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[0:00] Now I told you last week that this wasn't my choice of title. It was given to me when I was asked to preach at the Black Pentecostal Church on Copley Close.

[0:10] I was given this title, How Do You Have Victorious Living Here on Earth? I was told to preach on it for an hour, which was a freedom which had never been given to me before.

[0:24] And I was given five points and lots of texts. Never happened that, given lots of texts and points of the sermon. And so you're getting the last three points.

[0:37] I think, to be fair, as I say, these three points weren't mine in origin. I think they come from the man whose name is at the end, under notes, Gordon Gordon Osiegi, who I think is a leader in this particular Pentecostal Church.

[0:59] But we looked last week at our first two points about how to live victoriously, because we all want successful, victorious, happy lives. And we saw the first two points are, take God's word seriously.

[1:14] Get to know God's word. If you don't want to follow the way the world is dragging you, if you want to be distinctive and different to know the way you really should go, you have to take God's word seriously.

[1:30] You have to read and study, know and obey your Bible. So the first point of having victory in this world is to have a different standard.

[1:41] A different book to live by. Not the book of what the world does. Not the book of what everybody else does. But the book of what is God's word, the scriptures. Where God has given us his truth, his way to believe, his way to live.

[1:57] Take God's word seriously. And the second thing we saw last week, is we are to know who we are in Christ. Be established who you are in Christ.

[2:08] Remember I said to you, forget the word Christian. Take it as an anagram. Jumble those letters round. Who are you? You are A in Christ.

[2:21] Same letters, much more sense. You are in Christ. God does not look upon you and your failures and your sins and your shortcomings.

[2:36] He looks upon his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And you by faith are linked to Christ, are hidden in Christ. So when God looks at you, he looks at his son.

[2:50] And he says, good, my beloved, I'm pleased with you. How can you do that? Because you are hidden in his son. You are in Christ.

[3:01] And that completely revolutionizes your view of yourself. You no longer have to look at your achievements, who you are, what you've got, what you've done, who your family is.

[3:14] No. You don't have to think about how other people measure you. Even how you measure yourself. What matters is God's opinion. How God sees you.

[3:25] And God sees you in Christ. And once you see that and realize that, it's transformative. It can give you that victorious Christian life.

[3:38] Those were the first two points last week. Now we have three more points today. Live by grace. Deepen your knowledge of God's promises. And learn to declare the victory in every situation you find yourself.

[3:54] Now, live by grace. What does this mean? Well, as I said, God looks upon you as in Christ. God doesn't look to see what your achievements are, what you've done.

[4:10] Not even what you believe. He doesn't look on what sort of a person you are. God looks upon you in Christ. And that's all by grace.

[4:20] His unmerited favor. Grace is getting what you don't deserve. What you deserve from God is condemnation. Punishment. Because you are a sinner.

[4:31] A rebellious person. A breaker of God's law. But by grace. God's unmerited favor. You receive mercy.

[4:43] You are accepted. In Christ. And you are to live on that basis. Whether or not God is pleased with you doesn't depend on your efforts, what you do.

[4:56] It depends on the fact that God is gracious to you. God is good to you. This again is transformative. Let's look upon some verses here about God's grace.

[5:10] As I said last week, I haven't given you one reading because I was given a lot of different verses and I'm sharing them with you and a few more too. God's grace. Romans 5.2. Through him.

[5:20] That's through Jesus. We have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We stand in God's favor. He's pleased with us because we have faith in his son.

[5:32] And so we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. People are worried about the future. They're bothered about all manner of things. Especially two. Global warming and Brexit.

[5:44] You don't need to be bothered. Whatever the outcome of those is. Our hope is of the glory of God. And sharing in it. Because we know God's grace in Christ Jesus.

[5:55] Because God's grace brings us forgiveness of our sins. Romans 5.17. For if by one man's trespass death reigned through that one man, i.e. Adam's sin has affected us all, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace, God's favor, the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

[6:21] Don't worry about how polluted you are by your sin. That's been covered by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as a free gift of God's grace.

[6:34] To the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. See there we're back to in Christ. Okay? In the beloved.

[6:45] That's where we've received the grace. Because we are hidden in the Lord Jesus Christ. In him, Christ Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

[7:03] We are forgiven. Why? Because of grace. The unmerited gift of God to us unworthy sinners.

[7:13] Even when we were dead in our trespasses. He made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. By the grace of God, when you were dead because of your sin, you were raised together with Christ.

[7:31] His resurrection is your new life. That is God's grace to you. And it doesn't stop here. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

[7:48] Grace may begin here. It doesn't end here. It's going on to all eternity. Summed up in Ephesians 2.8.

[7:58] By grace, you have been saved through faith. And that is not your own doing. It's the gift of God. It's all God's free gift.

[8:09] So, how do you receive a gift? You just ask for it. Is that the way to receive a gift? Ask.

[8:21] And it shall be given you. Seek. And you shall find. Knock. And the door will be opened. You want to know how to receive God's grace?

[8:32] It's that simple. You just ask. And here is the great encouragement for Christians in prayer. How are we to be aided? How are we to receive God's grace day by day?

[8:44] All we have to do is ask. It doesn't depend on us. It doesn't depend upon the ferocity or length of our devotions. No. We just have to ask.

[8:57] And it comes to us by grace. So. Third way for knowing the victory. Know that you live by grace.

[9:09] And you receive that grace in answer to prayer. That's God's method. Don't ask me how it works. It just is the way that God has appointed.

[9:22] He says. Ask. And it shall be given you. Seek. And you shall find. And then. As well as.

[9:33] Relying on God's grace. Through prayer. Deepen your knowledge of God's promises. Get to know God's promises. We are really back to point one here.

[9:45] About take God's word seriously. God's word. The Bible. Is full of the statements of truth. We have a saviour. Who is the way.

[9:56] The truth. And the life. And God's word is truth. I would ask what is truth. Jesus. He is the embodiment of truth. But truth is there in God's word.

[10:07] Truth is reality. The Bible tells you. The truth. And the truth. Is God's promises. About. The future. And about.

[10:17] Your future. And all God's promises. You won't know them. Unless you read the Bible. So study the Bible. Find God's promises. And look. 2 Corinthians 1.20.

[10:28] All the promises of God. Find their yes. In him. The old translation says. All God's promises are yeah and amen. In Christ Jesus.

[10:39] What does that mean? It means it's all fulfilled in Jesus. It's all about Jesus. All the scriptures point forward to him. All those strange things about Old Testament sacrifices.

[10:51] On the altar. In the tabernacle. And temple and that. It's all pointing to Jesus. It's all pointing to the need. Of one sacrifice. Of a saviour. Who will take away our sins.

[11:04] And all the promises of forgiveness. And being made right with God. Find their yes in Jesus. And all the promises about our future. Are yes in Jesus.

[11:17] James 1.12. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test. He will receive the crown of life. Which God has promised to those who love him.

[11:30] You're facing difficulties? Stand firm in your trial. The crown of life has been promised to you.

[11:41] You're concerned about Christians persecuted in other countries? Pray for them. Pray for them that they may know. That they are receiving the crown of life.

[11:51] God has promised it to those who love him. Pray that they will remain steadfast under trial. Find out God's promises. Claim them. Believe them.

[12:03] Act on them. Again from James. Listen my brothers. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world. To be rich in faith. And heirs of the kingdom.

[12:15] Which he has promised to those who love him. A lot of people have a struggle. To become citizens here. In this country.

[12:26] But it's easy to become a citizen of the new Jerusalem. An heir of the kingdom of God. And inherit it. You just get it by being.

[12:38] Having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And faith in all these promises. That are yes. In Jesus Christ. God has promised you his kingdom.

[12:51] He has promised that you will triumph. With the Lord Jesus Christ. Get to know the promises. And I would say. The objective facts.

[13:03] Of God's word. I haven't got it written down here. I'll have to do this for memory. God is our strength and refuge. Psalm 46. A very present help in time of trouble.

[13:17] Fact. Promise. God is a refuge. God is our strength. So act on it. Therefore we will not fear. Read the rest of the psalm.

[13:30] Go through the psalms. All of human life is there. Look at what God says about reality. And the psalms are incredibly real.

[13:42] I once went through all the psalms. To look at what was the situation of the psalmist. As far as we can see when he wrote it. And you know the vast majority of them. He is not a happy, clappy psalmist.

[13:55] He's up against it. He's in trouble. In most of the psalms. And yet in all the psalms he's triumphant. All except one.

[14:06] He gets 70. 80 or 88 is it. And in that one he still throws himself on God. And seeks God's help. The psalms will give you the reality.

[14:17] Of what is. What is true. About God. About this world. And about God's purposes. And his purpose of triumph. So look at the psalms.

[14:28] There you will find. What's true. There you will find God's promises. Believe it. Live it. You will know. The victory.

[14:39] And finally. Learn to declare the victory. In every situation you find yourself. I think this is very much. Bears the hallmark of the writer.

[14:53] Who gave me the points for this sermon. I would probably put it like this. Yes. Know your victorious. Shout your victory.

[15:05] Know your victorious. Shout your victory. Last week. I did refer to 2 Corinthians 2.14. Thanks be to God. Who in Christ. Always leads us.

[15:15] In triumphal procession. And through us. Spreads the fragrance. Of the knowledge. Of him. Everywhere. And the picture is. The victorious.

[15:26] Roman. Soldier. Emperor. General. Coming back to Rome. Leading the captives. In his trade. And it's a victory. Procession. I did mention last week.

[15:38] Perhaps you were one of the slaves. Who had been captured. From England. By the Roman general. But I think. I probably got that wrong. No. You are one of the victorious soldiers.

[15:50] Alright. You are part of that. Victory triumph. And you are marching on. Through this age. Following.

[16:00] Your victorious. Triumphant king. The Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. That is where you are. That's who you are. You are in.

[16:11] The triumph procession. Of King Jesus. And you are sharing his victory. Everyone who has been born of God. Overcomes the world.

[16:22] And this is the victory. That has overcome the world. Our faith. By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We share in his victory. His life.

[16:33] His resurrection. His being a son of God. We share in all these things. We are sharing in his victory. We are on the winning side.

[16:45] I was born after the second world war. There is at least one person here. Who can remember the second world war. When he was very young.

[16:57] There may be a couple of you. But. I like reading history. But the thing about history. Is you know the end. When you are reading the book. If you have ever read anything.

[17:10] Written at the time. The thoughts of people. During the conflict. They are not confident. I have got the diaries. Of my grandfather. In the first world war.

[17:22] And there is a constant refrain. When will this terrible war ever end. They did not know. That they were going to be. Victorious. Think about it.

[17:33] If you have been here in June 1940. Dunkirk. Facing the Luftwaffe coming. In August and September of 1940.

[17:43] You were just that far away. From invasion. You were the only country in Europe. Standing free. Not conquered. Would you have felt victorious?

[17:56] No. But we know. You were going to be. At the time. In the battle. They didn't know. What happened at the end.

[18:07] V.E. Day. You seen the pictures of V.E. Day. Talk about a party. I mean. Notting Hill Carnival. Nothing. Compared with V.E. Day. Even the Queen.

[18:18] As Princess Elizabeth. And Princess Margaret. Her little sister. Twisted their father's arms. And her father's arm. The King. And they went incognito. Into the crowd.

[18:28] I think. Just with one policeman. To look after them. Because they wanted to join in the victory. It was a great victory. V.E. Day. Followed by V.E. Day.

[18:40] A few months later. The victory. Was overwhelming. Well. Christians. You are. In V.E. Day. You.

[18:50] You might be struggling. You may think you are in the middle of the war. You may think you are at Dunkirk. You are on the beaches. You are under fire. You don't know if you are going to be evacuated. The reality is.

[19:01] In Christ. You are victorious. The reality is. In Christ. This is your V.E. Day. It's not your Dunkirk. So.

[19:12] Consider it. In Christ Jesus. You are. Victorious. For you. O Lord. Have made me glad. By. Your work.

[19:23] At the work of your hands. I sing. For joy. The psalmist says. Rejoice in that victory. Clap your hands. All you peoples. Shout to God.

[19:36] With loud songs. Of joy. Have we got enough people here. To do that. I couldn't do this. In IPC. Can I do it. In ELT. Come on. Can we do it.

[19:47] Can we clap our hands. Can we shout to God. With so much joy. Hallelujah. Great. I never thought. I'd get the majority.

[19:58] White audience. To do that. Good. That's what we are meant to be. We are meant to know. That we are victorious. We are meant to rejoice in it.

[20:09] I'm pleased to see some smiles now. That's very good. Well. The man who gave me this message. I got a quote from him at the end. I cannot be in Christ. And lose.

[20:20] Never. I cannot be in Christ. And lose. Never. Never. I've got a little story of my own. Some of you may have heard it. But I love the story. Of the man who was the caretaker.

[20:31] In a gym. This was in America. So he was the caretaker. They call it a janitor. In this gym. And these theological students. Came from the theological college.

[20:43] And they came to exercise there. To work out. And one of them saw. That the janitor. Was reading the book of Revelation. And so the bright theological students.

[20:54] The theological students said. You're reading Revelation. He said yes. He said. Do you understand it? And the janitor said. Yes. And the theological students.

[21:05] A bit miffed at this. Because Revelation. Of all the books. Isn't easy to understand. He said. You understand Revelation. Yes. He said. What does it mean?

[21:16] Jesus wins. Wins. That's it. That's what it means. Jesus wins. And if you're in him. You win with him.

[21:28] So rejoice. Clap your hands. O you peoples. Rejoice. We have victory. In Christ Jesus. Let us pray. Let us pray. Thank you.