sin. Jesus becomes the ideal human being, which we also wish we were and desire to be. The promise is that we shall become fully human without sin; that also means the corruptible body will put on incorruption and the mortal body will put on immortality.By the way, immortality in the Bible in this context means the immortality of the body, not the immortality of the soul. The soul is mortal as well as the body is mortal, that is, it will die and does not automatically live on, unless sin is forgiven. “The soul that sins shall die.” But the redeemed soul and body will be reunited into a complete and sinless human being, body and soul, which will live forever with God.

1. 128. Changed

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Change! No one wants change because we get used to the way things are and we like what we are familiar with. Change! We need it and we long for it, but it must be changed for the better; we are vaguely aware that everything is not yet perfect and we still have an inner yearning for all things to be right. The Christian can never really be satisfied with things the way they are for he knows down deep that all things should be better than they are. We are dissatisfied with ourselves and others do not satisfy us either. We all want things to be better and we know they can be; in addition, the Christian also knows that all things will Some Day actually be better; in fact, we are assured that everything will once again be perfect, better even than in the beginning when all things were created very good.

The Good News of the Gospel is that we shall all be changed. We want that, we need that, and we can’t wait for the change to come. The promise is that this change will come in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The problem is that this change can only come when we die: death and resurrection is the Change. If we are not dead when Jesus returns we still must die and then resurrect immediately for the change to occur. I don’t want to die, but I do need the change; I have no choice: death must come and resurrection must follow. Change can come about in no other way.

I cannot, no matter how hard I try, change or improve the sinful flesh. There is absolutely nothing I can do to change myself; I must die to self. The good news is that I can die daily by remembering my baptism: “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death [Romans 6:3]” We did die and we did rise to newness of life. Change is occurring, and we can believe it.

The complete change will come; this is a mystery. When the dead is raised incorruptible we shall be changed. Oh, what a day that will be: everything bad and negative will be totally changed into everything good and positive.