The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Passage: 1Corinthians 15 & 16.
The Victory Is No Mystery – 1Cor. 15:51-58
Good morning. Another week has passed. Black Friday, Small Store Saturday, and Cyber Monday are all behind us. Did you get all your Christmas shopping done? Good! You had a victory. That’s what today’s blog is about: VICTORY! We already have the victory, but we don’t realize it. When we don’t realize it, we lose.
I was reminded of an Abbott and Costello skit. They go into an illegal gambling establishment to bet on the horses. This was where they got the idea for off-track betting. Just remember that legal gambling is just as bad as illegal gambling – only someone else gets to keep your money! Costello places the bet, and a voice comes over the radio…
“And they’re off…”
“The race is over…”
“You lose!”
That was a comedy, so you already knew that Costello was going to lose. Do you know you already have the victory: you are not a loser? 1Corinthians 15 tells us…
“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 deathis sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (vs 54-57)
We have the victory! It was given to us by God through our Lord Jesus Christ! Death has no more sting: death cannot hurt us. Death is swallowed up in victory!
How can we know this victory now?
Well, you could… die. And at the rapture of the church, when your corruptible has put on incorruption, and your mortal has put on immortality, you will be with Jesus. That’s victory!
Or (and I prefer this way better) by faith. 1John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
Verse 58 of 1Corinthians 15 tells us the result of this victory through faith: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
We will be stedfast. Immovable, standing firm in our faith. God said it; that settles it.
We will be unmoveable. Nothing, and nobody in this world, or any situation for that matter should shake and shatter our faith. We have the victory and greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
And we will be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Soul winning, tithing (supporting our pastor, the church, and it’s ministries), and what ever the Lord has asked us as individuals to do (teach, edify, be a friend), are some of the works we should be abounding in.
And at the end of verse 58 there is victory: “…forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
That’s victory. Keep on going for the Lord.
Peace (John 14:47).
Posted in Devotions, Guest Posts, Thoughts from 1 Corinthians by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Thank you for that encouragement. It’s easy to forget that the victory is the Lord’s (and by extension, ours) when we are mired in the cares of this world. Praise God we know Who’s going to win! And thank God He chose me to be on “the winning side”. I hope I can help fight His battles with strength and fortitude. If you look back through history, and especially the Bible, it is abundantly apparent that those people God chose to use had to face some of the hardest trials and most painful circumstances. I think of what Katelyn taught us ladies yesterday about what Mary had to go through…it seems we can expect hardship if the Lord loves us. But it’s worth it, isn’t it?