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Look back at verse number 10 where the Bible read, "...or if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life..." And the title of the sermon this morning is this, Saved by His Life. Saved by His Life. And so we're saved by Jesus Christ's life, and the Bible is very clear about this, that the glory of salvation goes to Jesus Christ, and what truly saves us is the fact that He is alive. We sing a lot of songs on Easter morning about the fact that He lives, that Christ rose again, and so it's very important that we understand that the resurrection is one of the central and most key important factors of the Gospel. Look at verse number 18, the Bible says this, "...therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. And so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men on the justification of life." And so the Bible makes it very clear that Adam brought sin into the world. That's what the Bible is referring to as the one man bringing this offense, and that judgment comes upon all of us. Now the Catholics would say that means that we're all born sinners, but what the Bible is teaching here is that judgment itself came, and because we have sinned on our own accord, we also will be judged. We have a sin nature, but we were not born sinners. A child is born in innocence, and they make the conscious decision to make a sin, and because they make the conscious decision to make a sin, just like Adam did, we all will be judged, and that's the condemnation, the condemnation, the judgment, and it entered in the world by one man, Adam. Just as condemnation and judgment came by one person, the Bible also says, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men on the justification of life. And what I love about this phrase here is that the righteousness of one. Notice that it only takes one person's righteousness for all of us to be saved, because it's not about our righteousness, it's not about how good we are, it's about how good He was. Look at verse number 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. And so the Bible also emphasizes it wasn't just the righteousness of Christ, it was his obedience. And notice it's the obedience of one. Again, why would anyone go to heaven? Because of the righteousness of one, because of the obedience of one. It's not based on your righteousness, it's not based on your obedience, it's based on his righteousness, it's based on his obedience. And so we also understand that the Gospels, when we start in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they give us other information about Jesus Christ. They give us information about his mortal life, his physical life while he was on this earth. What happened, how he was born of the Virgin Mary, and he grew up and became a man in his ministry, where he preached the gospel, he healed people, he raised people from the dead, he forgave sin while he was on this earth, he did a lot of wonderful miracles proving the fact that he was the Son of God. And in the end portion of each one of these Gospels, it then focuses on Christ's death. It focuses on the fact that he was beaten and scourged, and he had a crown of thorns shoved upon his head. And we see him dying, and the Bible says, in fact, when it comes to his death, even that was under the guidance of obedience from the Father. I'll just read for you, but in Philippians chapter 2, the Bible says, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And so Jesus Christ, he was righteous on this earth, he was obedient to God the Father on this earth, he never sinned a single time. And he was even obedient unto death. The Bible makes it clear that he did not want to suffer physical punishment, but he did want to take our punishment. He didn't want to die, but he wanted to take our death that we needed. He didn't want to be shamed, but you know what? He wanted to take our shame for us. And so Jesus Christ was obedient to God the Father, and all of the gospels record his death on the cross. They also record his burial. But then most importantly, at the end of each gospel, we have recorded the resurrection of Jesus Christ, okay? And from that point in the New Testament, we have to understand, is that the main focus, the main emphasis of the New Testament is his life, is his resurrection, because we're saved by his life. The gospels begin with his ministry, they end with his death, but the remaining portion of the New Testament is emphasizing the resurrection. He lives! He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today. I mean, we sing about the fact that he lives today, and it's the victory, it's the celebration of the fact that he's alive. And that's what gives us the atonement, is all of that. Look at what it says if you go back to verse number 11, and not only so, so we're not only saved by his life, but it says we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement. So what gives us that atonement? What makes us right with God? What basically pays for our sins? Well, it was the righteousness of Jesus Christ, it was the obedience of Jesus Christ, it was the death of Jesus Christ, it was his burial, and most specifically, it was his resurrection, is what gives us that atonement. Now go if you would to John chapter number 11, go if you would to John chapter number 11, let's emphasize his life, let's emphasize this resurrection that Jesus Christ did for us. The Bible says in John chapter 11, look at verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. That's a verse I don't think a lot of people think of, but he said he is the resurrection. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this. So Jesus Christ describes himself as the resurrection and as the life. Now this is interesting, if you go back to John chapter one, go back to John chapter number one, Jesus often references himself as being life. He says I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And look at John chapter one, verse one, the Bible says in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things are made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Now I've preached this before, but one of the dividing factors between God and men is the fact that God can make something alive. God can create life, okay? He gives free will and he gives life, two things that man can never do. Man can never give, and the only reason we have life is because Jesus Christ gave us life to start out with. Just the fact of you being born, he is the creator. Everything that has life on this earth, that life came from Jesus Christ. He is the origin of life. He is life. Anything that's alive is from Christ, okay? Now you get your origin of life from Christ, and everyone gets that. Everyone starts out alive, but he's also the sustainer of that life. He can also give you eternal life. He can take the life that he's given you and he can increase it to eternity. He can give you everlasting life. Now think about this, how does he do this? Well, it's kind of an interesting paradox, but go to Acts chapter number three, go to Acts chapter number three. You know how we get life? Through his death. Now that's kind of an interesting paradox, and some people don't believe the Bible. They would attack this, or they would say that's foolishness to say, how can life die? Well, that's what the Bible says, number one. But in fact, you already believe this doctrine, because did you know everything that gives you life has to die? Think about this, what gives you life? Food. Did you know all the food you eat dies? And you say, well, I eat it alive. Well, it dies when it goes down, okay? But at the end of the day, whether it's a plant, whether it's an animal, whatever it is, it has to die to do what? To give you life, to allow you to be sustained. And you know what, Christ has to die to end up giving us life. He sustains us through his death. And so everything in this whole world pictures Jesus Christ. All the food that we eat dying is a picture of Christ, how he's gonna die and give us life. The fact that the sun rises in the morning is a picture of the resurrection every single day. And so everything is about Jesus Christ. It's picturing what he's done for us. And they had to kill him. Look at Acts chapter three, verse 14. Be he denied the Holy One in the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the prince of life. And the word prince would be synonymous with our word ruler. Jesus Christ is the ruler of life. He's the prince of life, yet they killed him. Whom God hath raised from the dead where we are all witnesses. So it's very important they understand they are witnesses of what? That Jesus Christ is the life. That Jesus Christ is the resurrection. That Jesus Christ is the sustainer of life. Without the resurrection, he is not the sustainer of life. He's not the prince of life. He's not the ruler of life. He's not the one to give you life. It's the one who rose again that separates himself from all others who have died before us. Muhammad is dead and in the grave. Buddha is dead and in the grave. All of the other ones were liars and hirelings and wolves and false prophets. There's only one that's alive, and that's Christ. And you say, well, where is he? Well, you can't find his body on this earth. You know why? Because he rose and he has ascended up into heaven and he lives. We serve a risen savior, the most iconic person of all time, Jesus Christ. Think about this. He made the biggest impact of any person to ever live, yet where is his body? It's in heaven. Imagine that there's no physical evidence of him on here from his body perspective or any of that type of stuff. We obviously know his blood was spilled on the earth and the Bible tells us that that was a picture, but I'm just saying, you don't have that body. Why? Because he's alive. Because he's in heaven, yet he made the biggest impact because he's the prince of life. And you say, well, that seems contradictory that life could die. Well, keep your finger here because I want to come right back to Acts 3, but go to Hebrews, chapter number 12. Go to Hebrews, chapter number 12. Many spiritual things are contradictory to our physical understanding, to the understanding of our minds because we are man and God is above our ways and God does all kinds of different things that maybe a mortal man or a normal man wouldn't understand because the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him. So natural people don't understand this. It takes a spiritual person to understand the pictures of the Bible and what Christ has done for us. Hebrews, chapter 12, look at verse two. Looking unto Jesus, I love this, the author, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God, for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest he be weird and faint in your minds. Think about this contradiction. They're literally killing their savior. They're literally crucifying their savior. They literally killed the prince of life and that's what gives them the opportunity to have that life. Go back if you would to Acts, chapter number three and look at verse number 26. Acts, chapter number three, look at verse number 26. Because he lives, we can live through him. Verse 26, and unto you first God, having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you and turning away every one of you from his iniquities. So what is Christ being raised up do? It turns you from your iniquities. Why? Because he's the payment for our iniquities. The resurrection is what gives us that hope. Go back to chapter one. Let's do a quick journey through the book of Acts because I want to emphasize again to you the fact and the reality that when you read the Bible, after you get past the gospels, the emphasis is his life. The emphasis is the resurrection. The emphasis is the fact that he's constantly interceding for us in heaven. Why? That's what gives us our hope and our faith that we too will one day be resurrected, that we too will be saved. Look at Acts, chapter number one and verse 22. Beginning from the baptism of John under the same day that he was taken up from us must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. So they're saying, hey, we needed a witness. What's the point of the witness? What's the emphasis of the witness? What's the point of Acts to have apostles go out and be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? In fact, that's the most important component of being an apostle is that you are a literal eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus Christ. If you did not witness the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, you're not an apostle because that's the whole emphasis. That's the whole point. That's why we have the Acts of the Apostles is the eyewitness. What do the eyewitnesses do? They went out and did all kinds of wonderful miracles, proving that their word was confirmed that Jesus Christ had risen again from the dead. That's an important message to get out, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Look at Acts, chapter four, verse number one. Acts, chapter number four, verse number one. And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So what was it that was really making people mad? The resurrection was what made people mad. Look, them going around preaching that Jesus died on the cross, everybody knew that. They killed them. They were very aware of that fact. What was the problem of their preaching? The problem of their preaching is they said, this guy came back. Because if this guy came back, then they're in trouble. If this guy came back, then he's the prince of life. If this guy came back, he's the son of God. If this guy came back, he was God manifest in the flesh. Two other guys died on the cross next to him. What's the difference? One came out of the tomb. One rose again. And they didn't like hearing that message. The guy that claimed to be the son of God, the guy that went around forgiving sin, the guy that did all of these miracles, they don't have his body. Well, that's a problem for the deniers of Christ. That's a problem for those who crucified him, why? Because he lives. Look at verse 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. This is talking about the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost gave great witness. He gave power unto the apostles to be a witness of what? The resurrection. It's all about the resurrection. It's all about his life and how we can have life through his resurrection. Go to chapter number 10. Go to chapter number 10. It's that final piece to the puzzle that makes it all come together. And without it, you have nothing. Hey, you can have 99% of the puzzle, but if you don't have that last piece, it's meaningless. The last piece is the most crucial piece, emphasizing who Christ is. Acts chapter 10, look at verse 37. That word I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism was John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. For God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him, God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people and testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead, to give him, to him give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sin. So we have this great sermon by Peter and what is he emphasizing? He's emphasizing, hey, we are those witnesses that God chose to see the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and it's that guy, it's that Jesus, it's the one that we preach, it's the one that rose again that all the prophets prophesied of, that they all talked about, and he's the one that gives you forgiveness of sins. You get remission of sins through believing in him. But if he didn't rise again from the dead, that's the wrong guy. It's the guy that rose again from the dead that you get the remission of sins from. Go to chapter 13, go to chapter 13. So the apostle Peter, he preached what? The resurrection of Jesus Christ and that's how you get the forgiveness of sins. That's how you get the remission of sins. That's where they got in trouble in Acts chapter number four. And then you have another guy, the apostle Paul, doing the same thing and getting in trouble for the same reasons. Look at Acts chapter number 13 and verse number 24. When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you, fear of God. To you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desire they pilot that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of them which came up with them from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. As it is also written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption. He said unto this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm, thou shall not suffer thine only one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on a sleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. So notice the Apostle Paul preaching the same message that Peter did, preaching the same starting point. We have the baptism of John leading up to Jesus Christ and his life, his death, and most importantly, his resurrection. And that resurrection is the fulfillment of scripture. It's the fulfillment of Psalm, chapter number two, when he says, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And so we have the emphasis of the resurrection from Psalms, chapter number two, emphasized here in Acts, chapter number 13. That's how we know. Hey, how do we know this is the only begotten son of God? The resurrection. The resurrection is what points to the fact that Jesus Christ is the first begotten from the dead, as the Bible describes it. He's the one that rose again from the dead. And the most powerful picture, arguably, of the fact that Jesus Christ is the son of God is this, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That he came back from the dead. Let me prove this to you, and we're gonna come right back. Go to Romans, chapter one, just flip to the right a hair, and look at Romans, chapter number one. Look at verse one, the Bible says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated into the gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets and holy scriptures, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, notice this, by the resurrection from the dead. So what was the declaration of Jesus Christ being the son of God with power? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. What we just read about in Psalms, chapter number two, what we just read about in Acts, chapter number 13, that the resurrection is the strongest point, with power declaring, this is my beloved son. This is my only begotten son. This is the son of God. There's no way to deny it at that point. Now, I like that the end of this verse, Acts, chapter 13, look at verse 39 again, it says this, and by him, it is the him, the resurrected Jesus Christ, all that believe are justified from all things. Again, the righteousness of one, the obedience of one justifies you from all things, and it says you could not be justified by the law of Moses. It's not about your works, it's not about your life, it's not about what you do, what you did, it's only about what he did. It's only about his resurrection, and that's what saves, we're saved by his life. You're not saved by your life, you're not saved by my life, you're not saved by the pope's life, you're not saved by anybody else's life, you're saved by his life. Go to Acts, chapter 17, Acts, chapter number 17. What is the Acts emphasizing? The witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, them going about being a witness. That's why you have it, talk about Peter, and John, and Paul, why? Because they're witnesses of the resurrection. It's not talk, you know, we don't hear about Silas and Barnabas, you know, we don't hear, you know, Barnabas was an apostle, but there's other people in the Bible that aren't necessarily apostles, and I don't really know what they're saying, because the Acts are about the witnesses of the resurrection, that's what's emphasized, that's the main point that's being brought across. Acts, chapter number 17, look at verse number 29. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the God is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. The Bible teaches that every single person is the offspring of God, we're all a creation of God, but you have to become a child of God to get into heaven. You must be born again in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and so you have to go from being his offspring to being his child. Therefore, verse 30, at the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now committed all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, where have ye have given assurance unto all men, that he hath raised him from the dead. So what's the assurance that God gave to every single person? That Jesus Christ was risen from the dead, and that all men on the entire earth must do something, they must repent. They can't trust in their idols, they can't trust in a false religion. They have to trust in Jesus and that man, and the one that rose again from the dead, and that's what gives us assurance of life because he rose again from the dead. When we realize he rose again from the dead, we can have the assurance that we too will be risen from the dead. It says in verse 32, and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. That happens. You know, we go out and we preach the gospel, people mock the gospel. You know, especially, I went to some international apartments yesterday, and when you go to international apartments, you don't run into just everybody's a Christian, you know? You run into Muslims and Hindus and other people, and you know, they mock the resurrection. They mock the things of God. They mock Christianity. They don't believe in the death, burial, and resurrection. The Muslims, Islam does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They deny it. They mock at these things. But they have to repent, and it says, and others said, we will hear the again of this matter. Verse 33, so Paul departed from among them, how be it, certain men clave unto him, and believed among the witch was Dionysus the Areopagite, a woman named Amarius and others with him. So notice, when he preached the resurrection, some believed and some didn't. And it's our job to go out and to preach the gospel, to preach the resurrection. Why? Because when you believe the resurrection, that's what saves you. Notice, he preached the resurrection, some mocked, but then some believed. And what's the separation, saved or not saved? You're saved by his life. You have to believe in the resurrection or you're not saved. You have to repent and believe the resurrection. Go to Acts chapter 23. Go to Acts 23, and look at verse number six. Now, like I said, the apostle Peter and John, they were getting in trouble for what? Resurrection, that they preached that Jesus rose again from the dead. Well, let's see what the apostle Paul says. Acts chapter two, I'm sorry, Acts chapter 23, verse number six. But when Paul perceived that one part were sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am called in question. So notice, what is it? When the apostle Paul says, why is everybody mad at me? Why does everybody want to kill me? Like, what's the main reason why people want to kill? Because of the hope of the resurrection. Because of the resurrection of the dead is why they wanted to kill Paul. They hate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They despise the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Go back to Romans chapter number six now. Go back to Romans chapter number six. Look, our hope is in him. Our hope is in what he did, and we're saved by his life. So you might ask this question, what am I saved from? What am I saved from? If I'm saved by his life, what am I saved from? What does it save me from? Well, look at Romans chapter six, verse number nine. Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died in the sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. So the Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ died, and that Jesus Christ literally was subject to death. Death had dominion over him. But there was a point when he got victory over death, where he defeated death. How do we know that he defeated death, or what caused the defeat of death? Being raised from the dead. Isn't that what it says in verse number nine? Being raised from the dead, dieth no more. So whenever you're resurrected, whenever he comes back to life, is it possible for him to die again? No, he's defeated death. Death hath no more dominion over him. Why? Because he liveth unto God, just like we too. When we die, there will be a point when we're risen again from the dead, and death hath no more dominion over us. We could never die again. And obviously we have eternal life, and we understand that our soul and spirit will never see death, death will never taste of death, but our physical body will experience death. But there will be a point when we too will have victory over death. Go to First Corinthians, chapter number 15. First Corinthians chapter, we'll be saved from that death, okay? First Corinthians, chapter number 15. Now, First Corinthians 15's a really famous chapter, because it emphasizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when we celebrate on Easter. I think it's funny that we celebrate Easter this morning, and did you know that the NIV doesn't even have the word Easter in it one time? And that the ESV doesn't have the word Easter in it a single time? Yet I guarantee there's a lot of NIV ESV churches that have a big Easter banner up today. Isn't that funny? But we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we celebrate Easter, and we celebrate that we are gonna be able to defeat death with Christ. Look what it says in verse 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. So you know what gives us the victory is the fact that one day, we will literally put on immortality, we will put on incorruption, and the fact that we can't die, there's nothing about it. What a great verse. I mean, the fact that you become immortal, isn't that what everybody wants? Isn't that what every cartoon and every superhero, they wanna become immortal? You know, they wanna come where they can't die or whatever. And you know, really, it's just coming from the Bible, because the Bible has the greatest achievements, the Bible has the greatest things that we could ever hope for or wish for, and that is immortality, eternal life, and we get that through Jesus Christ. Verse 55, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So how do I get victory? Through Jesus Christ. It's not through myself, it's not through baptism, it's not through communion, it's not through anything that I do, it's only through Jesus Christ that I get the victory. And I love this phrase, because we're talking about this, I'm saved by his life, what am I saved by? Well I have three quick points, okay? But here's number one, you're saved from the sting of death. This is an interesting verse, verse 36, the sting of death is sin. Now I've read that a lot of times, and just the way it's worded, I guess it kinda confused me, but let me explain it to you, maybe if you don't see it the same way I do, or you're not sure what that means. But what is the sting of death? Well, the sting of death, what do we think about a sting? It's pain, right? I mean, who wants to get stings, right? I mean, this is why I don't like vaccination, okay? It's like the sting of death, you know? But I don't like to be stung, you know, no one wants to be stung, or to have this sting, or some kind of a pain, so it's basically referencing the pain of death. Something negative about death. Now, where does that come from? It comes from sin, because the reality is, if you die without sin, there's no sting associated with death. The death of a saint is sweet, the death of a Christian is bliss, the death of a Christian is without pain, yet those that are in sin, those that have sin, they have the sting of death. Why? Because it's settled. At that point, there's no going back. A lot of people believe in a purgatory, they believe in a burning off of your sins, or paying off your sins. Nope, the sting of death is forever. And the reason why we don't have the sting of death is because Christ took the sting for us. Go to Acts chapter two, go to Acts chapter number two. The Bible talks about a time when the wolf will lay down with the lamb. I know you thought it was the lion, but that's only in the Mandela effect, okay? The wolf is gonna lay down with the lamb. Why would the lamb not be afraid of the wolf? Because the wolf doesn't have a sting anymore. The wolf doesn't have a bite. The wolf isn't gonna harm it. You know, a bee that has no stinger, it's just a butterfly. It's just a harmless, I mean, you wouldn't be terrified of bees, or hornets, or wasps, but they had no sting, if they couldn't harm you in any way. And the same is with death. Death shouldn't scare the Christian. It shouldn't be terrifying under those that are saved. Why? Because there's no sting associated with death. Why? Because Christ took that sting for us. Look at Acts chapter two, and look at verse 23. He being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. So notice, Jesus Christ, he took the pains of death. What does that mean, Pastor Shelley? That means he went to hell for us. He took that pain for us, but it was not possible that he should be holding of it. It was not possible that he should take that sting forever. It was not possible that he should experience that pain forever. And what loosed him from that pain? What loosed him from that sting of death? Well, it makes it clear in verse 24, whom God hath raised up. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is what loosed that pain of death. Jesus Christ, he suffered the pain of the cross. He suffered the pains of this world. You know, the Bible talks about the sufferings of Christ, why? He suffered in many ways. He hungered, he thirsted, he was beaten, he was bruised, he was mocked, he was spit upon. He had a crown of thorns on his head. He was nailed in the right hand, he was nailed in the left hand, he was nailed into his feet. He suffered and agonized on the cross for hours, hours. You know, when you study the timeline, it was about six hours that he was on the cross. A horrible, horrible amount of time on the cross. Just every breath of just pain, just choking on your own blood, just all kinds of evil, just all kinds of mocking and ridiculing. And not only is he just suffering on the cross for hours, he having people coming by. He saved others himself he cannot save. Think about how that one stings a little bit. You know, it's that little chihuahua that's just like, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, and you just wanna crush it. I mean, you're just like, man, when I walk out the door, and there's these little, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, man, I just wanna like. That's how I feel. Can you imagine? I mean, and look, me compared to a chihuahua is nothing to Jesus Christ compared to us. I mean, how he could just be like, just snap his fingers, he'd just think it, right? Just crush him. But he wasn't there to judge the world, he was there to save the world. And he died, and not only did he die and suffer the pains of this life, he suffered the pains of death. And he took that sting for us. And we're saved by his life from what? The sting of death! We have the victory! We don't have to have that, we don't have to be afraid of death. Oh death, where is thy sting? It's gone! He took that sting, and you know a lot of bees, in fact, when they sting, they die. Their sting is taken away. And just like death put its sting in Jesus Christ, it's now been destroyed by Jesus Christ, by his life. Go if you would to Galatians chapter number three. So number one, we're saved from the sting of death. Number two, another thing that we're saved from by his life is we're saved from the curse of the law. Look at Galatians chapter three verse 12. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. So not only did Jesus Christ take the sting of death, he took the curse of the law. He saved us from that curse. What's the curse? Well, when you break any of the commandments, you're guilty and you're guilty of the punishment of that curse. But what did he do? He became a curse for us. Go to Isaiah chapter 53 for a moment. Go to Isaiah chapter 53. This incredible verse. And you say, well, how could someone that's sinless become a curse? Well, you understand it through spiritual eyes, not through carnal eyes. How can the prince of life be killed? How can eternal life taste of death for us? How can he who knew no sin become sin for us? How can he become that curse for us? These are the paradoxes of the Bible, and we believe them by faith. Isaiah chapter 53, a great chapter all about the Lord Jesus Christ and how he became a curse for us. Look at verse one. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor come in this, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire. Now, you have to understand the context of Isaiah 53. This is talking about him on the cross. This is talking about his death. And it's saying that the cross was not a beautiful sight. The cross was not something that in our flesh we would look at and enjoy any aspect of it. It's horrifying. It's terrible. It's like when you drive down the road and you see an accident and everybody rubbernecks, but they're not rubbernecking because it's beautiful. It's so gruesome. It's so hideous. And it's saying there was nothing about it that you would look at and you'd just be like, oh, how beautiful. No, it would be painstaking. It would be horrifying to look at. It says in verse three, he has despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. It was so horrible you couldn't even look at it. So gruesome. You know, people that work in paramedics or as an EMT or a doctor, sometimes someone comes in with an injury, you don't want to look at it. You know, when someone hurts themselves gruesomely, it's hard to look at. You don't want to look at it. It's how horrible it was with Christ and the cross. Verse four, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did as seem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Becoming that curse was verse five, that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Notice that all sin was laid upon him. He was smitten for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. He was wounded. Verse seven, he was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth. He has brought us a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and judgment and from judgment and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut out from out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he hath done no violence. Nigh was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bare the sin of many and made an intercession for the transgressors. Now when the Bible says soul here you have to understand that's just meaning the person of Jesus Christ. You know we have a body, soul and spirit but oftentimes the word soul in the Old Testament is just a reference to him as a person. And so when it's saying here that his soul was an offering for sin it's just saying the fact that he became a curse for us on the cross. That's what that's referring to, okay. Now we know that when he was buried his soul as the part of his body descended into hell but Isaiah 53 is about him dying on the cross and it's about his suffering on the cross and it's about him becoming a curse for us burying our sins in his own body on the tree and doing everything necessary to become sin for us so that he could take that full punishment and penalty. Here's the thing, how could Christ go to hell without sin, he can't. How could he die without sin? For the wages of sin is death. He had to become sin, he had to become a curse so that he could die. That's why he did those things and he had to die to take the penalty and punishment for us so that God could be just and merciful. So that God could be righteous and loving at the same time. If God, like the Islam God, Allah, who just forgives people on a whim, he's not just. Allah's not just but the God of the Bible's just because not only is he merciful, he's also just. He didn't allow sin to get away with. There was a consequence to every sin. There was a punishment to every sin. Every single iniquity was punished. Every transgression was punished. Every iniquity was punished and you say, who did it? Who paid the penalty? Jesus. He became the curse for us. He took it all upon himself and he died. And he descended into hell for us. Go to 1 Thessalonians 1, go to 1 Thessalonians 1. So then what saves us is life. 1 Thessalonians 1 and look at verse number 10, the Bible reads, and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. So number one, we're saved by his life from the sting of death. We're saved by his life from the curse of the law, but we're also saved by his life from the wrath to come. From the wrath to come. And that's what delivered us. Notice raising him from the dead is what delivered us from the wrath to come. Go to Hosea chapter 13 now for a moment. Go to Hosea chapter number 13. We talked about his death in my second point here, but we have to understand the connection of him dying and him rising again from the dead. And look at Isaiah chapter number 13 and look at verse number 14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. Now you say, how is he gonna do that? Well, first of all, he has to die, okay? But then notice what he says. Oh death, I will be thy plagues. Oh great, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from my knives. He's saying, you know what? I am going to defeat death. I'm gonna go to death. I'm gonna get down into death and I'm going to be its plagues. I'm gonna destroy the enemy that is death. Jesus Christ literally destroyed and defeated death for us and notice how he did that by the ransom. Now what's a ransom? You look up in the dictionary, here's a definition of a ransom, to free from captivity or punishment by paying a price. Now here's the thing. Death is a debt. Death has a price, okay? But once that price has been paid, it's done with. It's over. Whatever debt you have, if someone came and just said, I paid all of your debt, he's defeated debt for you. Debt has no place. Debt has no circumstance. And here's the reality. Jesus Christ truly paid all of it so he literally defeated death and he gives the power to defeat death to those that believe in him. And at some point, he will literally get rid of death. That's what we read in First Corinthians chapter number 15. We'll go back in a moment, but go to Ephesians chapter number four. Go to Ephesians chapter number four. Jesus Christ saved us from the wrath to come. And that wrath is referenced in the New Testament in the book of Revelation. It's also referenced as hell and as the second death, which is the lake of fire, the wrath of God. And we're saved from that. Ephesians chapter four, look at verse number eight. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. So that ransom, how we're freed from captivity, he took captivity and he made it captive, okay? And the Bible makes it clear, when did that happen? Well, verse nine, now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first in the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things. So when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive. So what is it that defeated death? The resurrection from the dead. But here's the thing, if he didn't go to the dead, he couldn't have risen from the dead. He couldn't have defeated the dead. He went to death to defeat it. And he led it to captivity. It no longer hath dominion over him or those who believe in him. Go to Revelation chapter number one. Go to Revelation chapter number one. What is captivity? Captivity is death and hell. What is him taking captive that? Well, Revelation chapter one explains this to us. Look at verse 17. And when I saw him, I felt his feet is dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen and have the keys of hell and of death. So he went down there and he got the keys. Now when you have the keys to a place, you know what you can do? You can lock it up. And here's the thing. When he opens the door, no man can shut. And when he shuts the door, no man can open. And here's the thing. When Christ opens the door and throws people in hell, no man can open that door. No man can shut it, I mean. There's no way to not go to hell if he opens the door and puts you in there. And when he shuts the door, no one's coming out and no one's going in. He made it captive. He took captivity of death and of hell. And you have to understand about death and hell is they're coupled in the Bible. Look at chapter six, verse eight. Just flip the page. Look at chapter six, verse number eight. Death and hell go hand in hand. Okay, you can't separate these things really. Revelation chapter six, look at verse number eight. And I looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death. And hell followed with him. Why? Because if you're dead, you're in hell. If you're in hell, you're dead, okay? They're mutually exclusive to one another. The Bible emphasizes this. Go to Revelation chapter 20. Go to Revelation chapter 20. We'll see them mentioned again. So when the Bible says, for the way he just sinned is death, what does that mean? Well, it also means hell. Because hell follows with death. It's his shadow, you know, it goes with him. Revelation 20, look at verse 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up, notice this word, the dead. So if you're in hell, what are you? The dead, exactly. And it says, the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And notice, some people get weirded out by some of the distinctions in the Bible. But notice it says that the dead are in them, plural. And it's like, well, which one is he? Is he in death or is he in hell? Both! Because you're either in death and hell or you're not. There's no like other compartment. There's no other, there's no paradise in the center of the earth next to it. You can't be dead and not be in hell. You're either dead and in hell or you're not dead, okay? Now we understand that, you know, the Bible says that those that are in hell are in the presence of the Lord and the presence of the holy angels. That's just because you can't escape the omnipresence of the Lord. But when he died, he went to hell because he was dead. Him saying he was dead means he's in hell and he's in both because it's the same place, okay? The place of the dead is hell. And those that are in hell are dead. Just like when death and hell are thrown in the lake of fire, okay? Verse 14, in death and hell were cast in the lake of fire. This is the second death. You're like, well, where is he? Death, hell, lake of fire. It's all the same, okay? Now, go if you would to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let me explain something else though. Jesus Christ dying death is not the victory. Jesus Christ dying and being dead was not the victory. The victory is his life. The victory is the resurrection from the dead. Now, we celebrate the death and we understand the death and the death is very important. We emphasize the cross. We emphasize the blood that was shed. But let me tell you something. The victory was not the death. The victory led up to the death. It gave him the ability to win the game. It gave him the ability to get the keys. But what gave him that victory was the resurrection. Look at verse 54 again. So when this corruptible shall put on corruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. So what gives you the victory over death is putting on corruption. Now, that's what Jesus Christ did when he rose again from this and said, behold, I'm alive forevermore. He put on incorruption. He's the first begotten from the dead. He was the first to put on that incorruption. That's why it says, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory is the resurrection. Death hath no more dominion over him. Look at verse number 12 of chapter 15. Now, here's the thing. Without the resurrection, you're not saved. Without the resurrection, you're not saved from this thing of death. Without the resurrection, you're not saved from the curse of the law. Without the resurrection, you're not saved from the wrath that come. Muslims that believe Jesus died aren't saved. People that believe in the death are not saved. You have to believe in the resurrection or you're not saved. There's no way around it. The death was not sufficient in and of itself. You must, must, must have the resurrection and you must have the resurrection from the dead. And it's like, well, Christ didn't really die. And it's like, well, then he didn't really rise again from the dead either. He had to really die. And to really die means he really went to hell. But he was loosed from the pains of death and he rose again. Now somebody that doesn't believe this is not saved. The Bible tells us, verse 12, Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? These people are not saved, okay? Verse 13, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? He's saying if nobody rises again from the dead, then Christ wouldn't be risen from the dead. And he says, and if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain. And your faith is also vain. What is vain? Pointless. Meaningless. The entire book of Acts, pointless. Romans, meaningless. All the apostles' life, meaningless. Just everything they said, everything they'd done, completely pointless if there is no resurrection. He says in your faith, too. You guys believing in that Jesus, meaningless then, if there's no resurrection. He says in verse 15, 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. He's saying not only are you saying that this is pointless, you're calling us liars. You're saying that everything we said is not true. Can you imagine them doing all these miracles and all the works that they did and then saying like, oh, it's just a fake. It's just a fraud. That's what you'd have to say if you deny the resurrection. Verse 16, 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. If you're in your sins, remember the verse, the sting of death is sin. You're not saved from the sting of death then. You're not saved from the curse of the law. You're not saved from the wrath to come. He says in verse 18, then they also which are falling asleep in Christ are perished. What does it mean to perish? Means they're in hell. He's saying everybody that you think's asleep is dead, because there's a difference between being asleep and dead. That's because the sting of death, when the sting of death is taken away and you physically die, you're asleep. And you're thinking, who loves sleep? I love sleep. Nobody's like, oh, man, only children are like this, okay? Only children are like, oh, I don't want to go to bed, oh, you know what? But you know, as an adult, you start realizing sleep is a wonderful thing. It's rest. You know, you love sleep. You long for sleep. It's not something you're like, oh, man, I dread sleeping. Sleeping is wonderful, because the sting has been taken away, okay? And it makes it clear, it says in verse number 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Now, this is a powerful verse. Think about the context of what he's saying. He's saying, if our only hope is in the resurrected Christ, then we're most miserable. Meaning what? Meaning this. What does the apostle Paul believe is going to get him to heaven? Only his hope in Christ. Notice, he doesn't have a backup plan. He's not saying, well, I'm hoping in Christ, but I'm also going to do my part, just in case. He says, look, if Christ is not raised, then I'm doomed. Then I'm damned. Why? Because my only hope is in Christ. Why? Because the only thing that saves you is hope in Christ alone and faith alone in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what saves you. That's how you know that you're saved is you put your hope only in Jesus Christ. And if he's not risen from the dead, well, then what hope have we? He says, we're the most miserable. He says, our lives, there's nothing good about it. There was nothing that I did. The only thing I did was preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was my whole life, was about him, was about his life and being saved by his life. Whosoever shall lose his life shall find it. Notice that they didn't go out and do anything about themselves. It was all about him. You know, it's sad today. A lot of Christians, if you look at their life and you ask them today, whose life are you all about? Usually not his life, is it? You know, our lives should be like Paul's where it's only about him. It's all about his life. You know, you find purpose in this world and you find purpose in this world and you find purpose in this world and you find purpose in this world and you find purpose in this world by elevating him. By elevating his life. You know, we come to church on Easter and it's great and we get all excited but, you know, Easter's only one day of the year. There's 364 other days. One extra on leap year, okay? Somebody's gonna be like, technically, there's another one. But the reality is, you know, what does your life look like? Is your life about you? Is your life, you know, what you do? It should be, I'm saying to you, I'm saying to you, I'm saying to you, I'm saying to you, it should be, I'm saved by his life. Imagine if someone said, hey, the resurrection, it didn't happen. Then you say, well, I lost everything because my life was only about him. My life was only about what he did. You say, why did God use Paul because it was all about Jesus? Why is Paul writing so much of the New Testament? Because he's going out preaching his life. Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world. Demas didn't want to live his life for him. He wanted to live his life for him, for Demas. It was about Demas' life. You know, let me ask you, what is your life about? Go to Romans, chapter number four. Go to Romans, chapter number four. You know, I have a couple purposes of this sermon. If you're not saved, you need to put your only hope in him and be saved. Ask someone in this room and make sure that you're only trusting in Christ, and if you are only trusting in Christ, you can know you're saved. Think about one of these things. We love to quote, you know, 1 John 5, 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Now why does he say that? Because either you know you have eternal life because you're believing in him or you don't. Either you know you're saved or you're not saved. Why? Because realizing it's all about him, then guess who you're going to believe in? Him. My only hope is in him. So you may believe in the name of the... What does it mean to believe? Your only hope is in Christ. If your hope is in anything other than Christ, you're not believing in Jesus Christ. You're not saved. To be saved, you must put all of your faith in Jesus Christ, and that's how you can know you're saved because it's about his life. Someone says, hey, are you sure you go to heaven? Yeah, I'm saved by his life. That'd be a good response, wouldn't it? Not about me. About me trusting in him. Another reason I have this is so that you know that you're saved and why. We're saved by his life. If you're saved, well, I want you to know that even more, and I want you to know why. Here's the third. We need to preach the gospel and emphasize his life, not ours. You know, our lives should be a testimony of constantly preaching the gospel. Why? Because the gospel's his life. I love to tell the story. What? His story. You know, it's all about him. I love to talk to people about their kids and their family and their life, and I like to have fellowship, and I'm not against us living our lives. We have a lot of things we have to do, but I don't want to be remembered for my life. I want to be remembered for celebrating his life, and that's what we should strive for and look to. Look what it says in Romans chapter 4, verse 19. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body not dead. When he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered not of the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it's not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, notice this, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and notice this, and was raised again for our justification. Hey, what gives us the justification? His life! We're saved from the sting of death by his life. We're saved from the curse of the law by his life. We're saved from the wrath that come by his life. Let us live our lives where we have this mantra, I'm saved by his life. Close in prayer, thank you Father so much for your word. Thank you for giving us so much clear scripture. Thank you for the sacrifice of your son, but more importantly, his life, his resurrection, that you rose him again from the dead, giving us hope, and that we put our only hope in him and in Jesus Christ, and I pray that we would be motivated today to share that hope with others, to share that gospel message of good news that we too can all be saved from the horrible things that are to come on the unbelievers, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.