Good morning, first of all. Let's
open this morning's service with hymn number 21 in your Spiral
Gospel Hymns hymnbook. Number 21, The Covenant, Ordered
and Sure. It's a familiar tune. We haven't
sung it in a while. Let's all stand together. Number
21. God the Father and the Son and
the Spirit, three in one, in eternal ages past, made a covenant
sure and fast. God my father chose his own in
the person of his son and ordained that I should be one with him
eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law
and retrieve me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly Stood
as my great surety, For my price he offered blood, To appease
the wrath of God. ? God the spirit heavenly dove
? Promised to come down in love ? Bringing life and peace and
grace ? To the chosen purchased race ? He seeks the lost, heals
the lame and He brings us to the Lamb. By His mighty sovereign
call, God's elect are gathered all. ? This poor sinner is secure
? For God's covenant will endure ? It is sealed by God's own word
? By his spirit and his blood ? Blessed holy covenant God I
am yours by ties of blood, ties of grace and ties of love. Hold me to my God above. Please be seated. That's a good hymn. Thankful
for that covenant. We're going to continue our study
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. and while you turn there uh...
most of you know that uh... dianne surgery uh... dianne effridge
had surgery this week and uh... that's uh... good report uh...
the doctors are confident that they were able to remove all
the cancer and they're not going to plan on right now doing any
further treatments uh... she is in a lot of pain and so
uh... uh... just continue to pray for
her and probably need to give her a few more days before we
try to visit her. Two Sundays from today is the
16th and we're going to plan on having lunch together after
the service. So plan on that and everybody
bring something and we'll enjoy some fellowship together. That's
Easter Sunday, the 16th. That'll be the plan. Next Sunday,
I'll be preaching in Ashland, Kentucky, and also in Lexington,
Sunday morning and Sunday night. And Michael and Robert will be
bringing the messages here. So I covered your prayers, and
I know they do as well. All right, let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
Once again, you and your good providence has been merciful
to bring us here to this place. We thank you for the promise
of thy presence. We thank you for the truth of
thy word. We thank you for the accomplished
work of thy dear son. And oh how we pray that your
Holy Spirit would open our hearts, that you would open your word,
that you would open the windows of heaven. And what great hope
we have in knowing that what you open, no man can shut. Lord,
we pray that you would enable us now to set our affections
on things above. We confess to you that we get
so caught up in the things below, the things of this earth. And
we've come here this morning, Lord, in hopes that you would
enable us now to set our affections on Christ,
where he's seated at the right hand of God. We ask it in his
name. Amen. you have your bibles open
to uh... first corinthians chapter fifteen
we've been in this chapter now for several weeks what a glorious
chapter it is encouraging the believer in uh... the truth of
the resurrection uh... what we have in this world cannot
be compared to what shall be revealed in us. And the believer's
hope, the believer's hope is that one day this corruptible
will be made incorruptible. One day this mortal will be made
immortal. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. We can't see it. We look through
a glass stemling now, don't we? But then, but then, face to face,
we'll see Him as He is and be made like Him. That's our hope. We're looking beyond this life. That's what faith does. And the
Lord has given us so many precious promises in His Word to encourage
our hearts in looking beyond this physical world and realizing
that we have a home. A home, the scripture says, Abraham
looked for a city. which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. And all those who are the children
of Abraham, all those who have been given faith in Christ are
looking for that same city and looking for the one who inhabits
that city. And so my hope this morning is
the Lord will reassure us once again from His Word that His
promises are sure, that the mercies of David cannot be broken, and
that this is our hope. If you're like me, you get so
caught up in the temporal things of this world, and here's what
we need. Here's what we need. We need
for God to direct our hearts, our attention, our affections
away from the things of this world and to set them on Christ. We left off last Sunday with
verse 49 as we have borne the image of the earthy,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. And we know
that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the fullness of the image
of God bodily. And that we've been given the
mind of christ we have the image of god stamped in our hearts
if we've if we've experienced the new birth and so but with
this with this new nature we have the old man as well who
the scripture says is earthy and he's got to return to where
he came from he came from the earth and uh... to ashes we shall
return And that's not a depressing thought for the child of God.
That's his hope. That's his hope that this body will return to
where it came from and the Lord will raise it a new body. And
the new body is not going to be anything like the old one.
Look what he says in verse 50, Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. We cannot go to heaven like we
are. In that place, there'll be nothing but righteousness,
and we're going to have to shed this body. Now, it's clear that
the church in Corinth was asking the Apostle Paul questions about
the resurrection, because what about those who still remain?
What about those who have died? and uh... the lord has already
made it clear that those who have died haven't really died
they've just fallen asleep and uh... and so now he's he's saying
that uh... those of us which will remain
will be caught up together with them in the last day in the in
the last trump look at uh... we're gonna come back to things
that cannot be. I've titled this study actually
God's Cannots and I want to return back to verse 50 in a moment
but let's go to the end of the chapter so that we understand
this in its full context. Behold, I show you a mystery. And when God speaks of a mystery,
He's not talking about something strange or mysterious. He's talking
about something that's hidden. Hidden. uh... the natural man
cannot receive the things of the spirit they're spiritually
discerning cannot know them uh... the lord has to open the eyes
of our understanding he has to give us spiritual site these
things are discerned only by the spirit of god that which
is of the flesh is flesh the flesh profit is nothing it is
the spirit that give us life and so the mystery of the gospel
has to be revealed No amount of intellect, no amount of religiosity,
no amount of study, no amount of effort on our part will discover
this mystery. God has to uncover it. And the
scripture says, what God uncovers, no man can cover. And what He
covers, no man can uncover. And what is it that you and I
need covering? We need our sins covered, don't we? And they are
covered. They're covered by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no man can uncover that. and
but we're in need of the Lord uncovering something and that's
the mystery of the gospel and so Paul says behold I show you
what is the means by which the Lord unveils this mystery it's
his word it's his word and so the penman of scripture have
have given us a revelation of the mystery and uh... if the
spirit of god is pleased to attend up the word of god then the mystery
will be revealed and uh... will know the truth and they
who know the truth will be free so he says behold i show you
a mystery we shall not all sleep obviously direct individuals
that the apostle paul was writing to in the first century in corinth
have all gone to sleep uh... but here's proof that this book
is not written to a particular generation it's written to the
church and uh... and so there's going to be a
generation of believers who are not going to die like all other
believers have died Maybe it'll be our generation. Wouldn't that
be glorious? For the trump of God to sound
in our lifetime and for us to be caught up together with them
who have fallen asleep. And so the Lord says there's
going to come a generation of believers that aren't going to
fall asleep. They're not going to die in the
flesh. but they are going to be changed
look what he says behold I show you a mystery we shall not all
sleep but we shall all be changed her flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God so we're not any caught up in the heaven in
this bar when the trump of God sounds on the dead in Christ
are raised those of us which remain are going to be translated
we're going to be changed remember Enoch Enoch walked with God and
he was no more. He was translated, the scripture
says. He had to be changed. He wasn't able to go to heaven
until he was given a new body. And so, verse 52, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, sometimes people ask me what about what
about the rapture and what about the the thousand-year millennium
this whole thing is going to come to an end in the twinkling
of an eye for everybody for everybody the coming of the Lord the scripture
says is like a thief in the night men don't expect it they're not
waiting for it there's no time to prepare for it Twinkling of
an eye is language used to describe the shortest period of time. The shortest period of time.
Less than a millisecond. That's how it's going to happen,
just like that. When the time that God has ordained
comes to be in the twinkling of an eye, the world will be
destroyed and all of God's people will be taken from it. It's not
going to be like what you've seen in the movies or what the
religious people talk about. Well, you know, there's going
to be a rapture and then those of us who remain are going to
have a chance to get things right. No. No. The Lord says, in a twinkling
of an eye, this is all going to happen at one time. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpets shall sound
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be
changed. Someone might be thinking, well,
I thought to be absent from the body is to be present with the
Lord. What about those who have passed away? Are they not with
the Lord? The scripture makes it clear
in Revelation chapter 13 that when we depart from this life,
time will be no longer. Space-time is something that
God has created for us in this physical world. And the Lord
has spoken to us in ways sometimes that relate to time, and sometimes
that relate to eternity. And so, those things which are
eternal are completely separate. There's no time in eternity.
There's no past, present, and future in eternity. You're not going to pass from
this life and go to heaven and look around and think, well,
I'm here for the first day and talk to somebody else that's
been there longer and find out, you know, what it was like for
them. It's not that way. There is no time in eternity. There is no past, present, or
future in eternity. You say, well, I can't get a
hold of that. And I can't either. I can't either. But it's true. And so when the Lord says that
the trump of God shall sound and the dead in Christ shall
be raised and those of us which remain to be caught up together
with them in the air and will be made incorruptible, He's talking
to us in terms of this world. and time when he says to be absent
from the body is to be present with the lord he's talking about
that which is eternal uh... you're going to escape time the
moment you take your last breath uh... the problem with with man
today is that he's trying to discover the origins of life
with the measurement of time you can't do it god made time
God made space. It's not relevant in eternity. So, we're living in time, we're
struggling in time, we live in the space of this body, and the
Lord is speaking to us based on our earthy experience here
in this world. And He's saying to us that that
corruptible flesh you're struggling with right now, It's going to
be changed in the twinkling of an eye. It's going to be changed
and it's going to be made incorruptible. Verse 53, for this corruptible
must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So for those who have fallen
asleep and for those who remain, when the twinkling of the eye
comes, when the trump of God sounds, when the end of the world
comes, all of us will need to be changed in order to go to
heaven why because flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom
of god so when this corruptible shall
have put on in corruption and this mortal shall put on immortality
what's that gonna be like i don't know and you know either uh... bill i've said this more recently
than ever but we don't understand anything we believe We just believe
it because God said it. Faith believes God and holds
with all of its heart on what God says with no need, no need
for an explanation. Remember, that's what this chapter
was all about in the previous verses. There were people who
were saying, well, there is no resurrection. If there's a resurrection,
what's the new body going to look like? You remember he said
there's a body of fish, and there's a body of birds, and there's
telestrial and celestial, and oh, foolish man. We have no idea
what our new body is going to be like, but we know it's going
to be without sin. No, it's going to be without
sin. It's going to be incorruptible. There'll be no more tears. There'll
be no more sickness, no more dying, no more death. It'll be
perfect. That's our, you know, how much
of religion is just focused on trying to help you clean up the
body that you've got now? And the Lord has given us hope
beyond this life. I'm looking for a new body where there's no time, no sin,
nothing like this life. And that's what I want you to
be prepared for. I want you to, the Lord said
He's coming for those who are watching and waiting. We get so caught up in the things
of this world, sometimes we lose sight of the things which are
eternal, don't we? And that's why we're here this
morning. that the Lord might be pleased
to turn our attention away from the temporal things that so dominate
our time and our energy and our passions in this life and give
us hope in something so much better. And that's what He's
doing in His Word. He said that this corruptible
is going to be made incorruptible. There's 54, so when this corruptible
shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory. Isaiah 25 verse eight, death
swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the
law. Thanks be to God, thanks be to
God, the Lord Jesus Christ has put away our sin and satisfied
the demands of the law. So death has no more power. has
no power over us. We don't live in fear of death.
We live in anticipation of it. Why? Because the sting of death
is sin. Here it is, look. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
So if the law's been fulfilled, and sin's been put away, then
death has no more power. The Lord Jesus Christ being the
firstborn among many brethren, that's a reference to his resurrection.
He conquered sin. He conquered death for everyone
that God chose in the covenant of grace. Everyone that he lived
his perfectly righteous life for. Everyone that he died for. rose with him. He was offered
up for our offenses and raised again because of our justification.
Would Paul say, oh, that I might know Him, that I might know Him,
the fellowship of His suffering? I want to be more thoroughly
convinced by God that when Christ Jesus the Lord suffered on Calvary's
cross, I was in Him. I was in Him. and that God is
satisfied with the sufferings that he went through for me.
And that's why Paul said that I might know him. I've not yet
apprehended that which has apprehended me. I'm not as fully convinced
as I want to be. Lord, increase my faith that
I might know him, the fellowship of his suffering, and the power
of his resurrection. What is the power of His resurrection?
When Christ was raised from the dead, I was raised in Him. Sin's
been put away. The law's been satisfied. Death
has no more power over me. I'm living my life in this time,
in this space-time experience that we have in the flesh, but
it's earthy. And my hope is beyond the earthy. It's to the spiritual. If we don't have that, then all
we have is that which is earthy. How long is that going to last
you? We were talking to young people this morning. Some of
us older men were complaining about our ailments and talking
about how brief life is and some of the young men were looking
at us like they don't know what we're talking about. You will.
Sooner than you think. sooner than you think. I understand
the young people. I was young, believe it or not. And it wasn't long ago, was it?
Wasn't long ago, was it Jerry? Just a few days ago, just a few
days left. Oh Lord, don't let me be earthy. This earthy is temporal. It's
passing away. And here's what the Lord is doing.
He's giving us hope beyond the earthy. Thanks be to God, verse 57, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have
the victory. It's not something you've got
to earn. The battle's been fought. The enemy's been defeated. You
can't help him out. You can't add anything to what
he's done. You can't take anything away from what he's done. It's
finished. Thanks be to God. Through Christ
Jesus, I'm free. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable. Don't move. Just stand right
there. Stand on Christ and in Christ.
Don't look away from him. Be steadfast, abound in Him. Always abounding in the work
of the Lord. You know what the number one
work of the Lord is? Aren't you glad He didn't say,
abound in your work toward the Lord? The work of the Lord is
faith. Did the Pharisees not say, Lord, what work can we work to
do the works of God? They wanted to get in on the
work. And what did the Lord Jesus Christ
say? This is the work of God that you might believe on Him
whom He has sent. Now I'm convinced of this. If
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, everything else is going
to work out okay. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, you're going to be a giver. You're going to be one that's
going to want to serve Him. You're going to be, you're going
to be living your life in this world, looking forward to that
day when he, when the Trump of God comes. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord so much for, for as much as you know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord, in the Lord. Now, quickly, go back with
me to verse 50. I want to read some verses that
I hope will be a great encouragement to you. When you tell someone that they
cannot do something, someone tells you you cannot do something,
is there not something in you that just wants to do what you've
been told you cannot do? I'll prove you wrong. I'll show
you I can do it. We're not talking about something
you may do. We're talking about something
God says you cannot do. The scriptures have lots of can-nots
in them. And God's can-nots will never
be. God's can-nots will never be. If God says it cannot happen,
it ain't happening. Ever. Under any circumstances. regardless of how rebellious
and how... and how... how... how man might
say, well, I'll... I'll prove him wrong. No, you
won't. No, you won't. Now, the first one's here in
verse 50. Flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God. It ain't happening under any
circumstances. God says it cannot happen. It
cannot happen. Romans chapter 8 verse 7 and
8. You don't have to look these up. The carnal mind is enmity
against God for it is not subject to the law of God. It's not subject
to the gospel. The mystery has not been revealed.
Neither indeed can be so that they that are in the flesh They
that are in the flesh can not please God. Now that means that
the person who doesn't have a new nature, a person who's not given
faith to trust in Christ, I don't care how outwardly good they
are, I don't care how moral they are, I don't care how many good
deeds they do for anybody, they may please man. But they that
are in the flesh cannot please God, never will be able to please
God. The only one that can please
God is the one who is in the Spirit, in Christ. John chapter 8 verse 43, why
do you not understand my speech? even because you cannot hear
my word. For you are of your father the
devil, who is a liar and the father of lies. He that is of
God heareth God's word. You therefore hear me not, because
you are not of God. You cannot hear my word unless
you are of God. And you know what the child of
God is thinking right now? Oh Lord, don't leave me to myself. Have mercy on my soul. Lord,
this is a mystery that I can't enter into. I can't be a part
of it. I can't figure it out. I can't
earn my way into it. You said they that are of God
hear God's Word. And they that are not of God
cannot hear God's Word. Lord, make me, make me to hear
Your Word. Make me to be of God. John chapter 3, the Lord said
to Nicodemus, except a man be born of the water, that's the
Word of God, and of the Spirit. That's when the Spirit of God
takes the Word of God and reveals the mystery of the gospel, giving
us new life in Christ. You remember the story of Ezekiel
and the Valley of Dried Bones in Ezekiel 37. Can these bones
live, son of man? Lord, thou knowest. If they're
going to live, you're going to have to make them live. And so
what did the Lord say? Prophesy to them. Preach the
gospel to them. But that's not going to be enough. The bones started taking shape,
but the scripture says there was yet no life in them. And
so what did the Lord say to Ezekiel? Prophesy to the wind. Pray for
the Spirit of God to come and empower the message of the gospel
that they might have life. And they were given life. So,
unless a man be born of the water, that's the word, and the Spirit,
he cannot enter in to the kingdom of God. never gonna happen, ever,
under any circumstances. Apart from the Word of God, apart
from the preaching of the Gospel, apart from the ministry of the
Holy... God says something cannot happen,
it ain't happening. Now, you take the sovereignty
of God to deny the cannots of God, then you've perverted the
Scriptures. God says it cannot happen, it ain't happening. John
15 verse 4, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear
fruit except it abide in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
except you abide in me. There's no fruit of faith. the fruit of our lips, which
is our praise, our worship. It can't happen unless we are
found in Christ. Not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to Titus chapter 1 verse
2. We have the hope of eternal life. Now I would never say that
God cannot do something. unless God said he cannot do
it. If God says he cannot do it, then he can't do it. We have the promise and hope
of eternal life which God that can not lie hath promised before
the foundation of the world. We have a God that cannot lie.
Now who do you know that cannot lie? This world is based on lies. It's full of lies. Everybody's
lying. That's why the scripture says
all men are liars. God alone tells the truth. He
cannot lie. He's not capable of lying. That's what we need, isn't it?
We need a God that we can hang all the hopes of our salvation
on His precious promises, knowing that He is incapable of lying. James chapter 1 verse 13, let
no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God. For God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But we are tempted when we are
drawn away of our own lust. When lust is conceived it bringeth
forth sin and sin bringeth forth death. God cannot be tempted
with evil. And he tempts no man with evil.
So what's that mean? All the responsibility for evil
in your life and in my life lies 100% on our own shoulders. That's why David said, unto thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that
thou mightest be justified. God is justified because sin
is not his fault, it's ours. He cannot sin and he tempts no
man to sin. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 13. If we believe not, and we struggle
with unbelief all the time, don't we? Lord, I do believe, help
thou mine unbelief. Our faith is so small. Aren't
you glad the Lord didn't say, oh you that have no faith? He said, oh you of little faith.
And the child of God says, oh yes, Lord, my faith is so small.
But oh, if it's but the size of a mustard seed. You see, it's
not the quantity of the faith, it's the fact that I have faith
and it's the object of that faith. And so the Lord said, if you
believe not, yet he abideth faithful for he
cannot deny himself. If you're a child of God, you're
part of the body of Christ. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. When you attack a child of God,
you are attacking the Lord Jesus Christ. He cannot deny himself. So if you're part of the body
of Christ, you may be just a little finger, you may be a... You may
be an appendix, you know. I mean, we're just small parts
of the body of Christ. Every part of the body of Christ
is important to the head. He cannot deny himself. So when
our faith falters, his never does. John chapter 10 verse 35, the
scriptures cannot be broken. And Galatians 3 verse 17, scripture
speaks of the law coming 400 years later and after Abraham. covenant being established with
Abraham and the law not being given until Moses. And the Lord makes it clear that
what was given in the law cannot disannul what was done in the
covenant of grace. So the law doesn't change the
original covenant. God gave the law because of the
hardness of men's hearts. The law is not a means of salvation,
it's the covenant of grace. The law cannot disannul the covenant
of grace. Let me close with one more, Hebrews
chapter 12. Would you turn with me there please? Hebrews chapter
12. Hopefully this will bring the
whole chapter 15 of 1st Corinthians together. Hebrews chapter 12
verse 25. See that you refuse not him that
speaketh. God has spoken. Has he spoken
to you this morning? Oh, I hope he has. I hope he
has. See that you refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused
him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Whose voice then
shook the earth. He's talking about that voice
of God at Mount Sinai under the law. And those who disregarded the
voice of God then were punished. Those who disregard the voice
of God now will die in their sins. whose voice then shook
the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake
not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once
more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,
as of those things that are made, that those things which cannot
be shaken may remain. Now what the Lord is saying is,
everything you see, everything you touch, everything you hear,
everything you taste, all the material things of this world
are going to be shaken by God. And when they're shaken, they're
going to fall apart. They're going to be destroyed.
But that which is spiritual cannot be shaken. Verse 28. Wherefore, we received a kingdom
which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we
may serve God acceptable with reverence and godly fear for
our God is a consuming fire. That which is spiritual cannot
be moved. It cannot be shaken. And that's
promised by a God that cannot lie. Amen? Alright, let's take
a break.