Quiet Talks by Samuel Dickey: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter: 031. The Climax

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Quiet Talks by Samuel Dickey: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter: 031. The Climax



TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 031. The Climax

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The Climax

Then came the climax—the defeat in His death. Jesus was obedient not only in life, but even to the terrible experience of death, aye, the most shameful and cruel of all deaths, the death of the Cross. He was first of all obedient in His life on earth, then He carried that obedience right on into Satan's own domain, the domain of death. He hesitated not to die, though death was never made so dreadful and awful a thing before, nor since. If Jesus would insist on obeying even to the point of death then Satan was set on it that He should know the worst that could be known in death.

By His death He did a threefold thing and that tells of the threefold defeat of Satan. Through sin Satan had done three things. He cast a blot on God's administration of the universe; on the perfect righteousness of His rule. Sin is a slander on God's righteousness. He got a claim upon men who in sinning yielded allegiance to the tempter and so became his slaves; and he hardened the human heart against God.

Our Lord's death smote Satan hip and thigh at each of these points. He vindicated the righteousness of God, He forever freed us from the slavery of Satan, and He melted our hearts by such a wondrous love. The man whose heart is broken by such love comes back home to God. And because of the death of Jesus, God is "reckoned righteous in reckoning righteous the man who has faith in Jesus." (Rom_3:26, free translation.) And the hold upon us which our sin gives to Satan is forever shaken off. In His death Jesus administered a defeat to our enemy on every side.

And as the death was the climax of the life, even so the resurrection became the climax of the death. And our Lord of His own accord went down into the jaws of death, into the belly of hell on our behalf, in our place, as our substitute; then having fully defeated Satan by that act, He rose up by His own will, up again into life. In His death He was Victor over sin. In His rising again He was Victor over death. In both He was Victor over Satan.

And every spelling of that word "victory" is a spelling in big letters of the word "defeat." Loosen all the bell-ropes. Ring out the bells clear and loud. Our enemy is defeated. Pull out the organ stops, free the swells, and let the joyous thunder of the full diapason get out. Our Lord Jesus is Victor. Our enemy is a badly whipped foe.