Christ Has Won The Victory Over the devil. He Has Won This Victory For Us

The devil is at work. He seeks to sow seeds of doubt into the heart of God’s people. He suggests to us that God’s gracious foundation for our faith can be destroyed. This is nothing new. It’s as old as Genesis 3:1 – “Did God say … ?“ The devil says to us, “Has God really forgiven your sins?” He says, “Has God really saved you?” The devil wants to get us on the run. He wants us to run away from him. We must not let him get the upper hand. We are to resist him in the strength of Christ’s victory over him. When we “resist the devil” in the strength of Christ’s victory, “he will flee from us” (James 4:7). To believe the devil is to believe the lie. The truth is that, when take our stand in Christ, the devil has no alternative but to ruin from us. Christ’s victory over the devil becomes our victory over Christ has won the victory over the devil. Through faith in Christ, His victory becomes our our victory over the devil.

Here are three important lessons concerning this victory.

1) Through His death on the Cross, Christ has won the victory over the devil. He has won this victory for us . 2) On the basis of the victory that Christ has won for us, we can stand our ground against the devil. 3) When we take our stand in Christ, the devil can do nothing else but flee from us. He is strong when we try to stand against him in our own strength. When, however we remind him of Christ’s victory over him, he can do nothing but bow before Christ’s superior power. Rejoicing in the victory that Christ has won for us, let’s remind the devil that he’s a defeated enemy.

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God’s Way of Salvation (Psalm 11)

Overcoming Today's "Goliaths"

David faced a giant. We face giants. His giant was called Goliath. Our "Goliaths" are the giants of unbelief and disobedience. We're told that it doesn't matter what you believe. We're told that it doesn't matter how you live. Like David, we must rise up with faith in the Lord. Like David, we must move forward in obedience to the Lord. Let us challenge today's "Goliaths" - "I come to you in the Name of the Lord ... whom you have defied."We do not face these "Goliaths" in our own weakness. We face them in the strength of the Lord. Knowing that "the battle is the Lord's", we take our stand upon the Word of God: "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord" (1 Samuel 17:45-47; Isaiah 54:17).

"Christ Leads Us ... "

Christ leads us in His victory - "At the Name of Jesus, Satan's legions flee... "

‘He Who Is In Us Is Greater Than He Who Is In The World.’

2 Kings 23:31-24:17
‘The king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valour… all of them strong and fit for war’(24:16). A prisoner of war is taken out of the battle. We have been given ‘the whole armour of God’(Ephesians 6:11,13). We must use‘the weapons of our warfare’. We must ‘take every thought captive to obey Christ’(2 Corinthians 10:3-6). It is not easy to ‘fight the good fight of faith’(1 Timothy 6:12). Satan wants to make us his prisoners of war. Satan is a very powerful enemy - ‘the whole world is in the power of the evil one’. We must live as those who ‘are of God’, firmly convinced that ‘He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world’(1 John 6:19; 1:4). The world seems so strong. The devil seems so powerful. It will not always be so - ‘Hallelujah!’(Revelation 16:19; 18:21; 20:10; 19:1,6-7).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

‘When The Enemy Shall Come In Like A Flood, The Spirit Of The Lord Shall Lift Up A Standard Against Him.’

1 Kings 16:29-18:16
Things were getting desperate: ‘Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him’(33). What did God do about this? How did He respond to this situation? God sent His prophet, a man who would stand up for God against Ahab. ‘When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him’(Isaiah 59:19). Where did Elijah come from? He came from God! All we know about Elijah’s early life is expressed in the words: ‘Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead’. There is something else we know about him. He was a man of God. He was a man with a message, a man who spoke in the Name of the Lord the God of Israel’(17:1). Things happened when Elijah was around. This was the Spirit of God at work - in power!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

‘God First Loved Us’ - Before We Ever Thought Of Loving Him!

1 John 3:19-4:21
‘God is greater than our hearts’. When you are deeply aware of your sinfulness, remember - God loves you. God’s Word is brutally honest - about us: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’God’s Word is wonderfully encouraging - about His love for us. He ‘knows everything’ about us - and He still loves us: ‘God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’(3:20; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 5:8). What a great Saviour we have. He is ‘without sin’- yet He is the Friend of sinners. He ‘receives sinners’. He ‘came into the world to save sinners’(Hebrews 4:15; Luke 15:2; 1 Timothy 1:15). Whenever we start getting too full of ourselves, too full of our own importance, we must remember: ‘He first loved us’(4:19) - before we ever thought of loving Him!

1 John 5:1-21
What a great blessing we receive through faith in Christ - ‘Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God’(1). Our life as God’s children is not a life of tranquility. We face conflict, real conflict - a battle. In this spiritual warfare, we have God’s promise of victory. In verse 5, we have a question: ‘Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?’. The answer is contained in the question. Our victory is in Christ. We are not victorious because our faith is so strong that we couldn’t possibly fail. Many times, we fail. We take our eyes off Christ - and we are defeated. What are we to do? - when temptations seem to be so many and so powerful. When you feel so weak, let Christ be your Strength. ‘With Christ within, the fight we’ll win’.
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

We Love God Because He First Loved Us.

1 John 1:1-2:17
‘Jesus Christ’ died ‘for our sins’. This is Good News. It is not to be kept to ourselves - He died ‘for the sins of the whole world’. We have ‘fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’. ‘We have fellowship with one another’. These blessings are not to be kept to ourselves. We must share the Good News - ‘the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin’. We must seek to bring others into ‘fellowship’- not only ‘with us’ but, ‘with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’(2:1-2; 1:3,7). We are called to a life of obedience - ‘he who does the will of God lives for ever’. This obedience comes from our experience of God’s love. ‘The love of the Father’ leads to ‘love for the Father’: ‘We love’ God ‘because He first loved us’(15-17; 4:19). Let’s love the Lord - and do His will.

1 John 2:18-3:18
Through faith in Jesus Christ, ‘the Son of God’, we receive ‘eternal life’(22-25; John 20:31). Our enjoyment of eternal life has already begun - ‘we are God’s children now’. Our full enjoyment of eternal life is still to come: ‘It does not yet appear what we shall be...’. We have begun to experience Christ’s victory: ‘The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil’. We look forward to our full enjoyment of His victory: ‘When He appears, we shall be like Him...’(2,8). Some will try to ‘deceive’ us. We must keep our eyes on Christ - ‘He laid down His life for us’. We have received His ‘love’. We must show His love - ‘Let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth’(7,16,18). Do you believe in Christ? Live the life. Be a believer - in deed’!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

The Way To Revival - "If My People ... "

Judges 20:1-28
God uses a sinful and shameful situation - ‘Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day’(19:30) - to call His people back to Himself - ‘all the people of Israel... assembled as one man to the Lord’(1). God’s call was clear - ‘Put away evil from Israel’. ‘The Benjaminites would not listen’ to this call for holiness among God’s people (13). This was a serious situation. It was not to be taken lightly. This was no mere difference of opinion, something that would soon be forgotten. ‘The Benjaminites came together... to go out to war against the people of Israel’(14). Three times, God called His people to ‘go up’against the Benjaminites (18,23,28). Victory comes from the Lord: ‘I will give them into your hand’(28).

Judges 20:29-21:25
Judges ends on such a sad note: ‘every man did what was right in his own eyes’(21:25). This situation is not merely political - ‘no king’. It is moral and spiritual. The people had no regard for the authority of God and His Word. In Romans 5:20, we have Good News: ‘where sin increased, grace abounded all the more’. Here, we have bad news: ‘where grace increased, sin abounded all the more’. Reading Judges, we become acutely aware of the need for revival in our own day. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we see the way to revival: ‘If my people who are called by My Name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land’. Read of human ‘compassion’(6,15). Rejoice: God ‘will again have compassion upon us’(Micah 7:19).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

‘While We Were Still Sinners... The Holy Spirit Has Been Given To Us.’

Judges 13:1-14:9
Samson’s birth was announced by an angel. Jesus’ birth was announced by angels (13:3; Luke 1:30-33; 2:8-14). Samson’s death was a great triumph over the Philistines. Jesus’ death brought the greatest triumph of all - victory over Satan (16:30; Hebrews 2:14-15). The story of Samson points us to the greater Story of Jesus. There is, however, a great difference between Samson and Jesus. Often, Samson was concerned only with what pleased him (14:3,7). Always, Jesus did the will of God (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38). ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me’(Luke 4:18) - We expect these words from Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God. When, however, we read that ‘the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon’ Samson (14:6), we rejoice in the grace of God - ‘while we were still sinners... the Holy Spirit has been given to us’(Romans 5:8,5).

Judges 14:10-16:3
‘This man receives sinners’(Luke 15:2). These are the words of legalistic Pharisees. They were intended as an insult. They are also words of divine grace: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’(1 Timothy 1:15). Samson was a sinner. There is no question about that. Is he any different from the rest of us? - ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’(Romans 3:23). Samson was a sinner yet, ‘the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him’(14:19). We are sinners. Christ died for us. God has given us His Spirit (Galatians 3:13-14). This is divine grace. Samson often wandered. Still, the Lord was at work in him. Prompted by the Spirit, Samson ‘called on the Lord’. Samson was ‘very thirsty’. He prayed. He was ‘revived’(15:18-19). ‘Wilt Thou not revive us again...? (Psalm 85:6). Pray for revival!

Judges 16:4-31
The story of Samson is a story of tragedy and triumph. We see Samson’s tragedy - ‘“I will go out at other times, and shake myself free”. But he did not know that the Lord had left him’(20). There is a warning for us here. Yesterday’s triumphs do not guarantee today’s victory. Today’s challenge needs today’s grace. We need to keep close to the Lord - ‘His mercies... are new every morning’(Lamentations 3:22-23). We see Samson’s triumph - In his death, he triumphed over the Philistines (30). What encouragement there is for us here! How often we feel like Samson - ‘seized... gouged... brought down... bound... in the prison’- going through ‘the mill’(21)! Satan seems to have the upper hand. We feel so helpless. Satan will not have the last word. Take this for your encouragement: Satan will be ‘thrown into the lake of fire’(Revelation 20:10).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

From Victory To Victory

Judges 1:1-2:5
‘You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? (Galatians 5:7). Everything seems to be going well - ‘From victory to victory His army He shall lead till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed’(1-18; Church Hymnary, 481). Things went badly wrong. God commanded His people to ‘drive out’ His enemies. Again and again, they failed (19,21,27-33). This failure brought a stern rebuke from ‘the angel of the Lord’. God had blessed His people. Now, He has to rebuke them - ‘you have not obeyed my command’. Read of Israel’s weeping, and pray for this: Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation’(2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 7:10). ‘Strong in the Lord...’let us ‘tread all the powers of darkness down... and stand complete at last’(Church Hymnary, 441).

Judges 2:6-3:31
What sadness there is in the words of 2:10 - ‘there arose another generation... who did not know the Lord...’! As the generations pass, we must pass on the Gospel of Christ, praying that those who follow after us will ‘know the Lord’. In Isaiah 30:21, God says, ‘This is the way, walk in it’. Here, in the sin and shame of Israel, He warns us, ‘This is not the way, do not walk in it’(2:11-15). Don’t be conformed to this world, ‘entangled’ in its ways (3:5-7; Romans 12:2; 2 Timothy 2:4). God is angry with His rebellious people, but He does not cease to love them - ‘the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel (3:8-9). Read of the deliverers - Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar - and rejoice in our greater Deliverer: ‘Jesus... He will save His people from their sins’(3:9,15,31; Matthew 1:21).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

God's Way Of Salvation

Acts 27:1-44 

There is, in this story, a great picture of God’s way of salvation. (a) Our human situation is hopeless: ‘All our hope of being saved was at last abandoned’(20). We are sinners. We cannot save ourselves. (b) There is hope: ‘God has granted you all those who sail with you’(25). God has provided a way of salvation: ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’(John 3:16). (c) Faith believes the Word of God: ‘I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told’(25) - ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’(16:31). (d) Safety: ‘all escaped to land’(44). God has ‘prepared’ for us ‘a better country’, a ‘heavenly one’, ‘a city’, ‘the city which is to come’. Do you want to ‘escape’, to be saved? Make sure that you don’t ‘neglect such a great salvation’(Hebrews 11:16; 13:14; 2:3).

Acts 28:1-31 

Read of Paul’s protection from the ‘snake’. ‘Rejoice’- Christ has won for us a great victory over ‘that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan’. When God gives us His victory, we must not think too highly of ourselves - ‘he was a god’. We must give all the glory to God: ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of His Christ have come’(3-6; Genesis 3:14-15; Revelation 12:9-12). ‘So we came to Rome’(14) - These are words of triumph. God had fulfilled His promise: ‘you must bear witness also at Rome’(23:11). Rejoicing that ‘this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles’, Paul was ‘preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered’(29,31). Don’t miss God’s opportunities to share Christ’s Good News!

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Blessings in Christ

Christ in all the Scriptures

http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Victory In Jesus

John 10:1-42

The Christian life is not easy. The devil ‘comes only to steal and kill and destroy’ (10).

Satan was working through the religious leaders. They were trying ‘to stone’ Jesus (31).

‘Again’, they failed (39). They could not take Jesus’ life. ‘His hour had not yet come’ (18; 7:30; 8:20).

When Satan attacks us, we must remember this: God is in control.

God has given us great promises (28-29). Jesus saves. Jesus keeps. His salvation is eternal: ‘He didn’t bring us this far to leave us. He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown. He didn’t build His home in us to move away. He didn’t lift us up to let us down’.

Satan will cause us plenty of trouble.

* Be on the alert (1 Peter 5:8).

* Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).

Looking to Jesus, we are assured of this: Satan will be defeated (Revelation 12:9).