Just a little housekeeping, we
have the new address lists for the next six months are in the
back. So if you need a new address
list, and remember Joy asked you to destroy your old ones,
but the new ones are in the back in bright lime green so you can't
miss it. All right, let's all stand together.
We're going to open this morning's service with the hymn that's
on the back of your bulletin. The hymn that's on the back of
your bulletin. Let's all stand together. Rejoice, the Lord is King, your
Lord and King adore. Let every voice give thanks and
sing, praise Him forevermore. Jesus our Savior reigns, the
God of truth and love. When he had purged our sin and
stain, he took his seat above. His kingdom cannot fail. He rules over earth and heaven. The keys of life and death and
hell are to our Savior given. Rejoice in glorious hope, Jesus
our Lord shall come and take his ransomed children up to their
eternal home. Please be seated. What a glorious day that'll be.
When our Lord returns, takes his children home. We're going to continue our study
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians 15. We want to welcome Adam Clark
to our fellowship, Adam Sharon. Look at Adam Clark. Welcome,
Adam. Adam Sharon, excuse me. I've
known Adam for 20 years and we're so glad you're here, Adam. Just
moved here from Colorado. And Jimmy and Sarah Toll are
here with us today. Where are they at? Over there.
They came to help celebrate Tom's 60th birthday. So Tom is now
part of the elite group of the 60-year-olds. All right, let's ask the Lord's
blessings on this word. Our Heavenly Father, we're so
very thankful that once again you've brought us here to this
place. You've promised your presence,
and oh Lord, how hopeful we are in you fulfilling that promise
in our hearts, that you would manifest your glory, that you
would show us, Lord, the successful accomplished work of thy dear
son and the hope of salvation that's to be had in him. We thank
you for restoring to us your image and giving us the hope
of knowing that one day we'll see you as you are and be made
like Christ. Lord, we Pray that you would open now
your scriptures and enable us to set our affections on things
above. Lord, we confess to you that
we get so caught up in the things of this world. In this hour,
we ask that you would enable us to But those things aside,
we pray that you would open the windows of heaven and enable
us to set our affections on Christ. For it's in his name we pray,
amen. You have your Bibles open to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. You know this chapter is all
about the resurrection and the hope that believers have in having
the image of God restored in their experience. Now we know
from Colossians chapter three that the image of God is the
new nature that we have now in Christ. We also know that our
father Adam was made in the image of God. And that that image was destroyed
in every way. Every part of the image of God
was destroyed through the fall. And the believer's hope is that
he will be made back more fully than his father Adam. in the
image of God. And that's going to be experienced
through the resurrection. And so, we know from 1 Corinthians, from
2 Corinthians chapter 4, turn with me there before we look
at 1 Corinthians 15. Turn over just a couple of pages
to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Verse four, in whom the God of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine unto them. So the Lord Jesus Christ is called
the last Adam. He restored that which was lost
in the first Adam. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, the scripture says. And in Hebrews chapter one, it
says He's the brightness of His glory and the express image of
His person. That word image is a perfect
picture. In the original language it's
the word icon. I'm sure it's the word that the
camera company got their name from. And that means image. A perfect picture of God is seen
in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn with
me over there to that passage in Colossians chapter 3 that
I made reference to a moment ago. Verse 10, and have put on the
new man. Now here's the, here's the new
nature in Christ. When we're born again, we're
given, we're given the nature of Christ. And he says, and have
put on the new man, which is renewed in the image or in image,
uh, in knowledge after the image of him that created him. So the
new man who is in us is created after the image of Christ who
is the image of God. So in the new birth, We have
the hope of the image of God which was lost in Adam being
restored so that there's no sin in the new man. He's perfect
before God. We still carry about this body
of flesh which we can see in every point has lost the image
of God. But 1 Corinthians chapter 15
is the believer's hope of knowing that one day this corruptible
will be made incorruptible. This mortal will be made immortal
so that what we have now In the new nature, we're going to have
in the fullness of our experience in a new body. And what glorious
hope that is for the child of God. Lord, I can only see the
new man right now through the eyes of faith. I can only hope
that I have the image of God in me because you've promised
it. and I believe your promises not
because I can see him but all what a glorious day it's going
to be it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know
that when he shall appear we shall see him as he is and be
made like him what a glorious day it's going to be in the day
of the resurrection when I put on the new man in his fullness
and that this body of flesh is no longer going to have any sin
none whatsoever I'm gonna have in my body what I now have in
my spirit and that's our this is this is what this chapter
is all about so turn with me turn with me to 1st Corinthians
chapter 15 A man will not believe the gospel.
You remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus and they
both died and Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham and the rich
man, the scripture says, there's a great gulf fixed between him
and Lazarus. He's in hell. and he's tormented
in hell and he cries out to father abraham that he would send someone
with a drop of water to cool the torment of his tongue and
uh... abraham responds by saying that's
there's no there's no way that can happen that there's a great
goal fixed between us. And so the rich man who's in
hell asked Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers of this
place. It's interesting that the rich
man never asked to be delivered himself. He knows there's no
hope of that. He understands that this gulf
that's fixed between him and heaven is impenetrable, it's
unpassable, it's a gulf that's eternal. And yet, out of concern
for his brothers, he asked Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers.
You remember what Abraham said? Abraham said, they have Moses
and the prophets. They have the Word of God, for
even if one was to raise from the dead, they would not believe. They would not believe. Man, if a person came back from
hell, they would not believe the gospel apart from the saving
grace of God. part from the Lord doing not
a work of regeneration intervention changing them giving them a new
nature that will not believe that's how that's how bound in
our sin we are we won't believe unless the Lord shows us grace
and so he says they won't believe that someone rises from the dead
so if you believe the gospel It's because the Lord made you
to believe. He caused you to believe the
gospel. It wasn't a decision that you
made. It wasn't an option that you had. You were, no man can
come to the Father unless, can come to me unless the Father
which sent me draw him. Unless you're born of the water
and of the Spirit. There's no life in you. And so
the Lord has to do a work of grace by His Word and by His
Spirit to regenerate us, to give us hope, to give us hope in the
resurrection. And the deposit for that hope
that we have now is the ministry of the Holy Spirit who causes
us to believe the gospel. and causes us to have hope in
this new man that's made in the image of God. Knowing that this
old man one day is going to die, and when he does, God's going
to raise him up a new man. He's going to be perfect. That's
the believer's hope. The thing that grieves the child
of God more than anything else in this life is the sin that
remains in his corruptible flesh. and the hope of knowing that
one day he's going to have a body that's going to be sinless. Oh,
what a glorious day that'll be. That's what we just sang about.
now look what the lord says in verse uh... twenty seven we looked
at the first twenty six verses already so verse twenty seven
of first corinthians chapter fifteen for he half put all things
under his feet now that first he is god the father and the
second he is is the lord jesus christ so god the father has
put everything under the feet of the lord jesus christ he has
dominion over all things god has given him preeminence. He
reigns sovereign over the armies of heaven and the affairs of
man, and he hath done whatsoever he wills." So God the Father
has given to the Lord Jesus Christ sovereign, omnipotent control
over all things. but when he the father sayeth
all things are put under him it is manifest that he the father
is exempted so god the father's not put under the feet of the
lord jesus christ uh... which did put all things under
him and uh... when all things shall
be subdued under him he's got sovereign control But everything's
not been subdued under him yet. You know that in your experience,
don't you? He's got sovereign control over you. You know that.
But your body is not yet subdued completely under him, is it? Paul said, we know that the law
is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. I'm a slave to
sin. My body, my flesh can do nothing
but sin. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all
in all. Here the Lord is expressing to
us, revealing to us the mystery of the relationship that God
the Father has with God the Son. We know that God the Son is the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's eternal. He's not created
by God. All the attributes of God are
true of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the characteristics of
God are true of the Lord Jesus Christ and are true of God the
Holy Spirit. It's a great mystery that we
don't understand, but we believe it. We believe that God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons
in one God. One God. That's how the Scriptures
reveal Him. So here he says that at the end
of time when everything is subdued under the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ that God the father who established the covenant of grace
before time ever began God the father who elected a bride for
his son God the father who promised to his son that that his work
of redemption for his bride would be successful god the father's
going to going to be uh... all and in all our worship our
revelation of god the father will always be in the person
of the lord jesus christ will now all things are subdued else now verse twenty nine i
i I've read everybody I know to read about verse 29. And I
know what verse 29 is not saying. I know what it's not saying.
And I know what the best two options are as to what it is
saying. And so I'll share that with you.
If you go down here to Windermere and go to the Mormon temple,
uh... they won't let you in but if
they were to let you and you would find that that entire building
is built around of huge baptismal pool that's about size of this
room and that baptismal pool is sitting on the back of twelve
larger than life uh... uh... and uh... there are certain mormons who
have earned at the right they have qualified themselves by
their works to be baptized bicariously for someone who is dead and their
baptism dot the whole mormon religion is built around this
it's all built around this uh... all this all this uh... ancestry
stuff that's uh... that's so popular that's that's
coming out of mormonism there there are they are uh... zealous for searching the records
of of their dead ancestors so that some qualified mormon can
be baptized in their stand and get that dead ancestor into paradise
through their baptism and the whole religions built around
that and it all comes from this one person it all comes from
this one person uh... men will pervert the word of
god uh... now that's what this person doesn't
mean everything about that doctrine destroys the gospel when a person
dies when the tree falls whether it fall to the north or to the
south where it falls there it lies there's no hope after death
just like that rich man once he once he died once he left
this world there's no hope of salvation after that a great
gulf is fixed between those who depart from this world without
christ and uh... and there's no there's no recovery
from that to to make baptism of work that
save someone it doesn't even save the person who's being baptized
much less the person that they're being baptized for uh... it everything about that doctrine
destroys the gospel of god's free and sovereign grace in the
lord jesus christ And yet, like every perversion of man, he will
find some verse of Scripture to support his position and ignore
everything else in the Word of God. Now, that's what this verse
does not mean. Let's read it together. Verse
29, "...else what shall they do which are baptized for the
dead? If the dead rise not at all,
why are they then baptized for the dead?" Now, the two things that this
verse could mean that are consistent with the gospel is that when
we practice baptism, when we observe baptism, we are acknowledging
the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so, the argument that the Lord is giving is, if there's no resurrection,
why baptize? Why baptize? There's no significance
to the picture of baptism if there's no resurrection. There
were people in the church at Corinth that were denying the
resurrection. They weren't believers. they
were pretending to be believers and uh... they were bringing
into the church this heresy saying that there was no resurrection
and so the lord saying if there's no resurrection why baptize why
why show the death, burial and resurrection of the lord jesus
christ the other possible meaning of this verse is that baptism
is being used metaphorically for uh... for persecution for
for for for uh... uh... trials and and those things
that come as a result of the you never win the win the when
the lord said to the disciples uh... uh... how does that exchange
go he said uh... uh... i have a baptism that you
know not of uh... and uh... all remember what james
and john wanted to sit on his right is left side and the lord
said uh... you know not what you ask i have
a cup to drink from and a baptism that you know not of can you
bear that and they said yay lord we can and the lord said that
and you shall you shall drink of this cup and you shall experience
this baptism now what they didn't know is that the lord was saying
to them when i'm when i go through the baptism of fire the baptism
of death uh... you're going to be baptized with
me when i drink of the cup of the bitter dregs of god's wrath
you're going to be drinking those that that wrath with me he was
talking about substitution was on that union with christ Paul
said, I am crucified with Christ. There's the hope of our salvation,
that when Christ died, I died. And that God satisfied all of
his justice and all of his wrath in the person of my substitute,
my sin bearer, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel, isn't
it? And so the Lord's saying here, and this fits the context
of the next few verses, Why suffer for the gospel in this world? Why have some of you been put
to death for the gospel if there's no resurrection? And why do I
go through such suffering? Look at verse 30. And why stand
we in jeopardy every hour? Why are we going through such
trials and troubles in this life if there's no resurrection? I
protest by... and the word there, your, is
our... I protest by our rejoicing which
I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die daily. This body of flesh is being put
to death daily i see the death of my old man everyday if after
the manner of men or let me stop there for a moment because uh...
i made a statement a couple weeks ago that uh... if you were if
you're born once you die twice if you're born twice you die
once and uh... and uh... a brother or a man
i i don't know if he's a brother somebody was visiting here actually
uh... he uh... he said i i i understood
what you were saying he said but in fact uh... the child of god dies twice to
uh... it's just that his first death
is spiritual and it's in this life and his second death is
his physical death where is the spiritual man i mean that the
the unbeliever dies physically first and then he dies spiritually
so really for the believer and for that for the child of god
and for the unbeliever there's two deaths and and and two births
uh... it's just that uh... they're
reversed in order the believer dies spiritually first and then
he dies physically the unbeliever dies physically first and then
he dies spiritually so paul says i i died daily i
i i recognize my death in christ and and uh... i protest i'm i'm
sorry look at verse thirty-two if after the manner of men i
fought with beast at ephesus what advantage is that me if
the dead rise not let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die
If there's no resurrection, why are we going through all this?
Why are you going through the baptism of fire? Why are some
of you dying over the gospel? Why do I die daily? Why do I
suffer so much in this world? If there's no resurrection, let's
just let it all hang out. Let's eat, drink, and be merry.
Tomorrow we're going to die. It's going to be all over. Let's
just indulge ourselves in all the pleasures of this world.
And that's the argument. You know, these people say, well,
you know, even if there was no life after death, I'd want to
live my life for Jesus. That's not what the Bible says.
If there's no life after death, just just enjoy this life because
that's all you got all the Lord saying there is
life after death and this puts everything in this life in perspective be not deceived first 33 evil
communications corrupts good manners That's a proverb that we all
need to remember, isn't it? Evil communications corrupts
good manners. If you lie with the dogs, you're
going to get fleas. That's what he's saying, isn't
it? But in the context of this whole
chapter, what the Lord's saying is, you've got some folks in
the church who are professing to be believers who don't believe
the gospel and uh... and you need to break fellowship
with them evil communication you have you you you treat them
as if they're brothers and act as if they're brothers uh...
they're going to pervert the truth of the gospel to you awake to righteousness awake
to righteousness. Christ is our righteousness. Now, awake to righteousness is
just another way to say, look to Christ. Look to Christ and
sin not. Don't entertain anybody's opinions
that deny the resurrection, that deny the gospel, that deny Christ
His glory in salvation. He's all your righteousness.
You have no righteousness outside of Him. All of your hope of standing
accepted in the presence of God is found in Him. He is the express
image of God. And the new nature that He's
given you is the mind of Christ. It is the nature of Christ. So
that as He is, so are we right now in this world. And your hope
is that one day One day, you're going to get a body that's just
as perfect as your new nature in Christ. But of course, some man will
say, and man is always objecting to God,
he's always he's always wanting to it to say well yeah I got
that but what about this and what about that so he says some
man will say Howard the dead rise dot raised up with but body
do they come bow fool a person who would call into question
the resurrection a person who would demand that God explain
how this body is going to be made a new body is an unbeliever. Unbelievers are the ones that
are called fools in the Bible. And so the Lord's identifying
these people who have entered into the church, who have professed
themselves to be believers as unbelievers. He says they're
fools. Separate yourself from them.
Don't have anything to do with them. Don't listen to them. That which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die." Now he's going to use the analogy
of a seed. A seed is dead. It's no life unless the seed
die, not bring forth fruit. And so you can't take a green
seed or a new kernel of corn off an ear and plant it. It's
not going to grow. It's got to shrivel up and die
first before it can grow. And so he says, that which thou
sowest, verse 37, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain.
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every
seed his own body. When you plant a seed, That seed
is going to grow up into something much more glorious than that
seed was. You put one kernel of corn in
the ground and then you've got this beautiful corn stalk with
tassels and ears of corn. Does the stalk of corn and the
ears of corn look like the seed? No, it's much more glorious. But God giveth the body as it
please him, and to every seed his own body." Verse 39, all
flesh is not the same flesh, but there's one kind of flesh
of man, another flesh of beast, another of fishes, another of
birds. There are also celestial bodies and bodies telestrial.
So he's saying there's lots of different types of animals and
fish and there's different stars and different celestial bodies. But the glory of the celestial
is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory
of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory
of the stars, for one star different from another star in glory. So
also is the resurrection of the dead. Now what the Lord is saying
is that your resurrected body is not going to look anything
like the body you've got now. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? It's going to be so much more
glorious than the body that we're carrying around now. It is sown in corruption. And it is. You've watched people
die. When this body dies, gets old,
it gets sick, it becomes even more corruptible in its last
days. It's sown into the ground, corrupted. But it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. I've watched, you have too. the
dignity that we have now you most of us are gonna lose all
that in our last days of life if the Lord lets us live to be
old we're gonna lose all our dignity we're gonna die in dishonor but we're gonna be raised in
glory It is sown in weakness and it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.
There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body. And so it is
written, the first man Adam was made a living soul. The last
Adam was made a quickening spirit. Now that last Adam is Christ.
How be it? that was not first which is spiritual
but that which is natural and afterwards that which is spiritual
the first man is of the earth earthy the second man is the
lord from heaven as is the earthy so are they which are earthy
and as is the heavenly so are they such are they also which
are heavenly and as we were born The image of the earthly, we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. There's your hope,
brethren. This body's just going to get
weaker. It's going to become more corruptible. It's going
to die in dishonor. But the hope is, we have one. who is the fullness of the image
of God. And he has given to us in the
new birth a new nature that's just as perfect as he is. And
in the day of our death, we have the hope of knowing that our
bodies will be made perfect also. What glorious hope! What more purpose could one have
in this life than that? Alright, let's take a break. Yeah.