Jesus was to reign until victory was complete

JESUS WAS TO REIGN UNTIL VICTORY WAS COMPLETE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Corinthians15:25 25Forhe must reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The ReignOf The Redeemer
1 Corinthians 15:25
J.R. Thomson
Even in his earthly humiliation, Christ was a King. Once the devil offered him
the kingdoms of the world; once the people would have takenhim by force
and have made him their King. Such seculardominion he sought not, neither
would accept. Yet he entered Jerusalemin royal state; before Pilate he
confessedhimself a King; and over his cross it was written, "This is Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Little notion had men during his ministry of
the nature and extent of that dominion which should one day be his. Yet the
apostles came to understand that not only the prophetic and the priestly, but
also the kingly dignity and office, were appointed for him whose gospelthey
proclaimed.
I. CHRIST'S RIGHT TO REIGN. This is grounded upon:
1. His Divine nature and authority.
2. His moral right and qualifications.
3. His definite appointment by the Father.

4. His mediatorial sufferings and sacrifice.
II. THE SUBJECTSOF CHRIST'S KINGDOM. Theyare spiritual and
willing subjects. He cares nothing for a pretended loyalty or a merely outward
obedience. His aim is to gain a dominion over human hearts, and thence to
rule human society.
III. THE FOES WHOM CHRIST'S REIGN SUBDUES. These he is to put
under his feet. They may be enumerated:
1. Ignorance.
2. Error.
3. Superstition.
4. Irreligiousness andworldliness.
5. Vice, crime, and sin.
6. All false and corrupt religions.
IV. THE MEANS BY WHICH CHRIST'S REIGN IS ADVANCED AND HIS
FOES SUBDUED.
1. The weapons are the truths of the gospel, the exhibition of the righteousness
and love of God.
2. The agencyis that of believing, sympathizing, and consecratednatures. The
kingdom comes by the labours and the courage and enterprise of the spiritual
subjects.
3. The power is that of the Holy Spirit of God.
V. THE PERIOD OF CHRIST'S REIGN.
1. It commencedat our Lord's ascension, whenhe was "raisedto be a Prince
and a Saviour," "from henceforth expecting, etc.
2. It has been constantlyadvancing, the kingdom has been extending its
boundaries, and the number of the subjects has been multiplying.

3. It will not terminate until victory shall have been gained over every foe.
"Thy throne is forever and ever." Only when all opposition is vanquished,
shall the Sonhimself yield the dominion, and God shall be all and in all. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
1 Corinthians 15:25
The reign of Christ
D. Thomas, B.A.
This world is His battlefield now; and when this conflictis at an end there will
be an end to something else, "He shall reign till — ," and no longer.
I. WHO ARE CHRIST'S ENEMIES?
1. All those agencies in the world which are opposedto God. Christ is on the
throne for God; so that whatever in evil spirits, in bad men, in society, in

institutions, habits, experiences, is warring againstGod, is againstChrist, and
He is againstit.
2. All those agencies in the world which are againstus. He is on the throne for
us. Our cause is His. Every evil which injures or threatens us.(1) All our
intellectual enemies — ignorance or error.(2) All our moral enemies — sin in
every form.(3) All our physical enemies — pain, sickness, disease,death — all
these are included among Christ's enemies.
3. We may answerthe question by referring to Christ's life in the flesh. He
came here to do battle; and all His life He was engagedin the conflict,
attacking — not men; He never touched a man in any way but to bless him —
but He was in conflict with all the powers of evil of which men were the
instruments and victims. And the battle is still the same. Through His true
people He is now carrying on the war with ignorance, unrighteousness,pain.
And we may be sure that He will be victorious, not only because it is said in
the Bible, and we therefore believe it, but because it is God that is engagedin
the conflict.
II. WHAT SHOULD BE OUR SUPREMESTCARES IN REFERENCETO
THIS GREAT CONFLICT?
1. To be ourselves delivered. We must eachask himself, will He put my
enemies under His feet? It depends on whether you will let Him undertake for
you. Your faith must lay hold of His strength.
2. To take our part in it on His side. In this greatconflictthere is no
neutrality. And for what reasons shouldit be our greatcare to range ourselves
in this battle on His side? Because —(1)It is an honourable service.
Frenchmen speak with no unnatural pride of having served under the "Great
Napoleon." Something ofthe lustre of the name and achievements of the great
captain is reflectedin his humblest follower. And so it is in the spiritual
conflict.(2)Christ has a claim upon our service. It is our cause that He is
contending for, and it costHim His life.(3) It is a strife for goodness and
human happiness.(4)There is victory with that side.

3. To engage ourselvesin that part of the field where spiritual evils are the
enemies combatedagainst. Noble is it to follow Christ in the war He waged
with physical evils; but the noblest work is to spreadChrist's truth, for where
that is spread all evils diminish. And further, what is the life of the body
compared with the life of the soul?
(D. Thomas, B.A.)
Christ's conquests
DeanBoyd.
This world is a vast stage erectedfor the display consummation of a mighty
design by the power of the Lord Jesus. Scripture has distinctly affirmed that
"all things were createdby Him and for Him." The world was made for
Jesus;and man, the most distinguished of its tenants, was calledinto existence
chiefly that he might add to the Mediator's glory. In His glory the eternal
blessednessofmillions is involved; and the consummation of His mighty work
will be the sealand fulness of the felicity of the redeemed. Now in the
managementof this stupendous design, the Mediatoris pursuing His way to
the glory which awaits Him through the midst of foes. There are foes in whose
destruction we may not be able to trace any of that consolationwhich it is the
apostle's objectto afford. The priests and Scribes of Israelconstituted
themselves His personal enemies, and "the stone which the builders rejected"
has fallen upon them and crushed them to powder; but our comfort or
advantage appears to be this, that the enemies rather of the Saviour's cause
than of His person are spokenof; and with that cause Jesus has so entirely
identified Himself, that He reckons hostility to it as hostility againstHimself.
There is —
I. SATAN, who from the first has evinced himself the foe of the cause ofJesus.
But his power is day by day contracting;and one by one are his strongholds
wrestedout of his hands. His most formidable opposition was his personal
struggle with the Saviour, in which he enjoyed a momentary triumph; but it
was a triumph which placed a lever underneath the foundations of his throne.

The gospelof which that day's achievement forms both the power and the
theme, has gone forth under the sanctionof the Redeemer's command, over
those tracts and territories where "the god of this world" had long held
unbroken sway. And the means by which the Saviour has enlargedHis
kingdom are marvellous. Satan, as he was upon the day of the world's
redemption, is defeatedwith his own weapons. Thoughcovetousness mayhave
sent ships to far distant shores, and rapine may have subjugated one country
to another, and injustice may have torn the slave from kindred and from
home — still see we not, that in more territories being laid open to the inroads
of the gospel, and other influences being brought to bear upon benighted
lands, that Satanhas been foiled by superior wisdom, and the empire of the
Mediatorincreasedby his defeatedpolicy!
II. CORRUPTIONIN THE HEARTS OF GOD'S BELIEVING PEOPLE.
The Mediator's most glorious title is "the King of Saints";and that which
chiefly prevents Him from being so now, in the fulness and majesty of the
expression, is the existence of that secretand unholy principle in the hearts of
Christians. But this corruption under the laws of the Mediator's reign is
destined at length to be totally dethroned. The work of subduing it is one of
mystery and time, and for the subduing of it Jesus has a train of
instrumentalities at His disposal. By troubles, trials, disappointments, the
hand of illness and bereavements. In every child of God it is daily waxing
more feeble, which shows that, ultimately, it must be utterly extinguished, for
"Jesus must reign," etc.
III. THE UNGODLY. These may not all take Paine for their text-book, or
Voltaire for their leader;but yet from the circumstance of their being
unconverted; they must be reckonedamong His enemies. "The carnal mind is
enmity againstGod" — "They that are in the flesh cannotplease God." Now
such the Mediatorwill put under His feet. Contrary to the usual course of His
government, He will do little towards effecting this object here. But, while an
enemy remains unpunished, the throne of the Mediator must stand.
IV. DEATH. The trophy and the triumph of the Satanic hosts. It was among
the firstfruits of their victory. But in the arrangements of the Mediator's rule
this enemy is destined for destruction! Even now is his powerabridged, and

his strength much departed from him; for Jesus has gone down into death's
domains, and, in the dark seclusionof the tomb, passedthrough a conflict
with him, from which He has returned a conqueror! And this victory He
perpetuates in the persons of the members of His kingdom; for there is not
one of them who feels not that death, though he may awe, canno longer
terrify. Even upon this world, death to them has ceasedto be an enemy; but
oh! if we would see him, not simply shorn of his strength, but stripped of his
existence, we must throw forward our glance to the resurrectionmorning.
That hour shall see all enemies subdued.
(DeanBoyd.)
Goodnews for loyal subjects
C. H. Spurgeon.
"Must" is for the king; and concerning King Jesus there is a Divine necessity
that He must reign. He was once the King of misery — in that kingdom He
reigned supreme. That thorn-crown is pre-eminent in the sorrows whichit
signifies. To-dayHe is the King of glory, enthroned far above all principalities
and powers. He must reign because He is God. "The Lord reigneth" must
ever stand a truth. He must reign as man; for the Lord has made a covenant
with David that of his seedthere should sit upon the throne of Israel for ever a
King to rule in righteousness, andJesus of Nazarethis that King. He must
reign also as the Mediator. At this time the sovereigntyof the world is
committed to His keeping, the headship of His Church, the government of
providence, the ruling of heaven, and earth, and hell, as the mediatorial
monarch.
I. WHAT ARE THY REASONS FOR THIS "MUST"? The lamb as seenby
John had sevenhorns of power, and here are sevenreasons why he should
possessthe throne for ever.
1. His empire in itself is such as to ensure perpetuity. There have been many
empires of which men said that if they were overthrown, the very pillars of the
earth would be removed; yet in due time they were sweptaway. Christ must

reign because —(1)His reign over the human mind is basedupon truth. At
one time Plato reigned supreme over thoughtful minds; then Aristotle; but
another philosophy supplanted him, to be in its turn subverted by the next.
Things which were accountedsure and wise are now ridiculed. And why?
Becausethese systems ofphilosophy and thought have not been based upon
truth. But the truth which Jesus taught, reads as if it were delivered but
yesterday. Christianity is as suitable to the nineteenth century as to the
first.(2) His dominion over human hearts is basedupon love. Napoleonsaidat
St. Helena: — "My empire has passedaway. I founded it upon the sword, and
it is gone. Jesus Christ establishedan empire upon love, and it will lastfor
ever." His personis the incarnation of love, His teachings are the doctrines of
love, His precepts are the rule of love, His Spirit is the creatorof love, His
whole religion is saturated with love, and because ofthis His kingdom cannot
be moved.(3) It is the one greatremedy which this sad woe-begone world
requires. The world is like the troubled sea that cannotrest, and there is but
one footwhich can tread its waves, and but one voice which cansay, "Peace,
be still." Jesus is the true liberator of captive nations. The agonising groans of
earth demand the sovereigntyof Jesus, and therefore we believe that He must
reign, for God will yet give His creature what it needs. His Fatherdecrees it.
Up till now God has maintained the throne of His Son. ReadPsalm2 and see.
3. Divine justice demands it. The Fatherpromised that He should be a leader
and a commander of the people, and determined as the result of His
humiliation that He should mount to a superior throne as the Son of man and
the Sonof God. Shall God belie His word?
4. It is inwrought into the order of providence. A few months ago the trees
were bare; but it was in the order of providence that there should be a spring,
and here it is. We cannot saythat in any one day it seemedto make any great
advance. Even when the days lengthenedwe saw no greatprogress, but, surely
and steadily the veins of the trees were filled with sap and the buds first
swelledand then revealed their glories. So Christ's reigning is woven into the
warp and woofof providence, and though He has not yet drawn all men unto
Him, it is coming.

5. The Holy Spirit has been given to the Church to subserve this glorious end.
He can soften the most obdurate, He canturn to kindness the most cruel, and
lead into light the most darkened. Now, the possessionofthe Holy Spirit is the
Church's treasury. Here is her battleaxe, and here are her weapons ofwar.
You who preachChrist, or teachHim in the school, do not become
discouragedunder difficulties, when you recollectthat you are workers
togetherwith God.
6. Christ is naturally the chief of the human race. "He is the chief among ten
thousand and the altogetherlovely." There is none to rival Him.
7. The power to reign belongs to Him. "All poweris given unto Me in heaven
and in earth." "Go ye, therefore," saith He, "and teachall nations." Jesus
Christ is no puny pretender to the throne, nor a rightful owner without power
to win His own, but as His cause is good, His arm is strong. Ours is no
desperate warfare, but a royal crusade, in which every soldier is even now a
priest and a king, and is on the wayto the banquetting-halls where men feast
with God, and Jesus for ever and ever wears the fadeless diadem.
II. THE ENCOURAGEMENTTO BE GATHERED FROM THIS "MUST."
If Christ must reign, then —
1. All our enemies shall be subdued,(1) Now, you are calledto fight daily with
sin, and here is your consolation, Jesusmust reign. The Christ in you must
bruise Satan under your feet. He shall put His foot on the neck of my pride,
and shall command my every thought and wish. Where I cannot rule, Jesus
can. Jesus has made us kings and priests that we may reign over the triple
monarchy of our nature — spirit, soul, and body, and that, by our self-
conquest, He may be undisputed sovereignofthe Isle of Man. Corruption is
very strong, but Christ is stronger.(2)When the last enemy appears in view, it
shall only be an opportunity for new triumphs, when the Lord of life shall
revealHimself with renewedsplendour.
2. Our efforts are, after all, not in vain. If Christ must reign, then every
soldier who fights for Christ is contributing to the victory, and every one who
in any way advances the cause is working with sure and greatresults.

3. What becomes ofus is of no consequence atall. If He will only take me into
the royal galley, and let me pull till I have no more life left, I will be satisfied,
if I may but row my Lord towards His throne, and have but the smallestshare
in making Him glorious in the eyes of men and angels. Whatcares my heart
for herselfif she may but see Jesus seton high? How this ought to inspirit all
of you who grow downheartedabout the cause of Christ! Do you not believe in
the gospelas the powerof God?
III. AN ADMONITION.
1. "Jesus mustreign." You have been opposing Him, have you? You are
kicking againstthe pricks with nakedfeet: you are stumbling upon this stone,
and you will be broken; and if the stone shall take to rolling down, like a
massive rock, on you, it will grind you to powder.
2. If Jesus Christ must reign, then you who have never submitted yourselves
to Him to acceptHim as your monarch, will find His reign as terrible as it is
sure. He will reign over you, either by your own consentor without it.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(25) He must reign.—It is a moral consequence. Godmust triumph, and so the
Son must reign and conquer till that triumph be complete. Some suggestthat
the force of these words is that He must reign, &c., because it has been
prophesied (Ps. ex.); but the more obvious truth is that it was prophesied
because it is morally necessary.
BensonCommentary

1 Corinthians 15:25-27. Forhe must reign — Becauseso it is written, Psalm
110:1;till he — God the Father; hath put all enemies under his feet — That is,
till he hath utterly subdued them to Christ, that he may destroy them. The last
enemy that shall be destroyedis death — That enemy which continues, in
some measure, to hold the subjects of Christ under his dominion, even when
the temptations of the world, and the malice of Satan, canhold them no
longer, and when every remainder of corrupt nature and human infirmity has
long since ceasedin the perfect holiness of the intermediate state. Macknight,
who renders this verse, the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed, observes,
that “the common version of this passageimplies that there are some enemies
who shall not be destroyed, which is wrong:for all enemies shall be destroyed,
1 Corinthians 15:25.” Noris it true in every sense, that“because deathis
calledthe last enemy, it is to be lastdestroyed: for if the destruction of death is
to be accomplishedby the resurrection, the devil and his angels, and wicked
men, are to be judged and punished after the dead are raised. In
Chrysostom’s opinion, death is calledthe lastenemy, because he enteredinto
the world after the devil and sin entered.” ForSatan brought in sin, and sin
brought forth death. There is a sense, however, inwhich it may be affirmed
that death is the lastenemy that is destroyed; for when Christ engagedthese
enemies, he first conquered Satan, namely, in his temptation, then sin in his
death, and lastly, death in his resurrection. In the same order he delivers all
the faithful from them, yea, and destroys their power. Deathhe so destroys,
that it shall exist no more; sin and Satan, so that they shall no more hurt his
people. For he hath put all things under his feet — Agreeablyto what is said,
Psalm8:6. But — As is sufficiently evident; when he saith all things are put
under him — In the last-mentioned passage,and as is implied in many others;
he — The Father; is excepted, who did put all things under him — This
declarationconcerning the Father’s not being subject to the Son, was intended
to prevent us from interpreting what is said of the extent of the Son’s
dominion, in such a manner as to fancy that he is in any respectsuperior to
the Father.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
15:20-34 All that are by faith united to Christ, are by his resurrectionassured
of their own. As through the sin of the first Adam, all men became mortal,

because allhad from him the same sinful nature, so, through the resurrection
of Christ, shall all who are made to partake of the Spirit, and the spiritual
nature, revive, and live for ever. There will be an order in the resurrection.
Christ himself has been the first-fruits; at his coming, his redeemed people
will be raisedbefore others; at the last the wickedwill rise also. Thenwill be
the end of this present state of things. Would we triumph in that solemnand
important season, we must now submit to his rule, accepthis salvation, and
live to his glory. Then shall we rejoice in the completion of his undertaking,
that God may receive the whole glory of our salvation, that we may for ever
serve him, and enjoy his favour. What shall those do, who are baptized for the
dead, if the dead rise not at all? Perhaps baptism is used here in a figure, for
afflictions, sufferings, and martyrdom, as Mt 20:22,23.Whatis, or will
become of those who have suffered many and greatinjuries, and have even
lost their lives, for this doctrine of the resurrection, if the dead rise not at all?
Whateverthe meaning may be, doubtless the apostle's argument was
understood by the Corinthians. And it is as plain to us that Christianity would
be a foolish profession, if it proposed advantage to themselves by their
faithfulness to God; and to have our fruit to holiness, that our end may be
everlasting life. But we must not live like beasts, as we do not die like them. It
must be ignorance of God that leads any to disbelieve the resurrectionand
future life. Those who own a God and a providence, and observe how unequal
things are in the present life, how frequently the best men fare worst, cannot
doubt as to an after-state, where every thing will be set to rights. Let us not be
joined with ungodly men; but warn all around us, especiallychildren and
young persons, to shun them as a pestilence. Let us awake to righteousness,
and not sin.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For he must reign - It is fit, or proper (δει dei), that he should reign until this
is accomplished. It is proper that the mediatorial kingdom should continue till
this greatwork is effected. The word "must" here refers to the propriety of
this continuance of his reign, and to the fact that this was contemplated and
predicted as the work which he would accomplish. He came to subdue all his
enemies;see -Psa 2:6-10;or Psalm110:1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool."Paul,

doubtless, had this passagein his eye as affirming the necessitythat he should
reign until all his foes should be subdued. That this refers to the Messiahis
abundantly clearfrom Matthew 22:44-45.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
25. must—because Scripture foretells it.
till—There will be no further need of His mediatorial kingdom, its object
having been realized.
enemies under his feet—(Lu 19:27; Eph 1:22).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
God hath so decreed, (and what he hath said must come to pass), that Christ
should, as Mediator, exercise a Kingdom and government in the world, until
he haith subdued all the enemies of his gospeland people;all those who have
said, he shall not rule over them; the whole world that lieth in wickedness, the
devil, and all his instruments: this he proveth from the words of the psalmist,
Psalm110:1.
The term until doth not signify the determination of Christ’s kingdom then,
though his mediatory kingdom on earth will then be determined. He shall still
reign, but not as now, in the midst of his enemies, and in the exercise ofhis
kingdom in the conquestand subduing of them.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For he must reign,.... That is, Christ must reign; he is setas King over God's
holy hill of Zion; he is King of saints;he is made and declaredto be both Lord
and Christ; he is exalted at the right hand of God as a Prince, where he sits
and rules and reigns;and his sitting at God's right hand is here explained by
his reigning, for reference is had to Psalm 110:1 he must reign because it is the
unalterable will, and unchangeable decree and purpose of God, that he should
reign; and because he has promised it, and prophesied of it; and because the

state and condition of his people require it, who otherwise could not be saved,
nor dwell safely:and so he must and will,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet; and made them his footstool;
meaning either all the electof God, who in a state of nature are enemies in
their minds, by wickedworks, to himself and to his Father; whom he conquers
by his grace, subdues their rebellious wills, of enemies makes them friends,
brings them to his feet, and to a subjectionto his sceptre, to his Gospeland
ordinances;and he must reign till he has brought every electsoul into such an
obedience to himself: or rather antichrist and his followers, and all wicked
and ungodly men, with Satan and his angels;who will be destroyedwith the
breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming; and will be castdown
by him into hell, and there be ever objects ofhis wrath and vengeance:and till
all this is done he must reign; not that he shall ceaseto reign afterwards, but
that he shall reign notwithstanding these enemies of his and his people, who
would not have him to reign over them; and will reign until they are subdued
or destroyed; and when they are entirely vanquished and overcome, who can
doubt of his reigning then? or what, or who will there be to hinder it? The
Alexandrian copy, and others, read, "his enemies";and so do the Syriac and
Ethiopic versions.
Geneva Study Bible
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies {k} under his feet.
(k) Christ is consideredhere as he appeared in the form of a servant, in which
respecthe rules the Church as head, and that because this powerwas given to
him from his Father.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
1 Corinthians 15:25-28. Establishmentof the factthat Christ will not deliver
up the kingdom until after the doing awayof every dominion, etc. (1
Corinthians 15:25-27, downto πόδας αὐτοῦ), but that then this abdication will
assuredlyfollow (1 Corinthians 15:27-28).

For He must (it is necessaryin accordance withthe divine counsel)reign
(wield the Messianic government)until, etc. The emphasis of the sentence as it
advances falls on this until, et.
ἄχρις οὗ κ.τ.λ.]words takenfrom Psalm110:1,—a Messianic psalm,
according to Christ Himself (Matthew 22:43 f.),—which Paul does not quote,
but appropriates for himself. The subject to θῇ is not God(so even Hofmann),
but Christ (so Rückert, de Wette, Osiander, Neander, Ewald, Maier, comp.
already Chrysostom), which is necessarilyrequired by the preceding αὐτόν,
and by καταργήσῃ in 1 Corinthians 15:24, to which θῇ κ.τ.λ. corresponds.[54]
Not till 1 Corinthians 15:27 does Godcome in as the subjectwithout violence
and in harmony with the contex.
ἄχρις οὗ indicates the terminus ad quem of the dominion of Christ, after
which epoch this dominion will have ceased;see on 1 Corinthians 15:24. The
strange shifts which have been resorted to in order to maintain here the
subsequent continuance of the rule of Christ (οὗ τῆς βασιλείας οὐκ ἔσται
τέλος was added to the Nicene Creedin opposition to Marcellus in the second
OecumenicalCouncil), may be seenin Estius and Flatt. His kingdom
continues, but not His regency, 1 Corinthians 15:24. The seeming
contradiction to Luke 1:33 (Daniel 7:14) is gotrid of by the considerationthat
the government of Christ lasts on into the αἰὼν μέλλων, and that after its
being given over to the Father, the kingdom itself will have its highest and
eternal completion (1 Corinthians 15:28); thus that prophecy receives its
eschatologicalfulfilment.
[54] We are not, however, on this accountto write πόδας αὑτοῦ insteadof π.
αὐτοῦ;the pronoun has proceededfrom the standpoint of the writer.
Expositor's Greek Testament

1 Corinthians 15:25 sustains the representationof the τέλος just given by
prophetic words of Scripture (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:3 f.): “ForHe must needs
reign, until He has put all the enemies underneath His feet”. Not till every
enemy of God is vanquished can Christ’s existing kingdom reachits end. P. is
thinking of the culmination, not the cessation, ofChrist’s kingship (see note on
παραδιδῷ, 1 Corinthians 15:24).—πάντας is added to the text of the Psalmist,
as if to say:“Every one of the foes proscribedin the Messiah’s chartermust
submit, before He can present to His Fathera perfect kingdom”; see parls.,
for other applications of this cardinal O.T. dictum.—On δεῖ, see note to 1
Corinthians 8:2.—ἄχρις οὗ—radically“up to,” rather than “until, (the time
at) which”—in later Gr[2377]takes sbj[2378]offuture contingency
dispensing with ἄν (Wr[2379], p. 371)—.The words ofPsalms 110. are freely
adapted: θῇ gets its subject from αὐτόν, viz. Christ—not God, as imported by
Est., Bz[2380], Bg[2381], Hf[2382], Gd[2383], to suit the Ps.;it is parl[2384]in
tense-constructionto καταργήσῃ (1 Corinthians 15:24, see note).
[2377]Greek, orGrotius’ Annotationes in N.T.
[2378]subjunctive mood.
[2379]Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).
[2380]Beza’s Nov. Testamentum:Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab.,
1642).
[2381]Bengel’s GnomonNovi Testamenti.

[2382]J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht, ii. 2 (2te
Auflage, 1874).
[2383]F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. Ép. aux Corinthiens (Eng.
Trans.).
[2384]parallel.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
25. For he must reign] i.e. Christ as Man and Mediator. Forat presentwe can
only discern God through the medium of Christ’s Humanity. Cf. St John
12:45;John 14:9. In the end, we shall be able to ‘see Him as He is,’ 1 John 3:2.
For the present He must reign in His Church, in His sacraments and
ordinances, in His ministers, ecclesiasticalandsecular(Romans 13:4; Romans
13:6), all of them (see lastnote) the reflex of His poweras He sits at God’s
Right Hand.
till he hath put all enemies under his feet] Either (1) the Father, Who put all
things under His Son, or (2) Christ, Who puts all things under His own feet.
The analogyof Psalm110:1 (cf. St Matthew 22:44) would cause us to suppose
the former; the grammaticalconstruction, as wellas the course of the
argument, the latter. The enemies are all who ‘oppose and exalt themselves
above all that is calledGod or an objectof worship’ (2 Thessalonians 2:4), and
therein especiallypride of rank, wealth, intellect, reason, whatevercasts offor
disowns the universal empire of God. Cf. Ephesians 1:21-22;Php 2:10; Php
3:21 (in the Greek);Hebrews 1:4. “This passage,” says Cyril of Jerusalem,
“no more implies a cessation ofthe reign of Christ than the words ‘from
Adam until Moses’(Romans 5:14) imply a ‘cessationof sin after Moses.’”
Bengel's Gnomen

1 Corinthians 15:25. Δεῖ, He must) for it has been foretold.—αὐτὸν, He)
Christ.—βασιλεύειν, reign) ‫,הרר‬ reign Thou in the midst of Thy enemies,
Psalm110:2.—ἄχρις οὗ ἄν, until) There will be no further need of the
mediatorial reign.—θῇ, He hath put) viz. the Father.—πάντας,all) Paul
brings in this, to prepare for a transition to what follows.—τοὺς ἐχθροὺς,
enemies)bodily and spiritual, supply His, from that expression, His feet, to
wit, the Son’s:but it is now elegantlyelliptical; since Christ has long ago
destroyedthese enemies, in so far as they were the enemies of Christ; He will
destroy them [their destruction is still future], in so far as they are our
enemies. The remaining part of His victory bears the same relation to His
triumph already achieved, as any frontier or corner does to the whole extent
of any human monarchy which has been subdued.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 25. - He must reign. He must reign in his mediatorial kingdom as the
God Man. He hath put. The "he" probably means Christ himself (comp.
Psalm2:9; Hebrews 10:13), though it makes no real difference in the sense if
we understand it of God, as in Psalm110:1.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
JACK ARNOLD
Christ’s ResurrectionWill DestroyDeath At The End (24-28)
Then the end will come. Christian scholars disagree overthe end. Some think
the end refers to the end of the world immediately after the return of Christ.
Up until then, Christ reigns in this world but then turns the spiritual kingdom
over to God, putting down the last enemy, death, before doing so. These

theologians are calledamillermialists because they believe in no earthly
millennial kingdom to be set up in this world after the return of Christ. Other
scholars, calledpremillennialists, think the end refers to the total end of God’s
program which includes a rule of Jesus Christover this earth for a thousand
years after the SecondAdvent. It seems to me that the premillennial view has
merit here, for the kingdom offered to the Fatheris not just a spiritual
kingdom but a redeemedearthly kingdom sanctified by the reigning Christ
for a thousand years.
Verse 23 does not necessarilysupport a doctrine of the millennium, but it as
leastallows for it. The adverbs in verses 23b-24a, “then. . then” often but not
always refer to a sequence ofevents with a period of time in between. Given
the substantialgap betweenChrist’s resurrectionand his return (v. 23b), it is
natural to assume a similar gapprior to the final destruction of alt his enemies
(v.24a), as Revelation20 seems to teach. But we cannotbe sure, and one's
views on numerous other parts of Scripture must be consideredbefore
arriving at a position on the millennium (Craig Blomberg, I Corinthians).
When he hands over the kingdom to God the Fatherafter he has destroyed all
dominion, authority and power. God has had a kingdom rule on the earth
from the very beginning, calledthe mediatorial kingdom, because He is
reigning and this mediatorial kingdom was turned over to Christ to
administer. This mediatorial kingdom, which is earthly in nature, will find
ultimate perfection by the end of the millennium. The millennial reign of
Christ will be a time of peace and righteousness.During this period Christ
will complete His work of redemption and subdue all enemies. He will abolish
all powers whether they be human or demonic.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Christ reigns
now, and the final, earthly phase of His reign will take place after the Second
Advent. He will reign over sin, over demonic power, casting them and all
who have followedthe lie of the Devil that Jesus is not the Christ, the Son of

God, the only Savior, into the take of fire. Then Christ will deliver up the
perfectedearthly kingdom to Godthe Father.
The lastenemy to be destroyedis death. Universal death will not be
eliminated totally until the final resurrectionof unsaved, rejecters ofChrist at
the end of the millennium when death and Hades will be castinto the lake of
fire. Then physical death shall be abolished forever. The very lastenemy to be
destroyedis death.
For he “has put everything under his feet” Now when it says that
“everything” has:
been put under him, it is clearthat this does not include God himself, who put
everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Sonhimself will be
made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in
all. God the Father put the running of the administrative affairs, both
spiritual and earthly, of the mediatorial kingdom in the hands of
Jesus Christ. When Christ gives this kingdom back to God, then He will have
subjectedHimself as the Mediatorto God the Father. At this time Christ will
say to the Father, “I have accomplishedall I was supposedto do for the elect
of God and for the redemption of the earth. I return the kingdom to You,
subjecting Myselfas Mediatorto Your divine will.” Then the redeeming
purpose of God’s people and the world will have been accomplished. At that
time, with sin abolished, the kingdom will be perfect and God will be all in all,
reigning supreme in this universe without any enemy opposing Him.
BARCLAY
The First-fruits Of Those That Sleep(1 Corinthians 15:20-28)

15:20-28 Now then Christ has been raised from among the dead, the first-
fruits of those who sleep. For, since it was through one man that death came,
it was also through one man that the resurrectionof the dead came. Forjust
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Eachcomes in his
own rank. Christ is the first-fruits, and then those who belong to Christ will
be raised when he comes. After that comes the final end, when he will hand
over the Kingdom to God, his father, when he has reducedto helplessness
every other rule, and every other authority and power. For he must reign
until he puts all his enemies under his feet. Death will be the last enemy to be
reduced to helplessness.ForGod has subjected all things to him. (When we
say that all things have been subjected to him, that of course does not include
him who subjectedthem to him). But when all things have been subjectedto
him, then the Son himself will be subjected to him who subjectedall things to
him, so that Godmay be all in all.
This againis a very difficult passagebecauseit deals with ideas which are
strange to us.
It speaks ofChrist as "the first-fruits of them that sleep." Paulis thinking in
terms of a picture which every Jew would recognize. The Feastofthe
Passoverhad more than one significance. It commemoratedthe deliverance of
the children of Israelfrom Egypt. But it was also a greatharvest festival. It
fell just at the time when the barley harvest was due to be ingathered. The law
laid it down, "You shall bring the sheafof the first-fruits of your harvest to
the priest; and he shall wave the sheafbefore the Lord, that you may find
acceptance;on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it."
(Leviticus 23:10-11). Some sheavesofbarley must be reapedfrom a common
field. They must not be takenfrom a garden or an orchard or from specially
prepared soil. They must come from a typical field. When the barley was cut,
it was brought to the Temple. There it was threshed with soft canes so as not
to bruise it. It was then parched over the fire in a perforatedpan so that every
grain was touched by the fire. It was then exposedto the wind so that the chaff
was blown away. It was then ground in a barley mill and its flour was offered
to God. That was the first-fruits.

It is significant to note that not until after that was done could the new barley
be bought and sold in the shops and bread be made from the new flour. The
first-fruits were a sign of the harvest to come; and the Resurrectionof Jesus
was a sign of the resurrection of all believers which was to come. Justas the
new barley could not be used until the first-fruits had been duly offered, so the
new harvest of life could not come until Jesus had been raised from the dead.
Paul goes onto use another Jewishidea. According to the old story in Genesis
3:1-19 it was through Adam's sin that death came into the world as its direct
consequence andpenalty. The Jews believedthat all men literally sinned in
Adam; we see that his sin might transmit to his descendants the tendency to
sin. As Aeschylus said, "The impious deed leaves afterit a larger progeny, all
in the likeness ofthe parent stock." As George Eliotwrote, "Our deeds are
like children that are born to us, they live and actapart from our will; nay,
children may be strangled, but deeds never. They have an indestructible life
both in and out of our consciousness."
Nobody would be likely to deny that a child can inherit a tendency to sin and
that the father's sins are literally visited upon the children. No one would deny
that a child can inherit the consequences ofa father's sin, for we know all too
well how physical conditions which are the consequence ofan immoral life can
be transmitted to the child. But the Jew meant more than that. He had a
tremendous sense ofsolidarity. He was sure that no man could ever do
anything that could affect only himself. And he held that all men sinned in
Adam. The whole world of men was, as it were, in him; and when he sinned all
sinned.
That may seema strange idea to us and unfair. But that was the Jewishbelief.
All had sinned in Adam, therefore all were under the penalty of death. With
the coming of Christ that chain was broken. Christ was sinless and conquered
death. Just as all men sinned in Adam, so all men escape fromsin in Christ;
and just as all men died in Adam, so all men conquered death in Christ. Our
unity with Christ is just as real as our unity with Adam and this destroys the
evil effectof the old.

So we gettwo contrasting sets of facts. First, there is Adam--sin--death.
Second, there is Christ--goodness--life. And just as we were all involved in the
sin of him who was first created, we are all involved in the victory of him who
re-createdmankind. Howeverwe may estimate that way of thinking today, it
was convincing to those who heard it for the first time; and, whateverelse is
doubtful, it remains true that with Jesus Christa new power came into the
world to liberate men from sin and death.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 readvery strangely to us. We are used to thinking of
the Fatherand the Sonon terms of equality. But here Paul clearlyand
deliberately subordinates the Son to the Father. What he is thinking of is this.
We canuse only human terms and analogies. Godgave to Jesus a task to do,
to defeat sin and death and to liberate man. The day will come when that task
will be fully and finally accomplished, and then, to put it in pictorial terms,
the Sonwill return to the Father like a victor coming home and the triumph of
God will be complete. It is not a case ofthe Son being subject to the Father as
a slave or even a servant is to a master. It is a case ofone who, having
accomplishedthe work that was given him to do, returns with the glory of
complete obedience as his crown. As God sent forth his Son to redeem the
world, so in the end he will receive back a world redeemed; and then there
will be nothing in heaven or in earth outside his love and power.
CALVIN
The First-fruits Of Those That Sleep(1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
15:20-28 Now then Christ has been raised from among the dead, the first-
fruits of those who sleep. For, since it was through one man that death came,
it was also through one man that the resurrectionof the dead came. Forjust
as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Eachcomes in his
own rank. Christ is the first-fruits, and then those who belong to Christ will
be raised when he comes. After that comes the final end, when he will hand

over the Kingdom to God, his father, when he has reducedto helplessness
every other rule, and every other authority and power. For he must reign
until he puts all his enemies under his feet. Death will be the last enemy to be
reduced to helplessness.ForGod has subjected all things to him. (When we
say that all things have been subjected to him, that of course does not include
him who subjectedthem to him). But when all things have been subjectedto
him, then the Son himself will be subjectedto him who subjectedall things to
him, so that Godmay be all in all.
This againis a very difficult passagebecauseit deals with ideas which are
strange to us.
It speaks ofChrist as "the first-fruits of them that sleep." Paulis thinking in
terms of a picture which every Jew would recognize. The Feastofthe
Passoverhad more than one significance. It commemoratedthe deliverance of
the children of Israelfrom Egypt. But it was also a greatharvest festival. It
fell just at the time when the barley harvest was due to be ingathered. The law
laid it down, "You shall bring the sheafof the first-fruits of your harvest to
the priest; and he shall wave the sheafbefore the Lord, that you may find
acceptance;on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it."
(Leviticus 23:10-11). Some sheavesofbarley must be reapedfrom a common
field. They must not be takenfrom a garden or an orchard or from specially
prepared soil. They must come from a typical field. When the barley was cut,
it was brought to the Temple. There it was threshed with soft canes so as not
to bruise it. It was then parched over the fire in a perforatedpan so that every
grain was touched by the fire. It was then exposedto the wind so that the chaff
was blown away. It was then ground in a barley mill and its flour was offered
to God. That was the first-fruits.
It is significant to note that not until after that was done could the new barley
be bought and sold in the shops and bread be made from the new flour. The
first-fruits were a sign of the harvest to come; and the Resurrectionof Jesus
was a sign of the resurrection of all believers which was to come. Justas the
new barley could not be used until the first-fruits had been duly offered, so the
new harvest of life could not come until Jesus had been raised from the dead.

Paul goes onto use another Jewishidea. According to the old story in Genesis
3:1-19 it was through Adam's sin that death came into the world as its direct
consequence andpenalty. The Jews believedthat all men literally sinned in
Adam; we see that his sin might transmit to his descendants the tendency to
sin. As Aeschylus said, "The impious deed leaves afterit a larger progeny, all
in the likeness ofthe parent stock." As George Eliotwrote, "Our deeds are
like children that are born to us, they live and actapart from our will; nay,
children may be strangled, but deeds never. They have an indestructible life
both in and out of our consciousness."
Nobody would be likely to deny that a child can inherit a tendency to sin and
that the father's sins are literally visited upon the children. No one would deny
that a child can inherit the consequences ofa father's sin, for we know all too
well how physical conditions which are the consequence ofan immoral life can
be transmitted to the child. But the Jew meant more than that. He had a
tremendous sense ofsolidarity. He was sure that no man could ever do
anything that could affect only himself. And he held that all men sinned in
Adam. The whole world of men was, as it were, in him; and when he sinned all
sinned.
That may seema strange idea to us and unfair. But that was the Jewishbelief.
All had sinned in Adam, therefore all were under the penalty of death. With
the coming of Christ that chain was broken. Christ was sinless and conquered
death. Just as all men sinned in Adam, so all men escape fromsin in Christ;
and just as all men died in Adam, so all men conquered death in Christ. Our
unity with Christ is just as real as our unity with Adam and this destroys the
evil effectof the old.
So we gettwo contrasting sets of facts. First, there is Adam--sin--death.
Second, there is Christ--goodness--life. And just as we were all involved in the
sin of him who was first created, we are all involved in the victory of him who
re-createdmankind. Howeverwe may estimate that way of thinking today, it
was convincing to those who heard it for the first time; and, whateverelse is
doubtful, it remains true that with Jesus Christa new power came into the
world to liberate men from sin and death.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 readvery strangely to us. We are used to thinking of
the Fatherand the Sonon terms of equality. But here Paul clearlyand
deliberately subordinates the Son to the Father. What he is thinking of is this.
We canuse only human terms and analogies. Godgave to Jesus a task to do,
to defeat sin and death and to liberate man. The day will come when that task
will be fully and finally accomplished, and then, to put it in pictorial terms,
the Sonwill return to the Father like a victor coming home and the triumph of
God will be complete. It is not a case ofthe Son being subject to the Father as
a slave or even a servant is to a master. It is a case ofone who, having
accomplishedthe work that was given him to do, returns with the glory of
complete obedience as his crown. As God sent forth his Son to redeem the
world, so in the end he will receive back a world redeemed; and then there
will be nothing in heaven or in earth outside his love and power.
THE LAST ENEMY– DEATH
Dr. W. A. Criswell
1 Corinthians 15:12-26
4-10-55 10:50 a.m.
Now in your Bible, turn to the middle part of the New Testament, the first
Corinthian letter – the first Corinthian letter, the fifteenth chapter, the
resurrectionchapter of the first Corinthian letter: 1 Corinthians 15. And
we’re going to read togetherthe pastor’s text for this morning – the middle
part of the chapter from the twelfth through the twenty-sixth verses. First
Corinthians 15 from the twelfth verse through the twenty-sixth verse. Now do
we all have it? First Corinthians 15, beginning at the twelfth verse. Now may
we stand together? FirstCorinthians 15, beginning at the twelfth through the
twenty-sixth verses. Now together:

Now if Christ be preachedthat He rose from the dead, how saysome among
you that there is no resurrectionof the dead?
But if there be no resurrectionof the dead, then is Christ not risen.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also
vain.
Yea, and we are found false witnessesofGod, because we have testified of
God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up – if so be that the dead
rise not.
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins!
Then they also which are fallen asleepin Christ are perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that
slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrectionof the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are
Christ’s at His coming.
Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power.
For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
The lastenemy that shall be destroyed is death.
[1 Corinthians 15:12-26]

Now, Lord, bless the pastor today as he speaksofthe glorious, glorious
triumph we have in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The lastverse that we read is the text of the messagethis morning – 1
Corinthians 15:26: "The last enemy that shall be destroyedis death."
Man has been able to conquer most of his enemies. Long, long time ago when
the cavemanfought for his life with a big heavy club, with a stone axe, his
enemies that threatened his very existence were those that jumped upon him
out of the darkness of the night and out of the impenetrable forests. The
beasts with the fang and the claw, the lion and the tiger, these were the
greatestenemies ofman, but man overcame the enemy in the forestand in the
night.
One of the greatenemies of man has been disease:yellow fever, diphtheria,
bubonic plague, the black plague, tuberculosis. So many of those diseasesthe
ingenuity of man is being able to conquer. Yellow fever is almost wiped out of
the earth. Malaria is no more here in America. The bubonic plague is almost
a thing of the past. We are even now grappling with polio in the hope that any
day the announcement can be made that it is foreverconquered.
Man has conqueredhis enemies. Manhas almostbeen able to overwhelmthe
elements that war againsthim, harnessing the sea, swimming through it like a
fish, battling the storms of the heavens, sailing through it like a bird, turning
the desertinto a rose.
Oh, in how many areas and in how many fields has the man been able to
conquer his enemies? All but one, just one. So far as I know, I have never yet
heard any philosopher or any metaphysician or any theologianor any scientist
stand up to say, "We have hope that in the future we shall be able to conquer
age and death." The last enemy, the lastenemy, death [1 Corinthians 15:26];
howeverour path may lead, it leads to the grave [Hebrews 9:27].
The boastof heraldry, the pomp of power,

All that beauty, all that wealthe’er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory but lead to the grave.
["ElegyWritten in a Country Churchyard," by Thomas Gray, c. 1750]
That is the end of every trail. It falls into the grave. Thatis the end of every
life. Psalm90:9: "We spend our years as a tale that is told." It leads to the
grave.
When I was a youth, the president of Baylor University died, and I was asked
to stand at the head of the casket. As his body was placedin newly-completed
Waco Hall and as the people came by to look upon his face, and as I stood
there, I watchedas a youth that long, long processionof men and women and
young people and boys and girls as they passedby that bier and lookedupon
the face of the greatpresident of Baylor University.
I have been doing that thing identical ever since. Forthe years of this
ministry, since I was a boy, I have stoodat the head of a casketandwatched
that solemn processionpass by: weeping wives, broken-heartedmothers,
disappointed fathers, crying children – the never-ending, never-ceasing
passing by the bier of the dead. The white horseman[Revelation6:2] riding
forth in vigor and in strength and in youth and in conquestbut always behind
him the red horseman [Revelation6:4] with his sword, and the black
horseman [Revelation6:5] with his balances, andthe pale horseman
[Revelation6:8] with his scythe.
In a beautiful display of the world’s greatart, in the art galleryof Chicago, I
saw a picture there calledThe Race ofDeath. On a track was a hooded
skeletonwith a long scythe in his hand, and he was running around the track
by himself. The thing that made it so impressive to me was that in the race of
death he’s by himself. He doesn’t have any competitors. There’s nobody to
run with him. He always wins. He presses upon every foe, and he overtakes
us, and he overwhelms us, and he overcomes us – the race of death.

The greatmonuments of the world are to death. That’s one of the strangest
things as I have gone around this earth and lookedat it. The pyramids in
Egypt stood for hundreds of years, for millenniums of years, and men wonder
why were they built, and who erectedthem, and what was the cause oftheir
towering height. When it was discoveredwhy they were built – you know
why, they are monuments to the dead. Theyare tombs of the Pharaohs.
When you schoolboys were taught to name the sevenwonders of the ancient
world, one of them was the Mausoleumat Halicarnassus,the ancientcapital
of Caria – the Mausoleum. It was erectedin memory of their wonderful king
Mausolos. And what is it? It was a tomb. It was a monument to the dead.
I have lookedupon the tombs of the RomanCaesars like the tomb of Hadrian
in Rome. I have walkeddown the Appian Way and on either side, miles and
miles, greatornate – at one time lavish and beautiful – tombs where the
Roman patrician when he died soughtto erectsomething that would
perpetuate his memory. So on the Appian Way, miles and miles on either
side, the beautiful tombs of the dead.
I have lookedupon what to me is the most beautiful building in the world: the
Taj Mahal. It is calleda teardrop of love of Shah Jahan. But what is it? It is
the most beautifully wrought out piece of architecture I have everseenand a
monument to the dead. It’s a tomb. It’s a tomb.
They said, "Byall means you must go to Nara, the sacredcity of Japan, where
the emperors of Japan are buried. You must look upon the tombs of the
emperors." There’s not anybody who goes to Paris but will always be invited
to visit the Invalides – the gorgeous, ornate tomb of Napoleon. There
wouldn’t be anybody that would ever go to GreatBritain that by all means
should not and ought not to see WestminsterAbbey, and WestminsterAbbey
is the tomb, the sarcophagi, ofthe great of the British Empire.
I say around this earth have I lookedupon the monuments of this earth to
death – visiting the tombs of the dead. Only thing is, I visited one other tomb.
Here is the body of Napoleon. Here, the tomb of the Caesars. There, in silent
death, the beautiful wife of Shah Jahan. There the emperor of Japan.

I visited – I visited one other tomb. The Arab guide said, "You’re a preacher.
I thought maybe early in the morning, being the Lord’s Day, Sunday’s day,
early in the morning, I might come by and get you, and we’d go to the tomb
together. Be there as the sun rises over the east."
I said, "Surely."
So early in the morning while it was yet dark, he knockedatthe door, and we
went to a little knoll just beyond the Damascusgate calledin the Hebrew
tongue "Golgotha"andin the Latin language "Calvary";in our language,
"the place of a skull." It kind of looks that way – like a skull, like death itself.
And there at the foot of a little knoll is a garden, and on the inside of that
garden is a tomb. And the Arab guide said, "And I’ll stayout here while you
go in."
So my companion, Dr. McCall, and I went into that tomb. Empty. We went
into that tomb. Empty. One of us satat the head; the other one of us sat at
the footwhere the angel sat. And I opened this little Greek New Testament,
and I read out of my Greek New Testament once againthe glorious story of
the resurrectionof Jesus Christ our Savior: that empty tomb.
So I thought this morning, I’d read it as it is here in the Book just as Matthew
wrote it; and if you want to follow it in the Book, youturn to the twenty-
eighth chapter of the Book of Matthew, the twenty-eighth chapter of the Book
of Matthew. Now when I read it, of course, it will not be beautiful English like
you have in the King James Versionof the Bible, but this is the thing just
literally written.
Opse – begins with an adverb that means "at the end of, as it was closing."
"At the end of the Sabbath, as it was dawning toward the first day of the
week, came Maryof Magdala – Mary from the town of Magdala – and the
other Mary to see the sepulcher" [Matthew 28:1].
"And, behold, it came to pass a greatseismos – a greatearthquake – for an
angelof the Lord coming down from heaven, and coming to, rolled the stone
awayand satupon it [Matthew 28:2]. His appearance – not just his
countenance, his face – his whole appearance was as lightning, and his

garments – His clothing – white, white as snow [Matthew 28:3]. And for fear
of him, the keepers eseisthēsan – there’s your word again, seismos, they
quaked – and for fear of him the keepers quaked. Theytrembled, and they
became as dead men" [Matthew 28:4].
"And answering, the angelsaid to the women, ‘You, you do not fear. Do not
be afraid, you. ForI know that you are seeking Jesus, the One who was
crucified. He is not here; He is raised, even as He said. Come, see the place
where He was laid [Matthew 28:5-6]. And go quickly, sayto His disciples that
He is raisedfrom the dead, and behold, "He goes before you into Galilee;
there you shall see Him." Behold, I’ve said it to you. I’ve told you’ [Matthew
28:7]. And they went away quickly from the tomb with fear and great
rejoicing. They ran to announce to His disciples" [Matthew 28:8].
And that’s the way it is in Greek. It just doesn’t make goodEnglish. "They
ran to announce to His disciples" [Matthew 28:8] – to tell the disciples. "And
behold, Jesus met them face-to-face"[Matthew 28:9]. Jesus met them saying,
"Chairete." That’s just the Greek word of greeting:"hail" – literally means
"hail," chairete. "JesusHimself met them face-to-face, chairete. And they
came to Him and they claspedHis feet and they worshiped Him" [Matthew
28:9].
All those words are expressive of the intense feeling and amazement of those
women. And they came to Him. They came close to Him, and they clasped
His feet. They held Him fast, and they worshipedHim [Matthew 28:9].
Then He says to them – Jesus – Jesus says to them, "Do not fear. You go and
you tell My brethren that they go awayinto Galilee, there shall they see Me"
[Matthew 28:10].
Now the sixteenth verse:"Then the eleven disciples went awayinto Galilee,
into the mountain which was appointed them by Jesus. And seeing Him, they
worshiped Him; but some doubted" [Matthew 28:16-17]– not of the eleven
disciples. In 1 Corinthians 15:6, overfive hundred brethren at once were
there. Some of them doubted, and Jesus came to them. Jesus drew near to
them.

And He broke the silence, saying to them, "It is given unto Me" – that’s a
timeless aorist – "It is given unto Me all authority" [Matthew 28:18]. And
that’s an exacttranslation of that word "authority."
It is given unto Me – all authority in heaven and upon the earth.
Going therefore, make disciples of all of the nations, baptizing them into the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Teaching them to keepall the things whatsoeverI have commanded you; and
behold, I, I am with you
– and it’s repeated –
and behold, I, I am with you all the days, even unto the consummation of the
age.
[Matthew 28:18-20]
Now, the meaning and the messageofthat solemnmorning. First, it turned
their sorrow into joy. Oh, the heartbrokenness ofthose disciples as they
mourned and wept, came to that sepulcherto look upon the dead. Vanished:
every hope, every dream. All of it, all of it, gone. And when they came to the
sepulcher, the stone rolled away, an angel from God: "He’s not here"
[Matthew 28:1-6]. Notthe Lord Jesus. Didyou think death could hold Him?
The bonds of the grave destroy Him? "He’s not here. He’s arisen" [Matthew
28:6]. He’s alive! "Come, look at the place where he was laid, and go, go tell
His disciples that He’s raisedfrom the dead" [Matthew 28:6-7]. And in fear –
never, never does a man come in the presence ofGod without that feeling of
awe and wonder[Exodus 3:1-16; Isaiah 6:5; Revelation1:17]. All these things
are too greatfor us.
With fear and with greatrejoicing, with gladness unspeakable, they ran to
bring the disciples word: "He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s not dead. He’s not

dead – not Jesus. He’s not dead! Our Lord is alive. He’s alive! He’s alive.
He’s alive" [Matthew 28:8].
Secondthing: that morning took the sting out of death. "O Death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God who giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" [1 Corinthians 15:55, 57].
When John saw Him, he says, "And I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid
His right hand upon me saying, Fearnot, fear not; I am the First and the
Last." I was here before all creation. I’ll be here when the elements have
dissolvedwith fervent heat and the world burned up in fire [2 Peter3:7, 12].
Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. "I am He that was dead; and
behold, I am alive forevermore;and I, I have the keys of hell and of death"
[Revelation1:17-18], and I have the keys of Hades and of the grave. They’re
in My hands.
There’s no sting in it any longer. There’s no victory in it anymore. "Thanks
be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" [1
Corinthians 15:58].
And one other in my text: it was the destruction of death. The lastenemy that
shall be destroyed is death [1 Corinthians 15:26].
"Well, what do you mean, Preacher? We’re still dying. We’re still growing
older, and we still fall into that terrible grave. What do you mean?"
It is the destruction of death. This is what I mean. This is what I mean:
Christians don’t die. They don’t. No, sir. Christians don’t die. You listen to
the Word of God: "I show you a mystery. We shall all be changedin a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the lasttrump, for the trumpet shall
sound and we shall all be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:52]. Christians don’t
die. We fall asleepin Jesus [1 Thessalonians4:13] – these bodies do. And our
spirits go to be with the Lord [2 Corinthians 5:8] awaiting that resurrection
day when in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we are all changed and the
dead are raisedincorruptible [1 Corinthians 15:51-54].
Jesus lookedupon weeping Martha and weeping Mary. He said, "I am the
resurrectionand the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet

shall he live. And whosoeverliveth and believeth in Me shall never, never
die" [John 11:25-26].
Christians don’t die. We just change from this house of clay some day into
the new house made without hands of Godin heaven[2 Corinthians 5:1]. We
just leave this place to live in a better place. We don’t belong here – not God’s
children [Hebrews 11:13].
We’re in a pilgrimage here. We’re on our way to heaven.
I am a strangerhere, Heav’n is my home;
Earth is a desert drear, Heav’n is my home.
Sorrows and dangers stand round me on every hand;
Heav’n is my fatherland, Heav’n is my home.
["I’m But a StrangerHere," by Thomas R. Taylor, 1836]
Christians don’t die; they just go home [2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23-
24]. They just go home. There comes a time when we’re ready for heaven[2
Timothy 4:6-8]. There comes a time when our mission is done in the earth.
There comes a day when our task is finished, and the Lord says, "Come up
higher. It’s better over here."
Christians are not afraid. Christians don’t tremble before death [1
Thessalonians 4:13-18;2 Timothy 4:6-8]. We may fear the Lord in awe and in
wonder. We may tremble before Him, but we’re not afraid of death. Jesus
took awayits sting and its hurt [1 Corinthians 15:55-57]. We’re not afraid of
the grave. Jesus wasvictorious over it. We’re not afraid of that final and last
enemy for he is destroyedin the triumph of the glorious resurrectionof Jesus
Christ.
So we live our lives in the faith and in the love and in the patience of the Lord
Jesus. And when we meet that last enemy, that final, final enemy, and when

we come face to face with that final enemy, we shall shout, "Thanks be to
God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" [1
Corinthians 15:57] That’s the message ofEaster. That’s the messageof
today. That’s the messageand the hope of Jesus our Christ.
Now, we must sing our song. While we sing it, while we sing it, in that
topmost balcony to the last, last row, from side to side, in this greatbalcony
around, on this lowerfloor, anywhere, somebodyyou, while we make appeal
today, would you give your heart in faith to the Lord Jesus? "As it says in the
Book, as Godhas witnessed, I believe the Word and the testimony of God. I,
too, believe that He liveth, and because He lives we shall live also. My victory,
too, shall be in Him." Would you come?
Is there somebody, you, would put your home togethertoday? One of you
belongs, one of you does not. Would you put your home togethertoday and
come and stand here by me? "Preacher, todaywe put our home togetherin
Christ." Would you? HoweverGod would say the word, howeverGod would
make the appeal – trusting Jesus or putting your life with us here in this
ministry – would you make your wayto the front and give me your hand?
"Preacher, I’ve given my heart and faith to God, and here I am. Here I
come," while we stand and while we sing.
Christ Exalted
or
Jesus Christ GloriouslyExalted Above All Evil in the Work of Redemption
by

JonathanEdwards
(1703-1758)
Dated August 1738
"Forhe must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed, is death." -- 1 Corinthians 15:25, 26
Subject: Our Lord Jesus Christ in the work of redemption gloriously appears
above all evil.
The apostle in this chapter particularly opposes some among the Christian
Corinthians who denied the resurrectionof the dead and infested the church
with their doctrine. There were two sorts of persons in that age who were
especiallygreatopposers ofthe doctrine of the resurrection. One among the
Jews were the Sadducees,ofwhom we read, Acts 23:8. For the Sadducees say
that there is no resurrection, either angelor spirit. And we have the same
accountin other places. Among the heathen that were the chief opposers of
this doctrine were their philosophers. The doctrine of the resurrectionof the
dead was not consistentwith their philosophy, by the principles of which, it
was impossible that one who was deprived of the habit of life, would ever
receive it again. And therefore they ridiculed the doctrine when the apostle
preachedit among them at Athens. (Acts 17)Probably the church at Corinth
receivedthis corruption from the philosophers, and not the Sadducees. For
Corinth was near to Athens, and the place of the chief resortof the
philosophers of Greece.
The apostle, in opposing this error, first insists on Christ’s resurrectionfrom
the dead, and next on the resurrectionof all the saints at the end of the world.
And in the verses next before the text, shows how both are connected, or that
one arises orfollows from the other. And then adds, “then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;when

he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must
reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyedis death.” Observe,
I. Here is one thing wherein appears the glory of that exaltation and
dominion, that Christ has as our redeemer, viz. that it issues in the subjection
of all enemies under his feet. It is not said all his enemies, possibly because
those that shall be put under his feet are not only his enemies, but also the
enemies of his Fatherand of his people. Their being under his feet denotes
their being perfectly subdued, and his being gloriouslyexalted over them. It
shall be thus with respectto God’s and his, and his people’s enemies
universally, not one excepted;which universality is signified here two ways;
all enemies — and the very last enemy: when there shall be but one enemy
left, that shall also be put under his feet.
II. We may learn what is here meant by enemies by the particular instance
here given as the last that shall be destroyed, viz. death. Which shows that by
enemies, is not meant persons only, that set themselves in oppositionto God
and his people, but evils; whatever is againstGodand his people, and opposes
Christ or his saints, whether they be persons or things.
SECTION I
How evil of all kinds has prevailed and highly exalted itself in the world.
Evil, of all kinds, has risen to an exceeding height in the world, and highly
exalted itself againstGod, and Christ, and the church. — This will appearby
the following particulars.
I. Satanhas highly exalted himself, and greatly prevailed. He is vastly
superior in his natural capacityand abilities to mankind. He was originally
one of the highest rank of creatures, but proudly exalted himself in rebellion
againstGod in heaven. We are told, that pride was the condemnation of the
devil. (1 Tim. 3:6) He became proud of his own superior dignity and mighty
abilities, and the glory which his Creatorhad put upon him. And [he]
probably thought it too much to submit to the Son of God, and attempted to

exalt his throne above him. And he prevailed to draw awayvast multitudes of
the heavenly hosts into an open rebellion againstGod.
And after he was castdown from heaven, he proudly exalted himself in this
world, and prevailed to do greatthings. By his subtle temptations he procured
the fall of our first parents, and so brought about the ruin of their whole race.
He procured their ruin in body and soul, and the death of both, and that they
should be exposedto all manner of calamity in this world, and to eternalruin
hereafter. He so far prevailed, that he drew men off from the service oftheir
Maker, and setup himself to be the god of this world. And in a little time, [he]
drew the world into that almostuniversal corruption, which brought on the
flood of water, but which it was destroyed. And after that, he drew on all
nations, except the posterity of Jacob, from the worship of the true God, and
darkenedall the world with heathenism, and held them under this darkness
for a greatmany ages, he himself being worshipped as God almost all over the
world. The nations of the earth offeredsacrifices to him and multitudes
offered up their children. And during that time, he often so far prevailed
againstthe people of God, that he had almostswallowedthem up. The church
was often brought to the very brink of ruin.
And when Christ himself appeared in the world, how did he exalt himself
againsthim! And prevailed so far, as to influence men to hate and despise him
all the days of his life. And at last he persuaded one of his own disciples to
betray him. Accordingly, he was delivered into the hands of men, to be
mocked, buffeted, spit upon, and treatedwith the greatestignominy that
unrestrained malice could devise. And at last procured that he should be put
to the most cruel and ignominious kind of death. And since that, he has
greatly exaltedhimself againstthe gospeland kingdom of Christ. He has
procured that the church, for the most part, has been the subject of great
persecution;has often brought it to the brink of utter destruction; has
accomplishedgreatworks in setting up those greatkingdoms of antichrist and
Mahomet; and darkened greatpart of the world, that was once enlightened
with the gospelofChrist, with worse than heathen darkness. And he has
infected the Christian world with multitudes of heresies and false ways of
worship, and greatly promoted atheism and infidelity. Thus highly has the

devil exalted himself againstGodand Christ, and the elect. And so far he
prevailed.
II. Guilt is another evil which has come to a greatheight in the world. All guilt
is an evil of a dreadful nature. The leastdegree ofit is enoughutterly to undo
any creature. It is a thing that reaches unto heaven, and cries to God, and
brings down his wrath. The guilt of any one sin is so terrible an evil that it
prevails to bind over the guilty person to suffer everlasting burnings. And so
is in some respectinfinite, in that it obliges to that punishment which has no
end. And so is infinitely terrible. But this kind of evil has risen to a most
amazing height in this world. Where not only some persons are guilty, but all,
in all nations and ages, are naturally guilty wretches. And they who live to act
any time in the world, are not only guilty of one sin, but of thousands, and
thousands of thousands. What multiplied and what aggravatedsins are some
men guilty of! What guilt lies on some particular persons!How much more on
some particular populous cities!How much more still on this wickedworld!
How much does the guilt of the world transcendall account, all expression, all
powerof numbers or measures!And above all, how vast is the guilt of the
world, in all ages, fromthe beginning to the end of it! To what a pitch has
guilt risen! The world being, as it were, on every side, loadedwith it, as with
mountains heapedon mountains, above the clouds and stars of heaven.
And guilt, when it was imparted to Christ, greatly prevailed againsthim —
though in himself innocent, and the eternal Sonof God — even so as to hold
him prisoner of justice for a while, and to open the flood-gates ofGod’s wrath
upon him, and bring his waves and billows over him.
III. Corruption and wickednessofheart is another thing that has risen to an
exceeding height in the world. Sin has so far prevailed that it has become
universal. All mere men are become sinful and corrupt creatures. Let us
attend to St. Paul’s description of the world (Rom. 3:9-18), “Jews and Gentiles
are all under sin. As is written, There is none righteous, no not one; there is
none that understandeth, there is none that seekethafter God. They are all
gone out of the way, they are togetherbecome unprofitable, there is none that
doeth good, no not one.” And not only is every one corrupt, but they are all
over corrupt, in every power, faculty, and principle. Every part is depraved.

Which is here representedby the severalparts of the body being corrupt, as
the throat, the tongue, the lips, the mouth, the feet. “Their throat is an open
sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under
their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:their feet are swift to
shed blood.” And not only is every part corrupt, but exceeding corrupt, being
possessedwith dreadful principles of corruption. horribly evil dispositions
and principles of sin, that may be representedby the poisonof asps, which
makes men like vipers and devils, principles of all uncleanness, pride, deceit,
injustice, enmity, malice, blasphemy, murder. Here their throats are
compared to an open sepulcher, and their mouth is said to be full of cursing
and bitterness, and destruction and misery are saidto be in their ways.
And there are those principles of sin not only that are very bad, but every
kind. Here is no sort of wickedness,but there is a seedof it in men. And these
seeds and principles have not only a being in men’s hearts, but are there in
greatstrength. They have the absolute possessionand dominion overmen so
that they are sold under sin. Yea, wickedprinciples, and those only, are in the
heart. The imagination of the thoughts of their heart is evil only. There are
bad principles only, and no goodones. “There is no fear of God before their
eyes.” Thus the hearts of all men are deceitful and desperatelywicked(Jer.
17:9).
And if we look, not only at the natural corruption of the heart, but at the
contractedhabits of sin, by wickededucationand customs, how full shall we
find the world of wickedness, in this respect!How have men, by bad customs
in sinning, brokendown all restraints upon natural corruption, and as it were
abandoned themselves to wickedness!So far has corruption and wickedness
prevailed in the world, and so high has it risen, that it is become a greatand
universal deluge, that overtops all things, and prevails with that strength, that
it is like the raging waves of the tempestuous ocean, which are ready to bear
down all before them.
IV. Many of the devil’s instruments have greatly prevailed and have been
exalted to an exceeding height in the world. It has been so in almost all ages of
the world. Many of the devil’s instruments have prospered and prevailed till
they have gotto the head of greatkingdoms and empires, with vastriches and

mighty power. Those four greatheathen monarchies that rose in the world
before Christ are spokenof in Scripture as kingdoms setup in opposition to
the kingdom of Christ. So they are representedin the interpretation of
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2:35, 36). These monarchies were exceeding
powerful. The two last ruled over the greaterpart of the then known world.
And the last especially, viz. the Roman empire, was exceeding mighty. So that
it is said to be diverse from all kingdoms, and that it would devour the whole
earth, and tread it down, and break it in pieces (Dan. 7:23). It is represented
by the fourth beast, which was dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly,
and had greatiron teeth, that devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the
residue with his feet (Dan. 7:7). These four kingdoms all persecutedthe
church of God in their turns, especiallythe last. One of the governors of this
monarchy put Christ to death. And afterwards one emperor after another
made dreadful havoc of the church, making a business of it, with the force of
all the empire, to torment and destroy the Christians, endeavoring, if possible,
to root out the Christian name from under heaven.
And in those latter ages,how have those two greatinstruments of the devil,
viz. antichrist and Mahomet, prevailed, and to what a pitch of advancement
have they arrived, ruling over vast empires, with mighty wealth, pride and
power, so that the earth has been, as it were, subdued by them. Antichrist has
setup himself as the vicar of Christ, and has for many ages usurped the power
of God, “sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself that he is God; and
exalting himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” And how
dreadfully has he ravagedthe church of God, being drunk with the blood of
the saints, and the martyrs of Jesus. And has often, as it were, delugedthe
world in Christina blood, she with the utmost cruelty that human wit and
malice could invent. — And at this day, many other instruments of the devil,
many heretics, atheists, and other infidels, are exerting themselves against
Christ and his church, with greatpride and contempt.
V. Affliction and misery have also prevailed and risen to an unspeakable
height in the world. The spiritual misery which the electare naturally in is
great. They are miserable captives of sin and Satan, and under obligations to
suffer eternal burnings. This misery all mankind are naturally in. And
spiritual troubles and sorrows have often risen to a greatheight in the elect.

The troubles of a wounded spirit and guilty conscience,have been felt with
intolerable and insupportable weight. “A wounded spirit who can bear?”
(Pro. 18:14). And the darkness that has risen to God’s people after conversion,
through the temptations and buffetings of the devil, and the hidings of God’s
face, and manifestations of his anger, have been very terrible. And temporal
afflictions have often risen exceeding high. The church of Godhas, for the
most part, all along, been a seatof greataffliction and tribulation.
But the height to which the evil of affliction has risen, nowhere appears so
much as in the afflictions that Christ suffered. The evil of affliction and
sorrow exalteditself so high, as to seize the Son of God himself, and to cause
him to be all in a bloody sweat, andto make his soul exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death. It causedhim to cry out, “My God, my God, why hast thou
forsakenme?” Affliction never prevailed to such a degree in this world, as in
Christ, whose soulwas, as it were, overwhelmedin an oceanof it.
VI. Deathis an evil which has greatlyprevailed and made dreadful havoc in
this world. How does it waste and devour mankind, one age after another,
sparing none, high or low, rich or poor, goodor bad! Wild beasts have
destroyedmany. Many cruel princes have takenawaythe lives of thousands,
and laid waste whole countries. But death devours all. None are suffered to
escape. And the bodies of the saints as wellas other, fall a prey to this great
devourer. Yea, so high did this enemy rise, that he took hold on Christ
himself, and swallowedhim among the rest. He became the prey of this great,
insatiable monster. By his means, was his bodily frame destroyed, and laid
dead in the dark and silent grave. And death still goes ondestroying
thousands every day. And therefore the grave is one of those things which
Agur says, never has enough(Pro. 30:16). — So have evils of every kind
prevailed, and to such a degree have they exaltedthemselves in the world.
SECTION II
How Jesus Christ, in the work of redemption, appears gloriously above all
these evils.

It was not the will of the infinitely wise and holy Governor of the world that
things should remain in this confusion, this reign of evil, which had prevailed
and exalteditself to such a height. But he had a designof subduing it, and
delivering an electpart of the world from it, and exalting them to the
possessionofthe greatestgood, and to reign in the highest glory, out of a state
of subjection to all these evils. And he chose his Son as the personmost fit for
an undertaking that was infinitely too greatfor any mere creature. And he
has undertaken the work of our redemption. And though these evils are so
many and so great, and have prevailed to such a degree, and have risen to
such a height, and have been, as it were, all combined together;yet wherein
they have exalted themselves, Christ, in the work of redemption, appears
above them. He has gloriously prevailed againstthem all, and brings them
under his feet, and rides forth, in the chariots of salvation, over their heads, or
leading them in triumph at his chariot wheels. He appears in this work
infinitely higher and mightier than they, and sufficient to carry his people
above them, and utterly to destroy them all.
I. Christ appears gloriously above all evil in what he did to procure
redemption for us in his state of humiliation, by the righteousness he wrought
out, and the atonementhe made for sin. The evils mentioned, never seemedso
much to prevail againsthim as in his sufferings. But in them, the foundation
was laid for their overthrow. In them he appeared above Satan. Though Satan
never exalted himself so high, as he did in procuring these sufferings of
Christ; yet, then, Christ laid the foundation for the utter overthrow of his
kingdom. He slew Satan, as it were, with his own weapon, the spiritual David
cut off this Goliath’s head with his own sword, and he triumphed over him in
his cross. “Having spoiledprincipalities and powers, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it,” (Col. 2:15) i.e. in his cross, mentionedin
the preceding words. Then the wisdom of Christ appearedgloriouslyabove
the subtlety of Satan. Satan, that old serpent, used a greatdeal of subtlety to
procure Christ’s death. And doubtless, when he had accomplishedit, thought
he had obtained a complete victory, being then ignorant of the contrivance of
our redemption. But so did the wisdomof Christ order things that Satan’s
subtlety and malice should be made the very means of undermining the

foundations of his kingdom. And so he wisely led him into the pit that he had
dug.
In this also Christ appeared gloriouslyabove the guilt of men. For he offered a
sacrifice that was sufficient to do awayall the guilt of the whole world.
Though the guilt of man was like the greatmountains, whose heads are lifted
up to the heavens;yet his dying love, and his merits, appearedas a mighty
deluge that overflowedthe highest mountains, or like a boundless oceanthat
swallows themup, or like an immense fountain of light that with the fullness
and redundancy of its brightness, swallowsup men’s greatestsins, as little
motes are swallowedup and hidden in the disk of the sun.
In this Christ appearedabove all the corruption of man, in that hereby he
purchased holiness for the chief of sinners. And Christ in undergoing such
extreme affliction, gotthe victory over all misery; and laid a foundation for its
being utterly abolished, with respectto his elect. In dying he became the
plague and destruction of death. When death slew him, it slew itself. For
Christ, through death, destroyed him that had the powerof death, even the
devil (Heb. 2:14). By this he laid the foundation of the glorious resurrectionof
all his people to an immortal life.
II. Christ appears gloriously exalted above all evil, in his resurrection and
ascensioninto heaven. When Christ rose from the dead, then it appearedthat
he was above death, which, though it had takenhim captive, could not hold
him.
Then he appearedabove the devil. Then this Leviathan that had swallowed
him was forcedto vomit him up again, as the Philistines that had taken
captive the ark were forcedto return it, Dagonbeing fallen before it, with his
head and hands broken off, and only the stumps left. — Then he appeared
above our guilt. Forhe was justified in his resurrection(Rom. 4:4, 25;1 Tim.
3:16). In his resurrectionhe appeared above all affliction. For though he had
been subject to much affliction and overwhelmed in it, he then emergedout of
it, as having gottenthe victory, never to conflictwith any more sorrow.
When he ascendedup into heaven, he rose far above the reach of the devil and
all his instruments, who had before had him in their hands. And now has he

satdown at the right hand of God, as being made head over all things to the
church, in order to a complete and perfect victory over sin, Satan, death, and
all his enemies. It was then said to him, “Sit thou on my right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy footstool,”(Psa. 110:1). He entered into a state of
glory, wherein he is exalted far above all these evils, as the forerunner of his
people, and to make intercession for them, till they also are brought to be with
him, in like manner exalted above all evil.
III. Christ appears gloriouslyabove all evil, in his work in the hearts of the
elect, in their conversionand sanctification. This is what the application of
redemption, so far as it is applied in this world, consists in, which is done by
the Holy Ghostas the Spirit of Christ. In this work of Christ in the hearts of
his elect, he appears glorious above Satan. For the strong man armed is
overcome, and all his armor, wherein he trusted, is takenfrom him, and his
spoil divided. In this work, the lamb is, by the spiritual David taken out of the
mouth of the lion and bear. The poor captive is delivered from his mighty and
cruel enemies.
In this Christ appears gloriouslyabove the corruption and wickednessofthe
heart, above its natural darkness in dispelling it, and letting in light, and
above its enmity and opposition, by prevailing overit, drawing it powerfully
and irresistibly to himself, and turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh,
above the obstinacyand perverseness ofthe will, by making them willing in
the day of his power. In this he appears above all their lusts. For all sin is
mortified in this work, and the soulis delivered from the power and dominion
of it. — In this work the grace of Christ gloriously triumphs over men’s guilt.
He comes over the mountains of their sins, and visits them with his salvation.
And God is wont often in their work, either in the beginning or progress of it,
to give his people those spiritual comforts, in which he gloriously appears to
be above all affliction and sorrow. And often gives them to triumph over the
devil, and his powerful and cruel instruments. Many saints, by the influences
of Christ’s Spirit on their hearts, have rejoicedand triumphed, when
suffering the greatesttorments and cruelties of their persecutors. And in this
work Christ sometimes gloriouslyappears above death, in carrying his people

far above the fears of it, and making them to say, “O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
IV. Christ gloriouslyappears above all these aforementionedevils, in his
glorifying the souls of departed saints in heaven. In this he gives a glorious
victory over death. Deathby it is turned from an enemy into a servant. And
their death, by the glorious change that passes in the state of their souls, is
become a resurrection, rather than a death. Now Christ exalts the soul to a
state of glory, wherein it is perfectly delivered from Satanand all his
temptations, and all his instrument, and from all remains of sin and
corruption, and from all affliction. “Theyshall hunger no more, neither thirst
any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat — and God shall
wipe awayall tears from their eyes,” (Rev. 7:16, 17).
V. Christ appears gloriously above these evils, in what he does in his
providence in the world, as head and redeemerof his church. He appears
gloriously above Satanand all his instruments in upholding his church, even
from its first establishment, through all the powerful attempts that have been
made againstit by earth and hell. Hereby fulfilling his promise, “Thatthe
gates ofhell should never prevail againstit,” (Mat. 16:18).
Christ gloriouslytriumphed over these his enemies, in a remarkable successof
his gospel, soonafterhis ascension, whenmany thousands in Jerusalem, and
all parts of the world, were so soonturned from darkness unto light, and from
the powerof Satan unto God, and in causing his word to go on and prosper,
and his church to increase and prevail againstall the opposition of the
heathen world, when they united all their power to put a stop to it, and root it
out. So that, in spite of all that the philosophers, and wise men, and emperors
and princes could do, the gospelin a little time overthrew Satan’s old
heathenish kingdom in the whole Roman empire, which was then the main
part of the world. And so brought about the greatestand most glorious
revolution. Instead of one single nation, now the greaterpart of the nations of
the knownworld were become God’s people.
And Christ’s exaltationabove all evil in his government of the world, in his
providence, as the Redeemerof his people, has since gloriouslyappeared in

reviving his church by the reformation from popery, after it had for many
ages lain in a greatmeasure hid, and dwelt in a wilderness, under
antichristian persecution.
And he will yet far more gloriously triumph over Satanand all his
instruments, in all the mighty kingdoms that have been set up in opposition to
the kingdom of Christ, at the time of the fall of antichrist, and the beginning
of those glorious times so much spokenof in Scripture prophecy. “Thenshall
the stone that has been cut out without hands smite all these kingdoms, and
break them to pieces;and they shall become like the chaff of the summer
threshing-floors, and the wind shall carry them away, that no place should be
found for them: and the stone which smote them shall become a great
mountain, and fill the whole earth,” (Dan. 2:34, 35). “Then shall the God of
heaven setup a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed;and it shall break in
pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever,” (Dan.
2:44). “And then the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our
Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever,” (Rev. 11:15).
Though greatand might empires have been set up one after another in the
world, in opposition to the kingdom of Christ, during the successionofso
many ages;yet, Christ’s kingdom shall be the lastand the universal kingdom,
which he has given him, as the heir of the world. Whatevergreatworks Satan
has wrought, the final issue and event of all, in the winding up of things in the
last ages ofthe world, shall be the glorious kingdom of Christ through the
world; a kingdom of righteousness andholiness, of love and peace, established
everywhere. Agreeable to the ancient prediction, “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, one like the Son of man, came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And
there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people,
nations, and languages shouldserve him: his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness ofthe kingdom
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High, whose kingdomis an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey him,” (Dan. 7:13, 14, 27).

Then shall Christ appeargloriously exalted indeed above all evil. And then
shall all the saints in earth and heavengloriously triumph in him, and sing,
“Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our
God; for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged
the blood of his servants at her hand. Hallelujah: for the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth,” (Rev. 19:1, 2, 6).
VI. Christ will appear gloriously above all evil in the consummation of the
redemption of his electchurch at the end of the world. Then will be completed
the whole work of redemption with respectto all that Christ died for, both in
its interpretation and application; and not till then. And then will Christ’s
exaltation above all evil be most perfectly and fully manifest. Then shall the
conquestand triumph be completed with respectto all of them. Then shall all
the devils, and all their instruments, be brought before Christ, to be judged
and condemned. And then shall be completedtheir destruction in their
consummate and everlasting misery; when they shall be all castinto the lake
of fire, no more to range, and usurp dominion in the world, or have liberty to
make opposition againstGod and Christ. They shall foreverbe shut up,
thence forward only to suffer. Then shall death be totally destroyed. All the
saints shall be delivered everlastinglyfrom it. Even their bodies shall be taken
from the powerof death by a glorious resurrection.
Then shall all guilt, and all sin and corruption, and all affliction, all sighs and
tears, be utterly and eternally abolished, concerning every one of the elect,
they being all brought to one complete body, to their consummate and
immutable glory. And all this as the fruit of Christ’s blood, and as an
accomplishmentof his redemption.
Then all that evil, which has so prevailed, and so exalted itself, and usurped
and raged, and reigned, shall be perfectly and forever thrust down and
destroyed, with respectto all the elect. And all will be exalted to a state
wherein they will be forever immensely above all these things. “And there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passedaway,” (Rev. 21:4).

SECTION III
The subject improved and applied.
I. IN this we may see how the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ appears in the
work of redemption. It was because the Father had from eternity a designof
exceedinglyglorifying his Son, that he appointed him to be the person that
should thus triumph over the evil in the world. The work of redemption is the
most glorious of all God’s works that are made known to us. The glory of God
most remarkably shines forth in it. And this is one thing wherein its glory
eminently appears, that therein Christ appears so gloriously above Satan and
all his instruments, above all guilt, all corruption, all affliction, above death,
and above all evil. And more especially, becauseevil has so exalteditself in the
world, as we have heard, and exalteditself againstChrist in particular.
Satanhas ever had a peculiar enmity againstthe Sonof God. Probably his
first rebellion, which was his condemnation, was his proudly taking it in
disdain, when God declaredthe decree in heaven, that his Son in man’s
nature, should be the King of heaven, and that all the angels should worship
him. However that was, yetit is certainthat his strife has ever been especially
againstthe Son of God. The enmity has always been betweenthe seedof the
woman, and the serpent. And therefore that war which the devil maintains
againstGod is representedby the devil and his angels fighting againstMichael
and his angels (Rev. 12:7). This Michaelis Christ (Dan. 10:21 and 12:1).
God had appointed his Son to be the heir of the world. But the devil has
contestedthis matter with him, and has strove to set himself up as God of the
world. And how exceedinglyhas the devil exalted himself againstChrist! How
did he oppose him as he dwelt among the Jews, inhis tabernacle and temple!
And how did he oppose him when on earth! And how has he opposedhim
since his ascension!What greatand mighty works has Satan brought to pass
in the world! How many Babels has he built up to heaven, in his opposition to
the Sonof God! How exceeding proud and haughty has he appeared in his
opposition! How have he and his instruments, and sin, affliction, and death, of
which he is the father, ragedagainstChrist? But yet Christ, in the work of

redemption, appears infinitely above them all. In this work he triumphs over
them, howeverthey have dealt proudly, and they all appearunder his feet. In
this the glory of the Son of God, in the work of redemption, remarkably
appears.
The beauty of goodappears with the greatestadvantage, whencomparedwith
its contrary, and appears vastly above it, in its greatestheight. The glory of
Christ, in this glorious exaltation over so greatevil, that so exalted itself
againsthim, the more remarkable appears, in that he is thus exalted out of so
low a state. Thoughhe appearedin the world as a little child; yet how does he
triumph over the most gigantic enemies of God and men! He who was “a man
of sorrows, and acquaintedwith grief,” is a man of war, and triumphed over
his enemies in all their power. He who was meek and lowly of heart, has
triumphed over those proud foes. And he is exalted over them all, in that
which appears most despicable, even his cross.
II. Here is matter of exceeding greatencouragementfor all sinful miserable
creatures in the world of mankind to come to Christ. Forlet them be as sinful
as they will, and ever so miserable; Christ, in the work of redemption, is
gloriously exaltedabove all their sin and misery.
How high soevertheir guilt has risen, though mountains have been heaping on
mountains all the days of their lives, till the pile appears towering up to
heaven, and above the very stars;yet Christ in the work of redemption
appears gloriouslyexalted above all this height. — Though they are
overwhelmed in a mighty deluge of woe and misery, a deluge that is not only
above all their heads, but above the heads of the highestmountains, and they
do not see how it is possible that they should escape;yet they have no reason
to be discouragedfrom looking to Christ for help, who in the work of
redemption, appears gloriouslyabove the deluge of evil. Though they see
dreadful corruption in their hearts, though their lusts appear like giants, or
like the raging waves ofthe sea;yet they need not despair of help, but may
look to Christ, who appears in the work of redemption, gloriously above all
this corruption.

If they apprehend themselves to be miserable captives of Satan, and find him
too strong an adversary for them, and the devil is often tempting and
buffeting them, and triumphing over them with greatcruelty; if it seems to
them that the devil has swallowedthem up, and his got full possessionof them,
as the whale had of Jonah; yet there is encouragementfor them to look again,
as Jonah did, towards God’s holy temple, and to trust in Christ for
deliverance from Satan, who appears so gloriously exaltedabove him in the
work of redemption.
If they are ready to sink with darkness and sorrows, distress ofconscience,or
those frowns of God upon them, so that God’s waves and billows seemto pass
over them; yet they have encouragementenough to look to Christ for
deliverance. These waves andbillows have before exalted themselves against
Christ, and he appeared to be infinitely above them. — And if they are afraid
of death, if it looks exceeding terrible, as an enemy that would swallow them
up; yet let them look to Christ who has appearedso gloriouslyabove death,
and their fears will turn into joy and triumph.
III. What cause have they who have an interest in Christ, to glory in their
Redeemer!They are often besetwith many evils, and many mighty enemies
surround them on every side, with open mouths ready to devour them. But
they need not fearany of them. They may glory in Christ, the rock of their
salvation, who appears so gloriously above them all. They may triumph over
Satan, over this evil world, over guilt, and over death. Foras their Redeemer
is mighty, and is so exaltedabove all evil, so shall they also be exalted in him,
They are now, in a sense, so exalted. Fornothing canhurt them. Christ carries
them, as on eagle’s wings, high out of the reach of all evils, so that they cannot
come near them, to do them any real harm. And, in a little time, they shall be
carried so out of their reach, that they shall not be able even to molestthem
anymore forever.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's JonathanEdwards Collectionby:
Tony Capoccia

Bible Bulletin Board
DAVE GUZIK
(24-28)The resurrection of Jesus leads to the resolution of all things.
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when
He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till
He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is
death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all
things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him
is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son
Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God
may be all in all.
a. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father. In
Ephesians 1:10, Paul reveals God’s eternal purpose in history: that in the
dispensationof the fullness of the times He might gathertogetherin one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.
Paul wrote of the “gathering together” ofall things in Jesus, orof the
“summing up” of all things in Him. Here, in 1 Corinthians, he looks forward
to the time when all things are resolvedin Jesus Christand He presents it all
to God the Father, giving glory to the God who authored this eternal plan of
the ages.
b. When He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power: For now, God
has granted a measure of rule and authority and powerto men, to Satan, and
even to death. But all that is temporary. Jesus will take His rightful place as
the blessedand only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1
Timothy 6:15). After the resurrection, Godwill finally resolve all of history
according to His will.

i. “In raising Christ from the dead God has setin motion a chain of events
that must culminate in the final destruction of death and thus of God’s being
once again, as in eternity past, ‘all in all.’” (Fee)
c. He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet: Paul here refers to
the one-thousand-yearreign of Jesus describedin Revelation20:1-6. After
that time, there will be a final, Satan inspired rebellion (Revelation20:7-10),
which Jesus will crush and finally and foreverput all enemies under His feet.
i. The expressionunder His feet is an Old Testament“figure for total
conquest.” (Mare)
d. The lastenemy that will be destroyedis death: Deathwill be present during
the millennial reign of Jesus (Revelation20:9 and Isaiah 65:20), but
afterward, death will be abolished. It is truly the lastenemy that will be
destroyed.
i. Paul reminds us of something important: death is an enemy. When Jesus
came upon the tomb of Lazarus, He groanedin the spirit and was troubled,
and Jesus wept(John 11:33, 35). Why? Not simply because Lazarus was dead,
for Jesus wouldraise him shortly. Instead, Jesus was troubled at death itself.
It was an enemy. Today, some are told to embrace death as a friend, but that
is not Biblical thinking. Death is a defeatedenemy because ofthe work of
Jesus, anenemy that will one day be destroyed, and therefore an enemy we
need not fear. But death is an enemy nonetheless.
ii. The destructionof death was shownat the resurrectionof Jesus, when the
graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleepwere
raised; and coming out of the graves afterHis resurrection, they went into the
holy city and appeared to many (Matthew 27:52-53). “Whenat the
Redeemer’s resurrectionmany of the saints arose and came out of their
graves into the holy city then was the crucified Lord proclaimed to be
victorious overdeath and the grave… these were but preliminary skirmishes
and mere foreshadowingsofthe grand victory by which death was
overthrown.” (Spurgeon)

iii. If death is destroyed, why do Christians die? “Deathsince Jesus died is not
a penal infliction upon the children of God: as such he has abolishedit, and it
can never be enforced. Why die the saints then? Why, because their bodies
must be changed ere they can enter heaven… Saints die not now, but they are
dissolvedand depart.” (Spurgeon)
iv. “Deathis not the worstof enemies; death is an enemy, but he is much to be
preferred to our other adversaries. It were better to die a thousand times than
to sin. To be tried by death is nothing compared to being tempted by the devil.
The mere physical pains connectedwith dissolution are comparative trifles
compared with the hideous grief which is causedby sin and the burden which
a sense ofguilt causes to the soul.” (Spurgeon)
v. “Notice,that death is the last enemy to eachindividual Christian and the
last to be destroyed… Brother, do not dispute the appointed order, but let the
last be last. I have known a brother wanting to vanquish death long before he
died. But, brother, you do not want dying grace till dying moments. What
would be the goodof dying grace while you are yet alive? A boat will only be
needful when you reacha river. Ask for living grace, and glorify Christ
thereby, and then you shall have dying grace when dying time comes.”
(Spurgeon)
“HE MUST REIGN” NO. 2940
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1905. DELIVERED
BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON, ON LORD’S-DAYEVENING, AUGUST 18, 1875.
“ForHe must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet.” 1 Corinthians
15:25.

“HE must reign.” There was another “must” which His disciples were very
slow to learn. Very much of our Lord’s teaching to His apostles was
concerning the necessitythat He must suffer. That doctrine seemedso strange
to them that, at first, they could scarcelycatchthe idea. When they perceived
that Christ really meant it; they could not bear the thought of it. One of them
even beganto rebuke his Lord, but He sharply stopped him. The notion that
Christ must suffer could not be drilled into the apostles;their very spirits
seemedto revolt againstit. And do you wonder? If you had lived with that
dear and blessedLord, and had seenthe perfection of His character, the
liberality of His gifts, and the tenderness of His heart, and if you had known,
as they did, in a measure, the glory of His nature and the marvel of His
person, could you have endured the thought that He must be despitefully
used, and spit upon, and nailed like a felon to a gallows? No, evenChrist
Himself might have found it difficult to getthat thought into your mind. It
was such a cruel “must”—thatHe must die. Why, even after He had died, and
all the prophecies concerning His death had been fulfilled, it was still a
bewilderment to His disciples. The two, who walkedto Emmaus with Christ,
were in a maze concerning it, and He had to say to them, “O fools, and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?” That first, “must” cost
the people of God much before they learned it, but we know right well that the
price of pardon for us was Christ’s suffering and death. We understand that
there was no other way of accessforus but by the atonement—no other
method by which the lost inheritance could come back except by that ransom
price which was found in the pierced heart of Christ. And now there is
another “must” which, I think, is almostas difficult for us to learn. The
shadow of the cross has fallen upon us, and we live so much in its shade that it
is not easyfor us to catchthe gleam of that necessitywhich comes from His
throne: “He must reign.” The cross, too, is on our shoulder. It is not merely
that we live under the shadow of the cross, but the burden of the cross has to
be cheerfully endured from day to day; as we bear it, it is not easyfor us to
feel that “He must reign.” O brethren, when you preachand no man gives
heed to your message—whenyou teach, but the children yield not their hearts

to your Lord—when you sojourn in Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar,
and meet with hard and coldhearts in every place, that thaw not even beneath
the sunbeams of the love of Jesus, you are very apt to say that it does not
appear that “He must reign.” The long rebellion againstJehovahstill
continues; the dread revolt againstthe majesty of heaven seems as if it will
never end, and we sometimes fear that the treasonwill last on to all eternity. It
appears impossible that the Crucified Christ shall yet be the universal
Conqueror, that the man of Nazarethwill yet mount His white horse, and lead
His conquering armies to the last charge and to the final victory; and yet, as
surely as it was true that He must suffer, so surely “He must reign;” and it
becomes us to open our hearts to this predestinatednecessityordained of the
MostHigh. Jesus must reign; His defeat is not to be thought of for a moment.
Delaythere may be, but the victory must come: “He must reign.” Let heaven
ring with the anticipation of it: “He must reign.” Let earth resound with the
prophecy of it: “He must reign.” Let hell’s darkestcavernhear the tidings of
that imperative necessity:“He must reign.” And let eachChristian feel
revived and quickenedby the joyful sound, He who had to die, must surely
reign. The secondnecessityshall be as certainly fulfilled as was the first: “He
must reign.” Let me try to ring that bell, or to sound that trumpet. I. There
is, first, A FACT WHICH IS A SORT OF PRELUDE OR
ACCOMPANIMENTTO THE NECESSITYIN ITS GREATER
FULFILLMENT. The fact is that He does now reign; that is in our text. It
says, “He must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet.” Jesus is
reigning even now in heaven. There, no shame can approach Him, and no
scorncan even be whispered at His feet. He reigns there with undisputed
sway;it would not be possible for me
2 “He Must Reign” Sermon #2940
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 51
to fully depict the royal state in which Emmanuel sits enthroned above, but I
would like your faith to endeavor to realize it. You may even venture to call in
your sanctifiedimagination to aid you to sketchthe scene where He reigns in
glory. There is no province of the celestialdomainwhich does not own His
sway, and not one individual of all the happy tribes that dwell in glory but is

glad to call Him, King. The holy angels, whom He has made to be as flames of
fire, delight to do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.
All the various orders of cherubim and seraphim yield Him their loyal
homage, and all the angels and principalities and powers in the heavenly
places ownHim as their Lord forever. His redeemedoccupy the most
honorable place in heaven; nearestto the throne you will find the twenty-four
elders, the representatives ofthe Church; and then, in an outer ring, stand the
angels worshipping and adoring; and all the redeemed spirits—as wellthey
may since they owe their glory to His blood—callJesus their Lord and King.
He is no servant there; He washes no disciples’feet there; He goes notfrom
there to Pilate’s Hall to be judged. Absolute and supreme is He—King of
kings, for they are all kings whom He has redeemed—andLord of lords, for
they are all lordly ones over whom He reigns, and He occupies the highest seat
amidst the splendors of the celestialrealm. But do not imagine that Christ’s
reign is limited to those gates of pearl and streets ofshining gold. Farfrom it,
for Jesus reigns todayon earth. It did my ears and heart good, just now, to
hear you sing “CrownHim Lord of all.” I dared not hope that every heart
here was really crowning Him, but I did believe that there were thousands
who, in their inmost souls, were wishing Him all honor and glory, and
delightedly confessing their allegianceto Him. O Jesus, You have still on earth
myriads whose highestjoy is found in Your name, and who find their heaven
on earth as they think of You. In Your Church, You are still Lord and
Master;and if there be churches that revolt againstYou, and play the harlot,
You have Your chaste spouse still, and You reign over her in undisputed
sovereignty. Nor is Christ’s kingdom limited to the Church in heavenand the
Church on earth, for He reigns today over all things. “All power,” saidHe, “is
given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” Providence is at the disposalof the
Nazarene. Let those doubt it who will, we believe that every event which
transpires— political, national, social, domestic—isoverruledby Him for the
accomplishmentof the grand designs of mercy which He has for His own
elect. Justas Josephreignedin Egypt, and all had to come to him for food in
the time of famine, so does Jesus reign in the courts of earth for the goodof
His people. His cause must prosper, for He is always atthe helm; yes, even
where confusion seems to rule, He is everywhere King, putting a bit into the
mouth of the tempest, and riding upon the wings of the wind. Just as the seas

owned His presence when He was here incarnate, so do they own His presence
now; and just as the earth then felt His tread, so does she feelit now; but it is
no more the weary tramp of the Son of man, but the majestic footsteps ofthe
Son of God. He rules everywhere. “The sea is His, and He made it: and His
hands formed the dry land. In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the
strength of the hills is His also.” He reigns, too, even in hell itself. The devils
bite their iron bands in grim despair because He reigns. They tried to make
this earth their own, but now they know the prowess, the strong arm, and the
valiant heart of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Highest; and they must do His
bidding. “Hitherto shall you come, but no further,” is His command to the
spirits grim and fierce, and they are compelled to submit to Him, however
anxious they are to do still more mischief to the sons of men. Yes, Jesus reigns
from the bottomless gulf to the heights of heaven. Far off, where the sun now
gilds the Westernhills and yonder in the East, where we shall watch for its
return tomorrow morning, over all those regions Jesus reigns— “Faras the
eagle’s pinion Or dove’s light wing can soar.” He reigns today, and let His
people proclaim it without fear, “The Lord is King.” The factthat He is now
reigning cheers our hearts— “Rejoice,the Lord is King, Your Lord and King
adore; Mortals, give thanks and sing, And triumph evermore:Lift up the
heart, lift up the voice, Rejoice aloud, you saints, rejoice.” II. But, to come
still more closelyto our text, we ring this bell again, and call your attention to
THE NECESSITYFOR CHRIST’S REIGN:“He must reign.” It is not
merely that He shall, He can, or He may; but He must—“He must reign.” Let
us see why He must. Well, first and weakestargument of all, yet one that has
much force in it, all His servants say that He shall reign. Weak as the twelve
apostles were, andthe immediate followers ofChrist, they said that “He must
reign,” and they meant it, and they lived to make it true, and almostall the
nations on the earth heard
Sermon 2940 “He Must Reign” 3
Volume 51 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3

of Jesus within a century after He had been takenup to heaven. Then came
the kings of the earth, and set themselves againstHim, and they said that He
should not reign; but the martyrs came, and yielded up their lives with joy,
eachone singing “He must reign.” While the amphitheaters ran with blood,
other champions came into the ring, eachone uttering the watchword, “He
must reign.” The kings of the earth mockedat the saints of God. “What are
these feeble Jews doing?” they said, just as Pharaohmight have said, “The
locusts, whatcan they do?” But the locusts might have answered, “We are,
eachone of us, weak, but there are myriads of us, and we will come up, and
coveryour land, and we will eatevery greenthing that is left in the land;” and
they did so. It was very much the same with the persecutedsaints of God;
eachindividual believer was weak,but they came by tens, by hundreds, by
thousands, they came in countless shoals till the kings threw awaytheir
swords and quenched their fires in sheerdespair; and they agreedthat,
nominally at least, Christ should reign, for His disciples would have it so.
And now, today, it becomes us not to speak proudly; but, if persecuting times
should evercome again, many of those who say the leastabout it would be
among the first to go boldly to be burned at the stake, orto submit their
bodies to the torture of the rack, for love of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
Mutius Scaevolaput his right hand into the fire to burn, he told the king that
there were a thousand youths who had swornthat they would put him to
death rather than that their country should fall into his hands, and the tyrant
trembled; and there are thousands of Christians now, who only need the dire
necessityagainto rise, and they would come forward with cheerfulness to
yield their lives for their Lord, declaring that “He must reign” whatever
might become of them. We must never let His standard fall, or even tremble
in the day of battle. Forward, you sons of heroes, in the name of Him who bled
and died for you! Never let there be any question in your mind whether “He
must reign” or no. The sun may cease to shine, and the moon forget her
nightly marches, but Jesus must reign. It must be so, for His people declare it.
I said, however, that this was the weakestofreasons, and there are many far
strongerones. “He must reign,” for He is Jehovah’s Heir—the “Heir of all
things.” Kings cannotalways ensure the putting of their crowns upon the
heads of their sons. When they die, perhaps a rebellion breaks out, and
overthrows the dynasty; but what power can overturn the Divine dynasty, and

rob the Heir of God of His dominions? “He must reign,” for by nature He is
a King. He was born a King; you might have seensomething of sovereigntyin
His eyes when He first opened them upon earth’s light. The wise men from the
Eastbrought gifts which showedthat they recognizedthe royalty of the
newborn babe of Bethlehem. Every characteristic ofthe life of Christ is royal.
He is no tyrant king. He is the people’s King, but a true King in every part of
His being. There is nothing mean, or low, or selfish, about Him. Every motion
of His hand is princely, as He feeds the multitudes, or heals their sicknesses;
and every glance of His eye is kingly, as He weeps overman’s sin and fall, or
as He rebukes man’s transgression. “He must reign,” for He deserves that
honor. You cannot see Him voluntarily yielding up His soul unto death in
order that He might redeem His people by His blood—you cannot hear His
cry, “My God, My God, why have You forsakenMe?”—withoutfeeling that,
if there is justice in the courts of heaven, the death of Christ upon the cross
cannot be the end of Him. That terrible shame must be rewarded; and how
can it be rewarded exceptby the brightest crown that canpossibly be
conceived, orby something brighter eventhan that? ReignHe must, for He
was so good, so generous, so self-sacrificing, so oblivious of Himself in death.
We would lose our faith in the Deity if we could lose faith in the reign of
Christ as the reward of all that He suffered upon the cross. Besides, “He
must reign,” for who is to stop Him? In the olden days, many tried to do so,
but He defeatedthem all. The prince of darkness came to Him in the
wilderness, and offered Him a paltry bauble in the place of His true crown,
but the tempter was repulsed by the sentence, “Itis written.” The prince of
darkness came againand again, but he found nothing in Christ upon which he
could lay his hand; and, before long, Christ will have the greatadversary
beneath His foot, and finally bruise his head. All the evil forces upon the face
of the earth cannot stand againstChrist; for if, upon the accursedtree, He
defeatedthem in His weakness,He will surely conquer them in the time of His
strength. He trod them under His foot when He died; how much more
completely shall He vanquish them now that He is risen again! He scattered
them like chaff before the wind, with His dying breath; how much more shall
He do it now in the fullness of His resurrection Life! Rejoice,O Christians, in
the factthat there is nothing that can stand againstJesus! “He must reign,”
for the best of all reasons—the Fatherhas decreedit. “Yet have I setMy King

upon My holy hill of Zion.” God wills it, and that stands for us as a sufficient
reason;and Godis working it. Omnipotence is on the side of Christ. We see
Him not yet at the head of His heavenly armies; but He is
4 “He Must Reign” Sermon #2940
4 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 51
there, and He is even now going forth conquering and to conquer, and
everything that happens is working out the decree that Christ must be King of
kings, and Lord of lords. III. Not only does Christ reign, and must Christ
reign, but THERE IS A PROGRESS ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. It is growing;
it becomes more and more visible among the sons of men. I am not going into
prophecies;I leave them for wiserpersons than I am. I am more at home in
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John than in the deeps of Revelation;but this one
thing I do know from the Word of the Lord, that, first of all, “He must reign”
lovingly over all His elect. Some of them are hard to bring in, but they must
come sooneror later. Christ Himself said, “Othersheep I have, which are not
of this fold: them also I must bring.” Some of them are with us now; they have
long resistedmercy’s call, but they will have to yield. Sovereigngrace has
determined it, so yield they must. The Lord says, “Compelthem to come in,”
and come in they must, for “He must reign.” He will not suffer one of the
sheepHe bought with His blood to be lost in the mountains, or one single soul
that He ransomed from the enemy to abide forever in captivity. “He must
reign” over them, and He will; and the day shall come when He shall pass all
His sheep, one by one, under the hand of Him that counts them, and they will
all be there, all with the blood mark upon them as they come through the gate,
and the count of the flock shall be complete, not one shall be devoured by the
wolf. The Shepherd shall sayto His Father, in that day, “Those that You gave
Me I have kept, and none of them is lost.” It also seems to me to be clear,
from the Scriptures, that, in future ages, JesusChristwill reign over all
nations. I do not believe that the great drama of the world’s history will end
till truth is triumphant. I read, concerning the Messiah, “He shall have
dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall
lick the dust.” The North shall give up, and the South shall no longerkeep

back, but they shall bring His sons from afar and His daughters from the ends
of the earth. I cannothelp expecting a period when “the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:for the mouth of the Lord
has spokenit.” Happy day! Oh, that it might soonarrive! Push on with
mercy’s work, O missionaries and evangelists!Toil on, preachers and
teachers, for“He must reign.” Ours is not a losing cause;Jesus must yet
subdue the nations, and be acknowledgedby them as Lord and God. I know
also that He must one day reign over all mankind, whether by their willing
consent, or in spite of their opposition, “for to Him every knee shall bow, and
every tongue shall confess thatJesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father”— “He shall reign from pole to pole, With illimitable sway.” And
over and above that, I look for a time when Jesus Christ will reign upon this
earth over all nature; when all His enemies being subdued, the New Jerusalem
shall come down out of heaven upon the earth, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband. Readthe Revelation, and you will find that much which we
generallyapply to heaven is really a description of what is to take place upon
this earth. I hope it is not mere poetic fancy that leads me to believe that the
mists, which now swathe this planet, and make her dim in comparisonwith
her sisterstars, will one day all be swept away, and she shall shine out as
bright as in that pristine morning when the sons of God shouted for joy at the
sight of the new creation. I think it is no fiction to believe that the day shall
come when restoredmanhood, in connectionwith the personalreign of Christ,
shall have dominion over all the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, whatsoever
passes throughthe paths of the sea, and when it shall not be a metaphor, but a
realized fact that “the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calfand the
young lion and the fatling together;and a little child shall lead them;”— when
whispers of blasphemy shall not merely be drowned in thunders of adoration,
but shall not even be known—whenthe last taint and trace of sin shall have
disappeared, and the earth shall shine as if she had never been defiled, and the
days of her mourning shall be forever ended; and, “Glory, glory, glory,” shall
be the song from sunrise to sunset, and the night watches shallbe kept with
music of praise, and angels shall go to and fro, betweenthe throne above and
the throne below, and the new heavens and the new earth shall be seen,
wherein dwells righteousness— “Hallelujah!—Hark!The sound, From the
centerto the skies, Wakes above, beneath, around, All creation’s harmonies:

See Jehovah’s banner furled, SheathedHis sword!He speaks—’tis done, And
the kingdoms of this world Are the kingdoms of His Son.”
Sermon 2940 “He Must Reign” 5
Volume 51 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 5
Then comes the grand climax, when He shall “put all enemies under His
feet”—notannihilate them, not exterminate them, not convert them, but put
them under His feet. There shall still be a devil, but He shall be a devil under
Christ’s feet. Lost spirits there shall still be, but the greatConqueror shall
hold them down beneath His almighty heel. Deathshall be destroyed: “The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” We shall remember that men
died; we shall ourselves remember that we passedbeneaththe powerof death;
but all the bitterness of death will be past as far as we are concerned. Through
Christ’s death, eternal life has become ours. Oh, what a prospectopens up
before me! My time flies so nimbly, as it always does whenI have such a
subject as this, so I must forbear to speak ofit as I gladly would; but let your
faith project itself into the glorious future of which I have been reminding
you. It may be much nearer than you have imagined. If you listen intently, you
may hear the chariot wheels of the coming King. Be ready to greetHim
wheneverHe comes;it may be that, tonight, before the clock has sounded out
the midnight hour, the cry may be heard in heavenand earth, “Behold, the
Bridegroomcomes;” and starting from your beds, you will have to meet Him.
Will you be ready to hail Him joyfully, as your long-expectedKing, or will you
have to meet Him dolefully, and to be trodden beneath His feet? “ForHe must
reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet.” So I close with this
question—let eachone take it to heart as best he may; and may the Spirit of
God send it home!—How do I stand in relation to the greatevent thus
predestinated? What is my connectionwith the triumph of Christ? Am I one
of His enemies? Suppose a gnat should be able to plunge itself into the
inconceivably fierce heat that burns from the orb of day, its instant
destruction must follow; and it must be so with you also if you are opposedto
Christ. You potsherd of earth, strive with other potsherds like yourself. For

you to strive with Jesus is for a potsherd to strive against a rod of iron which
will break it in pieces. There is no hope of success foryou; so give up the
hopeless enterprise. Your utter insignificance will make your opposition to be
contemptible in that day when the intelligences ofthe universe shall judge
things aright. What then? Had we not better yield—I will not say because we
must, but because we ought. For, in this case, Christ’s might is on the side of
right, and it is no disgrace to a man to yield to might when it is allied with
right. “I yield to Christ” says one. How far do you yield? Do you yield so far
as to be savedby Him? “Yes,” you say. Do you yield so far as to be forgiven by
Him? “Yes,” you say. Do you yield so far as to become His disciple? “Yes,”
you say. But do you yield that He should reign over you—that you should do
as He bids you, and not do what He forbids? Shall He be King over you? If
you want to have Him on any other terms than these, you cannot have Him at
all, for “He must reign”— “Yet know (nor of the terms complain), Where
Jesus comes, He comes to reign; To reign, and with no partial sway:Thoughts
must be slain that disobey.” Will you have Him to reign thus over you? This
is the all-important point. Alas, many say, “We will not have this man to reign
over us.” Be not you as senselessas this, but yield to Jesus Christ, and let Him
be your Lord and King. If you will not do so, I must againremind you of the
dread alternative. You must either let Him reign overyou, or else you will
have to lie beneath His feet. Have you ever reckonedwhat will be the weight
of the rejectedlove of God incarnate, which died for sinners, and yet is
rejectedby myriads despite His unspeakable love? Take yourpens, and
calculate that weight if you can—omnipotence indignant that eternallove was
slighted—omnisciencearousedto anger by the factthat divine compassion,
such as could never have been dreamt of, was trampled underfoot by
impudent sons of men. In the name of the God who made the heavens and the
earth, and who made eachone of you, I entreat you to yield to that Christ who
is your rightful King. As sinners, yield yourselves by trusting in Him; as men,
yield yourselves to obey His commands. In the name of Him who will come
with sound of trumpet, and with angelguards attending Him, swift to judge,
and stern to punish, I implore you to bow before Him now. As though I felt
death’s cold hand upon me, and heard a voice saying to me, “Speak out now,
man, for the lasttime, and obey your King’s command,” so speak I in the
name of Him who will make earth and heaven reel beneath His awful presence

when He comes to judge the quick and the dead. In the name of Him who will
shut the gates of mercy on all those who rejectHis gospel, I do not merely ask
you, or beseechyou, but I command you, in His name, to repent and be
converted. “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but He that
believes not shall be damned.” O God, own this message,for it is Your own
truth! Prove it to be so, for Jesus sake!Amen.
CHARLES HODGE
Verse 25
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
This verse assigns the reasonwhy Christ cannot relinquish his dominion over
the universe as mediator until the end comes, andwhy he will then deliver it
up. He must reign until the purpose for which he was invested with this
universal dominion is accomplished. As in Psalms 110:1-7 it is saidto the
Messiah, "Sitthou on my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool,"
many assume that God is the subjectof the verb has put. The meaning would
then be, ‘He must reign until God has put all his enemies under his feet.' But
this is inconsistentwith the context. Christ is to put down all rule, authority
and power, 1 Corinthians 15:24, and he reigns until he has accomplishedthat
work. The two modes of representationare perfectly consistent. The Father
createdthe world, though he did it through the Son, Hebrews 1:3. The work,
therefore, is sometimes ascribedto the one and sometimes to the other. In like
manner the Father subdues the powers of darkness, but it is through Christ to
whom all powerin heavenand earth has been committed. It is therefore
equally proper to saythat God makes the enemies of Christ his footstool, and
that Christ himself puts his enemies under his feet. The enemies who are to be
thus subdued are not only intelligent beings hostile to Christ, but all the forms

of evil, physical and moral, because death is speciallyincluded. By subduing,
however, is not meant destroying or banishing out of existence. The passage
does not teachthat Christ is to reign until all evil is banished from the
universe. Satanis said to be subdued, when deprived of his powerto injure
the people of God. And evil in like manner is subdued when it is restrained
within the limits of the kingdom of darkness.
JOHN MACARTHUR
The Triumph of the Resurrection
Sermons 1 Corinthians 15:19–26 1287 Apr 11, 1982
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This morning we want to focus our attention, our thoughts, our worship on
the theme of the resurrection. And with that in mind, I'd like to draw your
attention to 1 Corinthians chapter15. And I want to read in the midst of this
wonderful chapter on the resurrection just versus 19 through 26, 1
Corinthians 15:19-26.
Beginning at verse 19, Paul writes, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most pitiable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by
man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first
fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then the end, when He

shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the Father; when He shall
have put down all rule and all authority and power. ForHe must reign, till He
hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyedis
death.”
Before we look specificallyat this text, let me just, if I might, introduce our
thinking to the monumental reality of the resurrectionby painting a little
historic scenario. Time and the history of the world has been marked by
world-changing events. In the daily ebb and flow of life things may seem
rather routine. But here and there rather colossalevents occurand they
become the turning places in the road of destiny. And as you look back in
history, you can see the peeks ofhuman history, the crisis points, the turning
points, the events, the times, the places, the people, the seasonsthat marked
new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things: events that had a rather
triumphant effect. They triumph over all of the other events of history.
And as I thought about the tremendous peek of human history that is the
resurrection, as I thought about the fact that the resurrectionrises above
every other event in human history, I thought that perhaps it would help us to
see the monumental nature of the resurrectionif we perhaps lookedat a few
of the lesserpeeks.And as I began to let my mind run back through history
and think what might be the great turning points of human history, there
were so many that I decided it perhaps would be best to concentrate on our
own culture and our own day since the time of Christ.
And as I surveyed that sweepof history from our Lord’s Day to the present,
there were severalthings that stoodout in my mind as turning points in
human history. First of all was the Council at Jerusalem. In the 50s of the first
century, the apostles met togetherwith the leaders of the Jerusalemchurch.
All of them had come out of Judaism. Their heritage was that you reachGod
by keeping the law. You gain salvationby obeying works righteousness
standards. But the Councilof Jerusalemdetermined that salvationwas by
grace not law. It was by faith not works, and that was a monumental turning
point in history. It was the death of legalism. And so the greattriumph of the
Council of Jerusalemwas the triumph of grace over legalism, and that was a

dawning of a new day, the birth of the church and the understanding of God’s
free redemptive grace, whichhas since been the world-changing gospel.
The next greatevent in human history as we perceive it from our culture was
the rise of Constantine in the 300s. It was important for two reasons. Firstof
all it was a time of the establishing of Christian doctrine. There had been a
running controversyabout whether Jesus Christ was really God, and in 325 at
the Councilof Nicaea thatcontroversywas settled: Jesus was God;God, the
very God, the essenceofthe divine nature of Jesus Christ affirmed. So that
was an important time in human history, because it was an affirmation of the
deity of Jesus Christ and of other very essentialChristian doctrines.
It was also important for a secondreason. Up to that time, Christianity had
been persecuted. Christians had been murdered. But in the time of
Constantine, around 300, Christianity became legal. Christianity became
acceptable. In fact, Constantine even made it the religion of the Holy Roman
Empire. And everybody in the empire signedup to be a Christian, and
Christianity ceasedto be a personalrelationship with a living Christ and
became an admixture of church and state, having nothing to do with personal
faith. The church was absorbedinto the state.
You say, “Was that impactful?” Yes, because immediately the church lost the
cutting edge. The church lost its prophetic voice. It was swallowedup in the
system. It became a weak politicalhireling. It became a way to captivate
men’s minds and hearts for political usage. And out of that absorption of the
church into the state grew Romanism, RomanCatholicism, that engulfed the
world in centuries and centuries and centuries of darkness, whenindividual
people were not permitted to read the Bible, when church services were
conducted in language, Latin, that no one understood, when Godonly was
concernedwith popes and cardinals and bishops and priests and not
individuals; and the world went into the horror of the Dark Ages. If the
Council at Jerusalemwas the triumph of grace over legalism, the coming of
Constantine spelled the triumph of dead religion over true religion, the
triumph of ritualism over true Christianity, and it stayed that way for
centuries until the next greatevent: the Reformation.

And the wonder of the Reformationis basicallyfound in the simple statement
in Scripture, “The just shall live by faith.” And God used a man named
Martin Luther to saythe systemdoes not save;personalfaith in Jesus Christ
alone can save. It isn’t enoughto have the sacraments. It isn’t enough to have
the mass. It isn’t enough to go through the routine. It isn’t enough to belong to
the “holy state.” There must be personalfaith. And the Reformationbecame
the triumph of individualism, the triumph of personalsalvation, the birth
againof salvation by grace through faith.
And people realized that God loved them like He loved the priests, that a man
had as much value as a priest did, even if he was a shoemaker, oreven if he
was a farmer who plowed a field, or even if he was a servant. He had dignity.
He had value. He was made in the image of God. He could know God as
personally and as intimately and as uniquely and as wonderfully as any
hierarchicalindividual in the church. And so men personally begin to find
salvationin Jesus Christ. Men begin to realize that they had value and they
had dignity and they had worth, and out of this came tremendous economic
changes in the world.
Capitalism, for example, was born in the Reformation. Free enterprise was
born in the Reformation. Man said, “I have value. I have dignity. I have
worth. I have freedom to act under God, to be myself, to chart my course, to
glorify Godwith my shoemaking, to Glorify God with my plowing of the
field.” And free enterprise was born and capitalismwas born and a middle
class was born where there had been none. And the great Puritans who
followedwere a middle class people, a proprietor type people with their own
businesses, who were revealing that God wanted individuals to manifest their
value and their dignity and their creationin His image. It was a triumph then
of individualism. It was a triumph of the dignity of man in that he could have
a personalrelationship with the living God and he didn’t have to be
subjugated to the confusionand darkness and chaos of an institutional
church.
And from the Reformationcame the view of a new world, spawnedthe
Renaissance andthe Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, and all of
the tremendous history of man where he began to invent, where he beganto

create, where he beganto become educated, where educationreachedthe
common man, where the printing press took the Bible to everybody, where
people beganto read, where they began to learn, where they beganto think
independently. And all of the wonderof that gave rise to fact that people said
the world is going to getbetter. There were advances in science andmedicine.
Inventions were made. People were becoming aware ofthe world around
them. As you move toward the 20th century, communications increase. And
men had the euphoria, the feeling that everything was going to get better, that
man was grappling with his problems and man would solve his problems.
And then came the next cataclysmic event: World War I. And World War I
was the triumph of pessimism. World War I converselywas the death of
optimism. World War I said man, with all that he has done, with all of his
creativity, with all the art that shows the gentleness ofhis soul, with all of the
wisdom and educationand science andall of these things, is a beast at heart.
The whole world was at war, and the euphoria ended and pessimismwas
born. And the world became cynical, and the world became somewhat
fatalistic. And the world sortof gave up on man, and that’s why you had
immediately following World War I the incredible hedonism of the ‘20s,
which has never died out, but only increaseduntil this day. Man wasn’tgood.
With all that he knew, he was bad and he would soonerhate than love. And so
World War I was the triumph of pessimism.
And out of it came the birth of selfishness, where man said, “I’m not going to
get anything from my fellow man, so I’m going to getit for myself.” And out
of it came the birth of existentialism: live for the moment; grab all you can
grab; don’t try to better the human race, the human race isn’t going to get
any better. There was a futility. There was a sense of hopelessnessthat man
was evil, hopelesslyevil, murderous and self-seeking;and they lostthe sense of
the goodnessofman - the triumph of pessimism.
Not many years later came the next greatevent, and would you please notice
that they’re happening much fasternow as the world comes to a conclusion.
The next greatevent was the acquiring of the atomic bomb. That was the full
triumph of fatalism. Now the world said, “We are always on the brink of
doom.” And that acceleratedexistentialism. Thatacceleratedcynicismand

pessimism. That accelerated, “Grabthe moment and get all you can get out of
it. Wring it dry, because there may not be a tomorrow. Some little man
somewhere that we don’t know will push a button and blow us all to bits.”
For the first time in man’s history, the individual man could not feel controlof
his destiny. It used to be that if you could just stay out of the range of the guy
with the bow and arrow you’d be okay, or if you could stay awayfrom the guy
with the gun you’d be all right. But now we don’t know how we can stay
away, because somebodymight push a button and blow us all to bits. And
when we atomic bomb came it startedthe age of fatalism and it acceleratedall
of the cynicism of human thinking. Fortunately, the United States ofAmerica
was the nation that had the bomb. And America was knownaround the world
as just and caring, a defender of the oppressed, a bulwark of integrity,
benevolent. And the world was glad that if there had to be an A-bomb, we had
it.
But it didn’t end there; other nations got it, nations who are aggressivelyevil.
And since that time, the world had lived on the brink of doomsday. There is
appall, a fear. There is a sense of cosmic annihilation impending. And we live
in a time when there has been a triumph for fatalism. And that’s why people
have so little hope for the future, so little hope in mankind. And existentialism
has gone berserk. Everybody living for his own thing, grabbing his own thing,
doing his own thing, to getout of life whateverthere may be there before it all
blows up. The feelings of security are gone. The feelings of a hope in the future
are gone. People don’t want to have kids anymore, because they don’t know if
there will be a world for them to grow up in - all a part of the arrival of the
atomic bomb.
There’s one other event in history that I think is a peak in our scenario, and
that is the Vietnam War. And I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it in
the waythat I think about it, but I believe the Vietnam War put up for the
whole world the fact that morality had died. It is the death of morality.
America was always knownas the defender of the oppressed, the nation that
had justice, that knew right from wrong, goodfrom evil. But all of a sudden in
that whole milieu of Vietnam, we didn’t know anymore. We didn’t know
whether you were supposedto win or lose. We didn’t know whether you were

supposedto defend the innocent anymore. We didn’t know whether it
mattered that millions of Vietnamese would be slaughteredby the
encroachmentof Communism. Where we didn’t know what was right or
wrong. And we lostthat world-wide perspective of unity, and pride, and
dignity, and justice; and even at home we were burning up flags, and bombing
buildings, and killing leaders.
We were infiltrated by the socialist, communist kind of thinking, by the leftist
kind of perspectives. We were disgracedin many ways before the whole
world. We abandoned millions of SoutheastAsian people to the mental,
physical massacresofthe powers that wanted them oppressed. We
demonstrated lack of leadership. We succumbed to internal pressures. We
had revolution going on all in our midst. We were unable to stand strong
againstthe superpowerRussia, and we fell in the sense that we no longer
knew what was right or wrong. And with it came drugs, and disillusionment,
and suicide, and youth without a commitment. And for a while they tried to
have a standard, they tried to have a cause.
I remember the group at Harvard that put an ad in a magazine: “We have a
group that would like to protest. Do you know of a goodcause?”And there
were people who wanted to make it right and they tried to make it right, but
they didn’t know what right was. And all that Vietnam saidfor the whole
world and for all of history was, “We don’t know what right is anymore. We
don’t know what right is." And out of that same era came abortion and all the
chaos of immorality that’s in our societytoday.
And so as you look back on the flow of human history, you see the church is
born and it’s born in grace. It’s doctrine is defined but it’s absorbed by the
world and it loses its cutting edge, it loses its prophetic voice. And then after
centuries of being hidden in the darkness of the Roman system, it bursts out.
And when it bursts out in all of the wonder of its light, it creates a world of
encouragementand increasing productivity. But we find that man untouched
by the gospeldoesn’tget any better, and the world goes from pessimism to
fatalism to amoralism.

And have you noticedthat the last three greatevents have happened in this
century? There’s an accelerating move to the end. Would you notice the
passagethat we read and would you notice verse 24, “Thenthe end.” Where
does it end? Where is human history going? We know the slide is greased.
And we know in our societytodaythat people live in a fatalistic world and
they look aheadat death, and they wonder whether there’s anything beyond
it; and then if there’s nothing beyond it, what meaning does life have? What’s
next? What is the next greatevent? I don’t know. But I do know how it’ll end,
because it says right here, “Thenthe end.”
And what is the end? It is when Jesus Christ delivers the kingdom to God.
And verse 25, “When He reigns,” that’s where human history ends. You say,
“Well, what does this have to do with the resurrection?” Look atverse 20,
“Now is Christ risen.” Why is He risen? Verse 25, “For He must” – what? –
“He must reign.”
Now I don’t know if you’ve ever thought of the resurrectionthat way, but I
think it’s the way you must think of the resurrection. Jesus rose to reign. Did
you getthat? He rose to reign. That’s what Paul is saying here. He rose to be
the climax to human history, and the next cataclysmic turning point in human
history could be the end, it could be the return of Jesus Christ to reign. All the
signs are there, you know, all of them.
You think about political life. We’ve seenthe awakening of the Orient, and
the Bible says in the return of Christ, there will be a greatarmy in the east
marching, an army of 200 million. We know that Red China has that many
now. We’ve seenthe return of the Jews to Palestine. We’ve seenthe general
political world fermentation that canlead to the rule of anti-Christ. We’ve
even seenthe signs in economic life. The Bible tells us in the book of James
that in the end time there will be tensionbetweenthe rich and the poor; and if
ever there was a time of that, it is now.
We’ve seenthings in technicallife. In order for the devastationand
destruction describedin Revelationto occur, we would have to have nuclear
weapons. How else could we massacre one-fourthof the world, turn right
around and kill one-third of the world; certainly not with bows and arrows. It

couldn’t be done in three-and-a-half-years, as Revelationsays it will be done.
We’ve seenthings happen in religious life. We’ve seena move toward the
world church. We’ve seenthings happen in nature: earthquakes, et cetera, et
cetera. So many things point to the fact that Jesus couldcome very soon.
Mostpeople do not realize that this is the goalof the resurrection. Jesus had
to rise, because Jesus must reign. And the ultimate triumph of the
resurrectionis the return of Jesus Christto this earth. Now let’s look at our
passage, andI want to share with you three greattriumphs in the resurrection
that are in this passage thatlead to the final one.
First of all, the resurrectionis a triumph over despair. Now I’ve been trying to
point out in our little scenario to begin with this morning that the world is in
despair. Basically, the world has lost its confidence in itself. We don’t trust
our leaders. We don’t trust our laws. We don’t trust authority. We are
cynical, fatalistic, hopelesslyselfish. We don’t know who to turn to. We mock
the only system we have.
Yesterday I had the privilege to present the gospelofthe resurrectionto the
Dodgers baseballteamprior to their game;and it was a privilege, and there
was an excellentresponse. And I went out to sit there for the opening of the
game, and they introduced a man who is a legislatorwho had come to present
an award. And when they introduced the man’s name and then said that he
was a legislatorfrom Sacramento, the entire place booedhim. I was amazed.
Cynical. As if he representedall of the utter incompetencyof man to solve
man’s problems. That’s despair. That poor man was a symbol of man’s
inability to deal with his dilemmas.
Man lives in despair - pessimistic, fatalistic, amoral - and he looks aheadand
he can’t see anything to change that, and so he grabs all he can grab in the
moment. And that’s what existential means:he just lives for the moment; or
he drinks, or he takes drugs, or he kills himself; because you see, if he stops
and thinks about it, life without a future is really a horrible practicaljoke. If
there is some cosmic powerthat just createdman to go out of existence at the
grave, that is an absolutely devastating practicaljoke. If man has no value but
to die and become dust, then all of his life is meaningless, utterly meaningless,

pointless. And even more so, if he can’t make anything out of the world he’s
got to live in until he becomes nothing, despair, fatalism, and then never
knowing who might push the button and blow him away leaves him utterly
hopeless.
And even Christians, even those of us who go to church and worship God, if
there’s nothing for us after death, we’re to be pitied more than the rest;
because if this life is all there is, then, man, they’re right. We’ve gotto grab it
while it’s here. Verse 19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of
all men the most to be pitied.” I mean if we’re being very religious, and very
circumspect, and very circumscribed in our life, and we’re putting all of this
confidence and trust in Christ and it all ends in annihilation at the grave, then
we should be pitied above everybody. We are the most confused. There’s no
hope, only despairif the grave is the end.
You know, when you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel it’s a
terrifying feeling. In Lamentations 1:16 we find a description of this. The
prophet says, “Forthese things I weep;mine eye, mine eye runneth down with
water, because the Comforter who should relieve my soul is far from me. My
children are desolate becausethe enemy prevailed.” He just couldn’t see any
hope. It’s like Psalm 44:19 which says, “You have coveredus with the shadow
of death.” There’s gotto be hope. Man can’t live without hope. He can’t live
without a sense that there’s more than just the grave, that he has value, that
he is a person who is worth something beyond just dust.
The only way that there canbe triumph over despairis in resurrection, and
that brings us to verse 20. “But” – that’s wonderful that little adversative
word. “But now is Christ risen from the dead.” Now what does that say? That
says that the grave is not the end. Now is Christ risen. I mean death is not the
end. Beyond that, “and become the first fruits” – the guarantor, the
guarantee, the pledge, the promise – “ofthem that slept.” What does that
mean? Jesus notonly conquered death for Himself, but He conquereddeath
for everyone else.
What a marvelous statement. If Jesus stays in the grave, you have a reasonto
be despairing; you have a reasonto be cynical, pessimistic, and fatalistic, and

amoral. But if Jesus came out of the other side of the grave and there is an
eternal kingdom, and there is a heaven, and there is a hell, and you do have
ultimate value, and you can be restored to the original intention to be created
fully and in very way in the image of God, if there is that hope for eternallife
and that human potential could reachthat kind of level, then life here has new
meaning. And I must live here that I might dwell foreverin that glorious
eternal heaven. That makes every difference in the world.
So you see, the resurrectionis the triumph over despair. You know you think
about it from the standpoint of the disciples. When Jesus died, they went into
instant despair. They mopped around. They were scattered. Theywere
confused. Their hope was gone. Jesus came to them, and even when He
appearedto them, Mark 16:14 says He had to scoldthem for their unbelief
and hardness of heart in refusing to believe that He was alive even when
people told them He was. They were in such despair. Two of them on the road
to Emmaus, total despair until Jesus revealHimself to them.
See, man can’t survive without that hope. Our leader is alive. There is hope.
There is a better world. There is a heaven. There will be a kingdom. Jesus is
coming. He must reign. And He’s going to gather His saints into His kingdom,
and that is the ultimate meaning of the resurrection, and so there’s reasonto
despair. No matter how bad this world gets, God’s going to make it new.
Right? No matter how troublesome it seems, no matter how insoluble man’s
dilemmas, God is going to make it right when the King comes;and it may be
the next event. The signs are ready, and so we do not despair. We do not live
as those who have no hope. All of the injustice will be made just. All of the
inequity will be made equitable. All of the wrong will be made right. All of the
pain will be turned into bliss. All of the sorrow will be joy. There is another
life beyond the grave in Christ.
Secondly, the resurrectionis not only the triumph over despair, but the
triumph over depravity. Depravity is another word for sin. And if Christ is
going to make of this world what it ought to be, and if He is going to make of
man what he ought to be, He has to overcome man’s biggestproblem, which is
what? Sin. Christ must conquer sin. And the resurrectiondid that. Verse 21,

“Forsince by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead.”
Now verse 22 explains verse 21. The man by whom death came was Adam.
For when Adam sinned, how many men died? All men. The principle of sin
and death passedto all men. “Evenso in Christ” – another man by whom
comes resurrection– “shallall be made alive.” And so Paul is saying as the
death – or rather the sin of one man brought death, so the life of one man
brings life. Jesus overturned the Adamic curse, that’s what it’s saying. His one
act conqueredsin and death.
Now sin causes death. Right? The wages ofsin is death. Jesus dying on the
cross felt the full impact of sin. The full fury of sin was poured on Him. Think
of it this way. Every sin ever committed in the history of the world was placed
on Christ. Imagine the weight of sin. Sin literally spent itself killing Him.
Every sin ever committed by every human being who ever lived on this earth,
every sin was put on Christ. Sin’s fury spent itself, and it killed Him.
But three days later He came out of the grave, and in that acthe conquered
sin. He took its full force, bore it’s killing power at an extent that we couldn’t
even imagine. Justthink about the sin of your own life would be enoughto kill
Jesus Christ. Multiply that by the billions and billions of people who have
lived on the face of the earth, and He bore it all. And when sin had spent its
entire fury on Him, He came out of the grave alive.
Adam took us into death. Jesus took us through death into life. That’s the
meaning of the resurrection. It is the triumph over depravity. If there’s going
to be a better world, and if the Lord is going to create a new heaven and a new
earth, if He’s going to give man all the fullness and potential that man
originally was createdto have, then He has to conquer man’s debilitation,
which is sin. And so we read at the end of 1 Corinthians 15 this marvelous
statement: “Deathis swallowedup in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O
death, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is
the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.” Christ in dying conquered sin and death for us.

And so it says in 2 Timothy 1:10, “Now he is made manifest by the appearing
of our SaviorJesus Christ, who hath abolisheddeath and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel.” Whata greatrealization. We don’t
fear death. Jesus conqueredit.
Someone wrote, “The king must lay aside his crown, step down from his
throne and lie down beside the beggarin the clods of the valley. The minister
must pronounce his final benediction, close his Bible, and surrender his flock
to the greatshepherd of the sheep. The judge must change his judicial robe
for garments of the grave. The lawyer must write his lastbrief and finish his
final ligation, the author his last column, the poet his final verse, the athlete
play is last game, the musician his final note.
“The actormust play his lastscene and leave the stage forever. The laborer
must leave his plow in the field, his axe in the woodland, and give his brawny
stalwartframe to the grave. The soldier must march for the last time and pay
the supreme price for liberty in the grim ordealof war. The mother must
leave her chair tenantless and her helpless baby alone. And the innocent
playful child must drop his toys and with his tiny arms grapple with death.”
Comes to every man, every woman, but it has no fear. Paul says, “O Death,
where is thy” – what? – “sting?” Why? Because in the resurrectionof Jesus
Christ, there’s a triumph over death, triumph over sin. That is our hope.
Finally, and this is the ultimate triumph of the resurrectionand the one we
don’t think about, the triumph over destiny. And we’ve talkedthis morning
about how man, through the flow of history, has descendedto the pit of
pessimism, fatalism, and amoralism; and we ask, “Where is it going? Can
anything change the destiny of man? Can anything overrule the inevitability
of man’s drift into hell?” And the resurrection becomes the answer. Verse 23,
“Every man in his own order:” – shall be made alive- “Christ the first fruits;
and afterwardthey that are Christ’s” – these three words are the key – “at
His coming. Then the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to
God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority
and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

Jesus rose to reign, that’s the whole point. He rose to return to reign. This is
the greatclimax of history. It may be the next event. He rose to return to
reign. If you read the book of Revelation, you see how often He is seenas the
one who rose to return.
For example, nearly 30 times in RevelationHe is calledthe Lamb; and
wheneverHe is calledthe Lamb, it emphasizes His death. But the fact that He
is the living Lamb emphasizes His resurrection. And tied in with that is not
only that He died and rose, but that He returns to reign, over and over again
in the book. But just this note from chapter 1, “Jesus Christ,” verse 5, “who is
the faithful witness, and the first begottenof the dead.” And then it says in
verse 7, “Behold, He cometh with clouds.” He is the first begottenof the dead
that He might return to reign.
Now listen, Adam’s death causedall men to die. Christ’s life will cause allmen
to live. You say, “Whatabout the unsaved?” They’ll be raised from the dead
too. That’s right, “All men will live,”- John 5- “some to the resurrectionof
damnation, some to the resurrection of life,” John 5. When Jesus comes,the
graves of the world will be empty, and all men and womenwho have ever
lived will be calledbefore Him for final disposition. To those who did not
embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be castinto the lake of fire, prepared
for the Devil and his angels, where they will burn with unquenchable forever.
For those who have acknowledgedJesus Christand receivedHim as Lord,
they will enter into His glorious kingdom and know the fulfillment of all that
God ever intended for man. He rose to return to reign. And He will establish
His kingdom and gatherinto it all of His own, and send out those that do not
belong. That’s how history ends. And I believe it’s very near, very near.
We’ve all focuseda lot on the country of Iran these years, but there’s an
interesting historicalnote about that nation that you probably haven’t heard
of. In 1072 a man died in Iran by the name of Sultan Muhammad ibn Daud.
He was a greatleader. He ruled Iran and an extended contiguous area from
the Oxus to the Tigris River. He was thought of as a greatleader. He extended
the frontiers of the Iranian territory. His people lookedat him as a hero. He
told them that when he died he would come back from the grave, and he
would return to lead them on to greaterconquests. Thatwas 1072. Needless to

say, he hasn’t showedup yet. They could use him in the fight with Iraq, but he
hasn’t come back.
But you know what’s fascinating? His tomb is in the Mosque of Quchan in the
province of Khorasan. At this very day, standing outside that tomb is a
saddled white horse, and there’s been one there since 1072, and they’re
waiting. But he won’t show. His tomb is occupied. But there is a tomb that is
empty. And there is a white horse in heaven that is ready, and that horse will
not be disappointed; for Jesus will return in glory to set up His kingdom. I
trust you’ll be a part of it. Let’s bow in prayer.
I want you to just keepyour heart sensitive to what the Spirit of Godhas said
in this time together. I want you to look into your heart in these last moments
and ask yourselfone question: “If Jesus were to return today, would He take
you into His kingdom or would He castyou into Hell?” That’s the question. If
the answeris hell or you don’t know, then Jesus offers to you His salvation.
You don’t need to live in fatalism, pessimism, cynicism, existentialism. You
don’t need to live amorally, fulfilling your selfish desires because there’s
nothing else, because there is something else. There is a hell foreverto pay.
But bless God, beyond that there is a heaven forever to enjoy. And you need to
seek Godin your own heart, confess Jesus Christas Lord; bow the knee as the
women did, clutch His feet and worship Him who died and rose for you.
That’s your only hope, to triumph overdespair, to triumph over depravity, to
triumph over destiny.
Let’s stand for the benediction. Gracious Father, we come to the close ofthis
wonderful hour togetherto express our thanks to You for the risen Christ,
and the thanks that He is the first fruits off all them that slept. BecauseHe
lives, we live too. We thank You that even though the physical body may die
and fall away, the real personlives forever. And he that believeth in the
resurrectionshall never die, but enter into life eternal. We know too the one
who does not believe shall forever die and yet never die, knowing only the pain
of death without its relief.
And so we pray that You’ll work a work in every heart. Those who love You,
may we be thankful. Those who don’t, may this be the dawning of that day.

Bring to the prayer room those that You desire to come and be glorified in all
our hearts. Bring us togetheragain tonight to celebrate the new life in these
whose testimonies we shall hear, who speak of Your greatpower and grace, in
Christ’s name. Amen.
RAY STEDMAN'
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Fatherafter
destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until
he has put all his enemies under his feet. The lastenemy to be destroyed is
death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26 RSV)
Notice something there: The reign of Christ does not begin after he subdues
his enemies, althoughwe often think of it that way. There is a greathymn by
Isaac Watts that goes:
Jesus shallreign where'er the sun
Does his successivejourneys run,
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
'Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
That is all couchedin the future tense, Jesus shallreign, but the Biblical truth
is he does reign, and he shall continue to reign until his enemies are made his
footstool. I do not know anything that has more powerto steadyus in times of
pressure, and undergird us in times of discouragement, defeat, and oppression
than the realizationthat Jesus now reigns. He is in control now. When we run
up againstoppressive governments and severe limitations to our freedom and
outright, violent persecutionof Christian faith, we are to remember that all
this takes place under the overall authority of Jesus Christ who said, when he
rose from the dead, "All power is given unto me in heavenand in earth,"
(Matthew 28:18 KJV). He permits this kind of thing to happen to accomplish

his purposes, just as, in the Old Testament, Godraisedup the Babylonians
and the Assyrians and brought them againstIsrael. He allowedJerusalemto
be taken; he allowedthe Israelites to be taken into captivity, not because that
was the way he wantedthings to happen on earth, but because thatwas
necessaryto teachhis people the lessons they needed to know. God brings
these things to pass for our sake, andit is part of the authority of Christ that
allows them to happen. That is a very important truth that we often forget.
Now the apostle says, "The lastenemy to be destroyedis death." This canbe
seento be true in both an individual and a universal sense. Universally, death
is never going to disappearfrom this earth until we come to that moment,
describedin the book of Revelation, whena new heaven and a new earth come
into existence. In this present heavenand earth death reigns and will continue
to do so even during the millennium, even during the time when Christ
personally rules on earth, as I believe he will, and peace and righteousness
prevail all over the earth. Nevertheless, deathis present. The prophet Isaiah
says, "the child shall die a hundred years old," (Isaiah 65:20 RSV). He means
that death will be an unusual experience during the millennium, when
someone one hundred years old will still be a mere child as far as the
possibilities of his life are concerned -- he could go on and live the entire
thousand years. But death is still present, and it is not until the end, when our
Lord subdues his enemies, that death is finally destroyed and castinto the
lake of fire. Therefore, the last enemy to be destroyedis death.
But there is a sense in which this is individually true of us right now. What is
going on in your life and mine now? Well, we are experiencing a continual
reciprocationof death, out of which comes life. We are all fighting battles,
struggles in which at times we fail, falter, and are overcome. We give way to
worry, we give way to impatience, anger, malice, and lust. Sometimes we
struggle againstthese things with greateffort; other times we give in quickly.
But we are all engagedin a great battle in which we are assaultedcontinually
with temptations to yield and to fall into death. Yet, even out of those times of
failure, by the grace of God's forgiveness we are restored. Life is handed back
to us, in a sense, and we go on to walk for a longer time without failure, until
gradually we gain victory over evil habits and evil attitudes. Life, therefore, is

a continual experience of life coming out of death, of pain leading to joy, and
that will never end as long as we are in this present life.
But there is coming a time when this body will die, and death then is
destroyedfor us. "The last enemy to be destroyedis death." Once we pass
through the experience of death into resurrection, like our Lord himself, we
shall never die again;that is the wonderful statement. Christ having once
died, Paul says in Romans, never dies again, and we share his existence. He is
the first fruits of the great harvestof which we are a part. In Verses 27-28
there is a description of this end Paul speaks ofwhen the kingdom is restored
to God the Father:
"ForGod has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says
"All things are put in subjectionunder him," it is plain that he is excepted
who put all things under him. When all things are subjectedto him, then the
Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that
God may be everything to every one. (1 Corinthians 15:27-28 RSV)
Here is the description of the end of Christ's work as a mediator betweenGod
and man. During this present time, our Lord Jesus is singled out, as it were,
from the persons of the Godhead as the supreme objectof worship, and we
are invited to worship him and give honor to him. Paul tells us in Philippians
2 that, because ofour Lord's faithfulness,
God has highly exalted him and bestowedon him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and every
tongue confess thatJesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 RSV)
So to worship Christ honors God. In that greatscene in Revelation5, the
whole universe gathers about the throne worshipping the Lamb that was
slain, crying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches,
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing," (Revelation
5:12 KJV). Everyone is invited to worship the Son.
But there is coming a time, Paul says, when the work of the Sonin subduing a
lost creationwill be finished. When the full results of the atonement of the

cross have been completed and all the harvestof the earth is gathered, then,
according to this account, the Lord Jesus returns the kingdom to the Father in
order that "God[the three-fold God, Father, Son. and Spirit] may be
everything to every one."
What this means is that then, for the first time in our experience, we will
understand emotionally the mystery of the Trinity. We now know the Bible
teaches that there are three persons in the Godhead, that they are equal in
glory and honor, and that they somehow coalesceso that there are three
persons but only one God. Intellectually we cangrasp that; emotionally I do
not think anyone does. But there is coming a day when we will thoroughly
understand, emotionally, the makeup of God, and we will understand the
greattruth God has been seeking to teachus all through this earthly
experience that he is all we need, that God is everything to every one.
I often talk with people who are having struggles in their Christian lives, and
almost invariably I find their struggles come from an unwillingness to believe
that God cansupply what they need. They feel that somehow they have to lean
upon human beings to getwhat they need, and that if they are denied what
they feel they need, life is hardly worth the living. But God continually works
at us to show us that is not true. He is all we need. He knows we need bread
and food and shelter, etc. This is our Lord's argument in the Sermonon the
Mount, "Your Fatherknows that you have need of all these things. Do you
think he is unable to supply them to you? If he can feed the birds of the air
and clothe the lilies of the field do you think he cannot find some way to meet
your need as well?" Matthew 6:26-28)he argues. It is a constantrebuke to our
little faith that we do not trust God and believe that if we obey him and walk
with him he will give us all we need. This is the struggle. But the mark of
maturity, the mark that indicates that man has come into his own, has fulfilled
his purpose, is the time when he understands with all his heart and mind and
soul that God is everything to every one. After that the mediation of our Lord
is no longerrequired. God the Triune God. is everything to every one.

GOOD NEWS FOR LOYAL SUBJECTSNO. 807
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL19, 1868, BY
C. H. SPURGEONAT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.
“He must reign.” 1 Corinthians 15:25.
“MUST” is for the king, and concerning King Jesus there is a divine
necessitythat He must reign. He was once the King of misery—in that
kingdom He reigned supreme; that crownof thorns is preeminent in the
sorrows whichit signifies. O King of grief and tears and death, who shall rival
You? Today He is the King of glory, enthroned far above all principalities and
powers;He is so glorious that when seraphs are asked, “Who is the King of
glory?” they mention no other name but His! He is the King once dishonored,
but now exaltedin the highest heaven; of Him the text says not only that He
must live, though that is a precious truth, for while He lives, we shall also live;
nor merely does it say that He shall enjoy a degree ofreverence, though it is
delightful to us to think of His being honored in any heart, and being had in
reverence by even a handful of men, but it is said, “He must reign.” Not a
place, but the chief place shall be His, not bare existence, but preeminence;
not honor, but superlative glory. He must reign! No seatbut the throne shall
become Him, no ornaments but those of royalty shall befit Him—“He must
reign.” He must reign because He is God. “The Lord reigns” must always
stand a truth of God. Jehovahexists eternally, infinite in power and wisdom;
who but He should be King of kings and Lord of lords? And since the Man of
Nazarethis the everlasting Father, since of His generationthere was no
beginning, and none can count the number of His years, He must reign from
the very fact of His essentialDeity! He must reign as man—for the Lord has
made a covenantwith David that the sceptershould not depart from him, that

of his seedthere should sit upon the throne of Israel forevera King to rule in
righteousness, andJesus ofNazareth is that King! Israelhas no other
monarch, neither have they soughtafter any other king; as a nation they have
been broken and scatteredand peeled, and as a united people they cannotbe
gatheredunder any other headship than that of the house of David, of which
Jesus Christ is the lineal and rightful descendant, and who claims and keeps
the scepterin His own hand. He must also reign as the Mediator, the
Intercessor, the Interposer, and the Interpreter, one of a thousand. “He must
reign.” Behold, at this time the sovereigntyof the world is committed to His
keeping;He is the headship of His church, the originator of providence; His is
the ruling of heaven, and earth, and hell, as the mediatorial Monarch; and
until that time when He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even our Father,
He must reign, for so has God appointed and settled Him to be a King and a
Priestforever, after the order of Melchisedec. What a sweetcomfortit is to
think that none can snatchthe government from the hand of Jesus, for, “the
government shall be upon His shoulder.” None candrive Christ from the
headship of the church, nor the headship of providence for the church; He
must be at the helm, none shall remove Him; both as God and man, and as the
Mediatorof the new covenant, according to the express words of our text, “He
must reign.” There seemedto me to be so sweeta thought wrapped up in
these three words—so precious, so full of all manner of delights, that if the
Holy Spirit did but enable us to enjoy it, we should not lack today for wines on
the lees, wellrefined, and fat things, yes, fat things full of marrow! I shall
endeavor, as I may be helped, first, at some length to discuss the reasons for
this “must”; then, secondly, to draw out encouragementfrom it; and, thirdly,
to dwell upon its admonitions. I. First, “He must reign.” WHAT ARE THE
REASONS FOR THIS “MUST”? The answershallbe sevenfold. The Lamb,
as seenby John, had sevenhorns of power, and here are seven reasons why
He should possessthe throne forever.
GoodNews for Loyal Subjects Sermon #807
Tellsomeone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 14
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1. First, because His empire in itself is such as to ensure perpetuity. There
have been many empires in this world of which men said for the time, that
they must exist, and they supposed that if they were overthrown, the very
pillars of the earth would be removed. Yet in due time they grew gray with
years, and were sweptawayas worn out things, and it was a joy for the
nations when the hoary abominations were consumed. The most colossal
empires have melted like visions of the night, and the most substantial
creations of human power have passedawaylike the fleeting dew of the
morning. But, “He must reign.” He must reign, first of all, because His reign
over human mind is basedupon the truth of God. There have been various
dynasties of thought—at one time Plato reignedsupreme over thoughtful
minds; then Aristotle held a long and rigid rule; he so ruled and governedthe
entire universe of mind, that even the Christian religion was continually
infected and tainted by his philosophical speculations. Butanother philosophy
found out his weaknessand supplanted him, to be in its turn subverted by the
next. As men grow more enlightened, or the human mind passesthrough
another phase of change, men sayto their once-reveredrabbis and honored
teachers, “Standout of the way! A new light has arisen!We have come to a
new point of thought, and we are finished with you.” Things which were
accountedsure and wise in years gone by, are now ridiculed by us as the
height of folly; and why, because these systems ofphilosophy and thought
have not been basedupon the truth of God. There has been a worm in the
centerof the fair apple of knowledge;there has been a flaw in the foundations
of the greatmasterbuilder, they have built upon sand, and their edifices have
tumbled to irretrievable ruin. But the truth which Jesus taught from the
mountaintop, reads as if it were delivered but yesterday!Christianity is as
suitable to the 19th century as to the first; it has the dew of its youth upon it.
As Solomon’s Song says of Christ, His locks are bushy and black as a raven to
show His youth and vigor, and so may I sayof the gospel—itis still as young
and vigorous, as full of masculine energy as ever it was!We who preachit fear
not for the result; give us a fair stage and no favor, and the Samsonof divine
truth, its locks still unshorn, will yet remove the pillars of the temple of error,
and bring ruin to the powers of hell. Jesus must reign as the royal teacher

because allHe teaches is basedupon the suresttruth. Our Lord’s dominion
over human hearts, too, is absolutely sure, because it is based upon divine
love. To illustrate what I mean, I need only remind you of the life of the great
Napoleon. He founded an empire—an empire which has not always been
justly estimated, for perhaps unwittingly Napoleonwas a grand advancerof
human liberty, since he first taught the old kings that the pretense of divine
right could not keepcrowns upon unpopular heads, and that young men from
the ranks might yet mount a throne! He produced a code of laws which for
simplicity of justice, has never been surpassed. Still, he relied too much upon
coercionand the sword—his enormous armies were his bulwark and security;
strong battalions were the cornerstone ofhis empire, and though for a while
he stood firm, and armies advancing againsthim were only like so many
waves dashing againstthe rocks ofhis tremendous power, yet, after all his
many wars, he was overthrown, and he was said to have uttered in St. Helena
that memorable speech—“Mykingdom has passedaway;I founded it upon
the sword, and it is gone;Jesus Christ establisheda kingdom upon love, and it
will lastforever.” So it will last; when all that kings and princes can do with
state-craft, and with power, shall have dissolvedas hoar frost in the sun,
Christ’s kingdom must stand because it is basedupon the Law of love. Jesus
Christ is the incarnation of love, His teachings are the doctrines of love, His
precepts are the rule of love, His Spirit is the Creatorof love; His whole
religion is saturatedwith love, and because ofthis His kingdom cannot be
moved! Once more, the kingdom of Jesus must exist because it is the one
greatremedy which this sad woebegone worldrequires. Though men know it
not, this is the only balm for earth’s poor bleeding wounds. earth cries out
every now and then like a sleeperin delirium; she cries out for the coming
man, and eyes everywhere are watching!Men scarcelyknow why—they look
for a man who shall right the wrong of mankind, and commence on a glorious
era, that goodtime coming for which men have lookedso long. Jesus is the
coming Man—He alone is the daystar from on high who shall visit us with
light and healing, and replace our darkness with an everlasting morning! The
world is like the troubled sea that cannot rest, tossedto and fro, and there is
but one foot which cantread its waves, and but one voice which can say,
“Peace, be still.” The world’s joy lies now in the tomb, it has been dead four
days already, and by this time it stinks and the poor world does not know that

there is only one voice that canbring back earth’s paradise, give a
resurrectionto her buried mirth—Jesus of Nazareth it is who is the true
liberator of
Sermon #807 GoodNews forLoyal Subjects
Volume 14 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ.
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captive nations, “To give light to them that sit in darkness, andin the valley of
the shadow of death.” The world will never rest till it rests in Christ! It groans
and travails in pain togetheruntil now, scarcelyknowing what it wants, but to
us it is given to know that earth needs her Lord to reign over her, and He shall
bring her joy and peace!The agonizing groans of earth demand the
sovereigntyof Jesus, and therefore we believe that He must reign, for God will
yet give His creature what it needs. Our Lord’s dominion is in itself so
securelyfounded upon truth and love, and is so demanded by a bleeding
world, that “He must reign.” 2. Secondly, He must reign because His Father
decrees it. How delightful it is to think of the eternal purposes concerning our
Lord! Our God did not make this world without a plan, nor does He rule it
without a scheme;whateverJehovahdecrees, stands fastand firm, for these
are His words, “Has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and
shall He not make it good?” Whateverthe eternal mind resolves upon is
certain to be fulfilled; though men should strive againstit, and devils should
rise with infernal rage, yet if Jehovahdecrees it, who shall stand againstthe
eternal will? Go, fool, who thinks to stand againstGod, and dash yourself
upon the bosses ofHis buckler and be broken in pieces!Or run upon the point
of His glittering spearto your own destruction, for, againstthe eternal, who
shall stand? His thunder in the heavens, though it is but the whisper of His
voice, makes the nations tremble! The going forth of His might in nature,
though it is the hiding of His power, makes all the inhabitants of the earth
shake. Who shall stay His hand, or sayunto Him, “What are You doing?” The
eternal purpose of God has ordained that Jesus Christshall reign eternally;
He must reign from the river even to the ends of the earth. Up till now God

has maintained the throne of His Son. Readthe secondPsalmand see:“The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counseltogether against
the Lord, and againstHis anointed, saying Let us break their bands asunder,
and castawaytheir cords from us. He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the
Lord shall have them in derision; then shall He speak unto them in His wrath,
and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I setMy king upon My holy
hill of Zion.” Yes, the divine determination, the everlasting covenant, and the
immutable promises of covenant grace allunite in the resolve that Christ shall
reign, and therefore well says the text, “He must reign.” 3. But in the third
place, divine justice demands it. Jesus Christ must reign. Beloved, you cannot
imagine for a moment that He who judges all the earth will be unjust, and
unjust to His own Son! Our Lord came into this world to bleed and die, that
He might have a reward for His pains. And the Father covenantedwith Him:
“He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days.” “I will divide Him a
portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong.” The
Father promised that He should be a leader and a commander of the people,
and determined, as the result of His humiliation, that He should mount to a
superior throne as the Sonof man, and the Son of God. Shall God belie His
word? Begone,blasphemous thought! Shall God defraud the only-begotten?
Down, suggestionofthe pit of hell! Shall Jesus die in vain? Shall He pour out
His soul unto death, and shall there be no crown for Him? Shall the promised
diadem be withheld? Beloved, we know it cannot be so! As we stand at the
foot of the cross, we feelthat every pang He suffered guaranteedto Him that
He should be King of kings, and Lord of lords. Oh, it would be indeed sad for
us to imagine that yonder wondrous work of His in redemption should remain
unrewarded with the promised crown! It were vain for us to trust in the
redemption, for we might be as welldeluded in it as He, if there were no
honor brought to Him for all that He endured for us. Courage, brothers and
sisters, there can be no doubt about it—since immutable justice demands it,
Jesus “must reign.” 4. The fourth reasonis found in this, that Christ’s
reigning is workedinto the order of providence. A few months ago snow was
on the ground, the frost was sharp, the winds were cold, the trees were bare—
but it was in the order of providence that there should be a spring. And
though the seasonsgrew colder, and the dreary months passedon, and not a
flowerpeeped up from under the soil, nor a goldencrocus opened its cup, yet

God had purposed it—the spring must come. Walk in your gardens today
when all the fruit trees are opening their blossoms and pouring forth their
perfumes in the air, and the birds are at the highest point of song, and you will
think, “Yes, it has surely come;spring smiles on us, after all.” The cold
blustering winds, and the cold dark nights could not prevent it, for the vernal
blossoms are on every bough. Here is spring, and in its right hand it holds a
faithful promise of the coming summer. We cannotsay that in any one day in
all these lastmonths, spring seemedto make any greatadvance. You
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cannot put your finger upon a certain day or hour, and say, “Now the weather
is manifestly turning.” But the sweetdays of bud and blossomhave been
introduced with a beautiful gentleness andgrowth; even when the days
lengthened we saw no great progress, forthe cold strengthened, and if we
enjoyed a mild day, there came a biting night of frost. But, surely and steadily
the veins of the trees were filled with the life-blood of sap, and the buds first
swelled, and then revealedtheir glories. Motherearth yielded to the roots of
plants and trees fresh vigor, and helped them to put on their greenarray, and
now we look for the beauties of summer, and the goldensheaves ofautumn
with sure and certainhope. So Christ’s reigning is woveninto the warp and
woofof providence, and though He has long been lifted on high, and has not
yet drawn all men to Him, it is coming—and if we have faith we may almost
see it. His kingdom is coming! The time of the singing of the birds is drawing
near! There have been dark times, but the light has arisen! There have been
times of shameful lukewarmness, but now and then a live coalhas been sent
from off the altar to touch the lip of some favored seerwhose powerhas
turned the tide of the church’s zeal once more. Restassuredthat nothing can
possibly resistthe kingdom of Jesus Christ— His kingdom shall come!He
shall have dominion, and His foes shallbow; He shall come in His own proper
person, and shall sit upon David’s throne. Though the wheels of providence

are so high that they are terrible, they are all full of eyes, and every eye looks
to Christ. “Upon one stone shall be seveneyes,” yes, all the eyes of providence
look upon Jesus our cornerstone, andin the divine economy, “allthings work
togetherfor goodto them who love God, to them who are the calledaccording
to His purpose,” and chiefly for the glory of Him who loved God bestof all,
and was first chosenin the divine decree. That Jesus shallreign is the end,
aim, and design of providence. How I rejoice to believe that if we serve God,
the very stones of the field are in league with us, and the beasts of the field are
at peace with us, and as it was saidby Deborahin her memorable song, “The
stars in their courses fought againstSisera,”so all createdthings are allies of
the righteous cause and adversaries ofevil. The marches of years, the advance
of months, and the arrangements of days all fight like armed men the wrong,
and march side by side with the armies of the Lord of hosts swornto do battle
for Jesus and His throne, for “He must reign.” 5. I must not tarry long on
any one point, and therefore, our fifth argument for Jesus’kingdomis that
the Holy Spirit has been given to the church to promote this glorious end. At
the day of Pentecostthe Holy Spirit was poured out—then the whole church
was baptized with a sacredinfluence, and ever since then the Holy Spirit has
never been withdrawn from the Christian church. “I will pray the Father, and
He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.”
We often unbelievingly pray for the Holy Spirit as if He were not still with
us—as if He were not perpetually resident among the sons of men. He is here,
always here, always dwelling in the Christian church. Now considerwho the
Holy Spirit is—He is the blessedGodHimself, one personof the glorious
Trinity in unity, and He is therefore the possessorof infinite power. In the
world of mind He can work according to His own will, and canconvince men
of sin, of righteousness,and of judgment. He can soften the most hardened;
He can turn to kindness the cruelest, and lead into light the most darkened.
There are none beyond the range of the operation of the Holy Spirit, and none
who shall be able to finally resistHis influence when He puts forth the fullness
of His might, for who can stop omnipotence? Now, brothers and sisters, the
possessionofthe Holy Spirit is the church’s treasury; here is her battle-ax and
here her weapons ofwar. Do you speak ofthe towerof David where a
thousand bucklers did hang, all shields of mighty men? The possessionofthe
Holy Spirit secures a far greaterpowerthan all the bucklers of mighty men

could be; Solomonspeaks ofthe church’s bed, and says that around it were
fourscore men, eachman with his sword upon his thigh, because offear in the
night. But the Holy Spirit is a greaterprotectionthan the ablestbodyguard of
warriors, His dove-like wings perpetually brood over the Lord’s chosen, and
guard them from every ill, according to the promise, “I, the Lord, do keepit, I
will waterit every moment: lestany hurt it, I will keepit night and day.” Ho,
you who preachChrist in the street, or teachHim in the school, do not become
discouragedunder difficulties when you remember that you are workers
togetherwith God, and that with you, when you speak the truth for Jesus,
there goes forth an irresistible power from the Holy Spirit Himself which none
shall be able to gainsayor to resist!This is the church’s power—lether seek
more of it, and, possessing itlet her rest assuredthat the purpose for which
she has
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been raisedup will be accomplished, for Jesus Christmust and shall reign if
the Spirit of God is at work to ensure His sovereignty. 6. Sixthly, our Lord
Jesus Christ must reign because He is naturally the chief of the human race.
When all Israelwere gatheredtogetherto choose a king, they selectedSaul
who was in stature, head and shoulders taller than the rest. They would have
the strongestsoldierto lead the van, but if my Lord and Master were to come
into this world—if men’s eyes were but opened, and their senses were but
trained to right perception, they would no soonerput eyes on Him than they
would say, “He is the chief among 10,000and the altogetherlovely: let Him
wearthe crown.” Rememberthat in this present state the goodoften go to the
wall and the most worthy are the leastesteemed, but in the long run it is a rule
of God’s government that the best shall be uppermost. And when the last
greatrectificationshall come, you will find that those who were really lowest
in characterwill be lowestin perdition, and those who were highest in their
service of God shall be highest in esteemamong the sons of men. Jesus Christ

must take the highestplace, because He is highest, and there is none to rival
Him— “No creature canwith Him compare Among the sons of men; Fairer
He is than all the fair Who fill the heavenly train.” Once but get a clear,
spiritual glimpse of Him, and you will acknowledgeHis surpassing
superiority— “Soonas faith the Lord can see, Bleeding onthe cross forme,
Quick my idols all depart, Jesus gets and fills my heart.” O stone-blind eyes,
if you could but see Him, how you would be fixed on Him in one long
fascinatedgaze!O blind world, if you had grace enoughto see but half the
beauties of Christ, how you would ceaseyour rebellion, and fall down to
worship the matchless Prince!But the blindness and stubbornness of
humankind make men enemies to their best friend, and make them see no
beauty where there is all beauty, and no perfection whereverperfection
dwells. As wellmight men saythat there is no light from the sun as declare
that there is no loveliness in Him; as wellmight they saythat there is no saltin
the sea as that there is no sweetness in Christ, for He is altogetherlovely! All
preciousness,atits very highest degrees, is found commingled in His gracious
character. Let Him be King then! He must reign! It is impossible that yonder
black prince, that fiend of hell, that traitor, that enemy of the human race
should always reign! Downwith him; down with him as they did in the town
of Mansoul, when they broke the images of Diabolus, casting them to the
ground. It is not possible that the devil should always be king over God’s
creatures;let Immanuel be exalted, and let His loyal subjects bow before Him,
and rejoice in His crown and scepter!He must reign, then, because of the
excellence ofHis character. 7. And lastly upon this point, He must reign
because the power to reign belongs to Him. “It pleasedthe Fatherthat in Him
should all fullness dwell.” “He has all powergiven unto Him in heaven and in
earth.” “Go you, therefore,” says He, “and teachall nations.” Jesus Christ is
no puny pretender to the throne, nor a rightful ownerwithout powerto win
His own, but as His cause is good, His arm is strong. The powerof Immanuel
is equal to His right—He must, therefore, reign! What a vision that is of
Christ on the white horse, riding forth conquering and to conquer, and all His
saints following Him in the same triumphant style, His swordgoing out of His
mouth, the preaching of the eternal gospelbeing still the powerof Godunto
salvation. This is what He is doing now—this is what He shall do till He comes
with His iron rod to break the nations in pieces, like a potter’s vessel, and

dash His enemies to pieces. He has the powerto reign, a power of love which
He puts into the gospelwhich by-and-by He will exchange forthe powerof
vengeance, whenHe takes the throne and sits there to judge the nations
according to their works. Whata total overthrow the powers of darkness will
sustain! They will not have a thought with which to comfort themselves;when
the lastgreatbattle shall come, and the campaignbetweenChrist and the
prince of evil shall be over, there will not remain a handful of spoil in the hand
of the enemy— not one old banner or tattered flag belonging to the Lord’s
hosts to hang up in the hall. “They will be beaten,” as the text puts it, “like the
chaff on the summer’s threshing floor.” “And you shall winnow them,” says
the prophet, “and the wind shall carry them away.” The black horse went
down to the sea of
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almighty love with his rider, and beganto drink up that sea, but he could not
do it; he snorted, and drank, and drank againof the brine which sickenedhis
very soul, but malice urged him on, and so he drank again, and waded breast-
deep into the ocean. Norstayed he in his fury, but plunged farther and
farther, till he was drowned in the inexhaustible depths. I think I see the black
carcasssubmergedfar down in the abyss—deathand hell drowned in the sea
of almighty love and power, and the kingdom of Jesus rolling like a mighty
stream over all those who were determined upon His destruction. Glory be
unto God! We fight and victory flies to congratulate our banner; ours is no
desperate warfare, but a royal crusade in which every soldieris even now a
priest and a king, and is on the wayto the banqueting halls where men feast
with God and Jesus foreverand ever wears the fadeless diadem. II. Time
allows but a few words upon THE ENCOURAGEMENT to be gatheredfrom
the “must” which lies in the soul of the text. 1. The first encouragementis
that if He must reign, then all our enemies shall be subdued. This text occurs
in that memorable chapter concerning the resurrection, and it especially

points to death. “He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.”
“The last enemy that shall be destroyedis death.” Now, beloved believer, you
are calledto fight daily with sin, and here is your consolation—Jesus must
reign! The Christ in you must bruise Satan under your feet! His atonement
has foreverdestroyed the damning powerof your sins; Christ reigns supreme
on the milk-white throne of mercy as the pardoning God. Even so Jesus must
reign over the active powerof sin within your heart, for His death is the
double death of sin; He has pierced its heart, and nailed its hands and feet—it
shall not have dominion over you. Jesus, the King of kings, must hold His
court in the castle yard of your heart, and all your powers and passions must
do Him cheerful homage. MostsweetPrince, You shall wearYour royal robes
in the coronationchamber of my affections!You shall reign over my quick
imperious temper! He shall put His foot on the neck of my pride, and shall
command my every thought and wish; where I cannotrule, Jesus can!
Rebellious lusts acknowledgethe spell of the cross, and indwelling sin falls like
Dagonbefore that ark. Jesus has made us kings and priests, that we may reign
over the triple monarchy of our nature— spirit, soul, and body, and that by
our self-conquestHe may be undisputed sovereignofthe Isle of Man. O you
who are contending with your corruptions, push on in the war, for He must
reign! Corruption is very strong, but Christ is stronger, and divine grace must
reign through righteousness unto eternallife through Jesus Christ our Lord. I
think I hear you groaning, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me
from the body of this death?” Listen to the answer!It rings like a sweet
Sabbath bell, “I thank God, through Jesus Christour Lord.” You may die
with Jesus, but you shall certainly rise with Him, for He will leave none of His
members in the grave of their corruptions. This Joshua will slay all the
Canaanites;He will drive out the old dragon from his throne with all his
hellish crew and your entire manhood shall be a fair temple for the Holy
Spirit’s indwelling! As long as we live in this world, and when we live again
in the coming world, Jesus shallbe the well-belovedMonarchof our hearts;
this ought to put awayall fears of death, for Christ must reign, must reign
over death! When the last enemy appears in view, it shall only be an
opportunity for new triumphs, when the Lord of life shall reveal Himself with
renewedsplendor; imagine not that death shall ever reign over Christ, ah no,
in your departing moments you shall have most extraordinary grace, so that

with joyful heart your lips shall sing, “O death, where is your sting? O grave,
where is your victory?” When your body shall have molded to ashes, Christ
must reign, and every precious particle of that dust shall be attracted to its
fellow—bone shallcome to bone, and the flesh shall come upon the whole, and
you shall live! Though worms destroy your body, yet in your flesh shall you
see God, and so in your resurrection Jesus Christshall reign! What a lamp is
shining in the vaults of death! The day breaks upon all our darkness when we
see that He must reign! The next coolcup of encouragementspringing from
this well is this—our efforts are, after all, not in vain. If Christ must reign,
then every soldier who fights for Christ is contributing to the victory, and
everyone who in any way advances the cause is working with sure and great
results. You have not wastedthose many silent prayers and those bitter tears.
Those feeble efforts of yours which were so imperfect that you could scarcely
hope them to be successfulare all co-operating to produce a victory the shouts
of which shall be heard all down the ages!You may but lay a single stone of
the heavenly temple, but if it is done for Christ, it is a stone which will stand
the fire, and your share of the building
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will remain to the last, while many a greatone who has built a mass of wood,
and hay, and stubble, shall see his labors all consumed in the day that tries
every man’s work. O my fellow soldiers, as we rest in this bivouac today
waiting till another fight begins, let us be of goodcourage, andthe Lord shall
strengthen our hearts! Wait, I say, on the Lord, for the Lord is on our side!
Our foes are tall as Goliath, and mighty as Pharaoh, and proud as
Nebuchadnezzar, but in the name of God we will destroy them! In the name of
Jesus we will again sayJehovah-Nissi, andsetting up the banner we follow our
Captain whose vesture is dipped in blood; He rides forth conquering and to
conquer, and we follow Him to absolute victory! It is but a little while before
we shall hear the shout, “Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!”

One sweetdrop of comfort may be pressedfrom this text, “He must reign”—I
must confess the sweetestcomfortI have ever tasted. I know not why it is, but
if I sink in spirit, (and I do full often), I very seldom getany cordial anywhere
exceptfrom this one thing—that Christ must reign. “There,” I have said in
my soul, “then what becomes of me is of no consequence atall; if He will only
take me into the royal galley, and chain me down to the oar, and let me tug
and pull till I have no more life left, I will be satisfiedif I may but row my
Lord towards His throne, and have but the smallestshare in making Him
greatand glorious in the eyes of men and angels.” Whatcares my heart for
herself if she may but see Jesus setonhigh? It is a heaven to me to think that
Christ is in heaven, and another heaven to believe that He will reign among
men! If Christ is glorious, it is all the heavenI ask for! If He shall be King of
kings, and Lord of lords, let me be nothing! If He shall but reign, and every
tongue shall callHim blessed, it shall be bliss to me to know it! And if I may
be but as one of the withered roses whichlie in the path of His triumph, it
shall be my paradise!Comrade in arms, as you and I in this ditch lie bleeding
on the skirts of the battle, it is sweetto hear the shouts of victory! This is
better than wine, better than healing, better than life. Look yonder, He rides
with His crownupon His helmet! There He rides on His white horse in the
very front of the fray! Can you not hear Him as He cries, “Onward!” and the
enemy flees, and His forces marchon to victory? You and I may lie down and
die—what matters it, for the cause is safe, Jesus is King! Restassuredthat
Christ’s victory is ours, and He will no more forgetus than a womanwill
ceaseto think of the son of her womb. Oh, to put our heart into Christ’s
heart! To wish His wishes, and to love His loves! This is to enjoy peace like a
river, and bliss like the waves ofthe sea;blessedthought for you who love
Him! Treasure it. “He must reign.” How this ought to inspire all of you who
grow downhearted about the cause of Christ. Some of my friends are
frightened with that everlasting bugbear of RomanCatholicism. According to
some we are going back to Rome, every mother’s son of us, and old England is
to be a rank popish country. Many in these days are fine hands at painting
ugly pictures and believing them to be realities, but I believe my text, namely,
that Jesus must reign. Therefore I do not fear the Pope or the devil; all the
driveling priests of Rome with their Jesuiticaltricks, shall find their master,
for hell itself cannot shake that decree, “He must reign.” “Jesuits,” yousay,

“are creeping in unawares.” I know it! But behold, we shall tread upon the
lion and the dragon—yes, the young lion and the dragon shall we trample
under our feet. Do you not believe in the gospelas the power of God? Do you
imagine that an unrighteous and unscriptural church establishment is needed
as a bulwark to the gospel? Shallrotten wooddefend the steel? Nonsense!
Blow the establishmentto a thousand pieces with the big guns of justice, and
then the gospelwill hold its own with all the greaterease.The gospelis quite
able to take care of itself without your hierarchies, and tithes, and royal
headships—youencumber the church with your bulwarks of wood, and hay,
and stubble; you clog our David with the royal armor. My Lord Jesus Christ
can do well enough in Ireland without Caesaror his pennies; he needs you not
to drain wealth from those who serve another lord in order to uphold His
cause;He hates your robberies which you callburnt-offerings; He has always
takencare of Himself and His ministers, and will continue to do so. The ark of
God of old was never captured till it was defended with carnalweapons, and
even then, as soonas it was left alone, it rescueditself. When there was not a
soldier to take care of it, when it was imprisoned in the temple of Dagon,
Dagonfell, and Philistia was humbled! And so in England and Ireland, state
alliance is bringing the gospelinto jeopardy, but if that alliance canbe broken
which is the worstof ills, then the gospelin its grandeur of unaided might will
confound all adversaries. Neverbe afraid—it does not become a Christian to
fear; it is unmanly, unchristian, to talk as if Christ’s cause were going to be
trampled out like a spark under our
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feet. It cannotbe! As enduring as the earth itself, and far more eternal; as
everlasting as the throne of God, are the cross and honor and dignity of
Christ. Let us feel this, for He must reign, and anticipated changes, insteadof
preventing Him from reigning, will help Him to reign more universally; and
the shaking off of old abuses, insteadof being an injury to the cross ofChrist,

will give its glories ampler space, for He must reign, let men say what they
will. III. Once more, and I have done. There is an ADMONITION in the text,
“He must reign.” My hearer, has He ever reigned in your heart? Where are
you, my hearer? For I want you now. I must getyou by the ear. “Jesus must
reign.” What have you to say to this? You have been opposing Him, have you?
You are kicking againstthe pricks with nakedfeet; you are stumbling upon
this stone, and you will be broken; and if the stone shall take to rolling down,
like a massive rock, on you, it will grind you to powder. Persecutor, beware!
You have gone upon a very very desperate errand; you are like a crawling
worm that is fighting with the fire—you wiggle alreadyin the heat of it; but if
you continue long, what canyou expect? You are like stubble contending with
the fire-brand, or like chaff wrestling with the whirlwind. What can you do?
O man, sheathe that sword! Take counselwhile you are in the way, “whether
you can, with 10,000meethim who comes againstyou with twenty thousand.”
“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath
is kindled but a little.” Another thought, if Jesus Christ must reign, then you
who have never submitted yourselves to Him to acceptHim as your Monarch,
will find His reign as terrible as it is sure. He will reign over you, either by
your own consent, or without it. He will either reign over you with that
glorious glittering silver scepterofmercy in His hand, or He will rule over you
with the heavy iron rod with which He will break you in pieces. Now, whichis
it to be? One or the other; His blood must be on you—either it must be on you
to accuse and condemn you, as the Jews found out when they said, “His blood
be on us, and on our children”—orelse it shall be on you to cleanse, to
pardon, to save!Which shall it be? This morning, in the name of God I
entreat you answerthis question for your owngood! Does Jesusreignover
you this morning, or not? Oh, if He never should reign over you in this life,
then, when you die you shall find that you cannot escape from His power! He
will then reign over you while you are a prisoner, manacledin fetters of iron
in the place of everlasting misery! He will reign over you, and you will be
compelled to confess it, too, as you bite your iron bands and weep, and gnash
your teeth in anger and in shame!He will reign over you absolutely, for you
will not be able to lift a finger to contend againstHim in the day when He
comes to judge the quick and the dead— “You sinners, seek His grace, Whose
wrath you cannot bear! Fly to the shelter of His cross, And find salvation

there.” May eternalmercy bring you, now, like loyal subjects, to bow before
Jesus;may you be granted saving grace to give yourselves up to Him, trusting
in Him, and in Him alone. That is the matter—to confide simply in Him is life
eternal! There is the whole sum and substance of godliness. Thenshall it be
your joy to know and feel that “He must reign.” The Lord bless you, and
make you a blessing, for Jesus’sake. Amen.
THE LAST ENEMYDESTROYED NO. 721
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 18, 1866,
BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.
“The last enemy that shall be destroyedis death.” 1 Corinthians 15:26.
OUR Savior stoopedto the lowestdepths of degradation, He shall be exalted
to the topmost heights of glory. “Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;
wherefore Godalso has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name.” Our Lord was trampled beneath the feet of all, but the
day comes whenall things shall be trampled beneath His feet. By so much as
He descended, by so much shall He ascend, by the greatnessofHis sufferings
may we judge of the unspeakable grandeur of His glory. Already sin lies
beneath His feet, and Satan, like the old dragonbound, is there also. The
systems of idolatry which were paramount in the days of His flesh, He has
broken as with a rod of iron. Where are the gods of Rome and Greece?
Where are Jupiter, Diana, and Mercury? Let the moles and the bats reply.

The colossalsystems ofidolatry which still dominate over the minds of men
must yet come down, the truth as it is in Jesus must ere long prevail over those
ancient dynasties of error, for Jesus our Lord must reign from the river even
unto the ends of the earth. In these last times, when sin in all its forms and
Satanwith all his craft shall be subdued, then death itself also, the
unconquerable death, the insatiable devourer of the human race, who has
sweptthem away as grass before the mower’s scythe—then shall death who
has fearedthe face of none, but has laid armies prostrate in his wrath, be
utterly destroyed. He who is immortality and life shall bring death of death
and destruction to the grave and unto Him shall be songs ofeverlasting praise.
Contemplate the glory of your Master, then, believer. From the base of the
pyramid, deep in darkness, He rises to the summit which is high in glory, from
the depths of the abyss of woe He leaps to the tops of the mountain of joy.
Anticipate His triumph by faith, for you shall partake in it, so surely as you
share in His abasement, you shall also partake in His glory, and the more you
shall become conformable unto Him in His sufferings, the more may you rest
assuredthat you shall be partakers with Him in the glory which is to be
revealed. Come we now to the text itself. The text teaches us that death itself
is at the last to be vanquished by Christ, nay, it is to be utterly destroyedby
Him, so that it shall ceaseto be. In handling the text, there are four things
which at once strike you. Here is death an enemy, but, secondly, he is the last
enemy, and thirdly, he is an enemy to be destroyed, but fourthly, he is the last
enemy that shall be destroyed. I. First, then, you have in our banquet of this
morning, as your first course, BITTER HERBS,wormwoodmingled with
gall, for you have death AN ENEMY. It is not difficult to perceive in what
respects deathis an enemy. Considerhim apart from the resurrection, apart
from the glorious promises which spring up like sweetflowers sownby
celestialhands upon the black soil of the tomb, and death is preeminently an
enemy. Death is an enemy because it is always repugnant to the nature of
living creatures to die. Fleshand blood cannot love death. God has wisely
made self-preservationone of the first laws of our nature, it is an attribute of
a living man to desire to prolong his life. “Skinfor skin, yes, all that a man has
will he give for his life,” it is our dearestheritage. To throw awaylife with the
suicide is a crime, and to waste life in folly is no little sin. We are bound to

prize life. We must do so, it is one of the instincts of our humanity, and he
were not greaterbut
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less than man who did not care to live. Death must always, then, by creatures
that breathe, be lookedupon as a foe. Deathmay well be counted as a foe,
because it entered into the world and became the masterover the race of
Adam through our worstenemy, viz., sin. It came not in accordanceto the
course of nature, but according to the course of evil. Deathcame not in by the
door, but it climbed up some other way, and we may therefore rest assured
that it is a thief and a robber. It was not in the natural constitution of
humanity that man should die, for the first man, Adam, was made a living
soul. Eminent physiologists have said that they do not detectin the human
system any particular reasonwhy man should die at fourscore years. The
same wheels which have gone on for twenty, thirty, forty years might have
continued their revolutions for a hundred years, or even for centuries, so far
as their own self-renewing poweris concerned. There is no reasonin man’s
body itself why it should inevitably return to the dust from which it was taken,
or if there be now such a reason, it may be traceable to the disease which sin
has brought into our constitution, but, as originally formed, man might have
been immortal—he would have been immortal. In that garden, if the leaves
had faded, he would not, and if the animals had died (and I suppose they
would, for they certainly did die before Adam came into the world), yet there
is no need that Adam should have died, he could have renewedhis youth like
the eagle andremained immortal amidst mortality, a king and priest forever,
if God had so chosenit should be, instead of which, through sin, though he is
even now a priest, he must, like Aaron, go up to the top of the hill and put off
his priestly garments and breathe out his life. Sin brought in death, and
nothing that came in by sin can be man’s friend. Death, the child of Sin, is the
foe of man. That the truth before us is most sure, some persons know by very

bitter experience, for it embitters their existence. To some men this is the one
drop of gall which has made their life bitter to them, the thought that they
should die shades them with raven wings. By the fear of death they are all
their lifetime subject to bondage. Like Uriah, the Hittite, they carry in their
bosom the messagewhich ordains their death, but, unlike him, they know that
it contains the fatal mandate. Like cloth, which feeds the moth which devours
it, their fears and forebodings feed the fatal worm. When their cups are
sweetestthey remember the dregs of death, and when their viands are the
daintiest they think of the black servitor who will clearawaythe feast. They
can enjoy nothing, because the darkness ofdeath’s shade lies across the
landscape, the ghostof death haunts them, the skeletonsits at their table, they
are mournfully familiar with the shroud, the coffin, and the sepulcher, but
they are familiar with these not as with friendly provisions for a goodnight’s
rest, but as the cruel ensigns of a dreaded foe. This makes death an enemy
with emphasis, when our fears enable him thus to spoil our life. When death
rides his pale horse, roughshod, over all terrestrial joys, he makes us feel that
it is a poor thing to live because the thread of life is so soonto be cut, a
miserable thing even to flourish, because we only flourish like the greenherb,
and like the greenherb, are cut down and castinto the oven. Many others
have found death to be their foe, not so much because theythemselves have
been depressedby the thought, but because the greatenemy has made fearful
breaches in their daily comforts. O you mourners! your somber garments tell
me that your family circle has been brokeninto, time after time, by this
ruthless destroyer. The widow has lost her comfort and her stay, the children
have been left desolate andfatherless. O death! you are the cruel enemy of our
hearths and homes. The youthful spirit has losthalf itself when the beloved
one has been rent away, and men have seemedlike maimed souls when the
best half of their hearts has been snatchedfrom them. Hope lookednot forth
at the window because the mourners went about the streets. Joydrank no
more from her crystalcup, for the golden bowl was broken, and the wheelwas
broken at the cistern, and all the daughters of music were brought low. How
often have the unseenarrows of death afflicted our household, and smitten at
our feetthose whom we leastcould spare. The green have been takenas well
as the ripe, death has cut down the father’s hope and the mother’s joy, and
worse than this, he has pitilessly rent awayfrom the house its

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strongestpillar and torn out of the wallthe corner stone. Deathhas no heart
of compassion, his flinty heart feels for none, he spares neither young nor old.
Tears cannotkeepour friends for us, nor canour sighs and prayers reanimate
their dust. He is an enemy indeed, and the very thought of his cruel frauds
upon our love makes us weep. He is an enemy to us in that he has takenaway
from us One who is dearer to us than all others. Deathhas even made a prey
of Him who is immortality and life. On yonder cross beholddeath’s most
dreadful work. Could it not spare Him? Were there not enoughof us? Why
should it smite our David, who was worth ten thousand of us? Did it not
suffice that we, the common men who had been tainted by sin, should fall by a
doom that was justly due to our sin, but must the virgin-born, in whom there
was no sin—the immaculate Savior—must He die? Yes, death’s vengeance
was not satisfiedtill out of his quiver had been drawn the fatal arrow which
should pierce the heart of the Sonof God. Behold He dies! Those eyes that
wept over Jerusalemare glazed in death’s deepestdarkness. Thosehands that
scatteredblessings hang as inanimate clay by that bloodstainedbut lifeless
side. The body must be wrapped in spices and fine linen, and laid within the
silent tomb. Weep, heaven! mourn, earth! for your King is dead, the Prince of
life and glory is a prisoner in the tomb. Death, all-conquering tyrant, you are
an enemy indeed, for you have slain and led our dearestone into your gloomy
cell. We may more fully perceive death’s enmity in our own persons. He is an
enemy to us because very soonhe will bear us awayfrom all our prized
possessions. “These things,” saidone, as he walkedthrough fine gardens and
lookedupon lawns, and parks, and mansions—“these things make it hard to
die.” To leave the fair goods and gains of earth, and to return into the womb
of mother earth as naked as first we came forth from it, to have the crown
takenfrom the head, and the ermine from the shoulder, and to be brought
down to the same level as the poorestbeggarwho slept upon a dunghill, is no

small thing. Dives must be unwrapped of his scarlet, and if he shall find a
tomb he shall be no more honored than Lazarus, though Lazarus should die
unburied. Deathis an enemy to man, because though he may store up his
goods and build his barns and make them greater, yet it is death who says,
“You fool, this night shall your soulbe required of you.” Deathmakes wealth
a dream, it turns misers’ gain to loss, and laughs a hoarse laugh at toiling
slaves who load themselves with yellow dust. When the rich man has made his
fortune, he wins six foot of earth and nothing more and what less has he who
died a pauper? Deathis an enemy to Christians too because it carries them
awayfrom choice society. We have often said— “My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this.”
We love the saints, the people of God are our company, and with our brethren
we walk to His house, who are our familiar companions, and alas, we are to be
takenawayfrom them, nor is this all, we are to be parted from those who are
nearer still, the wife of our bosom and the children of our care. Yes, we must
bid farewellto every loved one, and go our way to the land from which no
traveler returns, banished from the militant host of God and from the happy
homes of men. Deathis an enemy because it breaks up all our enjoyments. No
cheerful peals of Sabbath bells again for us, no going up to the much-loved
sanctuary where the holy hymn has often borne us aloft as on eagle’s wings,
no more listening to the teachings of the Christian ministry, when Boanerges
has arousedus and Barnabas has consoledus, until the desertof our life has
blossomedlike a rose, no mingling in communion around the Master’s table,
no more drinking of the cup and eating of the bread which symbolizes the
Master’s sufferings, at death’s door we bid farewellto all Sabbath enjoyment
and sanctuaryjoys. Oh you enemy, you do compel us to give a long, a last
farewellto all our employments. The earnestand successfulminister must
leave the flock, perhaps to be scatteredor torn by grievous wolves. Justwhen
it seemedas if his life were most necessarythe leader falls, and like a band of
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young recruits who lose the warriorwhose skill had led them on to victory,
they are scatteredwhen he seemednecessaryto make them one, and lead
them on to conquest. She who was training up her children in God’s fear
sleeps in the grave when the children need her most, and he who spoke for
Christ, or who was a pillar in the house of God, who served his day and
generation—he too must fall asleep— no more to feed the hungry, or to clothe
the naked, or to teachthe ignorant, or comfort the feebleminded. He is gone
from the vineyard of the church that needed him to trim the vines, and from
the house of God which needed him as a wise master builder to edify it to
perfection. Who but an enemy could have takenhim awayat such a moment
and from such engagements? He is gone too, dear friends, from all the success
of life, and herein has death been his bitter enemy. He is gone from hearing
the cries of penitent sinners, the true success ofGod’s ministers, gone from
leading pilgrims to the cross, andhearing their songs of joy. Great-hearthas
led many a caravanof pilgrims to the CelestialCity, but now he himself must
cross the Jordan. It little avails him that he has fought with Giant Despairand
brought him to his knees, it avails but little that he slew old Giant Grim, who
would have forced Christiana and the children to go back, hero as he has
been, the floods must still roll over his head, of that black and bitter streamhe
too must drink, and that too very probably when God had honored him most,
and favored him with the prospectof yet greatersuccess. So, brethren and
sisters, it may be with you, when you are most diligent in business, most
fervent in spirit, and serving the Lord with the greatestjoy, when your
sheaves are heavy and you are shouting the Harvest Home, it may be then that
this unwelcome enemy will hastenyou from the field of your triumph to leave
to others the work you loved so well. Nor is this all. This enemy is peculiarly
so to us, because we are accustomedto surround the thought of his coming
with many pains, with many infirmities, and above all, since the decay,
corruption, and utter dissolution of the body is in itself a most terrible thing,
we are alarmed at the prospectof it. The pains and groans and dying strife

drive us back from the grave’s brink, and make us long to linger in our prison
and our clay. We fearto pass through the gate of iron because ofthe grim
porters of pain and sicknesswho sit before the gate. Certainly to some it is
hard work to die. While life is still vigorous it will not yield its dominion
without a struggle, in other caseswhere old age has gradually smoothedthe
pathway, we have known many of our brethren and sisters sleepthemselves
into a better land, and none could tell when they passed the mysterious line
which divides the realm of life from the domain of death. It is not always that
death is escortedby bodily griefs, but so often does he come with clouds and
darkness round about him that men at the first glance conclude from his
hostile array that he is no friend of theirs. He is an enemy, nay, the enemy, the
very worstenemy that our fears could conjure up, for we could fight with
Satanand overcome him, but who canovercome death? We can mastersin
through the precious blood of Jesus, and can be more than a conqueror over
all our fears, but we must bow before the iron specterof this grim tyrant, to
the dust we must descend, and amidst the tombs we all must sleep(unless,
indeed, unless the Lord should speedily come), for it is appointed unto men
once to die. II. Having said enoughupon this topic we shall now take away
the dish of bitter herbs, and bring forth a little salt while we speak upon the
secondpoint, viz., that, though death be an enemy, IT IS THE LAST
ENEMY. I say salt, because it is not altogethersweet, there is a pungency as
well as a savorhere. It is the lastenemy—what if I say it is the dreaded
reserve of the army of hell? When Satan shall have brought up every other
adversary, and all these shall have been overcome through the blood of the
Lamb, then the last, the bodyguard of hell, under the command of the King of
Terrors, the strongest, the fiercest, the most terrible of foes, shallassailus! It
has been the custom of some greatcommanders to keepa body of picked men
in reserve to make the final assault. Justwhen battalion after battalion have
been sweptaway, and the main army reels, just when the victory is almostin
the enemy’s hands, the all but defeatedcommander pours his mightiest
legions upon the foe, uncovers all his batteries and makes one terrible
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and final charge with the old guard that never has been beaten, and never can
surrender, and then perhaps at the lastmoment he snatches triumph from
betweenthe foeman’s teeth. Ah, Christian, the last charge may be the worst
you have ever known, you may find in your lastmoments that you will have
need of all your strength, and more, you will be compelledto cry to the Strong
for strength, you will have to plead for heavenly reinforcements to succoryou
in that last article. Let no man conclude himself at the close ofthe war till he
is within the pearly gates, for, if there be but another five minutes to live,
Satanwill, if possible, avail himself of it. The enemy may come in like a flood
preciselyat that flattering moment when you hoped to dwell in the land
Beulah, and to be lulled to rest by soft strains from the celestialchoirs. It is
not always so, it is not often so, for, “at eventide there shall be light” is usually
the experience ofthe Christian, but it is so sometimes, it has been notably so
with those whose previous life has been very peaceful, a calm day has ended
with a stormy evening, and a bright sun has setamid dark clouds. Some of
those whose candle never went out before have been put to bed in the dark.
The soldiers of the cross have been pursued by the foe up to the city walls, as
if the Lord had saidto His soldier, “There are more laurels yet to win, behold
I give you another opportunity of glorifying My name among My militant
people.” Brethren, if death be the last enemy, I do not think we have to fight
with him now, we have other enemies who claim our valor and our
watchfulness today. We need not be takenup with devising plans of present
defense againstan enemy that does not yet assailus. The present business of
life, the present service ofGod and of His cause are our main concern, and in
attending to these we shall best, as Christians, be found prepared to die. To
live wellis the way to die well. Death is not our first foe but the last, let us then
fight our adversaries in order, and overcome them eachin its turn, hoping
that He who has been with us even until now will be with us until the end.
Notice, dearfriends—for here lies the savor of the thought—it is the last
enemy. Picture in your mind’s eye our brave soldiers at the battle of
Waterloo, for many wearyhours they had been face to face with the foe, the
fight had lastedso long and been so frequently renewedthat they seemedto

have encounteredsuccessive armies, and to have fought a dozen battles,
charge after charge had they borne like walls of stone, imagine then that the
commander is able to announce that they have only to endure one more
onslaught of the foe. How cheerfully do the ranks close!How gallantly are the
squares formed! How firmly their feet are planted! “Now,”they say, “let us
stand like a wall of rock, let no man shrink for a moment, for it is the lastthe
enemy cando. He will do his worst, but soonhe will be able to do no more but
sound to boot and saddle, and leave the field to us.” The last enemy! Soldiers
of Christ, do not the words animate you? Courage, Christian, courage, the
tide must turn after this, it is the highest wave that now dashes overyou,
courage, man, the night must close, you have come to its darkesthour, the day
star already dawns!Now that you are dying you begin to live. The last enemy
conquered! Does it not bring tears to your eyes to think of bearing your last
temptation? Little care we who the foe may be, if he be but conquered and be
but the last, for have we not been perplexed with a successionof enemies? We
have only conquered one foe to find another waiting for us. Our path has been
hitherto from temptation to temptation, from trial to trial, from tribulation to
tribulation. We are growing weary, we cannot forever bear wave upon wave,
grief upon grief, and temptation upon temptation. Like the warrior of old, our
arm grows weary, but our hand (glory be to divine grace!) cleaves to our
sword, we are faint, yet pursuing, but what goodnews when we shall hear that
the presentenemy is the last!Though it is death, we will rejoice! O Christian,
there will be no more poverty to tempt you to murmur, no more losses and
crossesto castyour spirit down, no more inbred sins to mar your devotion,
and to spoil the glory of your faith, no outward temptation, no sinners with
their trifling talk to vex your ears, no blasphemies to torment your soul, no
more aches and pains of body, no more tortures and troubles of spirit! The
dog of hell will be silencedforever, there will be no more Canaanites to drive
out of the land, the race of Amalek shall be
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utterly destroyed. And where will you be? In the land that flows with milk and
honey, in the home of peace and the abode of rapture—
“Farfrom a world of grief and sin, With God, eternally shut in.”
Well may you welcome death! Let him come in his chariot of fire, he bears
you to Elijah’s God! Let him lay hold of the shield and buckler, and frown
upon you like a king of fierce speechand terrible countenance, he carries you
not into captivity, but delivers you out of bondage. At his coming your sky
may be darkened, the thunders may roll, and the solid pillars of your house
may be shaken, but it is the last commotion, and is therefore the tokenof
everlasting rest. Having overcome death, peace is proclaimed, the swordis
sheathed, the banners furled, and you are forevermore than a conqueror
through Him that loved you. III. Having come so far, we may now proceed
another step. Death is an enemy, the last enemy—HE IS AN ENEMYTO BE
DESTROYED. Here I take awaythe salt and bring the milk and honey, for
surely here is much of exquisite sweetnessandof true spiritual food to the
child of God. Deathis the last enemy to be destroyed. The destruction of death
will be perfectly achievedat the resurrection, for then death’s castle, the
tomb, will be demolished, and not so much as one stone left upon another. All
death’s captives must go free, not a bone of the saints shall be kept as a trophy
by the arch foe, not so much as a particle of their dust shall he be able to show
as a spoil which he has been able to preserve. He must disgorge the whole that
he has fed upon, he must pay back all that he has stolen, the prey shall be
takenfrom the mighty, and the lawful captive shall be delivered. From the
land and from the sea, those who were lately dead, and those that centuries
ago had dissolved into dust shall rise. The quickening trumpet shall achieve a
work as great as the creation. The voice of God which said, “Let there be
light” and there was light, shall say, “Let there be life,” and there shall be life,
and, as in the valley of vision, bone shall come to bone, and flesh shall come
upon them, and life shall come into them, and they shall live. The same bodies
shall arise, the same for identity, but not the same for quality! The same, but

oh, how changed!They were the shriveled seedwhen death sowedthem in the
earth, they shall be the fully developedflower when resurrection’s springtime
shall bid them blossomfrom the dust. They were battered and time-worn
when he draggedthem to his den, they shall come forth with the dew of their
youth upon them when Christ shall give them life. Oh the sweetgains of
death! “It is sownin corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” Oh the interest
which we shall win from that archusurer who thought to claim both principal
and interest! “It is sown in weakness,it is raised in power,” it is sown a
natural body, it is raiseda heavenly and spiritual body. O death! you are no
gainerby us, but we shall be mighty gainers by you, for though this poor body
shall become worms’ meat, and through and through and through this mortal
frame decay shall drive its tunnels and make its solemn ways, though back to
dust, eye and arm and hand and brain must molder, yet not lost, nor in any
degree injured, shall the whole fabric be, but as if it were filtered, purified by
the grave, the fair body shall emerge again. The grave shall be to the
believer’s body as the bath of spices in which Estherbathed herselfto make
herself ready to behold the greatKing. Corruption, earth, and worms do but
refine this flesh, and make it pure according to God’s will, until we shall put it
on afresh at His bidding. We throw aside a workdaydress, all torn, and
crumpled and dusty, we are glad to put it off, glad that evening time has come,
and that it is time to undress, but when we awake,we shall find, instead of
that worn-out vesture, a noble change of raiment. The same dress will be
there, but marvelously changed— the greatFuller shall have exercisedHis art
upon it, and made it like the array which Moses andElijah wore on Tabor.
How goodly will our royal robes be, how dressedwith pearls, how stiff with
threads of
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gold, and studs of silver, how fitted for God’s priests and kings, how fit for
those who shall enter the pearly gates, and tread the goldenstreets of the

heavenly Jerusalem, how fit for those that shall walk in the golden light of the
city that has foundations, whose makerand builder is God! Deathis thus to be
destroyedby the resurrection of the body, when our Lord shall descendfrom
heaven with a shout, a resurrectionwhich shall prove to assembledworlds
that to those who are in Christ Jesus, “to die is gain.” But, dear friends,
although this is a greattruth with regard to the future, I desire to conduct
your minds for a few minutes over the road by which Christ has, in effect,
virtually destroyed death already. In the first place, He has takenaway the
shame of death. It was once a shameful thing to die. A man might hold his
head low in the presence ofangels who could not die, for he might remember
with shame that he is the brother of the worm and corruption is his sister. But
now we can talk of death in the presence of archangels andnot be ashamed,
for Jesus died. It is henceforthno degradationfor man to die, to sleepin the
bed where Christ reposed, it is an honor, and angels may almost regretthat
they have not the ability in this respectto be made like unto the angels’Lord.
Oh, Christian, you need not speak ofdeath with bated breath, but rather
rejoice that you have fellowship with Jesus in His tomb, and shall have
fellowship with Him as one of the children of the resurrection. Christ has,
moreover, takenaway the sting of death. The sting of death lay in this, that we
had sinned and were summoned to appear before the God whom we had
offended. This is the sting of death to you, unconverted ones, not that you are
dying, but that after death is the judgment, and that you must stand before
the Judge of quick and dead to receive a sentence for the sins which you have
committed in your body againstHim. This makes it death to die, this hangs
the dying bed with black curtains, and puts out the light of the sick chamber,
the seconddeathmakes death to be death indeed, but—
“If sin be pardon’d I’m secure, Deathhas no sting beside; The law gave sin its
damning power, But Christ, my ransom, died.”
Christmas Evans represents the monster death as being so intent to destroy
our Lord that it drove the dart in its tail right through the Savior, till it stuck

in the cross onthe other side, and the monster has never been able to draw it
out again. Christ on the cross took awaythe sting of death, so that he has no
further powerto hurt the Christian. “The sting of death is sin, and the
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be unto Godwhich gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our divine Lord has taken awayfrom sin its
slavery. The bondage of death arises from man’s fearing to die. Deathhas
fitted fetters upon many a man’s wrists, and fixed an iron collaron his neck,
and driven him with his whip about the world, but Jesus has takenaway the
yoke of death from the necks of His disciples. The Christian is not afraid to
die, he looks forwardto it sometimes with equanimity, and frequently even
with expectation. Hundreds of saints have been able to speak ofdying as
though it were but everyday work, and there have been hundreds more who
have lookedforward to their last day with as much delight as the bride hopes
for the wedding. Was not our song which we sung just now a truthful one?—
“Sweettruth to me! I shall arise, And with these eyes My Savior see.”
It was to some of us at any rate, and we are still desirous to sing it, longing for
that time when our death shall come, and we shall enter into the joy of our
Lord. Moreover, Christ has abolisheddeath by removing its greatestsorrows.
I told you that death snatchedus awayfrom the societyof those we loved on
earth, it is true, but it introduces us into nobler societyby far. We leave the
imperfect church on earth, but we claim membership with the perfect
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church in heaven. The church militant must know us no more, but of the
church triumphant we shall be happy members. We may not see time-
honored men on earth who now serve Christ in the ministry, but we shall see
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the noble army of martyrs, the goodly fellowship
of the prophets, and the glorious company of the apostles. We shallbe no

losers, certainlyin the matter of society, but greatgainers when we are
introduced to the generalassemblyand the church of the Firstborn, whose
names are written in heaven. I said that we should be takenaway from
enjoyments. I spoke ofSabbath bells that would ring no longer, of communion
tables at which we could not sit, and songs of holy mirth in which we could not
join—ah! it is small loss comparedwith the gain unspeakable, forwe shall
hear the bells of heavenring out an unending Sabbath, we shall join the songs
that never have a pause, and which know no discord, we shall sit at the
banqueting table where the King Himself is present, where the symbols and
the signs have vanished because the guests have found the substance, and the
King eternal and immortal is visibly in their presence. Beloved, we leave the
desertto lie down in green pastures, we leave the scantyrills to bathe in the
bottomless river of joy, we leave the wells of Elim for the land which flows
with milk and honey. Did I speak of leaving possessions?Whatare the
possessions? Moth-eatengarments, cankeredgoldand silver, things that rust
consumes and that thieves destroy. But we go to the land where nothing
corrupts or decays, where flowers fade not, and riches take not to themselves
wings to fly away. Loss!Let the word be banished! Death gives us infinitely
more than he takes away. I spoke of death as an enemy because he took us
from sacredemployments. It is so, but does he not usher us into nobler
employments far? To stand before that throne upon the sea ofglass mingled
with fire, to bow within the presence chamber of the King of kings, gazing into
the glory that excels, andto see the King in His beauty, the man that once was
slain, wearing many crowns and arrayed in the vesture of His glory, His
wounds like sparkling jewels still visible above. Oh to castour crowns at His
feet, to lie there and shrink into nothing before the Eternal All, to fly into
Jesu’s bosom, to behold the beauty of His love, and to taste the kissesofHis
mouth, to be in Paradise, swallowedup in unutterable joy because takeninto
the closest, fullest, nearestcommunion with Himself, would not your soul
burst from the body even now to obtain this rapture? Cannotyou say—
“I’d part with all the joys of sense To gaze upon Thy throne, Pleasure springs
fresh forever thence, Unspeakable, unknown.”

If death does but give us a sight of Jesus and makes it our employment forever
to sing His praise, and foreverto learn His character, forevermore to lie in
His bosom, then let death come when he wills, we will scarcelycallhim enemy
again. An enemy destroyedin this case becomes a friend. The sting is taken
awayfrom you, you hornet, and you become a bee to gathersweethoney for
us. The lion is slain, and like Samsonwe go forth to gather handfuls of
sweetness. I shall not tarry longer, though greatly tempted, exceptto say this
one thing more, the fear of death which arises from the prospectof pain and
grief is also takenawayby Christ when He reminds us that He will be with us
in our last moments, He will make the dying bed feelsoft, and in the midst of
the river He will say, “Fearnot, I am with you.” So that in all respects deathis
to be destroyed. IV. Time warns us to clearthe tables and send home the
guests, with the fourth consideration, THAT DEATH IS THE LAST ENEMY
THAT WILL BE DESTROYED. Do not, therefore, give yourself so much
concernif you do not feeldeath to be destroyed in you at present. Supposing
that it does cause you pain and fear, remember that dying grace wouldbe of
no value to you in living moments. Expect that if your faith is not faith enough
to die with, yet if it be faith as a
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grain of mustard seedit will grow, and growing, it will, into a more developed
state enable you to die triumphantly when dying time comes. WhenI looked
at the Book ofMartyrs and noticed the fearful pictures of Saints in their dying
agonies, Iaskedmyself, “Could I bear all that for Christ?” and I was
compelled to say, “No, I know I could not as I now am.” But suppose I were
calledto martyrdom should I bear it? and I thought I could say without
presumption I could, for Christ would give me grace whengrace was needed.
Now, death is to be destroyed, but not till the last. You have many enemies

who are not destroyed, yet you have inbred sins unslain. Look wellto them.
Until they are all gone you must not expect death to be destroyed, for he is the
last to die. So then, friend, let me whisper in your ear, expectto lose your dear
ones still, for death is not destroyed. Look not upon any of your friends as
though they would be with you tomorrow, for death is not destroyedyet. See
the word “mortal” written upon all our brows. The most unlikely ones die
first. When I heard during this week of severalcases ofdear friends who have
gone to their reward, I could have soonerbelieved it had been others, but God
has been pleasedto take from us and from our congregationmany whom we
supposedto be what are calledgoodlives, and they were goodlives in the best
sense, and that is why the Mastertook them, they were ripe, and He took
them home, but we could not see that. Now, remember that all your friends,
your wife, your husband, your child, your kinsfolk, are all mortal. That makes
you sad. Well, it may prevent your being more sad when they are taken away.
Hold them with a loose hand, do not count that to be freehold which you have
only receivedas a leasehold, do not call that yours which is only lent you, for if
you geta thing lent to you and it is askedfor back, you give it back freely, but
if you entertain the notion that it was given to you, you do not like to yield it
up. Now, remember, the enemy is not destroyed, and that he will make
inroads into our family circle still. And then remember that you too must die.
Bring yourself frequently face to face with this truth that you must die. Do not
forgetit, Christian friend. No man knows whether his faith is goodfor
anything or not if he does not frequently try that faith by bringing himself
right to the edge of the grave. Picture yourself dying, conceive yourself
breathing out your last breath, and see whetherthen you can look at death
without quaking, whether you can feel, “Yes, I have restedupon Jesus, Iam
saved, I will go through death’s tremendous vale with His presence as my stay,
fearing no evil.” If you have no goodhope, may God give you grace at this
moment to fly to Jesus, and to trust in Him, and when you have trusted in
Him death will be to you a destroyed enemy. May God grant His blessing for
Jesus’sake.Amen.

He Must Reign
EasterSunday
Resource by John Piper
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:20–28 Topic: The Supremacy of Christ
"Closed"
One of the most heart-wrenching words in human language is the word
"closed."You plan for days to take the family to the zoo. The kids are all
excited. Dad has takentime off. Mom has a speciallunch packed. You drive
half an hour. And the sign at the gate says, "Closed."
Just like the proverb says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (13:12).
You're 11 years old. It's summertime, and the little league baseballteams are
starting to practice. "Mommy, can I play baseballthis year?" You geta new
glove. Daddy pitches with you in the back yard. You practice with the team
for two weeks. Butthere are too many players, and some have to be cut. The
rosteris read by the coachone afternoon and you're not on it. The coachsays
they will plan to have two teams next year. And you cry all the wayhome.
Closed.
Perhaps you dream from the time you are 13 about the one you will marry,
about the thrill of falling in love, the beauty of the wedding day, the utter
release andpeace of being held by someone who loves you above all others,
and the door closes againand again.

Or perhaps you come to your mid-40s and step back and take stock ofyour
life and what you hope to accomplish. You decide to staywith the firm and
give it your best shot. And in five years, after hundreds of late nights and long
weekends andworking vacations, you're passedoverfor the promotion and
the door closesonthe dream of your career.
Or perhaps all your careerdoors are open, and all the doors of your
relationships are open, and you have made every team you evertried out for,
and now the doctor says that you have cancer, or AIDS. And all the doors
start to close.
Or worst of all, perhaps you have made it to the top in your career;perhaps
you have had the relationship of your dreams; perhaps you have been healthy
every day of your life—one open door after the other. But the journey
through all these doors has been a journey without Jesus Christ. And now you
have died and stand before the door of heaven and it is closed. And you cry
out, "Lord, Lord, open to me!" But he replies, "Truly, I say to you, I do not
know you."
It is a heart-breaking word, both in this life and the next—CLOSED.
OPEN
Now the point of Easterand the resurrectionof Jesus from the dead is that
God is in the process ofclearing this world of all heartbreak. And the opening
of the closedtomb of Jesus is the first step in a campaign to throw open ten
million doors of hope for people who will trust him.
The phrase that I want you to focus on in our text this morning is in 1
Corinthians 15:25, "He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his
feet." Jesus must reign. And I want us to ponder togetherfour things about
this reign, all of them under the heading of OPEN—the opposite of closed—
OPEN. In factwhat I see in this text even spells O. P. E. N.
O - the Opening of the reign of Christ.
P - the Presenceofthe reign of Christ.

E - the Extent of the reign of Christ.
N - the Necessityof the reign of Christ.
I want us to take the word OPEN this morning and write it large over the
doors of disappointment. Not that the risen, reigning Christ will make you a
first-string baseballplayer, or give you your dream spouse, or your career
advancement, or perfect health; but that he will turn the closeddoorof
disappointment into a vestibule of glory.
There is a hidden door of hope in the waiting room of faith.
I want you this morning from the bottom of your heart, by an act of faith, no
matter how dark the room, to write the word Open on the wall beside every
closeddoorin your life.
Picture the disciples behind the lockeddoorof fear on that EasterSunday
morning. It says in John 20:19, "On the evening of that day, the first day of
the week, the doors being CLOSED where the disciples were, for fear of the
Jews, Jesuscame and stoodamong them and saidto them, 'Peace be with
you.'"
Surely the implication of this Easterstory for our lives today is this: when the
door of hope has been closed, and we are lockedin the dark room of our fear
and cansee no exit for us and no entrance for God, the risen, reigning Christ
is not limited to human doors. What is impossible with men is possible with
God. The door was shut. And Jesus was suddenly in the midst.
There is a hidden door of hope in the waiting room of faith. Therefore, I urge
you this morning to write in capital letters over every closeddoor in your life
OPEN.
And then be like the psalmist in Psalm130,
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word do I hope;
my soulwaits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
And the waiting of faith will be rewarded. The greatword of the resurrection
is OPEN!BecauseJesusChrist "must reign until he has put all his enemies
under his feet." And if you trust him, your enemies are his enemies, and no
door of disappointment will be able to close youup in darkness.
So let me help you write it now with big letters.
1. "O" - The OPENING ofthe Reignof Christ
Was the Sonof Godreigning overthe world before he took on human flesh
and was born of a virgin and lived among us as Jesus of Nazareth?
Christ Has Always Reignedin One Sense
Yes he was. John (1:1–2)tells us that he was in the beginning with the Father
and that all things were made through him and without him was not anything
made that was made. And Hebrews (1:1–3) tells us that the world was created
through him and that he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Now it makes no sense to say that a personcreatedthe universe and upholds it
by the word of his power, but that this person has no kingly right or might
over it. And so we must say that Christ has always reignedover the world in
one sense. So was the opening of his reign at the beginning of creationor at his
resurrectionfrom the dead?
The ResurrectionIntroduces Three New Elements
There are at leastthree things new about the reign of Christ since the
resurrectionand exaltationof Christ:
Since the resurrectionChrist is now the God-man. He has taken humanity
onto himself which he never had before, and now he rules not merely as Son
of God, but also Son of Man.

As the God-man he has now been openly declaredto be the Messiah, the
Christ, who will fulfill all the promises of God and will sit on the throne of his
father David as a legalheir. Before the incarnation Christ was King over the
world incognito as it were. And during his 33 earthly years he was still
incognito, exceptfor a few who had eyes to see. But now he is openly declared
to all the world as Christ and Lord, which means Messiahand King. It is no
secretnow. Jesus is Lord!
And the third thing that is different about his reign now is that it is basedon
his finished work of redemption for the forgiveness ofsins on the cross. Which
means that in this age the word of the King is the word of the cross. His reign
is primarily a saving reign. Judgment is delayed. The King reigns in a day of
grace.
So in a very realsense the reign of Jesus, the God-man, the Messiah, the Lord
beganat his resurrection, or more exactly, at his exaltationto the Father's
right hand 40 days after the resurrection. This was the public inauguration, as
it were, of one who came from a throne of glory, took on human flesh, died for
human sinners, conquered death, and ascendedback to that throne with a
human nature and with a sealedcovenantthat his people are redeemed.
Peterput it like this in that first Pentecostsermon, "This Jesus Godraisedup
and of that we are all witnesses . . . Let all the house of Israelknow therefore
assuredlythat God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whomyou
crucified" (Acts 2:32, 36).
This is the "O" over the door of disappointment this morning. The OPENING
of the reign of Christ was his resurrectionfrom the dead. What could be more
hopeful behind the closeddoors of disappointment than that the reign of
Christ openedwith an open grave?
Now write "P."
2. "P" - the PRESENCE ofthe Reignof Christ

There are a lot of people I think who have the idea that the reign of Christ
over the world will begin when he returns and puts all his enemies under his
feet. But our text (1 Corinthians 15:25)says almost the exactopposite. "He
must reign UNTIL he has put all his enemies under his feet."
Two Things Meantby "Until"
What does that little word "until" mean? It means two things.
First, it means that Christ is reigning NOW!He rose from the dead, ascended
to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1). His
kingdom does not begin at the secondcoming. When Christ comes again,
there will be a thunderclap of greatvictory in his reign over evil. You cansee
it in verse 23—athis coming those who belong to Christ will be raisedfrom
the dead. But that thunderclap of victory will not be the beginning of his
reign. His reign is underway now.
The other thing that the word "until" means is that Christ's kingly warfare
againsthis enemies is going on right now. In other words his reign is not
passive. If a footballplayer gets injured and the coachwants to take him out
of the game, but he says, "No, I am playing until we win," you know two
things: you know that he is playing now, and that he is playing to win.
So when Paul says Jesus must reign until he has put all his enemies under his
feet, you know two things: he is reigning now, and he is reigning to win.
Isn't this what Jesus saidin Matthew 28:18? "All authority in heaven and on
earth as been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." In
other words, I am the rightful King over all the peoples of the earth. I have
triumphed over the devil and the powers of darkness onthe cross (Colossians
2:15). Now you are my ambassadors. Go and call people everywhere to turn
from sin and to acceptme as King.
The reign of Jesus Christ is present, not just future and not just distant. And
his aim is to defeathis enemies and put them under his feet. If the enemies of
your happiness are the enemies of Christ, then you cantake heart that Christ
will fight for you with all his kingly power. He is moving in the world, in his
own way and in his own time, to subdue his enemies.

What the Scoffers Forget
There will always be people who scoffas they did to Peter(2 Peter3:3–7) and
say, "If Jesus can'tdefeat his enemies and establishhis kingdom in 2,000
years, then he can't ever do it, and the whole thing is probably one big myth."
But they forgetthat with the Lord a thousand years is as one day.
And they forgetthat God's battle strategiesare not our battle strategies
(remember Gideon!).
And they forgetthat his timing is not our timing (remember the 400 years in
Egypt because the sins of the Amorites were not yet completed, Genesis
15:16).
And they forgetthat the Fatherhas fixed the times and seasons by his own
authority (Acts 1:7), and that Jerusalemwill be trodden down until the times
of the Gentiles are complete (Luke 21:24).
O let us believe Godrather than exalt our opinions againsthim. Christ is
reigning now. Notjust in the past. Not just in the future. That is the "P" over
the door of disappointment this morning.
Now write "E."
3. "E" - the EXTENT of the Reign of Christ
"O" for the opening of the reign of Christ at the resurrection. "P" for the
presence ofhis reign here and now to defeathis enemies. And "E" for the
extent of that reign to every whiff of opposition in the universe. How far does
the reign of Christ extend?
Verse 25 says, "He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet."
The word ALL tells us the extent. So does the word EVERY in verse 24:
"Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after
destroying every rule and every authority and power."

There is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no
weakness,no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no
jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ does not aim to
overcome as the enemy of his honor. And the encouragementin that is that
when you setyourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your
holiness, you will not fight alone.
Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet. Every
rule and every authority and every power will be conquered. So when you
write "E" over the door of your disappointment, remember that the EXTENT
of Christ's reign reaches to the smallestand biggestenemy of his glory. It will
be defeated.
And finally write "N."
4. "N" - The NECESSITYofthe Reignof Christ
The reign of Christ OPENS with his resurrection.
It is PRESENThere and now to defeatour enemies.
Its extent is universal over every enemy of his glory and all opposition to his
will.
And its NECESSITYis rootedin the absolute right of God the Father to be
the one where all glory terminates.
Notice in our text (v. 25) the word "must." "He must reign until he has put all
his enemies under his feet." Why must he? Where does this necessitycome
from? Verse 27 says it comes from God the Father. "ForGod has put all
things in subjectionunder his feet."
And what is the Father's goalin subjecting all things to Christ? First, that the
Son use his authority to redeema people for himself from every tribe and
tongue and nation. Second, that he defeat the enemies of God. And finally,
that he draw all attention—allglory—back to the Father.
"Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 1:11). "The city will have

no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and
its lamp is the Lamb" (Revelation21:23).
Write Christ's Reign Over Every ClosedDoor
And so I urge you this morning write the reign of Christ over every closed
door in your life. OPEN!
Opened at the resurrection.
Presentin power here and now.
Extending over every enemy of his glory and of our joy.
And as necessaryas the all pervasive deity of God.
The lastenemy defeated, the victory won, the church redeemed, and the Lord
Jesus himself, exaltedin majesty, turns to the Father and bows his head. And
then comes the end—and the beginning!—when God the Father is the final
focus of all praise and blessing and honor and glory forever and ever. Amen
EXPOSITION OF I CORINTHIANS p. 207
Message#67 I Corinthians 15:20-28
Understanding the resurrectionof Jesus Christ is THE central keyto
understanding the whole doctrine of the resurrection.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST GUARANTEES A
WONDERFULCONCLUSION FOR GOD’S PEOPLE AND FOR GOD’S
PROGRAM .
We may recallthat in verses 12-19, Paulsetforth the theologicalramification
“if” Christ were still dead. In verses 20-28,Paulsets forth the theological
ramifications since Christ has resurrectedlife.
ACCOMPLISHMENT #1 – Christ’s resurrectionguarantees a resurrection
for God’s people . 15:20-22
The “first fruit” offering was the first offering of the harvest setapart to God
as a way of saying thanks for His provisions and as an expectationof His
future blessings. The “first fruit” offering guaranteedGod’s future blessings
and protection(i.e. Ex. 34:22-24).
The idea behind “those who are asleep” is the idea of those who have died.
Reason#1 - Christ was raisedbecause ofthe work of one man. 15:21
Adam brought death into this world because ofhis sin (Gen. 3:19).
Just as death is in the world by one man, so also one man brought the
resurrectioninto this world.
Reason#2 - Christ was raisedbecause ofthe effect on all men. 15:22

We have all inherited a sin nature and the death penalty from Adam. It is
very important to observe that the words “all die” are presenttense, meaning
all who are in Adam are continually dead before God.
Paul wrote in Rom. 5:12: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into
the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all
sinned.”
But notice carefully the promise of the verse those “in Christ” shall “all” be
made alive. Anyone who is in Christ is guaranteedto be raisedfrom the
dead.
How then does one go from being a condemned sinner, who is promised death,
to being an uncondemned believer who is promised life? One must be “in
Christ.”
p. 208
How does one get“in Christ”? The answeris found in Colossians 2:6, by
receiving Jesus Christ. When you receive Jesus Christ, you are made
complete “in Christ” (Col. 2:10) and you are “made alive” unto God and “all”
your transgressions and sins are forgiven (Col. 2:13).
ACCOMPLISHMENT #2 – Christ’s resurrectionguarantees a resurrectionin
God’s order . 15:23

1) Resurrectionof N.T. believers at the Rapture. I Thess. 4:13-18
2) Resurrectionof O.T. believers after the Tribulation. Dan. 12:2
3) Resurrectionof Tribulation martyrs after the Tribulation. Rev. 20:4-5
4) Resurrectionof all unbelievers after the millennium. Rev. 20:5, 13
Now we may carefully notice the chronology: first Christ is raisedand that
opens the door for the other resurrections. Eachresurrectioncomes in order
and eachcomes in connectionwith the coming of Christ.
If we compare what Paul writes here with what he writes in I Thess. 4:12-18,
we can legitimately call this the “in Christ” resurrection. This particular
resurrectionis to occurwhen Christ returns to meet His people in the air at
the Rapture.
ACCOMPLISHMENT #3 – Christ’s resurrectionguarantees a completion to
God’s program . 15:24-28
Work #1 - The resurrectedChrist will deliver the kingdom of God. 15:24a
The word “deliver” is one that means to hand over, to give, to present.

One of the things Jesus Christ will do is He will hand over the kingdom to
God the Father.
Work #2 - The resurrectedChrist will put down all power. 15:24b-25
The “rule and authority” being discussedhere is that which is againstGod.
Jesus Christ will eventually trample down all powerthat is againstGod. He
will stamp out all rebellion.
Work #3 - The resurrectedChrist will destroy death. 15:26
The lastenemy Christ will destroy will be death. Deathis still operative
during the kingdom reign; however, the Bible is clear that once the Great
White Throne Judgment has occurred, death shall be destroyed (Rev. 20:13-
15; 21:4).
p. 209
Work #4 - The resurrectedChrist will be divinely honored. 15:27
That word “excepted” is one that suggestsit will be evident that Jesus Christ
is “out of” God, that is He is a distinct Personofthe Godheadwho was
carrying out the righteous work of God.

Eventually every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11).
Work #5 - The resurrectedChrist will be eternally submissive. 15:28
God is glorified when a person submits his will to God’s will. Ultimately, all
things will glorify God for all things will be completely submitted to God.
God desires that people submit to Him, not only because it glorifies Him, but
also because it is best for them.
Jesus Christ will eventually bring to fruition this entire program of God. The
historicalevent that proves this is His resurrection. Will you submit your will
to His today?
https://media-cloud.sermonaudio.com/text/13009926572.pdf

Jesus was to reign until victory was complete

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