2 CORINTHIANS 4: 16

How comforting to know that we triumph whichever way you look at it! The great apostle Paul was diligent in pointing this out. He asserts, “For though the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The NIV states it this way: “Therefore do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are renewed day by day.” Our mantra remains “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8:31).

Like Joseph, we conclude, our enemy meant it for evil, but God got in there and turned it all around for our good and for His ultimate glory. We therefore choose not to sulk and pout, but we insist on rejoicing and praising our ways through.

I declare today that not even cancer and all its horribleness can deter us. We must reiterate, even in death, we triumph! According to the divine script, we win! The believers have an unshakeable victor’s mentality. We persevere! Like the apostle Paul, we possess a triumphant theology!

I really think the Devil hates coming to Church of God meetings. We refuse to pity ourselves! We fight back! We persistently make the declaration, “No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper; and every tongue that rises up against us in the judgment we shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17).

Consequently, the saints go to the funeral services and sing and shout. We march to the burial ground. We play music in the graveyards. In the cemeteries we positively and solemnly recite 1 Corinthians 15:55, “… O death, where is thy sting? O, grave, where is thy victory?” Because of Jesus and the victory He procured for us on Calvary, we can even now taunt and deride death. Death no longer scares and frightens us, but death, our worst enemy has been defeated and conquered. In this, we rejoice!

For us, it never ends in death. We are always reminded that three days later, “Up from the grave He arose” and “Because He lives,” we too shall live. Therefore, we must proclaim it again that the church is not a funeral society but a place of life, power, praise, and victory! We go down for a while, but we will certainly come back up again!