Ron Dunn Podcast - Chained to the Chariot - Bellevue

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

Ron returns to Bellevue and delivers one of his classic sermons from 2 Corinthians 2. Preached at Bellevue Baptist Church in 1997.

Well, thank you for letting me come and share with you tonight. I want you to open your Bibles this evening to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, and I want to read verses 12 through 16, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 12 through 16. Now, you might say that 2 Corinthians could be subtitled Paul's Travel Diary. For in this letter, probably more than any other letter that he wrote, he gives us some details and descriptions about his travels and what happened to him in his travels. Now, there's a reason for that. Back home at Corinth, Paul has his enemies. It's kind of hard for us to imagine today that there would be people in the church that didn't

approve of Paul and were trying to cast doubt upon his reputation, but he had his enemies. And when you have an enemy, they'll use any little thing that comes up against you. Paul, for instance, had said he was going to come to them at a certain time, but he was delayed, not his fault. But these enemies said, see, that's the way Paul is. He's fickle. He says he's going to be here and he doesn't come. And then Paul wrote a very scathing letter and they would say, well, yeah, Paul's mighty bold when he's a thousand miles away writing a letter, but he won't be that way when he gets there. And just other things. He had suffered so much that some of them had even said his sufferings proved that he must not be an apostle of the Lord. And so what Paul is doing in chapter 2, beginning with verse 12, all the way through verse 10 of chapter 6, is taking a detour

in which he defines and defends his apostleship. He is proving the authenticity of his apostleship. And then after verse 10 of chapter 6, he gets back on the main line again, but he takes a detour here and spends this time talking about himself and about the apostleship that Christ has given him. Now, what we're going to read tonight, verses 12 through 16, serves as an introduction to that section that we've just mentioned. So let's read verses 12 through 16. Now, when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother.

But taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? I want to read again the first part of verse 14. That's really where we're going to zero in on tonight.

The apostle says, But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ. Kay and I were traveling in Tennessee somewhere a while back, going from one place to another, and we decided we'd eat lunch at the Cracker Barrel. They've got good root beer, the Cracker Barrel has good root beer. So we went in, sat down and had our meal and then I took the check and went up to the cash register and gave

her the check plus my Visa card. Now I have one of those visa cards that has my picture on the front of it. And so she took the check and she took that visa card and she looked at it. And then she looked at me and then she looked back at that visa card and she said, this is not you. Well, I knew what had happened. sometimes Kay and I will interchange you know and I'll end up with her card and she'll end up with mine and I said oh no that's right

you're right that's my wife she looked at that looked at me and she said no that's not your wife I said let me see that I took that card and I looked at it. It was my card. Had my name on it.

There I was. That's my picture right there, plain as day. I said, this is my card. That's my picture. She took it back and she looked at me and she said, boy, you don't look anything like your picture. I said, well, of course not. That was taken when I was much older than I am now. I mean, has that ever happened to you?

You know, you see somebody's photograph, and then you see the person in the flesh, and boy, they don't look a thing like their photograph. I remember visiting in a home a while back, and as I was talking to the folks, I just was captivated by a beautiful photograph on the mantel of the most gorgeous young woman I had ever laid eyes on. And I admired that photograph. And after a while, that girl came into the room, and I looked at her, and I looked at that photograph, and I admired the power of the airbrush.

And the touch-up abilities of the photographer. That girl didn't look a thing like that photograph. You know what she had done? She had gone down to one of these glamour shots place, you know, and had one of those glamour thing, you know, and there was the glamour, you know, shot right there. That was the after shot. She was still in the before mode,

and I didn't recognize her at all. But, you know, do they do glamour shots for men? Do they do that? You know, I've been thinking about my next photo to kind of go to a glamour shop, you know. I reckon they would drape something over my shoulder, leave one shoulder bare, and kind of have me look at myself. It'd be different, you know. It'd catch people's eyes. But there have been many a time, all of us have experienced this. We see somebody's photograph and yet when we see them in the flesh, they don't look a thing like their photograph. Well, I think we could safely say tonight that the Bible, the New Testament in particular, is a picture of how Christians are supposed to look.

And we read this photograph, and then we look up from the photograph and view the believers around us and even ourselves, and we say, hmm, I see your picture here, but you know, you don't look a thing like your picture. Has that ever bothered you that there seems to be such a great discrepancy between what the Bible says we are and what we really are? There seems to be a great gulf fixed between what God says we are and our experience of that.

For instance, here's a picture of the believer. In Romans chapter 8, Paul says, nay, in all these things, he's just described every terrible thing that could possibly happen to a person. He says, nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Now, that's not a conditional promise. That's a statement of fact. He said, simply because Jesus loved us, we are, it's the only time that word occurs in the New Testament, we are supra-conquerors. It means we win by an overwhelming margin. Now, I think all Christians believe

we're gonna win in the end. We are, we're gonna win in the end, but boy, it's gonna be close. I mean to tell you, it's going to be nip and tuck. And in the last three seconds, the Christians are going to kick a field goal, beat the devil 17 to 14. We're going to win,

but boy, it's going to be close. No, that's not what Paul says. He says we are more than conquerors. We do far more than just conquer. Ours is an overwhelming defeat. I see your picture, but you don't look much like your picture. Here is another one. Jesus said to the woman at the well,

whoever takes a drink of the water that you're drinking from will thirst again, but whoever takes a drink of the water that I shall give him, the water of life, the water of salvation, shall not never, he uses a double negative, shall not never thirst again isn't that a wonderful promise but everywhere i go i see christians whose lives are filled with thirst and restlessness and disappointment and despair that's strange i see your picture but you don't look anything like your photograph.

Well, let's just take one more glimpse. First John says, this is the victor that overcomes the world, even our faith. I used to read that, and I'd say, that's why I'm not overcoming the world. I don't have enough faith. If I had more faith, I could overcome the world. But I made the mistake in reading the next verse, and it says, who is he who overcomes the world but he that believes that Jesus is the Christ? He's not talking about how much faith you have.

He's talking about what kind of faith. I could ask this bunch tonight, how many of you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? And I imagine we'd have 100%. But if I were to ask you, how many of you have overcome the world today? I think we'd lose a few on that proposition. Well, what's the difference? Why this bridge that seems impassable between what the Bible says we are and what we really are? What's the explanation? Well, I'll tell you what I believe. I believe that the reason that we do not bridge the experience gap in our Christian life and do not look like our photograph,

I believe it's because we are either ignorant of a truth or knowing that truth, we are disobeying it. You say, well, preacher, what is that truth? Well, Paul tells us in this 14th verse. He says, but thanks be to God who always leads us in his triumph in Christ. Now, I want you to notice five words, always leads us in his triumph. That's six words, isn't it? Notice those six words, always leads us in his triumph in Christ. Those six words are the translation of one Greek word. And that Greek word referred to a custom that was common among the Roman army of that day, and everybody was familiar with it. So when Paul wrote this letter and he used that word, the people knew what he was talking about,

and they got the picture, they got the message. But of course today, in our English translations and not understanding the background of this, we miss this message. But let me tell you what Paul is referring to. When the Roman army went out to wage war, as soon as they secured a victory, they would dispatch a herald, a runner. And this man would run all the way back to the city of Rome. And upon reaching the streets of Rome, he would run through the streets heralding,

announcing that the victory was won and their conquering hero was returning. By the way, we get our word preached from that. And that's what preaching is. It is just going ahead of the returning Lord, announcing that the victory has been won and we need to get ready for His return. And so when they heard that, people began to make preparations. For instance, there was a very special incense that was reserved to be burned on those occasions. If you were a citizen of Rome,

you stepped out the door one morning and sniffed the air and you smelled that familiar incense, you'd say, oh, we're going to have a party. We've won a victory. We're going to have a parade. Well, on the day of the return of the conquering hero, there was a magnificent procession. You can read about it in an encyclopedia. It was headed up by priests who were bearing little lavers in which that incense was being burned. And then came the trumpeteers,

then came the praise leaders. And it's just a magnificent thing, the people lining the streets, cheering and yelling. But the central figure in that drama was the conquering hero, the commander-in-chief. And he would be riding in a gold-plated chariot drawn by white horses. And when they saw him, they really cheered. They just went wild and waved their arms and shouted and cheered. Now, right behind that chariot and chained to it were the officers of the defeated army. Now, the rank and file of the defeated army would be brought up later, and they would be put out to slavery. But these officers were going to be executed. That's why Paul says that's an aroma of life to some and aroma of death to others. When those officers smell that aroma, they knew they were going to be put to death. So here they are. They are chained to his chariot. And as that chariot

rolls to the streets of Rome, they are being dragged along behind in dust and in humiliation. And when the people saw that, that's when they threw the garlands and confetti into the air. Why? Because those chained men were the manifestation of the power of their conquering hero. And it is that custom to which Paul refers in that verse. Thanks be to God who always leads us

in His triumph in Christ. You see what Paul is saying? He's saying there was a time when I was at war with God and there were hostilities between the Lord Jesus Christ, but He has conquered me and I've yielded to Him an unconditional surrender, and He has locked me in the chains of His Lordship. And everywhere I go, there's victory because I'm simply following in the way of His own triumph.

All right, you still with me? Okay, here's the point of this sermon, but not the final point. Don't get your hopes up. Here's the point of this sermon, but not the final point. Don't get your hopes up. Here is the point. If you want to be a conqueror, you must first be conquered. Paul, how is it that you can say wherever you go, there's always triumph? You're always led about in your triumph in Christ. Well, it's because I'm chained to His chariot.

You see? It's because I've been conquered by Christ. And now I share in His conquest. Which leads me to say that you and I experience only as much victory in Jesus as Jesus has over us. And if there is an area of repeated, repeated, repeated failure and defeat in your life, it's a good sign there is an area of your life in which Jesus Christ is not ruling and reigning as Lord. If you want to be a conqueror, you must first be conquered. If you want to exercise authority, you must first submit to authority. Of course, that's the problem.

Nobody wants to submit to authority. We all want to exercise it. If you want to be a master, you must first be mastered. If you want to be an overcomer, you must first be overcome. I was preaching this in West Palm Beach, Florida, as a matter of fact. And after the service, we went out to a gentleman's house and ate. And we were sitting around the table and he said,

Brother Dunn, that was a great sermon tonight. I said, well, thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. He said, there's only one thing I didn't like about it. I said, well, what was that? He said, I didn't like that picture of being chained to the chariot or being dragged along behind the chariot.

He said, I think it'd be a better sermon if you took that out. I said, that is the sermon. I mean, there wouldn't be a sermon if you took that out. That is the sermon. That's what Paul is saying. Of course, I understood the man's feeling. You know, he was simply expressing what all of us feel in our heart. Nobody wants to be conquered. We all want, I want to ride up front with the Lord myself, you know, help him drive. Don't, don't, don't, you know. Don't you think sometimes the Lord could use a few suggestions from seasoned drivers like this, you know. I like to say, Lord, we're going mighty slow.

Couldn't you put the pedal to the metal a little bit, unless people are passing us all the way. Sometimes I say, Lord, this is a bumpy old road you've chosen. We passed up a good major highway back there. Why are we on this old bumpy road? And there are other times when I just get tired and I say, Lord, why don't we pull over here and rest there and have a picnic? See, I want to drive up front with the Lord

and help him drive. No, that's not how it works. You're behind there, chained to the chariot. And you're simply following in his wake. Now, the best illustration you'll find of this, I believe, anywhere in the Bible is in Matthew chapter 8. You remember the centurion who came to Jesus. And he said, Master, my servant is sick. And Jesus said, Well, I'll come to your house and heal him.

And the centurion said, Oh, no, don't do that. I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof, but just speak the word and my servant will live, for I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes. And to this one, Do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard that, he marveled and said, I've never found such great faith.

No, not in all of Israel. Now, there's only two times in the Bible that Jesus marveled, was amazed. Both times were at the faith of a Gentile. But I'm gonna have to tell you something, folks. I didn't see what was so great about what that guy said in the first place. And I didn't see what it had to do about faith.

But it amazed Jesus. So I figured if it amazed Jesus, it ought to sort of tweak my interest a little bit. I mean, what could you tell Jesus that would amaze him? He made it all. He's seen it all. He knows it all. I mean, you know, and so I figured, well, if Jesus was amazed and I'm not, then I've missed something. And so I went back. Let's look at what the man said. He said, Jesus said, I'll come to your house and heal your servant. He said, oh, no, Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just speak the word and my servant will live. For I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me. Now see, I would have expected him when he said, for I also am a man under authority, I would expect his next words to be,

and when I'm told to do something, I do it. But he didn't say that. He said, for I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me. And when I say something to be done, they do it. You see, that centurion lived under the authority of the emperor. And as long as he had the emperor's authority, he was under the emperor's authority, he had the emperor's authority over those 100 men.

That's why they call him a centurion. But if he rebelled against the authority of the emperor, he lost his authority over those 100 men, didn't he? See, the principle by which he was living, if you want to be a conqueror, you must first be conquered. If you want to exercise authority, you must first submit to authority. But that's not what really amazed Jesus. What really amazed Jesus was a little four-letter word. He said, for I also, now some translations read to, T-O-O, for I also am a man under authority. Now when he said that word also, what was he doing? Comparing himself to Jesus.

Jesus said, I'll come to your house and heal him. He said, oh no, Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof. Just speak the word and my servant will live. For Lord, like you, I am a man under authority with soldiers under me. And I don't have to run my own errands. All I have to do is just speak the word, and it'll be done. And I know you operate on the same principle, Lord. And that's what amazed Jesus, because this Gentile saw something

and nobody else saw, that Jesus was a man living under the authority of his Father and living under the authority of his Father. He had his Father's authority over death, disease, and the demons, you see. Paul lived by that principle. The centurion lived by that principle. Christ himself lived by that principle. And if you and I are going to know victory in our lives, we ourselves must live by that principle.

All right, now, y'all are going to have to listen a lot faster than you're listening, all right? I want to say three things about this victory. Number one, it is God's victory through His Son. Paul says, thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ. When I first started preaching this, I preached it from the King James Version and discovered that that was not the best translation at this point

are the King James says thanks be to God always causes us to try is there what's the big deal well there's a big deal difference between causing us to try and and being led in his trial you say in other words I'm not the one who rides in that gold-plated chariot. I'm not the conquering hero. I'm not the victor. It is God's victory, won through His Son. And I simply enjoy that by being dragged along in the wake of his triumphant train. I love the way the New English Bible translates it. It says, we are always led about,

captives in Christ's triumphant procession, you see. You see, what we need to understand, and this is so important, is that it is not the Christian's responsibility to win the victory. That's not my responsibility. That's God's responsibility, not mine. But most of us believe that it is ours.

You know, we get up in the morning and we say, well, I'm going to win the victory today. I don't care what happens. I mean, yesterday the devil just beat me all to pulp, but I'm going to tense my muscles and I'm going to grip my teeth and roll up my sleeve and I'm going out there dead. I'm going to beat the world, flesh and the devil if it kills me.

And it just about does. Friend, do you realize the reason you can't win any victories is because they've already been won? Did you realize that every temptation you're going to face tomorrow was conquered 2,000 years ago? There are no victories to win, friend. Now, we will use that expression, and that's all right, but let's understand the truth of the matter is

that all the victories were won. The devil was made feeble and stripped of his power 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross. Our part is not to defeat the devil. Our part is not to defeat the devil. Our part is not to overcome the temptation. Our part is not to win the victory. Our part is to enjoy that by faith which Jesus has already wrought, what Jesus has already done.

I think you'll find a great illustration of this in the life of David. You know, they must have fought strange wars in those days because one day David's mother said to the little boy, here, your brothers are brown bagging at day down at the war and I want you to take this sack lunch to them. Now, that's kind of a strange war where, you know, a little brother comes and say, here boys, mom packed your lunch today. Well, when he got down there, of course, he noticed this big old giant Goliath standing over there taunting the armies of Israel and

mocking the the God of Israel and and little David didn't like that he said why you why y'all let him do that I wouldn't let him do that they said not now David just leave the lunch and go back home these are matters that you don't understand well I don't see why you're letting him get by with that if it was me i wouldn't let him get by with that oh you think you could do something yeah i know i could do something that was a good way to get rid of a little brother okay we'll just give you a try at it well they tried to put saul's armor on him but it just swallowed him up of course he couldn't even move an inch with that armor. He said, I don't need that armor.

I got my slingshot and my five smooth stones. You remember what happened? Little old David went out there, and he looked Goliath straight in the kneecap. And remember what David said to Goliath? You remember what his words were to Goliath? He said, the battle is, what? The Lord's.

Oh, I thought the battle was Israel's. No, that's why they're over there hiding behind the bushes. The battle is the Lord's. He has given you into my hand. You see? What you and I must learn to do is to stand before the giants, the Goliaths of our lives that threaten and intimidate us and say to them, the battle is the Lord's.

He has delivered you into my hand. Sunday morning or so ago, I was in a meeting and gave the invitation, nobody came. And a little teenage boy, about 14 years old, wouldn't think he'd think things like this. He came up to me and he said, Brother Dunn, do you get discouraged when people don't come? I said, well, I'm disappointed because I think they ought to come, but I don't get discouraged because actually that's not my job. One man plants, another man waters, but it's God that gives the increase.

You see, the Lord hasn't asked me to build a church. He said, I'll build a church. You just preach the Lord hasn't asked me to build the church. He said, I'll build the church. You just preach the word. You see, there are some things that I'm responsible for in the Christian life, but victory is not one of them. That's God's responsibility. All right, secondly, this victory becomes ours through submission. Through submission.

You say, well, are you preaching a passive Christianity or are you just saying, well, we just sit around and fold our hands and say, well, I'm just going to let the Lord do it all. No, I'm not preaching that at all. This victory becomes ours through submission. You say, what do you mean by that?

What I mean by that is this. The way we enter into this victory is just by being chained to the chariot. Making certain that moment by moment, day by day, I am under the rule and reign of His Lordship. And as I am chained to that chariot, then I just naturally flow into that victory. I remember when I was pastor in Irvin, we had a seminary student came over. One of his class projects was he was supposed to interview pastors

as to what they considered to be their number one priorities as pastors. And so this young seminarian had his paper there, and he asked me, he said, now, Brother Dunn, what do you consider as pastor of this church your number one priority? I said, me. Well, he didn't do anything. I said, me, write it down right there, M-E.

And I knew what he was thinking. He said, boy, this is some arrogant guy. I mean, I said, son, let me explain to you. As pastor of this church, my number one priority is not to the lost of this community. My number one priority is not to the saved members of this church. My number one priority is to me, to make certain that every day, moment by moment, that my life is under the lordship of Jesus Christ, that I am filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit. And when I am, the people, the lost, and the members will be blessed by the overflow of my life, you see.

Jesus said, if any man thirsts, let him come after me and drink and I will cause rivers of living water to flow from within. He says, you provide the riverbed, I'll provide the rivers. See, I'm nothing but a riverbed and the trouble with so many churches is we've got a bunch of old dry riverbeds

standing behind a pulpit on Sunday morning trying to quench the thirst of starving people. You can't do it. You can't do it. You're just a riverbed, and you're not able to satisfy anybody's thirst. You're not able to meet anybody's needs. It's only as the Holy Spirit fills and flows through you and touches the lives of others. Now, people will come to me, and I'm glad they do. And I'll say to Adrian,

boy, you've been a blessing to me. You have, and that's true. You really blessed me. But you see, we both know the fact of the matter is that we can't bless anybody. See? I mean, I can't bless anybody. I can't minister to anybody.

The only one who can bless you and minister to you is the life of Jesus that dwells in me. And if somehow under his lordship, that life of Jesus is able to express itself through my human personality and touch your life, then you're blessed, then you're ministered, then your life is changed, you see. We have a great treasure, but your life is changed, you see.

We have a great treasure, but it's in an earthen pot and it has to get cracked in order for the treasure to leak out. That's why I believe all Christians are crackpots. The brokenness. We understand that I cannot do anything for anybody. I cannot minister. I cannot bless anybody. Only the life of Christ can do that. And if somehow the life of Christ that resides in me can somehow get past this earthen jar, this clay pot, and can touch your life and touch your heart, then you're going to be blessed. You're going to be ministered to. So you see, my number one priority is, well, we had an evangelist drop by and visit our services one Sunday morning from Khartoum, Sudan. And he prayed with me before

the service. I'll never forget his prayer. He said, he said, Lord, if you don't bless the pastor today, the people will go away hungry. See? Yeah. Number three, this victory remains ours in any situation. Now, I want you to notice two phrases that Paul uses in verse 14. But thanks be to God who always, sort of wish he hadn't said that. A little bit more comfortable if he had said,

but thanks be to God who, oh, every once in a while, leads us in his triumph in Christ. I remember a good day I had in 94. But he doesn't say that. He said he always, always, all the time, any time, every time. And then he says he manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place, all places, any places. What have you got there? You've got time.

You've got space. Any place, every place, all places, any time, every time, all the time. Now, I don't say this lightly. But I want to tell you something if you and I know how to live chained to the chariot there is no conceivable situation in life in which Jesus Christ

cannot give you victory of course that may mean you have to redefine victory you know I won't say I've learned to do it I always say I'm learning to do it but I wake up one morning I find myself in disastrous circumstances. What do I do?

First thing I need to do is check to see if I'm still chained to the chariot. If I am, I can say two things about that situation. Number one, the Lord led me into it. If I'm chained to his chariot, folks, I couldn't have gotten there any other way. And number two, he's already overcome it. Because I'm simply being dragged along behind in his victory. When I was in college, I pastored a little church, a little weekend church up in the foothills of eastern Oklahoma. I lived, my folks lived, I grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and I was going to Oklahoma Baptist University.

And on the weekends, I'd go home and visit my folks in Court K. And then on Sunday morning, I'd drive over to that little church. It had about 15 women and one man in it. And I'd drive over to that little church. Now, to drive over to that church, this is before they put in the interstate system. And I forget what highway it was out of Fort Smith leading. Oh, there was a good, good highway. I mean, a main good highway. And you'd be on that highway for a while. And then afterwards, you would slip off onto a secondary road, good, smooth asphalt

road. And then a little while later, you would slip off onto a third road that somewhere in the distant past had a nodding acquaintance with asphalt. But now it was just full of potholes and everything. It was bumpy. And you'd go on that one for a while, and then you'd suddenly find yourself on a little dirt road, a little gravel road, and that's when you'd start going up into the hills. Now, two or three times as you drove that little road, you'd cross a stream, you know, about an inch deep, you know, just part of the road. You just splash through it. See the shell underneath is crystal clear. Well, I remember one

Sunday I was driving over to my little church. It had rained all week. I'm telling you, it had rained cats and dogs all week. But the Lord, bless His heart, had given us a pure, sunshiny day for Easter. And I had on a new Easter suit, sky blue. And new shoes and new socks. And I was driving my 46 Ford. Now in those days, I'd always preach my sermon, practice my sermon on the way to preaching. I would try, my goal was to squeeze out 45 minutes.

Can you believe I tried to squeeze out 45 minutes? But I would try to squeeze out 45 minutes and I felt like if I could get 45 minutes out, well, then I could at least do a respectable 25 minutes in the pulpit, you see. So I'm driving along. And you know when you drive a place all the time, all the time, all the time, you don't watch where you're going, do you? I mean, you don't need to. You know, you don't need to.

You just know. You see this tree. You see this old closed-up garage, and you just see the signpost you don't watch the road you don't watch anything so I'm driving along there my 46 Ford I'm preaching the sermons coming along pretty good and I'm just driving along there having a wonderful time and all of a sudden that car just boom like that and shudders. It just boom like that. Coughs and dies. Well, I don't have any idea what's happened to my car.

And then suddenly I feel my feet getting wet. And I look down and I've crossed that little stream. Oh, that's where all that rain went to. That little stream, which was usually about an inch deep, is now about way deep. And my car just plunged into it, died. So I took off my new shoes and took off my new socks, rolled up my pants leg,

and walked the last mile and a half to church. You say, preacher, does this story have a point? Yes, it does actually. There was a day when I came to Jesus Christ and I yielded to him in unconditional surrender. And he chained me to his lordship and we took off on a good, smooth highway. And I said, praise God. Hallelujah.

It's fun being a Christian. Just praise Jesus all the way. And we kept going along there. And then after a while, we moved over to this secondary road. It was a good asphalt road. And I just kept going along. Boy, praise God. Hallelujah.

It's fun being a Christian. Just praise Jesus all the way. And then after a while, we leave that road and we get on this old bumpy road and it kind of jars, you know, my head and you know, like that, but that doesn't bother me. Hallelujah, praise God. It's fun being a Christian, just praising Jesus all the way.

And then we get on that dusty road, that dirt road, and I don't care much for that. It's dust in your eyes and it gets in your teeth and you're grinding your teeth there, but that doesn't bother me. Hallelujah, praise God, it's fun being a Christian, just trusting Jesus all the way. Well, then I feel my feet getting wet. And I look down and I say, well, it doesn't bother me.

Hallelujah, praise God, it's fun to be a Christian, just trusting Jesus all the way. Well, we keep on going and then the water's up to my knees. I'm on me, hallelujah, praise God. It's fun being a Christian, just trusting Jesus all the way. Well, we keep on going and after a while, the water's up to my waist. Well, hallelujah just trusting Jesus all the way and then that water gets up to my shoulders Oh

Jesus and then that water gets to my chin and I say, if I don't get loose of these chains, he's going to drown me. And I break those chains and I swim to the safety of the shore. Now, you know what victory is? Are you listening? You know what victory is? Victory is staying chained to those chariot, even if the water covers your head.

See, that's victory. Victory isn't God necessarily draining the swamp. It's staying chained, yielded to his lordship, no matter where it takes you, no matter if the water rushes over your head. Or let me put it another way. John said, faith is the victory. He didn't say faith brings the victory or faith obtains the victory. He said faith is the victory.

Well, I come to see you in the hospital. You're going to have some exploratory surgery. There's a problem, but the doctor needs to look inside. And so as we're waiting, I say to you, well, brother brother do you believe he said yeah preacher I believe that's victory

well a few hours later I'm standing beside your bed again they just sewed you up gave you the bad news maybe three months I say brother do you still believe Gave you the bad news, maybe three months. I say, brother, do you still believe? He said, yeah, preacher, I still believe.

I say, that's victory. A few months later, I'm standing beside your grave. I turn to your widow and I say, do you still believe? And she says, yes, I still believe. I say, that's victory. Faith is the victory. Thanks be to God who always leads us

in His triumph in Christ. When I'm chained to the chariot, my friend, I'm walking on conquered ground. Ground that my Lord has already passed over in His mighty triumph. Would you bow your heads with me now as we pray together?