Subject One Hundred Sixty-three

THE STING OF DEATH

Scripture: 1 Cor. 15:55-56

1. The fearfulness of death
   1. The most fearsome word in the dictionary is “death.”
   2. The most frightening sound is the sound of the word “death.”
   3. Death is the most frightful thing in a man’s life. Who is not afraid of death?
2. The power of death
   1. There is no power among men that is greater than the power of death.
   2. No one can reject the visitation of death.
   3. The fact that no one is spared from death speaks of the powerfulness of death.
3. The sting of death
   1. Death possesses man not directly, but in an indirect way.
   2. Death possesses man through sin. Sin is the sting of death. Everyone who fishes knows that one fishes with a hook. Once the fish is hooked, it is caught. Just as man fishes by using a hook, so death possesses man by sin.
   3. Sin is the sting because it is poisonous. Once sin poisons man, it possesses him. The result of sin is death. Because sin is poisonous, it deadens.
4. How to be spared from death
   1. One needs to be freed from sin in order to be spared from death.
   2. To be freed from sin one must first believe in the Lord. On one hand the Lord died and shed His blood that we might be spared from the punishment of sin. On the other hand, He resurrected that we might be delivered from the power of sin.