I want to tell you something now, and this, Lord, will enable us to what you will find in the portion of Scripture read. Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy. Chapter one, and you can read verse ten of the chapter, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death. and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Especially these words, who have abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. We have these words in a context in which the apostle Paul is exhorting Timothy, his own son, in the faith, to be not ashamed of the testament of his Lord. In other words, not to be ashamed of the gospel. of who Christ is, of preaching who Christ is, and what he is, and what he has done, and what he will do as well. And not to be ashamed of him, as the Apostle Paul himself is a prisoner. He was a prisoner for preaching the gospel of Christ. He was a prisoner for being faithful to the testimony of his Lord. A prisoner. And when he wrote this epistle to Timothy, he was coming to the end of his ministry. He wrote it implicit, and he was coming to the end of his ministry, and Timothy was at the threshold, on the threshold of his. And what does he have to say to him? Well, he had to say this to him. Be thou, he said, a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. Be thou a partaker. I've been a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. Be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. And don't succumb to a slavish fear of our temerity. For we have received, he says to Timothy, not the spirit of fear but the spirit of power and of love and of a souled mind. Just think of these few thoughts and all that is touching what we have in the context of this chapter itself. Then for a short while we shall endeavor to consider the words that I've said before, you see, in the hope and with the prayer that they would be blessed to us. What a blessing that would be to you and to me, you see, if these words would be blessed to us. who has abolished death and has brought life into mortality to light through the gospel. There are four things here that we could look at. There is first of all the word gospel. The word gospel and of course what goes before that. The blessings that go with all that, the abolition of death and life and the mortality. It's the gospel that has brought them and brings them to life. So we begin with a few thoughts on the word gospel itself. Well, we all know that the word gospel, that it means good news. and glad tidings, and surely what we have here, for the better they are positive, for the better there is good news. Glad tidings, the greatest news that one has ever heard. That's what we have in these words. So the word gospel implies, of course, the insatiable riches of Christ. The insatiable riches of the glory of Christ's power. Who can fathom that riches? And the insatiable riches of Christ's office as a mediator. He is the mediator of the covenant of grace, And the only mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, all the insatiable riches of his office, in that respect. And his insatiable riches of his office as a priest and as a prophet and as a king, opposes that he executed in its state of humiliation, and that disturbed executes in its state of exaltation. And the indestructible riches of the blessings that Christ purchased and that the rock of truth freely will open him, whether Christ, in the gospel, to his immediate sin to death, even that of the cross. For Christ, of him crucified, is the substance, is the life, is the sum of the gospel. What a world of the gospel, and what a blessing it is that You have neither heard of it, but we still hear of this gospel in its purity, without fear and without failing. And then, but now it will still be manifest by their purity, we'll see that we are not bothered. That's why death has been abolished. And if we look at that, and we look at who abolished death, and we can look at how he abolished death, and we can look at for whom did he abolish death. Paul says, who abolished death. Well, there's one death that he didn't abolish. I don't need to tell you that, but you'll know. Now it's about death. Here's the problem. Because people are dying. We're fearing of death every day. No one stays here. Everyone's going to die. And as Paul said to the Hebrews, it is appointed to man. Once to none. And after that the church went. That's an appointment that we'll have to make then, that will come on this year, every one of us. It's an appointment to make, and after that the judgment. We all have an appointment to death, and we're going to die. Do you ever give it a thought that you're going to die? But if you haven't started, do you notice about time that you have to give it a serious thought that one day you're going to die. Your soul is going to leave the body. So that's not the death that the apostle St. Timothy talked about as abolished. Not at all. And not death. What death did he have in mind that he was abolished? It was a death that is spiritual. A spiritual death. Death that can become eternal death. In the lives and experiences of men and women. That's a death that has been abolished. And that death, that is spiritual, and that will become eternal, implies the wrath and the curse, that the sin of our native birth and despair in this life and in that which is to come. And what does every sin deserve? That's what the short of God is. What a commendable truth the short of God is. Let us not neglect it. Every sin, no sin excepted, every sin deserves God's wrath and curse in this life and in that which is to come. That is the death that we are facing. Yes, and to rise, the guilt of Father's first sin, yes. And what that sin is forced is to, it's forced us to, all the miseries of this life, to surrender ourselves to the pains of hell forever. That's the death of the spirit body. And I can say this about this death too. It was a death that was threatened to begin with. And the threat of that death that was to begin with became the judgment of the sinner. And when we go with that threat, we must go to the God of Eden. When God created man, he created him in his own image, in knowledge, whiteness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. And he placed him in the garden of Eden, to keep it and to dress it. What a garden it must have been. Milton, you know, in his books, He referred to it as paradise lost. And he gave Adam the liberty and the fruit of every tree that was in that garden, with the exception of one, and that one tree was the tree of knowledge, of good and evil. And God said to Adam, He said to him that day, the weight is thereof, thou shalt consume death. The covenant of once was broken. Yes. Adam, head of the covenant, exposed every single individual that came from by ordinary generation to the guilt and impurity to them and exposed them. You have been, and everyone else, to all the missions of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever. For that's the death that we have been, the death that God threatened, and the death that God pronounced the threat as a judgment upon sin. spiritual death. He has exposed himself to eternal death. It's amazing. The day thou meetest love thou shalt surely die. We all know what the word says about the wages of sin. What are the wages? The wages of sin is death. But God's Word doesn't stop there. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then when does God carry out this judgment in a measure? Well, when a sinner dies without Christ. If you're a sinner here tonight, without Christ, and if you continue that life when your soul leaves your body, That's all the use goes to God. They let God to give it and God cast it into a lost eternity. And it appears again on the morning of his resurrection that the churchmen see the Christ showered on them by their body and Christ will say to those who are souls who have died without believing, depart from me ye workers of iniquity for I never knew you. Who abolished it? Well Paul tells us very clearly who abolished it. But he doesn't say these words, but those with manifest, by the appearance of serious Jesus Christ, this was something that was brought in God's hand, God's wind from all its ends, but it was a hint, hint, until the fullness of time, until Christ came, and then it came to an end. Who abolished death? There was only one man, one who could abolish death. And that was this death, the sin of God. The sin of God. Only Only Christ, the Son of God, in old age, with every sin, could abolish this death. He, only He, could do it, as He did it at the price. And what was that price? The price of His life. Nothing less, and nothing more. The Son of God giving of His life. soul and body. Yes, it's giving us for a given life, as I've asked for this. He abolished death. He destroyed death. How does he do it? How does he do it? By assuming other natures without sin. In union with his divine nature, in his passion, in the womb of the Virgin Mary. No wonder Paul says, if I say it again, It is greatly said to the mystery of God that God was manifested in the flesh. Yes, that is how he destroyed death. That's only part of it. There are no more steps to it. by identifying himself in that nature that he assumed to himself through my teaching and then the wisdom of union and its glorious value. Yes. Nothing less we do. And identifies himself with sin. With sin. How did he identify himself with those sins? He identified himself with the guilt of those sins, with the condemnation of those sins, and with the chastisement of those sins. with the wrathful curse of God that their sins deserve and nothing to do. That's how he abolished death. And there were pledges he did it, so he guaranteed it. No one died on his own. One would say that the birds of the air have nests, He said to himself, he knew it, he knew it, in his whole experience. The birds of the air, he said to Ignatius, the foxes of wolves, but the sin of man has nowhere to place it. Yes, of course, the other step was his obedience. He performed to the law by rendering perfect obedience to the law and obedience that was him to tell even after the cross. When he said, don't punish me, it is punished. It is punished. He made it a scripture for transgression. Yes, he made a toll for sin once and for all. That's how he abolished death. And that's why the believers can say, that's why the believers can say, and that's the blessing that is offered to you and to me in the Word of God as in the Gospel. Christ, the Christian, Paul says it himself, writing to the Galatians, Christ, he said, has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How? They made a curse on us. Redemption that was purchased by Christ. At the price of his life, at the price of his blight, free reality in the gospel. And not only redemption, but freedom. Do you remember how Christ said that to his disciples too? And he knew it better than they that they stated. Who knew it better than he did? If the Son is yet to have made you free, you are free indeed. You know the meaning of what he was saying from your experience. You couldn't be free. God made you free. You couldn't be free. You are free indeed. Free from the guilt, from the condemnation, from the just deserts of your sins. Who destroyed death? Who destroyed death? Nobody destroyed death. He made atonement for sin. He satisfied divine justice. Otherwise, the sinner could never be reconciled to God. He took the sting out of natural death for the believer. You remember what Paul said again to the Romans, to the Corinthians, when he speaks about the resurrection in chapter 13, a great chapter of God's Word. Just listen to what he says. In verse 53 and 54 and 55, he's speaking a Christian to believers. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. Then he shall be brought to pass to say, But good death is one to be victor. Then he says, O death, where is thy sting? Not to be found, O grave, where is thy victory? Not to be found. The sting of death is sin, and the stance of sin is of the law, who abolished death. Let me make sure that's very clear. But it's now been published by the imperial saviour, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death. What a blessing that the search of David was abolished. And then, there's a blessing, the opposite of death, as life. Life. The opposite of death. On the one hand, he destroyed death, and on the other, he brought life. What a life! A life that is spiritual. And a life that is eternal. He destroyed death. And so the world puts it this way. He destroyed death. Who? The Lord Jesus Christ. And brought life where that capital left. And all that was ever seen. He brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. Yes, the word gospel, through the gospel. Now look at what Christ himself, during his conflict, he said about this life. It was the life, I have come, he said to his disciples, that he might have life, and that he might have more abundance. And he said more than that, he said this, he said this, I am the resurrection and the life. And not only that, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes into the Father but by me. He said much about this life. He would expect to fool you because he knew more about it than anyone else. He purchased and produced this life. by subjugating it unto death, even that of the cross. Yes. It's the resurrection, isn't it? And you remember what he said to the Jews? What did he say to the Jews? He said this to the Jews. He said this to them. You will not come to me, that you might have life, that you might have life. And I'm speaking to you here tonight, to you here tonight, and you will not come to Him. And why? Should you come to Him? So that you have this life. But however you come to Him, by believing Him, it's the only way that I receive you by faith. Rest ye upon the Lord for salvation. And isn't this one of the ends for which God loved the world? That sinners, like yourself and myself, which are alive. It was John, the apostle of life, who said, for God, he said, so loved the world. Jews and Gentiles. It wasn't the nation of Israel. But listen to it. Isn't the word of God wonderful? For God, He said, so loved the world, He said, that He gave His only begotten Son. Why? That was where our beliefs live. Should not perish, but have everlasting life. And if you don't believe in Him, as sure as you're sitting there, you will perish forever. You'll go to a lost eternity. Go to a lost eternity. What a privilege that you have, that you've heard the Gospel, and that Christ has freely offered it to you without knowing. And then there's immortality. The immortality is a blessing on the one hand. If you're a believer, and if you pass a believer, what a blessing immortality is. And on the other hand, if you're not a believer, and if you die in, you're in belief. The soul is immortal, but the body is mortal, but the body of believers and true believers, they become immortal. But the past comes again. But the body of the believer will be raised from the dead. The soul will be united to the body, and the body and the soul will be eternal again. Christ will acknowledge the believers when He comes again on the Day of Judgment and acquit them, openly acknowledge them and acquit them and make them perfectly blessed. You can follow me. Make them perfectly blessed in the holy joy of God to all eternity. I often think of eternity. We're so ignorant of time, every one of us. What of eternity, where there's no time? And not only that, the body of the believer and soul of the believer will be like Christ. That was Paul's chance hope, yes, and apostle's hope. doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, or we shall see him as he is. How John, how he felt when he read these words. He will remember how they saw what the world was, and how they saw what he suffered. before the cross and on the cross, that we shall see Him then, they said, as He is, and be eternally like Him. That's just a few thoughts. soul and body of the believer. He brought life and immortality to life, to the possible. But what about the unbeliever? That would be a blessing for the believer. The unbeliever, well, that thought went into my mind today, the believer when he dies, his body is united to Christ and to the morning of the resurrection. But what of the believer? We are not told that he is united to the body, but he must be. He is united, the body of the believer is united to his sins, and their guilt, and their condemnation, and the wrath, and the curse that is his hair and nails. to come to fruition on the day of judgment. But that's all in thought. How can I preach such to people I don't yet adhere? Oh, I don't yet adhere. That you don't yet adhere over your family, over my family, over the group, over the congregation. But you see, What immortality is going to apply to the unbeliever? Yes, his state of condition is likely to abort a misfit. Yes. An age of lies where the ties will not be quenched. and owner of death, the descriptions of death, owner of death, a bottomless pit, a lake of fire. Yes. Immortality will be a curse to the unbeliever as he dies. Should that give you a thought, Don't think that I'm saying this before you to frighten you. Don't think of it. I'm just saying this before you to try, in my own innumerable years, to bring before you what the Word of God brings before us so clearly as it is. So clearly as it is. that is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life unto mortality through the gospel. Now what does Paul say to the Colossians, just going back to the immortality of the believers? to the local port sector and to the cross hills. What did he say to them? He said this to them, along with many others, when Christ is dead, who is alive shall appear. We can also appear with Him in glory. And the mortality for souls and bodies That's the belief of prospect, and what a prospect it is. And those of you who haven't believed, what do I have to say to you when you do not believe in Christ Jesus, who is passing by in the Gospel, and is clearly not without money and without The one who said, whosoever will come unto me, I will in all wise cast out. But at the same time he said, he that is taught of the Father will come unto me, and whosoever will, I will in all wise cast out. You may think that when people have been like that, when they've been convicted of the sins, and lost this, that there's no hope for them. I think there's every hope for you, when you've completed off your sin and lost it, yes, if you come to Christ. I, he said, if I lift it up, will draw all men back to me. So I'm going to leave you with these few words, and these few thoughts, and with the text in between. but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, has sinned once and for all, and has brought life and immortality to life through the Gospel. We have these words from the lips of the Gospel, but wholly through the grasp of what treasure that is hidden in this world and locked up in that one word, gospel. That's right.