TRUTH for Overcoming

TRUTH for Overcoming Romans 12:21, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This message from Pastor Chris Wallace on Sunday, May 31, 2026 can be summarized under one central truth:“Turn Unto Me, ...
05/31/2026

This message from Pastor Chris Wallace on Sunday, May 31, 2026 can be summarized under one central truth:

“Turn Unto Me, and I Will Turn Unto You”

Zechariah 1:1-6; Haggai 2:10-19

Main Theme

God’s chastening of His people is never intended to destroy them but to restore them. When God’s people drift away, He lovingly calls them back to Himself. If they return, He promises mercy, fellowship, and blessing.

Key Text:

Zechariah 1:3 (KJV)

“Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.”

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Historical Background

The message begins by connecting the ministries of Haggai and Zechariah.

The Setting

* Judah had spent seventy years in Babylonian captivity.
* Jerusalem had been destroyed.
* The Temple had been destroyed.
* God had disciplined His people because of persistent disobedience.

After the decree of the Persian kings, a remnant returned.

They:

* Began rebuilding the Temple.
* Faced opposition.
* Became discouraged.
* Turned their attention toward their own houses and interests.

God therefore raised up Haggai and Zechariah to call them back to His priorities.

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I. God’s Discipline Has a Purpose

Zechariah 1:2

“The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.”

The captivity was not accidental.

God had repeatedly warned them through the prophets.

When they refused to listen:

* Judgment came.
* Captivity came.
* Jerusalem fell.

Yet even in judgment, God’s purpose was restoration.

Application

God still disciplines His children today.

Hebrews 12 teaches:

“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”

Discipline is evidence of sonship, not rejection.

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II. God’s Great Invitation

Zechariah 1:3

“Turn ye unto me… and I will turn unto you.”

This is one of the great invitations of Scripture.

Pastor Wallace emphasized that the Lord’s heart had never changed toward His people.

He had not abandoned them.

He was waiting for them to return.

New Testament Parallel

James 4:8

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

God’s ways are consistent throughout Scripture.

The same God who spoke through Zechariah speaks through James.

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III. The Prodigal Son as an Illustration

One of the strongest applications in the message was the comparison to the Prodigal Son.

The son:

* Wandered away.
* Lived foolishly.
* Wasted his inheritance.

Yet when he turned homeward:

* The father was watching.
* The father ran.
* The father embraced him.

Pastor Wallace noted:

This is one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of God’s eagerness to restore His people.

The father did not wait with a rod.

He ran with open arms.

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IV. Learn from the Previous Generation

Zechariah 1:4

“Be ye not as your fathers.”

The previous generation heard the prophets but refused to listen.

God’s warning was simple:

Do not repeat their mistakes.

Application

Every generation must decide whether it will:

* Learn from the failures of those before them.
* Or repeat those failures.

Israel had seen the consequences of rebellion.

God was urging them not to walk the same path.

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V. God’s Word Never Fails

Zechariah 1:5-6

“Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?”

Men pass away.

Generations pass away.

Prophets pass away.

But God’s Word remains.

Everything God had warned eventually came to pass.

Application to Prophecy

Pastor Wallace connected this truth to end-times prophecy.

Because God’s past prophecies were fulfilled exactly:

* Future prophecies will also be fulfilled exactly.
* Christ will return.
* God’s Kingdom will come.
* God’s promises are certain.

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VI. God Wanted More Than Temple Construction

Haggai 2:10-14

The people had resumed building the Temple.

Yet God revealed another problem.

They were still spiritually unclean.

Pastor Wallace emphasized:

God’s work cannot be separated from God’s holiness.

It was not enough merely to build.

They also needed:

* Repentance
* Cleansing
* Obedience

New Testament Principle

“Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

God desires both service and sanctification.

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VII. “Consider Your Ways”

A repeated theme from Haggai.

The people wondered why:

* Crops failed.
* Money disappeared.
* Prosperity never lasted.

God told them:

“Consider your ways.”

Pastor Wallace made practical application:

Sometimes believers experience spiritual dryness and frustration because they have drifted from God’s priorities.

The answer is not merely to work harder.

The answer is to examine our hearts.

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VIII. The Great Promise

Haggai 2:19

“From this day will I bless you.”

This became one of the key statements of the message.

After:

* Repentance
* Obedience
* Cleansing
* Renewed commitment

God declared:

“From this day will I bless you.”

Pastor Wallace noted that there is no greater promise than to hear God say:

“I will bless you.”

When God blesses, no one can stop it.

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IX. God’s Jealous Love

Zechariah 1:14

“I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.”

This is not sinful jealousy.

It is covenant love.

God’s protective love for His people.

Isaiah 54:7-8

“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.”

God’s chastening was temporary.

His mercy was everlasting.

Pastor Wallace stressed that God’s actions toward Israel flowed from His love, not His hatred.

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X. The Character of God

Several passages were used to show God’s heart:

Lamentations 3:22-23

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed.”

God’s Pattern

1. His people drift.
2. He warns.
3. He chastens.
4. He calls them back.
5. He restores.
6. He blesses.

This pattern appears repeatedly throughout Scripture.

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Personal Application

Pastor Wallace brought the lesson directly home.

Questions for every believer:

* Have I drifted spiritually?
* Have I become occupied with my own concerns?
* Have I neglected God’s work?
* Is there sin that needs to be confessed?
* Have I become spiritually idle?

God’s invitation remains:

“Turn ye unto me.”

And His promise remains:

“I will turn unto you.”

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Closing Thought

The message was not primarily about Israel’s failure.

It was about God’s faithfulness.

The dominant picture is not captivity.

The dominant picture is a Father waiting for His children to come home.

The same God who said to Israel,

“From this day will I bless you,”

still delights to restore, forgive, revive, and bless His people when they return to Him wholeheartedly.

04/12/2026

Pastor Wallace’s Message 8April26

“Paul’s Prayer for the Church at Ephesus” (Outline at the end)

Ephesians 3:14-21:

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

We have the model prayer that the Lord prayed in the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Prayer in John 17—both of which lift us above anything we could hope or think. But the Apostle Paul’s prayer here does exactly the same thing. He is asking the Lord for things that are beyond anything mortal man should even expect—except that he was instructed by the Spirit of God.

I want you to know that we have riches in Christ that we don’t even fully know about yet. We cannot embrace all these things ourselves right now; it will take all of eternity to embrace them. But they are available to us **now**, if we will be taught by the Spirit of God.

**Opening Prayer**
Heavenly Father, we come before You. I ask, Lord, that by Your Spirit—as this prayer requests—You would open up our understanding, our hearts, and our minds so that we might perceive the truths here, understand that they are for us, and receive them as one of Your gifts. Help us to be open to these things and to understand that You will enable us to have them if we are faithful and exercise faith. Help us, Lord.

I ask Your blessing on each one who has come today. Thank You for this beautiful day and for each person here. Fill us with Your Spirit so that we might speak, hear, understand, receive, and live in light of these truths. It’s all by Your grace. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

What we have here is Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus. As we dig into it, you can see that he truly believes what he prays in verse 20: “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” That’s pretty big, isn’t it? Our thinking can be greater than our asking, and our thinking can get pretty big sometimes. Yet he says God can do abundantly above that—and then “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

Paul is asking some big things, and he says, “My God is able to do that.” He qualifies it: “according to the power that worketh in us.” What power is that? If you are a child of God, it is **God in you**. With God all things are possible. So the Apostle Paul is not holding back in his prayer, and we don’t need to hold back in our belief.

He prays that they would **know**, and therefore they would **grow**, and as they grow it would show in their lives. That’s what we need: to know first, then grow, and let it show who we love and who loves us.

To nurture this thought, Paul uses the analogy of a tree with well-established roots. Look at the last part of verse 17: “being rooted and grounded in love.” The Bible uses the analogy of a tree (or a man like a tree) several times—in Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17, and John 15 (the vine and the branches).

The tree which is rooted and grounded is the new man in Christ Jesus. The root is **faith**. We enter the Christian life by faith, and we live by faith. Faith is the key to the Christian life.

The tree (the new man in Christ) has roots that reach down into the soil—which is God and His Word—and what it pulls up is God’s love and all His dimensions. That is what nourishes us. A tree can survive, grow, and bear fruit only as its roots lay hold of the nutrients in the soil.

All that the tree needs is provided by the soil, and all that the tree becomes results from what it drew from the soil. That’s the Christian life right there: all we need, we get from God and His Word; all we become as Christians results from what we draw from God and His Word.

For the tree to be strong, the roots must be well established and the soil rich in nutrients. Then the tree will flourish, be beautiful, and be fruitful.

**Back to the Passage**
In verses 14–16 Paul says: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.”

He is bowing his knees to the One who supplies all our needs. He prays that we would be strengthened with might by God’s Spirit—**according to the riches of His glory**. That supply is unlimited; you cannot measure it. He wants us strengthened in an unlimited way. This is for all the saints—not just the church at Ephesus, but for each of us.

Then, in the last part of verse 16 and the first part of verse 17: “in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” The “inner man” and the “heart” speak of the same thing—the soul of man: the seat of the emotions, the intellect, and the will.

The first occurrences of “heart” in the Bible show this clearly:

- **Genesis 6:5** — “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (intellect).
- **Genesis 6:6** — “it grieved him at his heart” (emotions).
- **Genesis 8:21** — “the Lord said in his heart…” (will).

Paul is praying that Christ would invade and saturate the heart so there is no room for anything else. He wants Christ to take over the whole heart.

Even though the heart is “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9), God can fill it with His love and with Himself. Your heart is like a smartphone—it is neither good nor evil in itself, but it can be used for either. Satan wants to fill it with evil; God wants to fill it with good.

Paul wants Christ to dwell in your hearts by faith so that He fills it completely—crowding out evil thoughts and becoming your everything.

**The Root Analogy Continues**
Faith is like the roots of a tree. A tree without roots is dead. Without faith, the Christian life is lifeless. Faith reaches down into God and His Word and pulls up all His promises, His love, and everything we need.

We read that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Jesus said in **John 15:5**: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Another clear picture is in **Jeremiah 17:7-8**:
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

**Second Great Request** (vv. 18-19)
“That ye may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.”

Paul wants us to know the dimensions of the love of God—something our little rulers and tape measures cannot measure. It “passeth knowledge,” yet with God all things are possible. The best way to know the love of Christ is to know the God who is love—especially by seeing Christ go willingly to the cross.

**Third Great Request** (v. 19)
“That ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Paul wants our whole being—thoughts, emotions, and will—to be activated, captivated, and dominated by God so that He is everything. Just as Ephesians 5:18 says, “Be not drunk with wine… but be filled with the Spirit.”

When a tree draws nutrients from the soil, the soil becomes part of the tree. As we draw God up by faith, He becomes part of us. If a Christian is strong and fruitful, you can know that his faith is strong—reaching to God for everything.

James 2:18 reminds us: show me thy faith by thy works. Deeply rooted faith will be evident to the world; they will see Christ in us.

This passage shows us the riches we have in Christ Jesus: we can be strengthened with might by the Spirit according to His riches in glory (limitless!), know the love of Christ experimentally, and be filled with all the fullness of God.

**Closing Doxology & Application**
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us…

If these things be in you, you shall be fruitful (see 2 Peter 1). The new man is like a tree: faith is the root that draws everything from God and His Word. We will grow, flourish, and be a fruitful tree.

**Closing Prayer**
Thank You for this message from Paul that still applies to us today. Help us dig our roots down deep into Christ, keep Him central, be filled with Him, and be strengthened by His power. We cannot do it on our own. Thank You for the safe travels, the conference, and the blessings You’ve given. Help us live out today’s message. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thank you all for coming.

OUTLINE:

**I. Introduction & Context (Ephesians 3:14-21)**

- Setting: Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers
- Comparison to the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6) and John 17

**II. The Power of God in Prayer (v. 20-21)**

- God does “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”
- According to “the power that worketh in us” (God Himself)

**III. The Tree Analogy: Rooted & Grounded in Love (v. 17)**

- New man in Christ = tree
- Roots = faith
- Soil = God and His Word
- Supporting Scriptures: Psalm 1; Jeremiah 17:7-8; John 15:5

**IV. Strengthening the Inner Man & Christ Dwelling in the Heart (vv. 16-17)**

- “Inner man” / “heart” = seat of intellect, emotions, and will
- First biblical uses of “heart” (Genesis 6:5-6; 8:21)
- Prayer: Christ saturates and fills the heart completely

**V. Comprehending the Love of Christ (vv. 18-19a)**

- Breadth, length, depth, height
- Love that “passeth knowledge”
- Known experimentally through the cross and personal relationship

**VI. Filled with All the Fullness of God (v. 19b)**

- Whole being activated, captivated, and dominated by God
- Parallel: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)
- Like the temple filled with God’s glory (1 Kings 8:27)

**VII. Application & Closing**

- Fruitfulness comes from deep roots in God
- Visible faith (James 2:18)
- Doxology of limitless power
- Final congregational prayer

SUMMARY:

**Key Scripture References** (all quoted or alluded to in the message)

- **Ephesians 3:14-21** (main text)
- **Ephesians 5:18** – Be filled with the Spirit
- **Jeremiah 17:7-8** – Tree planted by the waters
- **John 15:5** – Vine and branches
- **Psalm 1** – Tree by the river
- **Genesis 6:5-6; 8:21** – Biblical meaning of “heart”
- **Jeremiah 17:9** – Deceitful heart
- **Romans 10:17** – Faith comes by hearing the Word
- **John 1:1** – The Word was God
- **1 John 4:8** – God is love
- **1 Kings 8:27** – Heaven cannot contain God
- **James 2:18** – Faith shown by works
- **Philippians 3:10** – That I may know Him
- **2 Peter 1** – Add these things and be fruitful

This sermon beautifully ties the tree analogy into the Christian life—much like the gospel illustrations we discussed earlier (sower, planting, harvest). Growth and fruit always depend entirely on God!

12/15/2025

The Fifth and Sixth Sayings From the Cross

Text: John 19:28–30 (KJV)

Reading

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

Introduction

We have been studying in John’s Gospel—especially the crucifixion—and we have come down to the final sayings of our Lord. People have always been interested in last words. There are books about the last words of the saved and the lost. But the last words of Jesus Christ—the Son of God—carry weight beyond any other.

Today we look at the fifth and sixth sayings, found here in John 19:28–30:
1. “I thirst”
2. “It is finished”

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1) “I Thirst” — The Fulfillment of Scripture

Verse 28 begins: “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished…”

This comes right after the fourth saying, that awful cry: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Those were the hours of darkness—when the Father’s wrath against sin was poured out upon the Son. Christ was not merely suffering from nails and scourging; He was bearing sin—our sin—under the judgment of God.

Then the darkness lifts. And Jesus knows something: “all things were now accomplished.” The wrath has spent itself. The payment is being completed. The work is reaching its end.

But John adds this: “that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”

Yes—physically, He thirsted. He had lost blood and fluids. But John tells you the real emphasis: Scripture must be fulfilled. This was not mainly a complaint of pain—it was a deliberate step of obedience, so not a single prophecy would fail.

That’s exactly what Jesus taught:
• Matthew 5:17–18 — He did not come to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfil, and not one “jot or tittle” would fail until all be fulfilled.

So He says, “I thirst.” And what do they give Him? Vinegar. That matches prophecy precisely:
• Psalm 69:21 — “In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

He didn’t “kind of” fulfill prophecy. He fulfilled it exactly.

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2) “It Is Finished” — One Word, Infinite Meaning

Verse 30: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

In English, that’s three words. In the original language it is one word, packed with meaning. It is a word of completion—of bringing a task to its intended end.

And the key thing to understand is this:

This was not a cry of defeat.
This was a shout of victory.
A mission accomplished. A work completed. A debt paid in full.

So what exactly was “finished”?

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A) His Work Was Finished

Jesus came to do the Father’s will, and He completed it.
• Hebrews 10:9 — “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.”
• Luke 2:49 — “I must be about my Father’s business.”
• John 4:34 — “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”
• Luke 19:10 — “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
• Matthew 20:28 — “…to give his life a ransom for many.”
• John 10:10 — “I am come that they might have life…”
• John 18:37 — “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world…”

When He said, “It is finished,” He was declaring:
Everything the Father gave Me to do up to this hour—I have done it.

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😎 Prophecy Was Finished

This is tied directly to verse 28: Scripture fulfillment.

Jesus fulfilled prophecy in His birth, life, and death:
• Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
• Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
• Entered Jerusalem riding on a c**t (Zechariah 9:9)
• Crucifixion details pictured in Psalm 22
• Suffering servant shown in Isaiah 53
• Vinegar in thirst (Psalm 69:21)

Jesus Himself said it had to be this way:
• Luke 18:31 — “…all things that are written by the prophets… shall be accomplished.”
• Luke 22:37 — “…this that is written must yet be accomplished in me…”

So when He said, “It is finished,” He was also saying:
All prophecy concerning My first coming is completed.

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C) The Atonement Was Finished

This is the heart of it.

If “It is finished” means anything, it means this:

The price of salvation was fully paid.
Nothing is left for sinners to add.

That’s why this is shouting ground.
• Hebrews 10:12–14 — One sacrifice for sins forever… “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:3 — “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.”
• Galatians 1:4 — “Who gave himself for our sins…”
• Galatians 4:4–5 — “…to redeem them that were under the law…”
• Colossians 1:14 — “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”

He didn’t make salvation possible if we finish the rest.
He finished the work Himself.

That’s why adding anything—religious effort, rituals, self-payment—doesn’t help. You can’t add to a finished work. You can only trust the One who finished it.

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D) Victory Over Death Was Finished

The cross was not just payment—it was conquest.
• Acts 2:24 — God raised Him up, because “it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
• Colossians 2:14–15 — The handwriting of ordinances against us nailed to His cross; He triumphed openly over principalities and powers.
• Hebrews 2:14–15 — Through death He destroyed the one who had the power of death, the devil, and delivered those in bo***ge through fear of death.
• 1 Corinthians 15:54–57 — “O death, where is thy sting?” Thanks be to God who gives us the victory.
• Revelation 1:18 — “I am he that liveth, and was dead… and have the keys of hell and of death.”

Death clamped down on Christ—but it couldn’t hold Him. He broke its grip. And if you are in Christ, death cannot hold you either.

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Part 2 — “If Christ Destroyed Death, Why Are Graveyards Still Filling?”

Now some people hear us say, “Christ destroyed death,” and they think, That can’t be right. They look around and say, “If death is destroyed, why are graveyards still getting fuller all the time?”

That objection usually comes from this: we aren’t thinking in Bible language. We’re not understanding what God means when He uses certain words.

Words like abolish or destroy do not always mean “annihilate” (as in, erased from existence). Often the Bible means, “rendered powerless,” “put out of business,” “stripped of authority,” “the strength taken out of it.”

And the Bible is clear that the final removal of death is still future.

Revelation 21:4 says, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death…”
That’s the eternal state. That’s coming. We look forward to it. But we also know death is still around right now—yet the Bible still says Christ destroyed death. So what does that mean?

To understand it, we have to answer the question:

1) What is death?

At its root, death is separation.

But we must distinguish between physical death and spiritual death.

A) Physical death
Physical death is the separation of the soul/spirit from the body. When the spirit departs, the body becomes lifeless.

Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Generally speaking, that is the rule for mankind (until the Lord comes).

Ecclesiastes 8:8 says, “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death… and there is no discharge in that war.”
When God says, “It’s time,” nobody can hold it off. There’s no discharge from that war.

😎 Spiritual death
Spiritual death is separation of man from God. God is life. When man is alienated from God, he is spiritually dead.

In the Garden, God told Adam that in the day he ate he would surely die. He did die—not immediately physically, but spiritually. The separation happened.

Ephesians 2 explains it plainly:
• Ephesians 2:1 — “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
We are born physically alive but spiritually dead—separated from God.

Then comes the great turning point:
• Ephesians 2:4–5 — “But God, who is rich in mercy… even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…”
That’s salvation: God makes the dead sinner live.

And Ephesians 4:17–18 describes the lost man as “alienated from the life of God.” That is spiritual death: separation from God’s life.

2) The second death

Revelation 20:11–15 describes the Great White Throne judgment. It says death and hell deliver up the dead, and then “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

The second death is eternal separation from God, fixed and final.

So death is separation—physical now, spiritual now, and for the lost, eternal separation in the lake of fire.

3) Why the Old Testament saints were “held”

Before Christ’s atonement was accomplished, Scripture presents the dead as going to the realm of the departed—called Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek. In the KJV the terms are sometimes rendered “grave,” “hell,” or “pit,” depending on context.

Luke 16 (the rich man and Lazarus) shows two conditions in that realm:
• Lazarus comforted in Abraham’s bosom
• The rich man in torment
And between them a great gulf fixed, so none can pass from one side to the other (Luke 16:26).

Job even described it as a kind of captivity:
• Job 3:18 — “There the prisoners rest together…”

And Isaiah pictures the oppressor as one who “opened not the house of his prisoners” (Isaiah 14:17).

4) Christ came to preach deliverance and to break the prison

Isaiah 42:6–7 foretold that the Servant would come:
“…to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.”

Jesus applied this mission language to Himself:
• Luke 4:18 — “…to preach deliverance to the captives…”

Peter adds a hard but important statement:
• 1 Peter 3:18–19 — Christ, being put to death in the flesh, quickened by the Spirit, “by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.”

And Paul states:
• Ephesians 4:8–10 — “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive… Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?”

The point is this: Christ did not go down as a victim. He went down as a conqueror. He entered the strong man’s house and spoiled it.

That matches Christ’s own teaching:
• Matthew 12:29 — “How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?”

5) So what does it mean that He “abolished” or “destroyed” death?

2 Timothy 1:10 says Christ “hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

“Abolished” doesn’t mean death stopped existing immediately in the world. It means death’s authority and sting were broken for God’s people. Death is no longer the master. It is no longer the final jailer. It no longer holds the keys.

That’s why Revelation 1:18 matters:
“…I am alive for evermore… and have the keys of hell and of death.”
Keys speak of authority. Jesus took authority.

6) The “now” and the “not yet”

The full application is still coming.

1 Corinthians 15:26 says, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
And Revelation 21:4 says in the eternal state there will be no more death.

So yes—death is still present in the world today. Graveyards still fill. But for the child of God the sting is gone, the fear is answered, and the outcome is settled.

That’s why Paul can say:
• 1 Corinthians 15:55–57 — “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? …thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The bee has already lost its stinger. It can still buzz. It can still threaten. But it can’t ultimately kill the believer the way it once did—because Christ took the sting away.

7) Practical comfort

Now I’m not pretending the process of dying can’t be hard. Many people suffer on the way out of this world. But for the believer, what the world calls “death” is not horror—it’s transition.

Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord… and he added, “which is far better.”

So if we understand what Scripture means by death—and what it means when Christ destroyed it—then we stop reading Bible promises like skeptics and we start reading them like believers.

Christ didn’t lie when He said, “It is finished.”
And He didn’t exaggerate when the Word says He abolished death.
He stripped it of its rightful claim, broke its authority, took the keys, and guaranteed the final victory that will be fully seen when death is finally gone forever.

⸻

Closing Exhortation

So when Jesus said, “It is finished,” He was declaring:
• The work is completed.
• Prophecy is fulfilled.
• The atonement is fully accomplished.
• Death’s power is broken.

That is why the believer can answer Satan’s accusations with one truth:

Christ finished it.
Not “I finished it.”
Not “I’m good enough.”
But: He paid it all.

Do you know Him? If you do, then those words apply to you:
Your salvation has been purchased full and free.
Our part is not to work for it—our part is to believe.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”

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