Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 2 Cor. 2:14
In the Webster’s 1828 dictionary, the word triumph is described like this;
Among the ancient Romans, a pompous ceremony performed in honor of a victorious general, who was allowed to enter the city crowned with gold, bearing a truncheon in one hand and a branch of laurel in the other, riding in a chariot drawn by two white horses, and followed by the kings, princes and generals whom he had vanquished, loaded with chains and insulted by mimics and buffoons.
Don’t you just love that? It reminds me of the scripture found in Colossians 2:15, where Jesus made a public display of the enemy. Get a picture of that in your mind. Jesus came riding through town, crowned as victor, with a truncheon in one hand (a truncheon is a staff used by kings or great officers as a mark of command or authority), and a branch of laurel in the other, followed by the enemy, our enemy, who he had annihilated, the enemy was loaded with chains and being openly insulted.
That is not a pretty picture – at least not for the enemy. But for us, it means triumph, it means victory, it means success. Here in 2 Corinthians 2:14, we see that God always leads us in triumph. These three words in bold are important. Let’s look at leads first. The Bible says that those who are led by the spirit of God are the son’s of God. You must be led by God, by the spirit of God, to have success or triumph. You can’t simply go your own way and do things your own way without consulting God and expect to have triumph after triumph. You have to follow God to find triumph. Sure there are people who seem successful and don’t follow God – but if you look deeper, they aren’t happy, or they don’t have great relationships, there can be many hidden problems. But God says that we have a covenant of peace with him and that he will grant us peace. The word peace is shalom, which means complete, nothing broken, nothing missing. This is the difference with what the world calls triumph. With us, who follow God, when we triumph – it is complete. There is nothing missing, nothing broken, it is the Zoë life of God. It’s living in the same fullness of life that God lives in. Prosperity for us includes everything, not just money, but also healing, peace in your family, success in business, wholeness; everything is included in our benefit package with God.
Now, let’s look at always; Always. God always leads us to triumph. That means every single time. Every time. Every battle. Every circumstance. Triumph – every time. That’s great news. God doesn’t say to us, ‘come live for me and follow me and I will cause you to experience some victories in your life, not every time but sometimes.’ No, absolutely not! God says ‘I will cause you to come out victoriously every single time. You may then ask, “Why does it seem like so many people fail.” I can only share with you what I know to be true. I believe the word of God is truth. I believe it is the final answer. I have experienced times in my life when it appeared that God wasn’t coming through and even times where it appeared he failed to miss my deadline. I have experienced times when normal people would have said (and it has been said to me) “don’t you realize God has let you down, he didn’t come through for you?” That is a lie from the devil – God hasn’t, never will, it’s not even in his nature to let me down. He is the one who said ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ He also said, ‘I will never see the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging for bread.’ Therefore the only truth is what he has said in his word. Now, if I am not in a place where I am seeing his word manifest – I must simply hold on. Do what the Bible says; having done all, stand. I know if I refuse to quit – I win. The word says so. The enemy can’t steal my blessing, he can’t stop my prayers from being answered, and he doesn’t have that much power. The only thing he can do is to try to get me to become weary and quit. The only time he wins is when we quit. Granted, sometimes it’s hard to keep going. But it is possible. Remember, Jesus told Peter, ‘Satan has desired to sift you, but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail.’ While the enemy is down here trying to sift you, trying to get you to quit, Jesus, himself, your intercessor is seated at the right hand of the Father, praying that your faith will not fail. Whose power do you think is strongest? Jesus or the devil? No question there – Jesus’ prayers will be answered – just stand. What you do while you are standing is imperative. Don’t murmur, don’t complain, and don’t speak against the very thing you are praying for. Say only what the word says – if you can’t say what the word says, and then be quiet until you can. God promises you triumph – every time – always.
Now, let’s look at triumph. I looked up this word and it meant to celebrate loudly – to shout victoriously. I know, I know, you may not be a loud person, a shouter, or one who celebrates loudly. But it would be very beneficial to you if you would try it. The next time the enemy comes to your door and says ‘you are not going to make it this time, God is not listening to you, you know those things you did, you are going to fail.’ I dare you to celebrate wildly – shout triumphantly – let your hair down and dance before the Lord with all your might. That will shut the enemy up. And it will get you to your breakthrough so much faster. The enemy can’t stand someone who will worship and praise God – even in the hard times. But to God – it’s a sacrifice of praise – it makes you someone whom God wants to bless and cause to triumph. When you praise God in the middle of your trial, he looks down and says, ‘now there is someone I can use, the enemy hit her with everything he had and she is still praising me and speaking my word, what does she need, I am ready to grant it.’ The enemy knows that and he knows if he can keep you discouraged and speaking the problem you will eventually quit – and he wins. Refuse to let him win. Declare to him today ‘you are wrong, little devil, God always causes me to triumph – every time and in every situation – now, get behind me Satan, in Jesus mighty name!
