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First, then, concerning the triumphs

I. First, then, concerning the triumphs of the Lord Jesus, it may be said that "the right hand of the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly." He did not come as a man of war, for he is the prince of peace. He did not come here with shield and buckler — but he came with a body fitted to suffer, and with a heart strong to endure. The Christ of God came in lowliness and in shame, to be despised and rejected by men; but for all that, he fought great battles in the midst of his weakness, and won for himself wondrous spiritual victories.

Observe, dear friends, with holy adoration, how our Lord Jesus Christ met SATAN in conflict, not once or twice — but many a time; in fact throughout the Savior's life, the prince of powers of the air constantly assailed The Perfect One. It was a glorious duel which was fought in the wilderness, and on the lofty mountain from which they had a view of the whole world, and on the pinnacle of the temple too. Sharp was the sword of Diabolus when he sought to strike the Savior under the fifth rib, and make a full end of his innocence.

But, oh, how glorious were the strokes of the Lord himself with the sword of the Spirit, when he replied, "it is written," and yet again "it is written," and yet again "it is written!" And so he chased the fiend away, and triumphant angels came to minister to the conqueror amidst the loneliness of the desert. O you attendant angels! You might have sung that day "the right hand of the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!"

All through his life our Savior kept his vantage ground. The prince of this world assailed him — but he made no dent on his armor, much less wound on his soul. He was tempted in all points; the darts flew so thick that they assailed him from head to foot; but he was without a wound at the close of the conflict. He was in all ways tempted as we are — yet without sin.

You know how it came to the last struggle in the garden of Gethsemane. Oh what a wrestling that was when, as it were, the arch fiend grappled close with Christ, and seized him so that,

"That desperate tug his soul might feel,

Through bars of brass and triple steel."

It brought the bloody sweat down the master's face — yet he did not relinquish his hold upon the foe — but gave him such a fall that he shall never recover the defeat which he sustained amidst the olive trees. Gethsemane is a name of dread to the apostate angel.

On the cross, too, when the devil rallied his forces for the last time, and assailed the spirit of our Lord with all the malice of his infernal nature; there, too, the great Michael, the true archangel, set his foot on the dragon's head, and though his heel was wounded — yet he broke that head, and crushed out the reigning power of evil forever. The right hand of the Lord, though it was a pierced hand — the right hand of the Lord, though it had grasped a scepter of reed — did valiantly, and was highly exalted!

The same might be said (but we would go over the same ground again) if we spoke of the conquest which our Lord achieved over SIN in every shape and form; it mattered not how it approached him, he repelled it; he overthrew it as far as he was personally concerned.

And when the sins of his people were laid upon him — O brethren, how dreadful was that hour — but how we ought to look back on it with devout thankfulness when the sins of his people came like an avalanche to crush him — how gloriously he sustained the load. With what wondrous power of endurance he suffered the wrath of God which was due for the sins of his people. How steadfastly he,

"Bore all incarnate God could bear,

With strength enough, and none to spare."

But when he had made atonement forever for all his people's sins, and brought in everlasting righteousness for all his chosen people, and could say "It is finished!" then truly the right hand of the Lord was exalted, and the right hand of the Lord had done valiantly.

I will leave that point because you know it, and your meditations can enter into it without the assistance of my words.

But, brethren, the Lord Jesus has this day conquered all our sins. There is not a transgression left to accuse his people; there is no record against them in God's book, "By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy!" Hebrews 10:14. The work is finished; salvation is complete. The right hand of the Lord has done for us what we could not have done for ourselves. What the angels of Heaven would not have been so foolish as to attempt, the Lord Jesus Christ has most surely completed for all believers. Heaven rings this day with the joyful songs of its triumphant saints who tell how the right hand of the Lord is exalted.

Our precious Lord is to be praised in language like our text for having vanquished DEATH as well as sin. Satan and sin he overthrew, and in this he virtually conquered death. It did not seem as if he would vanquish death, my brethren, when he laid in the grave. The image of death was set as with a seal upon his brow. The Lord of life and immortality was as really dead as any of the departed sons of Adam. The three days passed over — the appointed time in which, like Jonah, he should be in the bowels of the earth — but on the third day he could not be held by the bonds of death. I think I see him like another Samson who had been bound with cords, awaking from his slumber, like a strong man refreshed, and so he snaps the bonds of death, for it was not possible that he could be held by them. Acts 2.24 Then the stone was rolled away from the door of the sepulcher, and he came forth resplendent in the glory of his resurrection body!

From that moment, death has been destroyed for the believer. The children of God shall pass through the grave — but they cannot be confined in it. "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?" Christ has forever taken away the gates of the Gaza of the grave, carried them far away where Satan can never bring them back, and death cannot restore his stronghold. Glorify the ever-living Christ, for his right hand is exalted.

The same was conspicuously true in that day when our Lord left this world, and ascended to the Father. Our imagination can hardly depict that scene when those who received him after the apostles had lost sight of him,

"Brought his chariot from on high

To bear him to his throne."

Oh, what an ascent that was when the conqueror mounted to the golden city! Lash the eternal coursers up the celestial hills, for he comes "mighty to save!" He went forth to battle — but he comes back to glory, to wear his well-earned renown! Do you not see at his chariot-wheels, the monsters bound? They must be dragged to the very gates of Heaven, and then hurled down again! "He has led captivity captive, and received gifts for men." Psalm 68.18. Oh, in that day of our Lord's ascending up on high, those who gazed upon the matchless spectacle of the returning King of Kings, might have cried aloud, "The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!"

In those victories, beloved, you and I have a share. Satan was conquered for us; sin was overcome for us; death was bound for us.

"Hell and our sins obstruct our course, But Hell and sin are vanquished foes. Our Savior nailed them to his Cross. And sung the triumph when he rose!"

Believe and be glad of it — all your enemies are overcome! You have to battle still — but you fight with conquered foes. The dragon who is most dreadful to you, carries a deadly wound about him. Your sins with which you have to contend from day to day, have received their death warrant. They shall not be able to follow you into Heaven, or to ruin you on earth. Oh, rejoice with your Lord; conquer in his conquest; be victors in his victory; overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and give him all the glory of your salvation.

But now I pass on to note, in the second place, that our text is very applicable to,

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