Victory at the Cross

Paul writes in 1 Cor. 2:1,2 about the victory of the cross of Jesus Christ. “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

The central message of the church of faith is and always must be the Lord Jesus Christ. Two thousand years ago, Christ died on the cross outside of Jerusalem. This act of God made it possible for us all to be saved and have eternal life. So in Christ all be made alive.

The total effect of the death of Jesus Christ is as universal as the effect of the sin of Adam and Eve. You and I were not there when Adam and Eve sinned. We could not go up to Adam and ask him not to sin. We had no choice to be born into sin. But, in the death of Jesus Christ we have a choice whether or not we will accept the benefits to ourselves, that He might dwell in us. That is why Paul in 1 Cor. 15:57 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This article will discuss the victory of the cross, probably in the most practical manner you have ever heard in your life. The greatest needs met, unlimited powers and resources are available to us through our Lord. Many are aware that the resources are there and are available to us, but do nothing to use them. It is like having life-giving water in our house and not drinking. To have food available to us, but refusing to eat has not value.

The greatest need is to lay hold of the Lord and make available to us the victories He won and make them available to ourselves because we are saved by Him, not by any works we have done but by grace are ye saved, it is the gift of God.

I don’t want anyone to say that they have been in the truth for a long time and that we have heard this same thing a thousand times before. Well, I don’t think so. I am going to share with you what God through the Holy Spirit has revealed to me by touching my heart about the Lord Jesus Christ and the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We read in the text 1 John 3:8, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” That is about the shortest reason in the Bible why Jesus came to this earth. You are familiar with “to have everlasting life”. But, as a counterpoint to this is, “He came to destroy the works of the devil.”

There is a killer abroad, loose in the universe and he must be stopped. How? Only by the cross of Jesus Christ, which reveals how serious a matter this is.
What are his works? He doesn’t manufacture automobiles, doesn’t make clothing, operate farms, factories retail stores. What are the works of the devil? Here in the scriptures we find a list of what the works of the devil are… he is a “murderer and liar from the beginning.” You tell lies? He is the father of it. We must never tell lies. Never let a dishonest word come out of our lips. To do so is to do the works of the devil. He is a liar. We must always tell the truth as far as we know it to be the truth. We may not have all the facts, but at the time those words come out of our lips, they are the truth.

The devil manufactures doubt. The Lord is safe. Be careful that we are not buying doubt at the devil’s retail store.
The devil manufactures murder. He is a murderer. He is a destroyer. Apollo (which is derived from the Greek word “appolo”) was the god of war. He makes wars. He makes hate.

If you had one word that best describes the character of God, what is that word? Love. If you had one word that best describes the character of the devil (Satan) what is that word? Hate. He hates us. He hates you.
The Son of God, the kingdom of God is held together by love. The kingdom of Satan is held together by hate. I can tell you from personal experience that the devils hate each other. They have no use for each other. There is no love in the kingdom of Satan. The only thing that holds them together is that they all have a uniform hatred for the Son of God. Like the worldly churches, they all hate each other but all agree and are unified in the hatred of the Sabbath. One unifying character of Satan and his millions of angels or demons is hatred for the Son of God.

The devil makes hatred, strife, profanity. Is there anyone reading this article who uses profanity? Is there? The devil manufactures profanity. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” Ex. 20:7.
The devil manufactures violence and theft. You wouldn’t take anything from your employer, would you? He also manufactures greed and fear. For the Lord has not given us the spirit of fear. I meet people all the time who are afraid. Fear is one of Satan’s products, one of his big products. These are the works of the devil and Jesus Christ came to destroy them, to destroy the fear, hatred, greed and the lying and profanity, as well as the worry and frustration, He came to destroy it all.

Now, let us make this a little more personal. The devil attacks us by arousing hatred and anger. He sets husbands and wives yelling at each other, he transforms men into animals, beating their wives, their children, venting their hostilities. He awakens lust in both men and women, which leads them to abandon their home and family. He clouds the mind with depression, drives souls to the brink of suicide.

So, it is in these mental emotions, these emotional areas, moral areas that the battle for eternal life is either won or lost. We can’t win this battle ourselves. There is no hope for us outside of Jesus Christ. We can take this victory in Christ for our souls or go down to eternal loss in the grave. We cannot control ourselves. We serve one of two masters. There are no shades of gray, no compromise. We are decidedly servants of Jesus Christ or Satan. We do the bidding of one or the other.

What I am trying to say so far is that we have to take it deeply into our heart the truth that Jesus not only died to forgive us where we failed, but he died to keep us from failing.

Any doctrine or gospel anyone teaches, no matter how seductive, now reasonable or rational that teaches that Jesus Christ does not give us the power to defeat the enemy and live above sin, is no gospel at all. It is a false gospel. Sis. White said that in the latter days there will be many false doctrines, gospels, anti-christs. These false gospels are born of Satan. It is the Lord Jesus who has power to destroy the works of the devil in us.

I now wish to discuss some practicalities with you. How, we by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ can defeat the enemy that Jesus came to destroy and how to claim this victory. Jesus won the victory on a basic issue first. Very soon after baptism He was hardly dry from the water, when He was led by the spirit into the wilderness, fasting 40 days. After 40 days at the end of the fasting, the devil came to him in a weakened condition. The Lord met the enemy face to face.

The first temptation the devil offered was that he picked up a rock. It was not a nondescript rock, but one in the colour and shape of a loaf of barley bread. The devil held it up to Him and said, “consider that this rock is a loaf of barley bread. If you are the Son of God, command that this stone be made bread. There is nothing wrong with feeding your body. The Lord said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Mat. 4:4. The words that proceeded out of the mouth of the Father only 40 days before, the voice from heaven, “You are my beloved Son”. Jesus was not to work a miracle to prove what the Father already affirmed. In the first temptation our Lord gained a victory over His body. His victory came under the most advantageous opportunity for the evil one after 40 days of fasting. The victory that He gained over His body is a victory that He gained for you and me. Any victory over the flesh that we desire with all of our hearts, the Lord will give us, because He is the only one who is able to do so.

He is the heavenly merchantman who counsels us to buy of Him. He is the only source of supply. Not your pastor, wife or husband, brother or sister, relative or friend. Do you have a problem with lust or appetite? The victory is there through Jesus Christ. “It is assured through faith and obedience.” (7BC 966).

There is a key phrase in the Bible that I would like to discuss. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do.” John 14:13. “And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name.” Luke 10:17. What does it mean, “In My name”? We hear it all the time.

Let’s say there is a piece of property in another state where we want to settle down, perhaps in Florida. We want to live there, and have a couple of dogs, a horse for the kids, near the sea. To sell, I must give power of attorney, even if I am absent, to my lawyer. When he signed my name down, it would have all the legal effect of my presence without me being there… in my name.

The Lord has given us authority over all of the devil’s products and we have to realize this. We need an awakening, that in Jesus we have authority, that the Father has put all things under His feet. We read, “you shall tread on serpents and scorpions, and give you power over all the powers of the enemy and nothing by any means shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:19).

We can come up against the forces of evil in the name of Jesus Christ. Ve have power of attorney and it is as if Ch/ist Himself was present and is legally binding. If you have a problem with lust or hate, this is part of the devil’s products. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ be gone! Get thee behind me Satan… be gone! Tell the devil to get hence We have authority over him in the name of Lord Jesus.

I would like to discuss materialism. You have met materialistic people. Everything is a dollar sign, a drachma sign. They may not know it but it is materialistic. It can destroy a person or destroy a marriage. The Lord was offered all the kingdoms of the world and He turned it down. If anyone here believes in a new car, a new home, a few more stocks and bonds, or more money in the bank is going to make you happier, all this… it won’t. It doesn’t work that way. How much more does Nelson Rockefeller have? He doesn’t have a penny!! He’s dead.

We forget so easily that in this world that is not where it is. It is not what we have but what we are. “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God… (Rev. 14:2). The only important thing in this world is our relationship with Jesus.
Let us talk more about this victory. I meet people plagued and almost destroyed by fear. People can’t turn lights off, they leave the TV or radio on 24 hours a day. They can’t tolerate the silence. The must feel their senses being bombarded constantly.

Did the Lord defeat fear? Do you know where? In the Garden of Gethsemane, before He died on the cross. He was sweating drops of blood. Why was that? Fear. Remember, He feared if He drank the cup that there would be an eternal separation between Him and His Father; this separation which happened at the cross, where He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”. He feared that this separation would be eternal and He sweat blood over it. He defeated fear. This was the victory of the Lord. Sis. White says that there is no need to fear the power of man or the enmity of Satan, lest you surrender the truth (DA 356); and except as we forget God’s leading (LS 196).

There are several different types of courage. There is the courage to react at the spur of a moment. You look back and say, What? Did I do that? But there is another type of courage, where you fully know the possibility of danger yet you walk straight in. knowing that you could lose your life. Christ went to the cross, not knowing whether He would ever come out. It was at the risk of eternal loss that our Lord went to Calvary. He defeated fear!

What else did He do? He overcame pride. Pride is a terrible demon. Pride of intellect. I see it all the time. “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” (Eze. 28:17). Many are proud of their appearance, proud of their intellect.

Our Lord overcame pride three times. The first time was when He was born in the stable. You can’t be born under more humble circumstances, and He was the King of Glory. He defeated pride again when He washed the disciples’ feet, when he was fully aware that He was the Son of God. The last time that He overcame pride was on the cross, because He was naked. He “endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Heb. 12:2).

So you have pride? Do you want the victory over it? Take it to the Lord. Ask Him to take it away from you, that in the light of the stable, on the floor or in the upper room, and in the nakedness of the cross, tell pride to go.
AMEN.

Part 2 continues in the next Messenger