Sermon Tone Analysis

When we read the four gospels we read an eyewitness account of the life of Jesus.

Though the writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, may record some differences in the details, they all record the accuracy of the historical life of Jesus.

His birth, his walk, his preaching, teaching, his miracles, his sacrifice on Calvary and His Resurrection.

I’ve read and re-read the gospels this week on the account of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Though there are some differences in the details, (the number and names of the women who came to the tomb, the number of angelic messengers who appeared, and the women’s reactions to the empty tomb) they all focus on the most important fact, He Is Risen!!

All the gospel writers have this one theme in common and in some form report these same words;

This Resurrection Sunday I want to focus solely upon the magnitude of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

John is imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos and its a Sunday.

He heard a voice speak to him as of a loud trumpet, and it was the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember John had seen Jesus at the transfiguration, and after His resurrection on earth, but this time he sees him in heaven in all His Glory and it startled John.

Jesus comforted John by a gentle touch and told him not to be afraid but to write the things he has seen, which are and that which is coming.

The focus of the Resurrection is the Keys that Jesus holds!

Keys either open doors revealing what’s behind them or lock doors preventing entrance.

I have a master key to the church.

That key will give me access through any door in these buildings or to lock them and prevent access.

Jesus holds the most important keys, the keys of Hades and Death!

The keys speak of authority and power.

Jesus has power over death and the grave because of His own death and resurrection.

And this means that Jesus has power and authority over where we will spend eternity.

1. Jesus holds the Key to History; 17

I Am the First and the Last- Jesus is the bookends to history/eternity.

Three scriptures in the OT refer to Jehovah as First/Last

Three scriptures in the NT refer to Jesus as First/Last [Rev.

1:17]

God/Christ are the eternal bookends of history.

Just like bookends hold together and in order all the volumes in a library, Jesus holds from beginning to the end all the stories of life that are written.

You and I are a story written in time placed in the library of God!

Jesus knows the story of our lives, how it began and how it will end!

2. Jesus is the Key to Redemption; 18a

Redeem- to do something to compensate for poor past behavior; to pay the necessary expense to clear a debt.

Jesus went to Calvary to pay a debt he didn’t owe for a people who owed a debt they could not pay, because of poor behavior!

Our SIN!!

For Jesus to redeem man from sin, He had to have the authority and capability to do so.

In this verse we see that.

I Am He who lives- this is the title used in scripture to describe the covenant name of God.

The self-existent eternal God that lives!!

It is the name Jesus took for Himself as a direct claim to deity

John 8:58 (NKJV)

58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

And was [became] dead- The living One, the eternal, self-existent God who could never die, became man and died.

Alive forevermore- this refers to Jesus’ present state

John 10:17 (NKJV)

17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

John 11:25 (NKJV)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

When I get home everyday I hang my keys on a hanger in the laundry room.

Those keys give me access to the house, the church, my vehicle, the barn, all the places I want to go.

God hung THE Key to redemption on a cross!

That is the key everyone needs!!

3. Jesus has the Keys to Hades and Death; 18c

Hades- is the Greek word for the unseen world.

It can refer to the realm of the dead, the grave or where the spirit goes.

It is a place.

[ref.

Luke 16:23, 23:43]

Death- the condition of an expired life.

The separation of the spirit from the body.

Jesus has the keys to both the place Hades and the condition of Death.

Jesus has the authority to both open and close these doors.

Because Jesus entered death [Calvary], and conquered it [Resurrection], He possesses the keys to death’s door.

Because Jesus entered the place of the dead [Hades, Paradise] and walked out again, He holds the keys to Hell.

Jesus Christ possesses the key to every tomb, graveyard and burial place in the universe.

He knows where every body, every bone, all the ashes and every bit of dust that lies on the earth.

One day, Jesus will open all the graves.

His followers will rise and join Him in His glory, and those who don’t know Him as Savior will rise and move from Hades to the Lake of Fire, the torments of Hell!!

John 5:28–29 (NKJV)

28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Because I know Him, I cannot go to hell because He has locked the door!

Because I know Him, I will go to heaven because He has opened the gates of that city to me and all His children through Jesus Christ!

Close;

This morning, I have a key that unlocks the door of salvation to eternal life.

That key is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This morning “if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”