Listen to the message which the prophet Isaiah was commissioned to give to Israel when they were passing through the most trying experiences, a message that is for us even more than for the men who lived when it was spoken: “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.” 1Isaiah 40:1, 2, margin. EVCO 415.3
Glorious assurance! The warfare is accomplished, the battle ended, the victory won! Shall we conclude therefore that we may safely go to sleep? By no means; we must be awake, and make use of the victory which the Lord has won for us. The conflict is against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12), but Jesus has “spoiled principalities and powers,” and made a triumphant show of them (Colossians 2:15), and has been raised to sit in heavenly places, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come;” 2Ephesians 1:20, 21. and God has also raised us up with Him, to sit with Him in the same heavenly places (Ephesians 2:1-6), equally high above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. EVCO 416.1
We may, therefore, and certainly ought to say, from the heart, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” EVCO 416.2