Date: November 19, 1935, eveningPlace: ChuenchowScripture Reading: Rom. 8:37; Psa. 20:5
We need to see another thing tonight — the tone of an overcoming living. Before we come to this matter, we have to review what we have seen. We first saw that the human method to attain victory is suppression, struggles, and prayers, etc. Actually none of these methods work. Second, we saw that Christ is our victory. Victory is just Christ Himself. The overcoming life that God has given us is just Christ Himself. Third, the most important characteristic of the overcoming life is that it is an exchange rather than a change. Fourth, we saw that there are two things we have to do — let go and believe. Fifth, we saw that there are also two things we have to do after overcoming — terminate all sins and fully consecrate. Sixth, we saw that the Lord is the One who guards us in living an overcoming life; the Lord continually overcomes for us. We have to commit ourselves into the Lord's hand daily. We have to trust in Him and hand ourselves over to Him day by day and moment by moment, allowing His victory to be manifested in us. If anyone has not done this yet, I hope that you will do it today.
Now let us consider the tone of an overcomer's daily life. When we sing a hymn, we have the words and the tune. Many people sing with the right words but with the wrong tune. Please remember that the overcoming life also has its tune. After a man has passed the gate of victory, he cannot overcome every day if he does not carry a tone of victory with him. If the tone is wrong, everything else is wrong. The Fukienese and the Amoyese all speak with different tones. But there is only one tone for the overcoming life. The kind of victory in the Bible is one which makes us more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). It is not one which barely allows us to overcome. The word barely is my own word; the Bible never uses such a word. However, the fact is that many Christians only barely overcome. Their victory is not one that makes them more than conquerors. Such victory is not genuine victory.
Salvation and victory are the same word in Hebrew. Shouting and rejoicing are also the same word in Hebrew. Hence, Psalm 20:5 says, "May we shout victoriously in Your salvation," which can be translated as "May we rejoice in Your victory." What is the difference between victory and shouting for victory? Suppose two groups of students are engaged in a ball game and one team wins. This is victory; the team has won. Shouting for victory is for the cheering ones to shout loudly for the winning team. The students who actually play the game are the ones who won. The other classmates have not won, yet they can shout in victory. In the same way, victory is Christ; this has nothing to do with us. We are not responsible for His victory, but we are responsible for one thing — to shout in victory. The Lord has won the victory, and we are shouting in victory. This is the tone of an overcoming living. Every one of us should have this kind of overcoming tone in our daily life. If we have an overcoming tone, we have the overcoming living. Without an overcoming tone, our daily life is still one of failure. Being more than conquerors is being victorious continuously and having a tone of victory all the time.
The victory of many people is a reluctant one. It is a bare victory and a silent one. For example, when others revile, you may not react; instead, you keep your mouth shut. You may think that by keeping quiet in this way you are being victorious. It is true that this is victory, but it is a victory that is barely attained. It is not one which makes you more than conqueror, nor is it a shout of victory. The shout of victory which comes after a victory is one which rejoices, thanks, and praises continuously. It is not a reluctant effort, nor is it an act of repression or endurance. Shouting for victory is praising under any circumstance and for any reason. This is more than conquering. Most people think that keeping silent when they are being reviled is overcoming. But this is not real victory. Real victory is thanking and praising the Lord under all kinds of difficulties and hardships. This is not just victory, but the shout of victory. We have to remember that the cup that God has given us is a cup that runs over (Psa. 23:5). It is not a cup that only has a few drops of water. For our cup to run over is for us to shout for victory. If others ask me to go a mile, and I go a mile, this is not victory. More than conquering is for others to ask me to go a mile, and instead, I go two miles. If others ask for my tunic, and I give them my tunic, this is not victory. But if others ask for the tunic, and I yield the cloak as well, this is real victory. When others revile me, I do not merely try to suppress myself or try to be patient. Instead, I say to God, "I thank You," and I say it without any reluctance or misgiving. This is the victory that makes us more than conquerors. We should say to the Lord, "All the hardships that have come upon me are Your gracious dealings with me. I thank You that I am able to suffer for You." This is the tone of victory. The Lord gives you the victory in order that you will thank and praise Him. Many people have seemingly overcome, but they do not have the tone of victory. For example, a man may be in difficulties and say to the Lord, "I am suffering." This means that he has lost the tone of victory. Those who cannot thank and praise in their sufferings are barely making it; they are not more than conquerors.
A few passages in the Bible speak of rejoicing. Matthew 5:11-12 says, "Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and while speaking lies, say every evil thing against you because of Me. Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." "Rejoice and exult" means "to greatly and jubilantly rejoice." James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, whenever you fall into various trials." What is our tone in the midst of trials? James said that we have to count them all joy. This is real victory. A fish has to be in the water before it can survive. In the same way, the overcoming life can only survive in an environment of thanksgiving and praise. If it is placed in an atmosphere of sorrow, it will die. Whenever our heart is stripped of thanksgiving and praises, it loses its victory. Philippians 4:4 says that we have to rejoice always. Rejoicing in the New Testament is unceasing rather than occasional. There should never be a time out for our rejoicing. Whenever we lose our joy, we lose our victory. Hence, we must rejoice in the Lord all the time. First Peter 4:13 says that believers should rejoice under all kinds of circumstances and be filled with thanksgivings and praises. Many believers do not have a smile on their faces. This is an expression of joylessness. On one occasion Paul and Silas were beaten and chained together by their hands and feet. Yet they were still able to sing. As they sang, their mouths might have faced downward, but their hearts were surely faced upward. This thanksgiving and praise shook the earth and rattled open the prison gate. Their spirits had gone out, yet their bodies were still there (Acts 16:22-28). This is the victory that the Lord is after. He wants to hear our song in the middle of the night because He knows that the sunrise is only hours away.
In what should we give thanks? Colossians 3:17 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 say that we should give thanks in everything. We should have a habit of giving thanks. This means that whatever may happen — great things, small things, good things, or bad things — we have to give thanks. One brother was a railway worker. Once while he was working, a train came by and through an oversight one of his legs was cut off by the train. When he woke up at the hospital, he was asked how he felt. He answered, "Thank and praise the Lord." When he was asked, "How can you thank and praise the Lord at a time like this?", he answered, "I do not consider how many legs I have lost. I consider how many legs I have left." This is the tone of victory. The tone of victory is one in which we thank and praise in the midst of trials. Our hearts should yield to the Lord. We should accept whatever He gives us joyfully, and we should rest in His will. It is not enough for us to merely endure the trials. The kind of endurance described in the Bible is not a passive endurance. Colossians 1:11 says that we are empowered unto all endurance with joy. The kind of endurance that is sustained through the gritting of teeth is of little use to anyone. An overcoming endurance is one which endures with joy, and only those who fully embrace God's will can endure and suffer with joy.
Thanksgiving and praise are the tone of victory. They are also the way to victory. Second Chronicles 20:21-22 tells of the Israelites overcoming their enemies in battle through praises. Jehoshaphat the king of Judah appointed the Levites to give praise in holy array (v. 21, ASV) and to go before the army, giving thanks to Jehovah. They were in holy array; they were not in armor or carrying any weapons. Others might have marveled at them. On the one hand, they had to fight, and on the other hand, the victory was not theirs. They fought from the basis of victory. First they won, and then they fought — this is true victory. Fighting and then winning is not victory, but defeat. We first believe that we have overcome and then go forth to fight. We do not fight in order to overcome. There is a big difference between these two. The Bible says that we fight because we have overcome. If we see this, we will know how to apply this fact in the future. Suppose temptations come our way. If we see that the Lord is our victory and that He has overcome already, and if we go forth into battle on the basis of this, we are shouting for victory. But if we fight in order to win, we are defeated already. True victory is knowing that we have overcome and then going to battle on the basis of that knowledge.
Such a battle of victory overcomes the enemy through thanksgiving and praises. Once we give thanks and praises, the enemy flees away. When we believe in God's Word, we can break forth into praises. Psalm 106:12 says that after God drowned the whole army of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the Israelites believed in His words and sang His praise. Whenever we have the faith, we can overcome and sing God's praise. We have to learn to thank and praise Him unceasingly. We should not bury our thanksgiving and praises. If we thank and praise Him unceasingly, we will continuously live an overcoming life.
