THE VICTORS SHOUT
           "run, that ye may obtain"1 Corinthians 9:24
                            Edward Proffitt Th.D.

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cheering's are appropriate when the game is over, its finished and there is a winner . "FINISHED" will arrive one of these days in the universe.  The long and exhausting conflict between right and wrong will be over and settled.  It is a prophetic picture that can be biblically counted on. The "celebration" will be for those in Christ.  We "celebrate" the Lord's supper; Holy Communion is a public advent of total triumph.  The cup and the bread invigorate, it moves me physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  Within the proper partaking I am a complete person in Christ Jesus -- filled with victory.

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The Apostle Paul felt "celebration" though he was imprisoned. His faith in the gospel was complete!  Paul knew the gospel to be the capability of God. The
"power of the gospel" is God's offer of grace, eternal life, hell-defeating, sin-conquering, habit-breaking, to this world; it is love that won't quit.

 

It is the only job ever committed to the Church -- to take this gospel to every creature. The gospel is a "celebration" proclamation! It was never meant to be sugary, sentimental, or superficial.  It was never meant to be a theater negotiation created for ticket office celebrity.  

 

The gospel is awesome!  It is "the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). The gospel is awesome because it tells me of the grace of God by which I pass from death unto life.  Paul tells us "He (Jesus) is able...to subdue all things unto himself" (Philippians 3:21).  The conquest over death belongs to Jesus alone.  When we receive the sacrament, we do not need the Death March we need the Hallelujah Chorus; "Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54).

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If death could not keep Jesus in the tomb, it will not be able to keep the Christian under a mound of dirt. Paul calls it "the gospel of your salvation" (Ephesians 1:13).  In Philippians 1:5 he tells us "For the hope which is laid
up for you in heaven" is "the word of the truth of the gospel".  Jesus Christ on the cross said "it is finished".  With the "finished" work of the gospel, as a living organism in our life, we will celebrate
         THE LAST HOSANA PRAISE OF VICTORY