Easter Sunday April 20, 2003 Pastor Jim Parisi
F.I.C.C. Sunrise Service. HHM Sunday Service
"Deaths Last Stand”
[1 Cor 15:55-57] 55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I am going to chronicle for you DEATH’S BIOGRAPHY in a message entitled “Deaths Last Stand!”
You are going to have to use your imagination. I want to speak of death as though he were a person.
I. BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS. We turn our attention to death’s birth.
I believe we can pinpoint the exact date of death’s birth! It was conceived in Adam and Eve’s temptation and birth the moment Adam & Eve first sinned.
For scripture tells us: “...by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world and death by sin.”
The parent of death is sin and the grandparent of death is Satan.
You see, there once was a time before death’s birth that this old world was a pleasant place to live.
There were no thorns; no thistles. No pain; no travail. No labor. No suffering
The fruit of the land yielded itself willingly. The human body was made perfectly to last throughout eternity. But Death changed all that in one instance!
After sin entered man the human body begins to decay and deteriorate. All because of Sin and Death
Death brought along with him pain, suffering, lawlessness and a people turning away and separating them selves from God.
Death was very active in his early years. It doesn’t take us long at all to see him surface with Cain and Abel.
As Cain strikes down his own brother in a field and leaves him there to be devoured by death.
Death rapidly becomes the strongest predator on the face of the earth –
Relentlessly tracking down each victim, catching and wrestling him down to the rot and mire of the grave!
Death is seen day and night going to and fro throughout the earth stalking his prey. How many examples are there?
Ahab & Jezebel along on their murderous plot devised against the devout Naboth the Jezreelite,
He went into the fire with the 3 Hebrew children expecting to have their charred bodies, only to be robbed of victory by the Fourth Man in the Fire, which was the Son of God!
That’s alright--he knew that he would eventually get these 3 Hebrew boys and would have another encounter with the Fourth Man. He would have to be patient.
The devil knew there would be a time of battle and humanity would stand in the balance.
At the mere mention of Death’s name, mortal man trembled! He puts fear in the minds of children as they sleep.
What power death has now over man because of the fall.
Death could boast that of the billions of men and women who had lived on this earth,
Only 2 had escaped his clutches -- Enoch and Elijah!
He strikes terror in the hearts of mankind...calling them to the grave with his cold voice
II. DEATH’S MOST AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING.
In his wanderings throughout the earth,
Death received word, a report that this Fourth Man in the Fire, the man that saved the three Hebrew boys.
Was coming to set the captives free.
The Very Son of God had taken upon Himself human flesh and came to dwell among mortal man.
One foolish thought struck Deaths mind: If He has come in the flesh, He’s mine!!"
Though disillusioned in his previous attempts, death feels certain the time is right. This Son of God has come to Jerusalem as the Messiah.
The living God has taken flesh upon himself and now is conquerable.
He is playing right into Death’s hands. "He’ll be mine within a week" Death sunrises!
I can see Death as he goes along with the guards to the Garden of Gethsemane.
His fierceness is kindled… as he sees the One who has eluded him so long.
He snarls and roars, trying his best to intimidate and terrorize this Son of God,
Jesus looks him straight in the eye and does not flinch!
There is not one indication of fear. This Jesus has the look of a conqueror! A mighty warrior.
It is Death that feels a tremor of fear! Could it be that he has finally met his master!?
I can see Death as he goes along with the crowd from the garden to the house of Caiphas and then to Pilate.
Pilate, that pompous guardian of the region who would dare sit in judgment of this Perfect Dignitary of the Universe.
I can hear Death whisper into Pilate’s ear: "Just Kill him. Give Him over to me. I know how to handle this trouble-maker!
When this didn’t work, And Pilate was about to wavier… Death whispered in the ears of the frenzied crowd, stirring them to cry out: "Crucify Him, Crucify Him! "Crucify Him,
Release unto us Barabbas, the insurrectionist yell out .
Let the blood of this man, Jesus be on our hands and on our children’s hands!!
Did they know what they just did?
And as this crowd which has murder in their heart cries out to Pilate,
Death celebrates! He’s almost mine! I will devour Him. It’s a matter of time.
I will destroy Him. I will make the plan of God non-effect. All humanity will fall
Deaths particular note of Pilate’s words, and shouts "YES" as he hears Pilate pronounce that Christ is to go to the scourge’s and then next be crucified.
He said, "If I can destroy Him at the hands of the scourges, He won’t make it to the Cross and therefore it will void for eternity,
God’s plan of salvation could be over taken death shrills
(DESCRIBE THE SCOURGING).With every lash of the whip, death lunged upon the body of Christ… yet could not get a death grip.
Somehow death was continually repelled. "That’s OK, I’ll be patient. This Jesus is mine when He goes to the cross!
Death, along with Satan and his imps was present as Christ was laid upon an old rugged cross.
They shouted with glee as the brutal Roman soldier placed nails in each hand and feet of Jesus.
The devil didn’t realize that each metal spike was just another nail securing and sealing deaths own coffin lid.
They laughed and mocked as the cross was lifted and dropped into place, tearing the flesh and sinew of our Lord.
I can hear the sound of the stonecutters chisel commissioned by deaths to cut the lettering for Jesus’s headstone. RIP JESUS
According to death it was as well as done to him
They stood well back carefully from the cross that day, however, lest a drop of His blood should fall upon them.
You see, they realized there was POWER IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.
Yes there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ
Power heal power so set free power to raise a rotting corpse from the grave
What made the enemy think that it could diminish the power of the blood of the lamb by hanging him on a tree?
Finally, in the midst of Christ’s agony, Jesus struggled for breath enough to say two things:
1) Father, forgive them; and 2) It is finished --- and He bowed His head and died!
At the moment Jesus gives up the ghost.
The sun refused to shine, the earth convulsed, the birds hushed their singing; and darkness covers the earth.
The angels in Heaven stood in quiet, amazement as the Creator, the very Son of God slumped and died.
Pandemonium broke loose in hell the party is about to begin.
But once again death felt that tremor of fear as he pondered one of Jesus’ last words:
"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up again in three days!" Mr 14:58
-"We heard God say, ’I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’ "
III. THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
“Watch Him well, Death”, roared Satan to his gang in hell
"Keep Him over 3 days and His Kingdom is yours".
Day 1: ---all is well -- celebration goes on.
Day 2: No problems, Party continues.
Day 3: Death feels somewhat faint. THEN IT HAPPENS!!
THIS IS THE DAY DEATH DIED --- THE DAY CHRIST AROSE FROM THE GRAVE!!!
Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph over His enemies.
He is raised a Victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He took dominion over death Hell and the Grave
,
He has risen, HALLELUJAH, Christ has risen!!
Friends, I want to tell you that on the day Christ arose from the grave, Death died for Christians
The living testimony of, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome as they went to the tomb of Jesus,
They were wondering who was going to roll the stone away for them.
They got to the site ready to anoint the body of Jesus but his dead body was not there.
Mark 16:5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.
Scripture tells us:
(Rev 1:18) I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
(Col 2:15) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:"Death is swallowed up in victory."
55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
Death need hold no more terror in your life.
For Christ "Tasted of Death" for us, and triumphed over it on that First Resurrection Morning.
That First Resurrection Morning will forever be known as
Deaths Last Stand!!!
Amen
