Victory Is Sure

Dannah Gresh: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth says, “When the battle gets tough, don’t lose perspective.”

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: It’s not about us. Remember the outcome, the end of the story. If you’re following Christ, if you’re following and worshiping the Lamb, victory is sure!

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, for May 30, 2025. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Are you fighting against wickedness? I know from Ephesians chapter 6 that if you’re a believer in Jesus, you are! Your primary struggle isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

So let me ask you, "Do you get weary of the fight?" I pray the message we’re hearing from Nancy yesterday and today on Revive Our Hearts will reinvigorate you for the battle. This was the closing message at our most recent True Woman conference.

In part one, Nancy referred to the cosmic war between right and wrong, between God and Satan. She compared it to a chess match where the devil thought he’d thwarted God’s plan and could call out “Checkmate!” but then realized, No, the King still has another move. 

Here’s Nancy, talking about the “seed,” the offspring, of the first woman, Eve.

Nancy: Now, since Satan couldn’t kill the godly seed of the woman, he attempted to corrupt her seed. What does God do? Genesis 6:5–6:

When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. Then the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them."

You can hear Satan saying, “Checkmate! They’re all going to be destroyed!”

But you can hear God saying, “The game’s not over. The King still has one more move!” For we read in Genesis 6:8 that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” He was delivered from the judgment of the flood, and the godly seed was preserved!

We come to the book of Exodus and we see evil King Pharaoh working as a representative of the devil himself, and he wants to destroy the children of Israel. Whose plot is this? Pharaoh wasn’t smart enough to think this up. This is the devil at work.

And so in the book of Exodus we read how Pharaoh killed the baby boys. Can’t you imagine Satan thinking, Checkmate! There will be no more godly seed! But the King had one more move, for God raised up Jochebed, a mother who was bold enough to preserve the baby boy God gave to her, and those Hebrew midwives. God gave the child who would become Moses the man, the deliverer of God’s people.

You come to later parts of the Old Testament, you read about the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar (see Daniel 3) who builds this image we’ve talked about this weekend and said, “All must worship!”

Who’s behind this? Satan is behind this! And then you see these three Hebrew young men who would not worship the king’s image, and they are thrown into this fiery furnace. And you can hear Satan smugly saying, “Checkmate! It doesn’t pay to worship God! I’ve destroyed Your worshippers, O God. No one else will ever dare to worship You!”

But you can hear God saying, “Not so fast! The King still has another move!” And now the King went into the furnace Himself and delivered His servants and spared their lives!

Satan always is seeking to kill and destroy. God is always seeking to deliver and redeem!

 

And then you remember the Persian official named Haman, inspired by the devil, who demanded that everyone worship him? And then this Jew named Mordecai who refused to worship and bow down? Satan wants worship.

Haman sets out to destroy not only Mordecai but all of Mordecai’s people. He persuades King Artaxerxes to issue a royal decree that would have resulted in the extermination of the entire Jewish people through whom the Seed, the Messiah, the Redeemer was going to come!

Satan thought, We can just end God’s plan right here! You can imagine him saying, “Checkmate!” But the King still had one . . . more . . . move! God raised up Queen Esther and used her as an instrument through whom the Jewish people’s lives were spared.

We come to the New Testament, and now we see in the gospels the birth of the Promised Seed of the woman, the Son of God born to Mary! And right away we see Satan’s plan kicking in, we see King Herod, he’s jealous for worship. He’s threatened by this King of the Jews.

So what does he say? “Kill all the baby boys!” in that area. You can hear the devil saying, “Checkmate! I’ve killed the Seed; I’ve killed the Son; I’ve killed the Redeemer!” But God always has another move. He sent an angel to warn Joseph, and the Messiah’s life was spared!

You see Jesus early in His ministry in the wilderness. Since Satan hadn’t been able to kill Jesus as a baby, now he tries to corrupt the holy Seed. Persecution and corruption, those are two methods he uses to try and destroy the plan of God.

So he says to Jesus in the wilderness, “Worship me!” Had Jesus obeyed that temptation, Satan would have put God in checkmate! But Jesus said, “Worship God alone!” And Satan’s plan was thwarted.

We come to the cross. Satan enters into Judas and Satan stirs up an angry mob crying, “Crucify Him!” You see what Satan’s trying to do? He wants the throne! He wants the worship; he wants the glory! And to have that, he has to kill the chosen Seed of the woman. 

Satan thought that in killing and destroying—putting Christ to death—that the cross would be his trump card! But what seemed like a victory for Satan actually spelled his doom! What seemed like the end of God’s redemptive plan actually became the means of HIs greatest victory!

At the cross the Savior’s heel was bruised—bloody bruised—but at the cross a decisive, fatal blow was dealt to the serpent’s head! Praise God! (applause) The cross, the old rugged, painful, bloody cross was God’s means of rescuing sinners from the clutches of Satan.

Colossians 2:15 tells us, “Having disarmed the powers and authorities [of evil], he made a public spectacle of them [God did], triumphing over them by the cross.” (NIV) You see, the death of Christ was the means through which God accomplished His greatest victory!

But you can imagine that for three days, as Jesus’ body lay in the tomb, that there might have been a party in hell: “We’ve killed the Son of God!” The devil perhaps thought, I’ve won! He thought he’d killed the Promised Seed of the woman. He thought the game was over. “Checkmate, God!” But . . . the King still had one more move! 

On Sunday morning, the King got up, and He walked out of the grave! (applause) Acts 2:23 tells us He was, “delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge.” This didn’t take God by surprise, that [Christ] was delivered up.

The preacher said, “You used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him” (v. 23). But, Acts 2:24, “God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.”

You think Satan might give up, but still, like a mortally wounded python that continues to writhe and can still inflict great damage, Satan stays at it.

Think about the early church, how Stephen—godly man and leader in the church—was martyred. You can hear Satan going, “Checkmate, God! No one will want to follow You now! They’ll be too scared.” But the King still had one more move.

Because, you see, in the wake of that persecution, the Church scattered and they took the gospel with them everywhere! And they weren’t afraid because Jesus was alive in them, and the One who is in them is more powerful than the one who is against them! And so, the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church.

In January 1956 five missionaries were martyred as they attempted to evangelize the Waorani people in Ecuador. You can imagine Satan saying, “Checkmate, God! No one will sign up to be missionaries now!” 

But the King still had another move. And that martyrdom resulted in thousands of college-age students standing up and saying, “I’ll give my life, too, for the service of the King of kings!” 

On April 20, 1999, you remember how two young men driven by Satan began firing shots in Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado. Twelve students and one teacher were killed. You can imagine Satan saying, “Checkmate, God! I’m going to destroy the souls and the lives of the next generation, so there will be no one to follow You!” But the King still had one more move!

A student asked seventeen-year-old Cassie Bernall if she believed in God, right there in the middle of the bedlam, and she said, “Yes!” just before she was shot and killed. And in the wake of her declaration, “I believe in God,” thousands of young people were galvanized to take their stand for the King of kings! (applause)

You heard Ed Cannon share last night about the ministry God is doing using Far East Broadcasting Company in many parts of the world. He and I were talking last week, and he told me a story that fits so perfectly here.

He told me about how in the early days of FEBC, the plan was to put FM radio stations in China to broadcast the gospel. They put up the first one in Shanghai in 1947, and people loved these gospel broadcasts. 

They put loudspeakers in the train stations so the people could hear the gospel being broadcast in Chinese, and the people would stop and listen. It was a powerful means of getting the gospel into this huge nation through FM radio stations.

And then, in 1948, just a year later, came the Communist Revolution. It was a bloody revolution; many people were executed and the missionaries were kicked out of China. FEBC had to leave China, along with all their equipment. 

It seemed like a victory for the enemy, and you can hear the enemy going to God, “Checkmate! You’re done! The people of China will never be reached with the gospel!” But the King still had one more move!

The FEBC team went to Manila in the Philippines, and one of their leaders got the idea to start using shortwave radio to broadcast the gospel. For the next thirty years, shortwave became their primary means of getting the gospel into not only China, but the Philippines and Indonesia and Japan and Korea and all of southeast Asia.

You see, the Chinese government’s action inspired by who?—the devil—seemed like irreparable damage had been done to the gospel. But it turned out to be a blessing, because you see, FM stations are such that you have to put up a tower in every city, but one shortwave tower reaches thousands of miles! A tower in Manila, Ed was telling me, can cover all of China! They ended up having much greater ministry and fruitfulness. They’re still broadcasting on shortwave radio in seventy-two countries! 

Ed was telling me it’s been a powerful means of reaching people in North Vietnam, Laos, and other rural and remote regions that have almost no access to the internet or cell phone apps. God is using that plan that the devil thought he had thwarted the spread of the gospel, He’s using shortwave radio.

Several months ago I saw a headline that said China was to ban all citizens from discussing Jesus and the Bible on the internet. I sent an email to Ed and I said, “I’m praying for you; I just wonder how this affects your team’s work in that part of the world?”

He wrote and thanked me for my concern, and then here’s what he said:

Yes, it is a struggle, and it is impacting our work, but our staff are not discouraged or defeated. On the contrary, as things get harder, they smile and laugh. Then they get busy thinking up even more creative ways to get the gospel to the people despite the efforts of the enemy! Amen. (applause)

Well, this point and counterpoint will not continue forever. There will be a final battle. The King is coming, and when He does, He will crush the enemy and all those who have sided with him in opposing God.

I want to read from Revelation chapter 19; you may want to turn there. This, I think, is maybe my favorite chapter in all of God’s Word. I love them all, but this one towers above almost any other part. This is our hope! I read this often to remind myself when I feel like the fray is getting so messy of where it’s heading.

I’m reading in Revelation 19 beginning in verses 11:

Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.

 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword [comes] from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. . . .

Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army. But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with it the false prophet, who had performed the signs in its presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image with these signs.

Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh. (vv. 11–16, 19–21)

Just back up a couple of chapters in Revelation, chapter 17, you read again about this battle. The kings of the earth, motivated and driven by Satan, “These [kings of the earth] will make war against the Lamb” (v. 14).

Now, parenthesis, what chance does a lamb have of surviving such an attack—a helpless, weak lamb? Much less of winning the battle? But this is no ordinary Lamb! Revelation 17:14 goes on to tell us:

“. . . but the Lamb shall [overcome] them because he is the Lord of lords, and King of kings. [Those] with him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

The Lamb overcomes all the kingdoms of this world, and all the armies and all the enemies and all the followers of Satan. And Satan himself will be overcome, wiped out, finished by the Lamb. Amen! (applause)

So, back to right now: we’re still in the battle. But don’t forget that the outcome has been determined. Keep going back to those passages and remind yourself in those darkest hardest days of struggle about the outcome. 

And in the meantime, what do we do? Well, we worship the Lamb, worship God. And ladies, worship is not just singing songs with the band up here. That can be worship. But it also means to bow the knee in submission, in total allegiance, to Christ as Lord.

When we worship God we’re preoccupied with Him and with the Lamb, not with the enemy. Don’t get your eyes on the enemy. This battle is a battle for worship. Everyone, every human being, is on one side or the other. There is no middle ground. Whose side are you on?

Are you a worshiper of the Lamb? Have you declared allegiance to His kingdom? If not, I don’t care whether you’re fourteen or eighty-four, if you’ve not declared allegiance to Christ that means you are worshiper of His enemy!

If you’re resisting Christ, you may be a good church member, but you may not be a worshiper of the Lamb—because you don’t know this from the outside, it’s the heart. If you’re resisting Christ you are on the losing side. I’m just telling you. You will be defeated, you will be judged, you will be destroyed with these enemies of God.

So bow before Him now before it’s too late! You can bow now, or you will bow later. Worship God! And then remember why you’re here, remember the goal. Our goal is to be light-bearers, to bear witness to the Light, to point others to Christ, to urge them to lay down their arms and swear allegiance to Jesus, so that all might come to worship Him!

 

Pray for His name to be hallowed and reverenced in this world, pray for His kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. At times the battle will become intense! It will seem like hell is winning.

And if you’re spending more time reading the news than you are reading the Scripture, you’re going to lose perspective. You’re going to think hell’s winning. You’re going to think darkness is overpowering the light. 

You may feel that right now . . . that darkness is overpowering the light in your home, in your workplace, in your city, in our nation, in this world. But remember: when the battle gets intense, those who obey and follow Christ will be rewarded, but those who rebel against Him will be judged and destroyed. All rebellion will be crushed!

Now you [who follow Christ] may get some wounds in the process, “you will strike his heel.” There’ll be some bloody battles, but in the end the devil is the one—and all his followers—who will lose!

And when the battle gets tough, don’t lose perspective! Remember, it’s not about us; we are bit players in this drama. Remember the outcome, the end of the story. If you’re following Christ, if you’re following and worshiping the Lamb, victory is sure! You will win!

And remember how Christ overcame, and how we overcome—by the blood of the Lamb—through the willingness to lay down our lives, even if it means to the death. So don’t give in to discouragement or fear or panic. The devil can defeat saints with God’s permission for a time, but He can’t overcome the Lamb! So, take heart. Christ has overcome! He will give you grace to endure all the way to the end.

As you watch the news, as you go through trials, the enemy would have you believe that it’s hopeless, that this battle is lost. Again and again and again you’ll feel as if he’s saying to you and the people of God, “Checkmate! Game’s over! I win; you lose!” But don’t forget . . . the King still has one more move. The King always has one more move! (applause) 

And at the end, the King will say to His relentless enemy, “You’ve got no more moves! You lose! The Lamb has won! Checkmate!” And He will reign forever and ever and ever! Hallelujah! Amen! (applause)

Dannah: Such a powerful message from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth! How many times throughout history has Satan thought he had the upper hand, only to find that the King still has another move?! I hope that reminder gives you strength for the battles you’re facing today. 

One weapon in the fight against the devil is relying on the promises of God. Can you think of any promises from Scripture off the top of your head? How about the one where God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”? Or His promise that He is faithful and just to forgive our sins if we confess them? His promises sustain us in the spiritual war. But we need to rehearse them in our minds.

Speaking of God’s promises, don’t forget about our gift-of-any-amount resource this month. Today’s the last day I’ll be mentioning it. It’s the beautiful set of Scriptures cards that contain “50 Promises to Live By.” You can use them to remind yourself or a friend of God’s promises. Ask about it when you contact us with your donation. 

This weekend marks the end of our fiscal year. Our prayer has been that God would provide $810,000 by the end of the month, and anything given above that total amount will go toward our six-year Wonder of the Word initiative, where we’ll be placing a greater emphasis on reading through and studying through the entire Bible. To see how close we are to reaching that goal, go to ReviveOurHearts.com, and check out the progress bar.

To make a donation and request the 50 Promises to Live By Scripture card set, go to ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959.

The message we heard today is from our most recent True Woman Conference, in 2022. On Monday we’ll hear from pastor and author Kevin DeYoung, who will be speaking at our upcoming True Woman conference this October. He’ll help us light up our love for the Word of God. I hope you’ll join us.

Have a great weekend, please pray for God’s provision for us! And be back Monday for Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the CSB.

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