The Life of Victory
God allowed us to exist in the world, in a continual spiritual war, yet He constantly prepares before us the way of victory and leads us in the procession of His triumph. He wants us always to be victorious, and He works in us for the sake of this victory…
Therefore, it matters to me today to speak to you about the life of victory.
The Life of Victory (1)
It is not right to make the path of the spiritual life difficult for people. Those who make the path difficult only drive people to fear, despair, and the cutting off of hope.
If a person becomes afraid or despairs, he may surrender and do anything… Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for this, because they “bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matthew 23:4).
The way of Satan is always to frighten people from the path. He shows them its difficulty so that they will not complete their journey and will turn back… And just as he makes the path difficult for them, so he also hides from them the work of grace.
He speaks to them about the narrow gate and the constricted way, and hides from them the Lord’s words: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He reminds them of the verse that says, “The terrors of the sea are marvelous,” and leaves out its latter half: “The LORD on high is mightier” (Psalm 93). He reminds them of the Lord’s saying, “In the world you will have tribulation,” and hides the other half of the verse: “But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Very beautiful and comforting is that verse spoken about Zerubbabel: “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain” (Zechariah 4:7).
God loves to make everything easy before us. Even if a matter is extremely difficult, it becomes easy by grace; it becomes easy through God’s intervention in it. Thus we live by hope, and we live “rejoicing in hope” (Romans 12).
How beautiful is the saying of the Apostle Paul, filled with hope and encouragement:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
A person who can do all things undoubtedly feels the beauty of the life of victory and that the enemy cannot prevail against him.
Therefore, let us not fear the half-truths that Satan presents to us.
If he brings us the saying of the Apostle Peter, “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” we complete for him the rest of the verse: “Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9). And we add to it the saying of the Apostle James: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
In order to be victorious, we should feel that victory is easy and that Satan can flee from us if we resist him…
The Holy Bible has presented many examples of the life of victory, among the most prominent of which is David’s victory over Goliath. Samson was mighty and victorious, and he has wondrous stories with their symbolic meanings. But David’s victory was greater because he was a child.
The child David, in his victory over Goliath, presents a symbolic meaning of victory over Satan, regardless of his strength, regardless of our weakness.
If Samson had defeated Goliath, the symbol would not have taken on its power… But here the assisting grace of the Lord appears, because His power is made perfect in weakness…
David was not afraid, although he knew the extent of his enemy’s strength, even though all the people and the army were afraid.
And the experienced David often chants of the grace of the Lord working in him for victory:
He says, “The right hand of the LORD has done valiantly; the right hand of the LORD is exalted. The right hand of the LORD has done valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD” (Psalm 118). I shall not die. Yet I will not boast that my arm saved me; rather it is the right hand of the LORD, His mighty arm, that has done valiantly.
And when David chants of victory, he does not mean that victory was easy, for the enemy was mighty and had humiliated him; yet David prevailed.
He says, “The sinners plowed on my back; they lengthened their iniquity.” They humiliated me, and the period of humiliation was prolonged… Thus he tasted humiliation from the enemy. But he returns to say, “The LORD is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked” (Psalm 129).
Victory in the Psalms of David means victory despite the severity of the enemy, his power, and his humiliation of the human being. Victory despite the narrow gate and the heaviness of the cross. A victory that assumes the harsh practical reality…
He says, “In the way in which I walk they have secretly set a snare for me. I looked on my right hand and saw, but there was no one who acknowledged me; refuge failed me; no one cared for my soul” (Psalm 142). But he also says:
“Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124).
Likewise you, if you see snares in your spiritual path, say with David, “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we have escaped.” Truly, God has not deceived us. The path has snares, but the snare will be broken by the hand of God… And we will sing in our victory, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive… Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth” (Psalm 124).
Remember that Christ has ascended to prepare a place for you in heaven.
Thus the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3). It is a beautiful promise from God, so hold fast to it. From the first sin, God promised victory. He said that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3)—not merely tread on the serpent, but crush its head.
Therefore, do not fear the serpent, because God promised to crush its head; the serpent is no longer alive after its head has been crushed…
Christ, who crushed the head of the serpent, will lead you in the procession of His triumph. And He continually promises us that “those who are with us are more than those who are against us.” There is also a beautiful experience that David the prophet lived and said in it, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” (Psalm 23).
The wages of sin is death, but even in the valley of the shadow of death, David fears nothing, because he feels the presence of God with him…
Therefore, do not fear, no matter how you fall, and no matter how often your fall is repeated, even if sinners scourge your back and prolong their iniquity. For the righteous man falls seven times and rises again. And the number seven symbolizes perfection, meaning that no matter how he falls, he rises.
If you desire to live the life of victory, hold fast to the promises of God…
Say to Him, “You, O Lord, have promised, and Your promise is true and faithful, and I hold fast to it.” You promised and said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). You also said, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:16). And You said, “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).
Hold fast to the promises of God, because Satan wants the world to darken before you; he wants it to narrow and become like the eye of a needle; he wants you to despair.
But you, do not fear him. Remember the saying of the Apostle Paul: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35–39).
How amazing is this Paul! He was not afraid of anything or of any power. He saw none of them able to separate him from the love of Christ—not life, nor death, nor angelic principalities, nor any created thing…
He is a steadfast man, unshaken, confident in his faith, confident in the life of victory in Christ Jesus. The love within him is greater than all the powers of evil that oppose him. Indeed, in all his battles his victory is magnified through Him who loved him… Paul, like David, is among the greatest examples that spoke of victory.
If you wish to be victorious, do not fear at all, no matter how you are fought against… The matter of fear was answered for us by God in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was a young youth and said to God, “I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth.” But God said to him, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth’… Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” And He touched his mouth and said to him, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” “Do not be dismayed at their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land… They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1).
Truly, the person who feels his weakness, if he is fought against, does not fight with his weakness but with the power of God. The more he explains his weakness to God, the more God increases him in gifts and strength…
Jeremiah the little boy became an iron pillar, bronze walls, and a fortified city that enemies could not prevail against… Imagine a person entering battle armed with a promise from God in which He says to him:
“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, to deliver you.”
Can such a person be afraid? Impossible…
God did not say to him, “I have removed the battle from you; I have prevented the enemy from attacking you.” No, but He said to him, “They will fight against you,” yet “they shall not prevail against you.” “Sinners will strike your back,” but “the LORD is righteous; He cuts in pieces the cords of the wicked.” “The LORD will not allow the rod of the wicked to rest on the lot of the righteous” (Psalm 125). The rod may strike them, but it will not rest upon them nor continue…
It is that Satan has his opportunity in which he fights. He may fight with all power, violence, and cruelty, like a roaring lion, but…
“My grace is sufficient for you.” My grace worked in Jeremiah “the youth,” in Moses “slow of speech and slow of tongue,” and in David “the small”…
Wonderful is the Lord in His saints! He sent David to fight Goliath, and his weapon in that was a smooth stone from the valley… And the stone was able to kill Goliath… Someone might say to the Lord, “Who am I, O Lord? There is a warrior saint who is an iron pillar, another who is bronze walls, and another who is a solid rock. As for me, I am merely a stone. What can I do?”
It does not matter, my son, whether you are a rock or a stone, an iron pillar or a bronze wall; what matters is that you be in the hand of God. Then God will do wonders through you and will lead you in the procession of His triumph.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Sixth Year (Issue Fifteen), 11-4-1975.
For better translation support, please contact the center.
