1 Corinthians 15:20-26

I preached from 1 Corinthians a while back, I believe, at another church, if I recall correctly.! I said then that I do not envy Paul a bit in the letters that he had to write to the Corinthians.

Paul was dealing with a very spiritually immature church. And he had to address a lot of things, particularly in 1 Corinthians. He had to address a lot of things with them.

I mean, the people were taking each other to court and suing each other over silly stuff. They had a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of spiritual gifts that he had to address in the 12th chapter and in the 14th chapter.

He was just dealing with all kinds of stuff, fornication in the church, all kinds of things. And the thing is, the people in Corinth thought that these things were okay.

But you also have to consider who he was writing to and where Corinth was. Corinth was in the midst of Greek culture.

And Greek culture was very, very pagan, very heathen. And there were things accepted in Greek culture. In fact, things were very encouraged in Greek culture that are not becoming of a Christian.

And that's much of what Paul was having to address with the Corinthian church. But he goes through all these explanations and tries to explain to them, no, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.

And he gets on some right things as well, don't get me wrong. I mean, you look at 1 Corinthians chapter 13, we call that the love chapter or the charity chapter. And he addresses that right between the two chapters they're dealing with spiritual gifts, chapters 12 and 14.

But then we get to chapter 15. And chapter 15, he reminds them of the gospel. And he reminds them what the gospel really is.

And if you ever want an all-inclusive, very plain, black and white definition of the gospel, read the first four verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and Paul gives it to you.

Very plainly, it's the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. And Paul begins reminding the Corinthian believers of the gospel right near the end of his letter.

There's only 16 chapters in 1 Corinthians. We're in the 15th one right now. So he's gone through addressing all these issues with the Corinthian church. But what we must remember is he is talking to believers.

He's talking to a church in this letter. So he's talking to people who have professed Christ, who have heard the gospel, who have believed in Jesus Christ. But he's having to address them on the sin in their lives.

And Paul did that not only with the Corinthian church. He's done it with the Galatians. He's done it with the Ephesians. He's done it with about everybody that he wrote to. But he reminds them of the gospel here in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15.

Then he kind of gets into these theoretical ifs. And we're going to read through those here in just a moment. I'm not going to preach through those, but we're going to read through all of these ifs.

Because like I said, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is in a nutshell the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so the resurrection is paramount to that, folks.

And Paul addresses that when he says, you know, if Christ is not risen, then this preaching is in vain. Your faith is in vain. We're still in our sins.

But anyway, Paul gets into all that. We'll start reading in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 15. I'm not going to preach everything that we're going to read tonight.

But I want to read these for context because there's a whole lot of ifs in these statements. And like I said, they're theoretical ifs that Paul is giving.

So 1 Corinthians 15 beginning at verse 12. Paul says, Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some of you that were there, I'm sorry, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. So there's a whole lot of if statements that Paul just made.

And it's because there were some, as he stated here, there were some within that congregation that were saying there is no resurrection of the dead. Now on the flip side of that coin, there were other people, that's not addressed here, but there were other people saying that the resurrection had already happened.

So you've got two different sides to that coin, and even nowadays there's people that say that the resurrection, that the resurrection of the just, the resurrection of the righteous, the resurrection unto life has already happened.

But folks, that is not what Scripture teaches. Paul is giving all these if statements here, saying if the resurrection doesn't happen, if people aren't raised from the dead, then Christ is not raised.

And if this be the case, and Brother Mike quoted it, actually this morning he quoted verse 19 when he said, If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

And folks, that is a very, very, very true statement. But not only, not only in this life do we have hope in Christ Jesus, and do we have hope in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, but we have hope in that same life, and in that same resurrection in the life to come.

We have hope on into the future. We have hope for all of eternity because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, we get through all these if statements. We'll pick up reading now in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Beginning at verse 20 he says, But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Praise God. Back to verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

So Paul, after going through all these theoretical ifs, in the previous verses that we just read, after going through all that, Paul begins verse 20 with the words, But now is Christ risen from the dead.

Now, presently, is Christ risen. In other words, you know, there may be some among you, Paul was saying, there may be some among you, that says that there is no resurrection. He's already told them, but I tell you now, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not raised, and our preaching is in vain, your faith is in vain, and the hope that we have is all in vain.

In other words, Paul here would be saying, just go on out, and live like the pagans. Go on out, and live like the heathens, because if there is no resurrection, then we have no hope.

But he begins verse 20 with, But now is Christ risen from the dead. He is presently risen from the dead. And folks, it thrills me to tell you, that Paul wrote this down 2,000 years ago, but 2,000 years later, I can tell you, with the full assurance, and the full authority, of Almighty God's Word, that Christ is still presently risen.

He is risen unto life, never to have death, have dominion over Him again. He will not die again. Next time Jesus Christ comes, He will not come as a little baby in a manger.

He will not come as a suffering servant, but He will come as judge of all the earth. He will come as the judge of all the wicked, and all the rebels that have not accepted His gospel, that have rejected Him, rejected God's Word, rejected God's plan of salvation.

Jesus Christ is alive. He is alive forevermore. And that gives us hope, and that gives us a guarantee, that you and I have life, and life more abundantly.

We have life, and life everlasting. We have immortal life. We have eternal life, because He who is life itself gave us their life. Hallelujah. But now, but now, is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

He's become the first fruits of them that slept. He's become the first fruits of them that have died. He just said a couple of verses before this, then they also which are falling asleep in Christ are perished.

Think of that in verse 18. We read it just a little while ago. Them which are falling asleep in Christ are perished. Can you imagine that thought that some of these people were having?

They fell asleep believing in Christ. He's saying, but if there is no resurrection, they're perished. Folks, that is, that's an alien thought to us. That is an alien thought to us, who have the complete, the complete closed canon of Scripture, who have it from Genesis to Revelation, who have the complete inspired Word of God.

That is a fallen thought, that anyone could fall asleep or die in Christ, but yet perish. Folks, that is not the case. That is not what the Scripture teaches. Those of us who die in Christ, we will be raised to life in Christ.

One day after a while, when the body dies, and we go back to the dust, the soul goes on to God, to be at rest with Jesus Christ. But there is a promise given in the Scriptures, that we will have a body one day, that that body will be glorified, it will be locked and fashioned, and straight as unto the Son of Man's body is.

Hallelujah. And I praise God for that. But it says, Christ is the first fruits of them that slept. And this doesn't mean that Christ was the first one to ever be dead, and brought back to life.

My goodness, we all know the account of John chapter 11, when Christ called Lazarus out of the tomb. We all know the account of the servant girl, of the centurion in the Gospels.

We know the Old Testament accounts, of people being brought back to life after they were dead. We know these accounts, but He is the first fruit. What does that mean, folks? This has so much significance to it.

He is the first fruit. This is not only the guarantee of the harvest that is to come, but you need to consider this in light of the Old Testament, and what the Old Testament teaches about the first fruits.

If you turn sometime to Leviticus chapter 23, and you read about the feast of the Lord in that wonderful chapter in the Old Testament, you will read about this particular event, this particular celebration.

You will also read that the first fruits were given unto God, but they were not only given unto God as an offering, but they were given unto God, because that was also the guarantee for the Israelites of the harvest that was yet to come.

But folks, what makes this even more wonderful is that Paul saw something from the Old Testament Scriptures, and he applied it to Jesus Christ Himself.

When the priest would wave the offering, when he would take the sheave of the offering, and he would go into the tabernacle, or he would go into the temple, and he would wave that sheave before the Lord.

Hey folks, that happened the morrow after the Sabbath. When was Jesus Christ raised? He was raised the third day. It was on a Sunday. It was the morrow after the Sabbath.

Jesus Christ was the first fruits of all of them that slept. He was not only the first fruits and the offering, but he is the guarantee of the harvest that is to come.

They would take those first fruits, and they would take them into the tabernacle or the temple, and they would wave them before the Lord. They would wave that sheave before the Lord. And what was that sheave?

It was what was in the field. It was exactly as everything else that was going to come in would be. He would wave that before the Lord. And folks, you and I, outside of being Savior of the world, outside of being Jesus Christ Himself, outside of being Messiah, you and I will be liking just as Jesus Christ is.

We will have no more death. We will have no more sorrow. We will have no more pain. We will have no more tears. There will be no hospitals in that land. There will be no graveyards in that land.

There will be none of those things which bring us such sadness and sorrow and turmoil here in this life, over in that life. Hallelujah. That's the promise that we have.

And it's all because. It is all because Christ is the firstfruits. If Christ was not resurrected, we would not have that hope.

And we would never have that hope. But not only that. Not only that, but if Christ had not resurrected from the dead, Christ wouldn't have been who He said that He was. The Old Testament Scriptures testified of it.

Christ testified of it Himself in the New Testament. That He would be handed over into the hands of sinful men. That He would be handed over to the authorities. That He would be whipped.

That He would be scourged. That He would be mocked. That He would be spit upon. That He would be crucified. Hey, He testified of all of those things. But He also testified that He would raise again the third day.

I love John chapter 2. When He tells the people. When He's talking about tearing down the temple. He says, tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

And they thought that He was talking about Herod's temple. They said X amount of years this temple was in the making. And it says they thought that He was talking about Herod's temple. But He was talking about the temple of His body.

Christ prophesied and foresaw and foreknew that He would be resurrected the third and glorious and appointed morning. He is the firstfruits of the resurrection.

And all the fruits that came thereafter. All the wheat. All the barley. Whatever it was that they had in the ground. It was a resemblance of the firstfruits that were offered unto God.

He is the firstfruits of them that slept. Verse 21. For since by man came death. Came death by man. Came also the resurrection of the dead. Verse 22.

For as in Adam all die. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. For since by man came death. By man came also the resurrection of the dead.

By man. All men die. And we know what the cause of that is. In fact you can go on and read just a little bit further in the same chapter. Where Paul gets a little bit more into that being Adam.

How Adam is the first man that is mentioned here. And crossed of course being the second one. But the Bible plainly says here. That since by man came death. By man also came the resurrection of the dead.

Today folks we all know the account from the garden. We all know how sin entered in. And because sin entered in. Death also entered in. God told Adam and Eve. That you can eat from anything in the garden that you want to.

Any tree. Any vine. Any plant. But you do not eat of that tree that is in the midst of the garden. The tree that is of the knowledge of good and evil. You stay away from that tree.

And when they disobeyed God. They rebelled against God. Death set in. Sin came in to the scene. And death because of sin. Came into the scene. And death reigned ever since.

And it has reigned ever since. But praise be unto God. When Jesus Christ came. And He was crucified. And it was verified in the scriptures. That He was dead.

They didn't even break His legs while He was there on the cross. Because He was dead. They told the Emperor. They told the ruler of the time. Pontius Pilate. That He was dead. The man was dead.

He was placed in the tomb. He was placed in a tomb. But He resurrected. By man came death. By the first Adam. Man came death.

But by the second Adam. Which is Christ. By the second Adam. Came resurrection unto life. Now folks. Because of sin. You and I. We are appointed to die one day.

The writer to the Hebrews says. Appointed unto man once to die. And after this the judgment. We all have an appointment with death. One day if Christ doesn't come. And take us out of this world. Beforehead. You and I.

Will die. And it is simply because. Of sin. Not necessarily one particular sin. That you have committed. In your life. Not necessarily because. Of a dozen particular sins.

That you have committed. In your life. But it is because. When sin entered into Adam and Eve. It entered into the entire world. And the entire world. Fell at that point. That is why we have death.

And that is why. It is appointed unto man. Once to die. It is because. Of sin. That we have that. And before you start saying. To yourself. Way to go Adam.

Way to go Eve. Look what mess you got us in. Look what you did. Folks. You would have done the same thing. You would have done the same thing. That they did. Ain't none of us.

Any better than what they were. All of us. Have pride about us. That needs to be quashed. Even though we are saved. Born again children of God. We have still got some pride left in us. Ladies.

You have still got the Adamic nature. Men. You have still got the Adamic nature. All of us have the Adamic nature. Because the Bible teaches. That it comes with everyone.

All of Adam and Eve's children. All of their grandchildren. On down the line to right now. In 2026. We have all inherited that nature. From our original parents.

Adam and Eve. Because the scripture says that we did. Not to mention the scripture also says. All have sinned and come short. Of the glory of God. For since by man came death.

By man came also the resurrection of the dead. Again verse 22. For as in Adam all die. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. I want to make sure. We make a very clear distinction here.

In verse 22. As in Adam all die. Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. This is not talking about universal salvation. All is not all.

Here now. In the part about Adam. Yes. Absolutely. 100%. As in Adam all die. But folks. We've got to read this. Not only in the context of this passage.

But the context of the rest of scripture. What does scripture teach? Folks. Scripture teaches that not everybody is going to heaven. Scripture teaches. Not everybody's name is going to be in the Lamb's book of life.

Scripture teaches that there are some that have been damned to hell for all of eternity. And scripture teaches that there will continue to be people who are damned to hell for all of eternity.

The scripture teaches that hell enlarges her borders. The only reason that that would be the case is because there are more and more people going there. And that's happening to make room for all those people.

Not to mention Jesus Christ taught himself about the wide way and the broad gate and the narrow way or the straight way and the narrow gate. Folks.

The wide way and the broad gate is to accommodate more people. And the straight way and the narrow gate is to accommodate fewer people. I mean that's the only sense that that makes.

So. There are people. And people will use this very verse to try and say everybody's going to heaven. Everybody's going. No. No. In fact you flip over to Revelation again.

And it says whosoever's name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life. Was put where? They were cast into hell. They were cast into the lake of fire. They were done away with.

They were done away with. So not everybody goes to heaven. So this verse here is not teaching that. Again if we take the context of the entirety of this passage and the entirety of scripture we will understand that.

Verse 23. But every man in his own order cross the first fruits. Afterward they that are crossed at his coming. And this verifies what I just said. This verifies what I just said about verse 22.

About it not being universal salvation. Every man in his own order cross the first fruits. Afterward they that are crossed at his coming. Not everyone.

But they that are crossed. Folks again it thrills me. It tickles me pink to tell you. That if you are crossed at his second coming. That we are going out of here with him.

He has taken us out of this world. I praise God that the scripture teaches. That I am not appointed unto wrath. Because I belong to Christ. Because I am in Christ.

Because Christ is in me. Christ has saved my soul. He has redeemed me. He has reconciled me. Back to the Father. And because I belong to Christ. The Father recognizes me as one of his own.

Hallelujah. And I will go out of here with Christ. Whenever that day is. And whenever that time comes. I will go out of here with Christ. But God has an order to this thing.

God has an order to everything. There is nothing chaotic in the world. As far as God is concerned. None of it catches God. Off guard.

Everything going on in Europe right now. Past two days I have seen posts. About all the riots going on in Europe. And all the Palestinian flags being hung everywhere.

And places being robbed and looted. And all these other things going on. Folks that does not catch God by surprise. 9-11 here in our own country. Did not catch God by surprise.

None of it catches God by surprise. God knows what is happening. He knows the end from the beginning. And the beginning from the end. There is nothing that catches Him off guard.

And I praise God. That I can go to Him. With my petitions. And my supplications. And I can make them known unto Him. I can pray unto Him. Whatever is on my mind.

Whatever is on my heart. I can bring it to God. And He already knows. What is in store for me the next day. He knows what is in store for me. The next hour. The next week.

And the next year of my life. When I go to Him. When I go to Him. I can just picture. I've already got plans for that. I've already got plans.

Folks. Whenever we're down. Whenever life gets us down. It does. It does it all of us. Whenever it gets us down. Whenever sadness happens. Whenever heartaches happen.

Any of these things happen. God already knows. He already knew it was going to happen to you. And He's already got the remedy for you. But folks. The main remedy. That you and I have.

Is the hope. Of the resurrection. Of Jesus Christ. That we're reading about. Just a little while ago. That is our hope. That is the blessed hope.

That Paul writes to Titus about. It is in the resurrection. And the coming again. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. To receive us as His own. Because we are His own.

That is the hope that we have. So no matter what comes. In your life. No matter what trials. Come your way. You focus on the hope. That you have. In Jesus Christ. You focus on His resurrection.

And the guaranteed resurrection. That you have. It won't always be this way. You won't always be sick. You won't always have all these things. In your life. All this negativity.

That goes on. These things won't always go on. Because we have a blessed hope. In Jesus Christ. And in His resurrection. Verse 24.

Then cometh the end. Begins with those few words. Then cometh the end. When? What have we been reading?

If we go from verse 20. Actually you can go back to verse 12. But if we go from verse 20. Where we start preaching from tonight. That Christ is now risen from the dead.

And that. He's the first fruits of them. That are slain. And that death has come. By one man. But by another man. Jesus Christ.

Life everlasting is guaranteed. Resurrection is guaranteed. That in Adam all die. Even so in Christ. Shall all be made alive. And God's got an order. To this whole thing. There in verse 23.

That every man in his own order. Cross the first fruits. Afterward. They that are Christ. Say his coming. Then. Then cometh the end. That kind of hints to me.

At the order of this whole thing. If we read verse 23. Every man in his own order. Cross the first fruits. Afterward. They that are Christ. At his coming. Then. Then cometh the end.

Now I understand. There's a lot of arguments. Out there in the theological realm. When the. When the. Christ is going to come. When he. The. The. The rapture is going to happen. There's people out there. That question.

If the rapture even will happen. If it's going to happen. Before. The tribulation period. In the middle of the tribulation period. At the end of the tribulation period. Quite frankly folks. I'm a pre-trib guy.

But. Quite frankly. I don't care when he comes. As long as he comes. As long as he comes. That's what. That's my concern.

And that's my hope. But this hints to me. When it will happen. Because in verse 23. We have. Afterward. They that are crossed. At his coming. And the very next word.

In verse 24. Is then. Then cometh the end. When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God. Even the father. When he shall have put. When he shall have put down all rule.

And authority. And power. The end. Is. Will come. When exactly. It's going to happen. What part of the tribulation. It will happen. If the tribulation.

Is even. In the foreseeable future. Or the foreseeable past. For that matter. I really. Don't care. Jesus Christ. Is coming. And the end of all things. Is coming.

That. Is something. That the scripture teaches. As 100%. Pure. Unadulterated. Fact. Amen. Is that Jesus Christ. Is coming. Then cometh the end.

When he shall deliver up the kingdom. To God. He's got a kingdom. You and I are part of that kingdom. That kingdom. Is within us. That kingdom was begun.

In us. It was begun. In the disciples. It is inside. Of everyone. That has ever been. Born again. And ever will. Be born again. We are part. Of the kingdom.

That Christ. Himself. Purchased. He bought it. With his own blood. But folks. He is going to deliver up. That kingdom. He is going to deliver up. You. He is going to deliver up.

Me. And everyone. Who will be raised. At that last day. Unto life. Right. In the resurrection. Of life. He will deliver. Every one of them. That entire kingdom.

Up to. God. Now understand. The Bible teaches. Jesus is God. I say praise God. Amen. And hallelujah. Jesus is God. So.

When we're talking about this. We have to be talking about. God the Father. Jesus is God. And there's no. Arguing that fact. Because scripture makes it very plain. But here.

He. We must be talking about. God the Father. Because Jesus ain't going to deliver it to himself. We must be talking about. God the Father. Then come at the end. When he shall. Have delivered up the kingdom.

To God. Even the Father. When. When he shall have put down. All rule. And all authority. And all power. Folks. The wickedness.

That we see in this world. The hate. That we see. In this world. The sin. That we see. In this world. The sickness. And the death. That we see.

In this world. Everything. That we see. In this world. That we know. Is. Is. Is. Completely. Against. The statutes. And the judgments. Of almighty God.

All of that. Will be put under the feet. Of Jesus Christ. Christ. Christ. Has already. Defeated the grave. Christ. Has already. Defeated death. Christ. Already. Has victory.

Over death. Hell. And the grave. I believe in that. Wholeheartedly. The scripture. Teaches that. But folks. We still die. We still die. We've all got an appointment.

With death. And some people might say. Why is there still death. If Christ. Has defeated death. Folks. We die. As I said before. Because. Of sin. But.

We have. The cause of. Our belief. In Jesus Christ. Because of our faith. In his gospel. The cause of the repentance. Of our sin. And our ways. And our wickedness.

And our unbelief. The cause of these things. We have a guarantee. Of life. Christ again. In verse 20. He was the first fruits. Of them that slept.

He is. He is the guarantee. Of everything. That is to come. And I. Am to come. Because he. Bought me with his blood. And he. Will deliver me. And all other saints.

All other believers. Up to. The father. Why? Because we belong to the father. We belong to him. As. Everybody belongs to God.

As far as creation goes. Whether they saved. Whether they lost. Everybody belongs to God. As far as that goes. The folks in Adam. We have two. Characteristics.

That we all share. One. That we all sin. Two. That we all die. Those are the two characteristics. That everyone. With Adamic nature.

Shares. But. Those of us. That have been redeemed. We have. One characteristic. We have one common ground. That is belief.

On the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. That is belief. In his blood. That is belief. In what this bible says. That is salvation. That was purchased. By the blood. Of Jesus Christ.

For everyone. Who repents. And believes. That is our common ground. If you will go a step further. Than that. You can say that all of us. That believe. We have common ground.

In the Holy Spirit. Because you have the Holy Spirit. Living on the inside of you. And I have him living. On the inside of me. But. All of those things. Are part of God's. Wonderful.

Foreordained. Complete. Perfect plan. Of salvation. Then cometh the end. He shall deliver it up. The kingdom of God. Even the. To God.

Even the father. When he shall put down. All rule. All authority. And all power. All these people. That think that they're. Smarter than God. All these people.

That think that they've got. More power than God. All these people. That. That. Think they're so smart. That they're. They say that there is no God. I was in that boat one time. What does the Bible say about that?

The fool. Has said in his heart. That there is no God. The fool. Says that. They might be smart. In society's eyes. They might be smart. In their friends eyes.

But God's word. Says they are a fool. They are a fool. To say. That there is no God. But all these principalities. All these powers. All this evil. It will.

Be completely. Totally. And utterly. Demolished. Done away with. Decimated. By. Not us. But by Christ.

By Christ. And by his finished work on Calvary. Verse 25. For he must reign. Praise God. He must reign. Why must he reign?

I'll tell you why he must reign. Because the word of God says. That he must reign. And the word of God also says. The grass withereth. And the flower fadeth. But the word of our God.

Standeth forever. It will stand forever. God says that Christ will reign. It was promised in the Old Testament. It's being fulfilled. In the New Testament. Even to this very day.

God is fulfilling his word. In the reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ reigns from heaven. As king of king. And lord of lords right now. He was king when he was in a manger.

In Bethlehem. He was king before the incarnation. He will be king for all of eternity. Hallelujah. He always has been.

And ever will be king. He must reign. Because God says. He must reign. He doesn't need man's permission. He doesn't need the United States Supreme Court.

To give him permission. He doesn't need the United Nations to do so. He doesn't need the European Union to tell him it's okay. And he certainly doesn't need you or I.

Either one. To tell him yes. You may reign. Yes. You may have kingship. Over your creation. It is his. And his alone.

For he must reign. Till he has put all enemies. Under his feet. He will reign. Until all enemies are put under his feet. God ordained that as well.

You can read that a couple of times in the book of Psalms. Psalm chapter 8. Psalm 110. You can read about a few different times in the Psalms. Where God has foreordained that these things will happen.

For he must reign. Till he has put all enemies. Under his feet. Verse 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed. Is death.

I want you to notice something here. We just read. In verse 24. When he shall have put down all rule.

And authority. And power. Verse 25. For he must reign. Till he has put all enemies. Under his feet. No particular thing is named there. I understand.

We got authority and power. I get that. But particularly in verse 25. These enemies aren't named. Verse 26. We got a name. Verse 26.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed. Is death. And again. People will say. Did Christ not defeat death? Yes. Yes.

100% Christ defeated death. And again. And Paul wrote it to the church at Rome. Death hath no more dominion over him. Death has no more dominion over Christ.

Christ died once. He was dead. Buried in the tomb. He went and done his business while he was dead. And he was resurrected. The third and appointed morning.

Death will be destroyed. Death will be the final enemy that is destroyed. Not set to the side. Not put up on a shelf. Not cast out into outer space sometime.

Or somewhere a blue billion trillion miles away. But death will be destroyed. According to what I can read in the scriptures. At this time. This is when death and hell are cast into the lake of fire.

Death itself will be cast into the lake of fire. And I'll tell you right now believer. Death is still your enemy. Death is still on your heels. Death will have you one of these days.

But death will not have the final word. Jesus Christ has the final word. The word of God is the final word. And all who have repented of their ways.

And all who have believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. And if we are saved. And I pray to God that everyone. Under the sound of my voice tonight. Is if we are indeed saved.

Death is no more than a servant. That will usher us into the very presence. Of Jesus Christ. Our Lord and our King. Hallelujah. And death will be destroyed.

One day after a while. Again I love Revelation 21. There will be no more death. There will be no more sorrow. There will be no more pain. God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.

God will do all of these things. But folks. The only reason. That that is possible. Is what we began with tonight.

And that is the hope. Of the resurrection. Of Jesus Christ. Death will be destroyed. Because of the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Folks. Had Jesus died. And never came out of the tomb. Death would have free reign. For all of eternity. We would keep multiplying.

And multiplying. And multiplying. On this planet. Like we've been doing. And people would keep dying. And dying. And dying. For all of eternity. But the word of God promises. That God is going to make all things new.

The word of God promises. That there is going to be a new heaven. And a new earth. Wherein dwelleth righteousness. And wherein dwelleth righteousness. Death cannot live there.

Death cannot be there. Death cannot be part of that land. And it certainly can't be part of that kingdom. Right. We still have an enemy. Death. But death will be destroyed.

One of these days. And again. I pray that everyone here is saved. I pray that everyone knows the Lord Jesus Christ. If not. Don't hope in yourselves.

Don't hope. In something that you can do. Or have done. You hope. In the blessed resurrection. Of Jesus Christ. That's where your hope needs to lie.

God bless you all. I appreciate your attention.