Let us turn again to the Word
of God and to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
in chapter 25 and particularly the first words of verse 8. The prophecy of Isaiah, chapter
25, we'll read from verse 6 to the end of verse 8. And in this
mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast
of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And He will destroy
in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people
and the veil that is spread over all nations. He shall swallow
up death in victory And the Lord God will wipe away tears from
off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away
from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken him." Especially,
as I said, the words at the beginning of verse 8, where we read, he
will swallow up death in victory. He will swallow up death in victory.
And we read about death, didn't we? in that chapter in Paul's
first epistle to the Corinthians, and there's a striking description
of death that Paul uses there when he calls it the last enemy.
He says, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Well, what is an enemy? An enemy
really, I suppose, is something or someone that comes against
you. that tries to oppose you, that resists your efforts, that
hates you. An enemy is something that has
to be overcome, something that is acting against you. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed, says Paul, is death. And we might say the last enemy
is really the most important enemy, isn't it? You can think
of a war between two countries, and there might be many battles, but if you're involved in one
of those wars, really it's no use winning all the battles apart
from the last one. You can think of it in sport,
if you want to win the World Cup, it's no use winning all
the games apart from the last game. The last enemy is really
the most important enemy. And the Christian we know has
many enemies and many troubles to overcome. You can think of that well-known
book by John Bunyan. I'm sure many of you have read
it. Many of you have probably read it more than once, The Pilgrim's
Progress. And it traces through the life
of that Christian from the moment of his new birth until he crosses
the river of death and enters into heaven. And there's so many
times in that journey that he has to overcome difficulties
and overcome enemies, almost at the very beginning. He has
to overcome the slough of Despond, doesn't he, when he falls into
that miry place and has to struggle to get across and out the other
side. He has to overcome the valley
of humiliation, the hill difficulty, the valley of the shadow of death.
He has to pass through vanity fair. He has to be imprisoned
in the dungeon of giant despair, doesn't he? So many times there
are enemies. So many times there are things
that have to be overcome. But at the end of that, to count,
he comes to the river, doesn't he? The last enemy. That last trouble, he can see
the city, the glorious city which represents heaven on the opposite
bank of the river. But the river is there. And there's a struggle isn't
there in that river. And yet he comes across safely. That
last enemy, that last struggle, that last battle is the most important. The final
enemy. And it's natural, isn't it? We
don't like to think about death. It's not a pleasant subject to
think about. And yet we know that really there's
no part of life that is more certain than death for most of
us. We know that there will be those
who remain alive when Christ comes. And we know also that there have
been those in the past who have gone through life and have been
translated directly from earth to heaven without passing through
death. But they're few and far between, aren't they? And the
vast, the overwhelming majority of those who have lived before
us, they have had this one thing in common, haven't they? They've
all died. They've all died. And unless Christ returns before,
nothing is more certain than the fact that we will die one
day. Back there in Ecclesiastes chapter
3, those well-known words, there is a time to be born, and we've
all known that time, that's why we're here. But there is also
a time to die. And if we have really grasped
that truth and acknowledged that truth, and you know there's many
who haven't, and they think that they will live forever, really,
We all know in theory that we will die. But there are many, and we can
easily make this same mistake, who put off all thought of death. They refuse to face it. They
say, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But if we truly believe that
one day we will die, and if we truly are reconciled to that
truth, And if we truly are willing to state that truth and to look
at it in the face, then we will certainly be interested
in this one that is spoken of here at the beginning of this
eighth verse. Because he's described as that one who will swallow
up death in victory. He will swallow up death in victory.
There's nothing uncertain or doubtful about this prophecy. It doesn't say he might do. It
doesn't say he will try to. but it's set before us as something
certain. He will swallow up death in victory.
And at the end of the verse, the Lord has spoken it. The Lord
has spoken it. And there's something very practical
about these truths, isn't there? There's that verse in that chapter
that we read, where Paul says to those Corinthians, he says,
be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good
manners. What does he mean by that? Well,
the situation in Corinth is very obvious, isn't it, from that
chapter that we read. There were those in Corinth who were denying
the resurrection of the dead. And they were coming with this
kind of message. They were saying, well, the resurrection
is not real, it's not true. And perhaps there were those
who were tending to think, well, does it really matter what we
believe about the resurrection of the dead? And Paul says, don't
be deceived. Evil communications, these false
teachings, these wrong teachings that have come to you in Corinth,
these evil communications, they corrupt good manners. In other
words, if you believe these things, it will have an effect upon how
you live. If you don't believe that there's a resurrection of
the dead, then it will have a big effect upon how you live. And
Paul, he speaks in that way, doesn't he? He says, well, if
there's no resurrection, Why am I doing this? Why am I putting
myself through this ministry? I might as well eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die. And it's striking, isn't it,
the last verse of that chapter. Paul has spoken these wonderful
truths in this wonderful language concerning the resurrection of
the dead. But how does he finish that 15th chapter? Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord. Therefore, because of these things, what we believe about the resurrection
of the dead will have an impact upon the way that we live. And
what we believe about death and the resurrection of the dead
will have an effect upon our interest in this one here. He
will swallow up death in victory Well, who is the he, first of
all? Well, it's clear, isn't it? From the context, the prophet
is talking about the Lord of hosts. We read from verse six,
in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people
a feast. And he will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil
that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory.
It's the Lord of hosts, it's the Lord God, it goes on in this
8th verse, doesn't it? The Lord God will wipe away tears
from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away
from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. The Lord
of hosts, the Lord God. This is his work. He will swallow
up death in victory, and it's a work in which each person in
that mysterious and glorious trinity is involved. Yes, it's the work of Christ
and we think instinctively of Christ and what he did upon the
cross and how he swallowed up death in victory and what he
did and accomplished there. But equally it's the work of
the Father, the work of the Holy Spirit. He will swallow up death
in victory. And then we need to think about
what death is. Where did death come from? Death is not natural
in a sense, we might almost say. When we read the creation account
back there in the early chapters of Genesis, we look at the world that God
made at the closing, at the close of that first chapter, and God
looks down upon his creation. He says, behold, it's very good.
What's the characteristic of that world? It's full of life,
isn't it? There's no suggestion that there
was any such thing as death. And the first time we have death
mentioned is in the second chapter, in verse 17, when the Lord God
is speaking to Adam of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. He says to him, of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die. And if you have a margin, you'll
see the literal translation of those words at the end of that
verse. In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. As if God says to Adam, the moment
you eat of that fruit, you'll begin to die and you'll carry
on dying until you die. In the day that thou eatest thereof,
dying thou shalt die. And we all know the subsequent
account And Paul speaks of it, doesn't
he, in that chapter that we read? By man came death, he says. By man came death. It wasn't
part of that original creation. It wasn't part, if you like,
of God's design. It wasn't part of what God looked
down on and spoke of as very good. But it came in by man. By man came death. Again he says, as in Adam, all
die. Adam's sin, Adam's eating of
that forbidden fruit, it had an effect upon all of us. We
were all there in him. We all died with him. Death came
upon all men. It came upon each one of us. It's like a covering cast over
all people. It says in the previous verse.
It's like a veil that is spread over all nations. And we know
that, don't we? Death seems perhaps very far
off when we're children, when we're growing up. But as we grow older, more and
more of the people that we have known die. Our grandparents die. I remember when I was a child,
And I used to look at my grandparents, I used to think, well, they're
so solid, so they just seem so permanent. Can't imagine a world
without my grandparents in it. And yet as we grow up, we experience
loss, don't we? We know what it is to have those
who we love who pass away. And sometimes they pass away
very unexpectedly. Isaac Watts speaks about it in
that 498th hymn, doesn't he? Our life is ever on the wing,
and death is ever nigh. The moment when our lives begin,
we all begin to die. Scientifically, that's true,
isn't it? From the moment of our conception, the clock is
ticking, as it were. The covering cast over all people,
the veil that is spread over all nations, And we know the terrible effect
of death. As we grow up we become more and more conscious of it,
don't we? When people who we never expected to die, they pass
away. There's a terrible veil, a terrible
covering. But this is what God is going
to swallow up in victory. This great power that has such
an impact upon our whole lives, doesn't it? And we can see it
on every hand. You drive along, you pass a cemetery,
it speaks to us of death. There is no, almost we might
say, no more powerful thing. A last enemy, a great enemy. But of this enemy it is said
he will swallow up death in victory. And the language implies a complete
victory, doesn't it? It's very striking language. He would swallow up death in
victory. You can imagine two armies meeting each other on
the battlefield, and sometimes it's a long battle, and sometimes
it might be a close-run thing, and they're very evenly matched.
And perhaps they are battling against each other for hours
or days or weeks or months or sometimes even years. You can
think of the trenches during the First World War and how long
that went on for and how little progress was made and how many
lives were lost. There was no swallowing up. in
victory in that gruelling battle. But here we have very emphatic,
very compelling, very powerful language. He will swallow up
death in victory. Death is going to be powerless. Death is going to be swallowed
up in victory. And thinking about the words
that we have before us here, you can think of it really in
three senses at least. First of all, you think about
what happened 2,000 years ago approximately. On the first day of the week,
the third day after Jesus had been crucified, we're here together
on the first day of the week for that one reason, because
it was on the first day of the week that Christ rose from the
dead. 2,000 years ago, approximately,
it was very literally true that he swallowed up death in victory.
But then, secondly, you can think about it in this way. This is a prophecy that is being
fulfilled today, time after time. When a Christian is born again,
it's equally true, isn't it, that death is swallowed up in
victory? when they pass from death unto life. And then thirdly,
you can think about it and how it has an application to the
end of time, to that moment when time will finish. And how is
it described there at the end of Revelation chapter 20? Here
is the day of judgment. Here is a great white throne.
Here is one sitting upon the throne. All nations gather before
him. And it says at the closing, at
the close of that chapter, death and hell were cast into the lake
of fire. Death is to be swallowed up in
victory at that last day of judgment and there will be no death in
that new heaven and new earth. That was one of the things that
John remarks on, doesn't he, when he sees that new Jerusalem,
when he has that vision of that great city, coming down from
God out of heaven. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes and there shall be no more death. No more death.
No death. Their death shall be swallowed
up in victory. Well, in those three ways, I
wanted to spend some time looking at this great prophecy. First
of all, you can think about the literal resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. A historical fact. And we sang about it, didn't
we, in that first hymn? Christ the Lord is risen today.
Sons of men and angels say, raise your joys and triumphs high.
Sing ye heavens and earth reply. Wonderful moments, aren't they,
when we can really come in with a hymn writer and really sing
that hymn from our hearts. When we really have a sense of
that resurrection power. What does he say in the third
verse of that hymn? He speaks of the power of death,
but he says, death in vain. Death in vain forbids his rise. You know, that's not true of
us ordinary human beings, is it? When we die, we are powerless. It sounds obvious, doesn't it?
This was something that was not true of the Lord Jesus. We are
powerless when we are dead. It's no use saying to ourselves,
well, it doesn't matter if I die because I can just reverse it.
It's an impossibility. The dead cannot do anything.
They don't know anything. There's no life there. But that wasn't true of Christ.
Death in vain forbids His rise. And we see that in many of the
miracles that he performed. What was the purpose of the raising
of Lazarus from the dead? We can read about it in John's
Gospel, can't we? And we all know the account how
Jesus comes to the town Bethany. And Lazarus had been dead for
some time. And he raises him from the dead. What was the point
of it? It was to demonstrate his power over death. It was
to demonstrate his ability to fulfil this prophecy. He will
swallow up death in victory. It was seen prefigured in the
raising of Lazarus. And that was a remarkable thing,
a great miracle, something that we could not reproduce by our
power. But really that miracle was a small miracle compared
to the resurrection of Christ. Because in the resurrection of
Christ we see one raising himself from the dead. Not just raising
someone else. about raising himself, and he
spoke of it, didn't he? He says, I lay down my life that
I might take it again. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father, even his own life. Why is it that he rose from the dead, why is it
that he has power over his own life? To lay it down, to take
it again? Well, surely it's because he
did no sin. He did no sin. We know that death
is the wages of sin, and because we have sinned, death is the
wages that is owed to us. And just as we cannot undo our
sin, there is no way for us to undo our death. But Christ, because
he did no sin, death had no hold upon him. Death was not in control
of him. He died voluntarily. I have power to lay it down, power
to take it again. Well, it's not really surprising,
is it? When you think of the way in which Jesus spoke of his
power to lay down his own life and to take it again, it's not
surprising. that many of the Jews said that
he was mad. You would think that, wouldn't
you, if someone was to come to you today and to claim to have
power to lay down their life and to take it again, naturally
speaking, we would probably say exactly what the Jews said of
Christ. Many of them said he hath a devil and is mad. Why
hear ye him? There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings and that division remains,
doesn't it? Today there are those who read
the words of Christ and they read them as if they
are the words of a madman. Because we don't have that power.
Death for us is not just something that we can choose to enter into
and to come out of, but it's something that is more powerful
than we are. We are held in death and we can't
just escape from it. You remember how it's spoken
of? It's in the book of the Ecclesiastes, I think, in one of the closing
verses, almost, when Solomon gives a graphic description of
old age there at the beginning of chapter 12. And he speaks
of how we decay in old age and how our our strength fails and
our eyesight fails and our hearing begins to fail and when everything
becomes a burden and then he says, then shall the dust return
to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it. Something that as far as our
own power is concerned is a one-way journey. Not something that we
can pass into and then come out on. We don't have that power. But here is one who has power
even over death. He will swallow up death in victory.
Well, as I say, when he claimed this, many said that he was mad.
What's your reaction to the claims of Christ? When you see him and
hear him saying that he has power over death, how do you respond? How do you react? Have you realised what death
is? Have you realised something about the inevitability of death?
Well, if you have, then when you hear Christ speaking of his
power over death, you won't just dismiss it as the ravings of
a madman, but there will be an attraction in it. And if you've seen something
of the power of death over you, well, you will be interested
in someone who has power over that death, who has this great
ability to swallow up death in victory, he performed it in his
own case, when he came out from that tomb having been literally
lying dead there. On the third day he rose again,
he swallowed up death in victory and he demonstrated emphatically
and without any doubt that he was the fulfilment of this prophecy.
He would swallow up death in victory. Well, yes, it's true
in a historical sense, but come on to consider it in this sense. He does this now. His prophecy
is a prophecy that is fulfilled not just once, but is fulfilled time and time
again in the life of the Church. This was what Martha seems to
have forgotten, doesn't she, in that account of the raising
of Lazarus? You remember when Jesus first came to Bethany,
and Martha comes to meet him, and she asks, she makes that
statement, doesn't she? Lord, if thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died. And just a few verses later on,
you find Mary coming with the same words. Lord, if thou hadst
been here, my brother had not died. And you see the effect
that it had on Jesus. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned
in the spirit and was troubled. And you find him at the tomb
of Lazarus, And we have that well-known verse, the shortest
verse in the Bible, Jesus wept. And Martha almost seems to blame
Jesus, doesn't she? Couldn't you have come sooner?
Don't you love us enough even to come in order to prevent my
brother dying? But she knows, she says, I know
that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give
it thee. But when Jesus says to her, thy brother shall rise
again, Martha knows that he will rise again in the resurrection
at the last day. What she hasn't realized is that
Jesus has his power now. I know that he shall rise again
in the resurrection at the last day, she says. But Jesus says
to her, well, not just then, Martha, but 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. It's not just something that
Christ does at the last day, when the dead shall be raised
in a very literal sense, in a physical sense, but when a person believes,
when a person sees Christ as a Saviour, As a one who has power
over death, over sin, the ability to swallow up death in victory,
when a person sees that they need saving, when a person comes
to Christ with nothing, when a person commits their soul to
Him and gives themselves up to Him and puts their trust and
their dependence in Him, what happens to that person? They
pass from death to life. Jesus spoke about it in the fifth
chapter of John's Gospel, didn't he? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he says, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. And so, time and time again,
this prophecy is fulfilled. As God works in His church and
brings sinners to Christ, and they pass from death unto life,
He will swallow up death in victory. And this is the Holy Spirit's
work, isn't it? I said, this is not really just the work of
Christ, not just the work of God the Son, but equally the
work of God the Spirit. It's something that we often
pray for when we sing that hymn 515 and the hymn writer says,
Holy Ghost, we look to thee, raise the dead. He's not praying
for a literal resurrection of the dead. He's praying for the
fulfilment of that that Christ spoke of. When a person hears
his word, believes on him that sent him, He says they have everlasting
life and they shall not come into condemnation. But this past
from death unto life, not just that they will do one day. Not
just that they will in the resurrection of the last day as Martha thought.
No, says Jesus, this is something that happens now. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall
live. And when there is a hearing, there is life. And there is a
fulfilment of this prophecy, death is swallowed up in victory. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me, well is that you? When you read that
description, when you read of those who have heard the word
of Christ, have believed on him that sent him, Well, if that's
you, then the words of Christ are clear, aren't they? He says
those that have known these things, they have everlasting life. They
are passed from death unto life. Something that begins, now it
begins in this life. And where this life is, there
is love. You remember the evidence that
John speaks of in his epistle. He says, we know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. And we have it in that chapter
that Matthew read at Hedge End yesterday afternoon when he read
through that 17th chapter of John and he spoke of it, didn't
he? that unity that Christ prays for in His Church. Yes, He says, to His Father,
Thou hast given Him, Thou hast given me power over all flesh,
that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given
Him. And this is life eternal. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent not just something far off in the distance at the
end of time, but something that is to be known now, today, in
this day of grace. This life eternal is not something
that the Christian just looks forward to. It's something that
they know already. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent, and inevitably that life, it leads to love, it leads
to unity, as Jesus says, that they may all be one, that they
may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent them. He shall swallow up death
in victory. He does it today. He is the life
giver, the great life giver. He is the one who delivers sinners
from death, not just at the end of their lives, but when they
come to faith in Him. then death's power is stripped
away. He shall swallow up death in
victory. He does it today. Well, and then thirdly, as I
said, there is a sense in which this prophecy is ultimately fulfilled
in the future. In that sense that Martha spoke
of it when she said, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
of the last day. She knew this, that there was
a resurrection coming at the last day. and that her brother would rise
again. And we read about it, didn't
we, in that chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. And
Paul, he takes up the words of this prophecy towards the end
of that chapter. Then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory, a
final victory, a complete victory, a swallowing up of death. to
be seen no more. And he applies it to that last
and that great change that will come. And it's beautiful language,
isn't it, that he uses. Christ is the first fruits, he
says. When Christ rose from the dead,
he was not just doing it on his own behalf, as it were, but he
was doing it as the head of his people, as the leader of his
people, as that one who will bring his people to where he
is. every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward,
they that are Christ's at his coming." And as his body literally
came forth from that tomb and was seen by his disciples and
handled and looked upon, so Paul says, in the same way,
there will be a resurrection of the body. Christ the firstfruits, afterward,
they that are Christ's at his coming. And what a great prospect
it is for the Christian. And Paul, he uses such amazing
language concerning this, doesn't he? Behold, he says, I show you
a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
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. We shall be changed. And what
a change it is. Look at the way he describes
it earlier on in that chapter. Sown in corruption, raised in
incorruption. Our bodies are sown in corruption,
aren't they? We know that there is inevitably a decay of the
body when it's laid in the grave. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Sown in corruption, but it is raised in incorruption. It is
sown in dishonour. It is raised in glory. It is
sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body. He compares it to the way
in which the sea germinates, doesn't he? He anticipates that
question, that question that perhaps some people may ask you,
then you speak to them of the resurrection of the dead, they
might say to you, well how is that possible? We know that the
dead body, it decays. No use opening a grave where
someone was buried 200 years ago and expecting to find the
same body that was buried. No, says Paul. Thou fool, that
which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. When we sow seed
into the ground, we don't sow the same plant that we hope to
see. We don't sow the body that shall
be, but bare grain. When you sow wheat or some other
grain, what is it that you put into the ground? Well, you put
in a tiny seed. But you expect to get a very
different body, still a body, still coming from that seed.
But in a different way, Paul says, this is an illustration
of what happens at the resurrection of the body. It's the same body
and yet it's not the same body. sown in corruption, raised in
incorruption, sown in dishonour, raised in glory, sown in weakness,
raised in power, sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. We shall all be changed in a
moment. The trumpet shall sound, the
dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed, for
this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must
put on immortality and so when this corruptible shall have put
on incorruption, When this mortal shall have put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death
is swallowed up in victory. And how Paul rejoices at it,
doesn't he? How he wonders at it. It's a
wonderful thing when we can rejoice in the same way. When we hear
of those who are Christ's, when we hear of them dying. It's
a wonderful thing when we can rejoice in the same way as Paul
rejoices here and say, O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? Oh, we sorrow when our loved
ones pass away, but if they are Christ's, if they are Christ's,
we know that death is not the victor. Death is not the conqueror. that we sometimes think it is. But it is an enemy that has been
swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In that last day, the bodies
of the saints will be raised, glorious, incorruptible, in power. But this begins, as I said, it
begins here in this life. Who is it that is raised in this
way? Well, Paul is very clear about
it, isn't he? Every man in his own order, Christ
the first fruits, afterward, they that are Christ's. They
are the ones who are raised to this glorious resurrection. They
are the ones who put on incorruption, who put on immortality. They
are the ones in whom this prophecy is fulfilled, death is swallowed
up in victory, they that are Christ's. Those that have committed
themselves to Him, those who are followers of Him, those who
find Him to be their all and in all. Those who say with Charles
Wesley, Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee
I find. If we don't know that great change
here, heaven wouldn't be heaven for us. A place where we see
the church in the revelation, what are they doing? How do they
spend their time? They spend their time worshipping.
They spend their time singing before the throne. salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
But you know they began to learn that song when they were here.
These are they which came out of great tribulation and have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Heaven would be no heaven if we didn't like worshipping God. There must be a preparation here
It's an illustration of it, isn't it? In the way in which the temple
was built by Solomon. You remember those words that
we have in the first book of Kings concerning the stones.
The temple was built of great stones and it was a magnificent
building. But the remarkable thing about
that temple is that those stones were all made ready before they
were brought to the building site. It's not that they were
brought to the building site and then prepared to fit into
their place. but they were prepared and shaped
and formed to the right shape, size and dimensions so that when
they brought them to the site they just fitted in. And there's something like that
in the way in which God prepares his people for heaven. He doesn't
bring them to heaven and then say, right, well, this is how
you worship. They know that already. He doesn't bring them to heaven
and say, well, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. They know him already.
They recognise him. That one who they have worshipped
here below is the one that they will worship there above. And
death is swallowed up in victory. Well, as I said at the beginning,
it's natural to be afraid of death. We are afraid of the unknown,
aren't we? Even in our everyday lives, when
we have to go to a new school, perhaps, or a new place of work,
or pass through a new experience, we're nervous about it naturally,
some more than others. But there is that nervousness
of passing through something that we've never passed through
before. And that equally can be true of death, can't it? And
you remember how in the epistle to the Hebrews we have those
mentioned who are subject to bondage all their lives through
fear of death. But what does Paul say concerning
those who are in that situation? He says, well, this was one of
the reasons that Christ did what he did. This was one of the reasons
why he came down as a human being and passed through death. That through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and swallow
up death in victory and deliver them. Deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Therefore, he says at the end
of that 15th chapter, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. Don't
be shaken, don't be moved around, don't be tossed about. Remember those great truths,
the resurrection that is coming, the victory that Christ has accomplished
over death, how he has swallowed it up in victory. Remember these
things, he says to those Corinthians. And this will help you to be
steadfast. And this will enable you to be unmovable. And this
will motivate you to be always abounding in the work of the
Lord, for as much as you know that your labour is not in vain
in the Lord." And we're going to sing that 836th hymn in a
moment, where the hymn writer really comes with a very similar
argument, doesn't he? He says, "'Believer, lift thy
drooping head. The Saviour, thy Saviour, has the victory gained.
See all thy foes, including that last foe, that last enemy that
shall be destroyed, which is death. See all thy foes in triumph-led
and everlasting life obtained. And just as that creation that
we see in the first chapter of Genesis was a creation full of
life, isn't that equally true? Even more so, we might say, of
that new heaven and new earth that John has a vision of there
at the end of Revelation. What did he see at the beginning
of chapter 22? He saw this, a pure river of water of life. He sees
the water of life. He sees the tree of life. He
sees a church which is constantly, continually full of life, standing
before the throne. serving God day and night, looking
upon His face. Heaven is a place that is full
of life. There is no death. There is no death there. And
it's all in fulfilment, as I say, of this wonderful prophecy that
Isaiah comes with. He looks forward to it across
a distance of hundreds of years. He will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil
that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory.
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and
the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the
earth, for the Lord hath spoken it." May God give us this same
hope that Isaiah had. the same hope that Paul can speak
of to those Corinthians, that we might be found in that
same spirit as he was found in. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.