All right, let's turn back to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15. I've entitled this message, We Shall
All Be Changed. We shall all be changed. The Apostle Paul declared in
the 49th verse 1 Corinthians 15, that having born, having had
the image of the earthy, that is being born in Adam, having
been born frail, corruptible, mortal creatures, living in in
an animal body. A body that is animated by a
living soul, a spirit of life in a man. There's something that
makes us continue to go. It's that life. But we're living
in a body, the earthy body, that's subject to corruption, to death. to decay. Having born this body,
now that's what we're going through right now. Having born this earthy
body, the scripture says we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Being born of Christ in regenerating
grace the first time. That's the first resurrection.
That's what it talks about. We rise from the death of unbelief
and sin and life will be imparted in the new generation. That's
the first generation. But there's another resurrection
that's going to come and it's going to be at His second return. We know this, having born the
image of the earthy, We're going to bear, the scripture says,
the image of the heavenly. Philippians 3.21, who shall change
our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body. And this is of absolute necessity. This has got to take place. It's
got to. Verse 50 says this. Now this
I say, what I just said, what he just said, verse 49, this
I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Now, he's clearly setting forth
something that's going to take place In the second return of
our Lord and the people of God, raised out of the ground, He's
going to come back with the saints, the spirits, the souls of His
people, the new man that's been with Him, absent from this body,
present with the Lord. He's going to come with all of
His angels and His people. And at that time, This body is
going to be reunited with that spirit, but that body that went
in the ground in corruption is going to come out in incorruption. There is going to be an actual
material change in us before we can enter into heaven, into
the kingdom of God. The scripture says forth that
flesh and blood, that means this body of corruption as we know
it. This is all we know. I can't
think in any other way concerning a body except the body that we
have, the body that changes, that body that that gets older,
that gets weaker, that body, that's all we know, a body that
is tainted by sin. That body cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. Now this is what he's saying. The creation, the creation and
its environment must be adapted to each other. It's got, that's
just the way it is. I said this before, last time
we looked at this, this is what we all know. There's all kinds
of flesh. We got, we have flesh, birds
got flesh, fish has got flesh, you know, walking animals, you
know, lions and all that kind, they've got a certain kind of
flesh. and a fish in his flesh can live in the water. Why? He's adapted to that environment. He's made that way. His gills
are made to where he can suck in water, gets the oxygen out
of it, rest of it goes out the back. He's made like that. Now, we can't do that. We're just not made that way. We live on a planet that's got
gravity, it's got some air, it's got some food in it, and that's
where we're made. We've got our lungs adapted to
where we receive oxygen by just sucking it in. That's where we
get it. And our bodies are made that
it goes to all parts of our organs and they're oxygenated. That's the way we're adapted. And so we, in this natural state
of corruption, can live on this planet because that's the way
God made us. But in heaven, it's not going
to be like that. We're not going to have This body of flesh and blood
can't live there. Now, Paul says in verse 51, something's
going to have to happen and he said, now behold, I show you
a mystery. Now that word mystery means this. It means a revelation that heretofore
was hidden. This is the first time it was
ever told that something was going to have to change. I mean,
we all knew that, you know, that maybe they knew in the Old Testament
that, you know, that there was glory and Abraham believed God. But this is the, he said, I'm
going to show you something that heretofore had not been told. First time it was told in Scripture. I'm going to speak a truth that's
been hidden in God's purpose and will, but now it's revealed.
He said, I show you a mystery. Here's the mystery. We. He wasn't talking about just
those that he was talking to at that moment, but he was talking
about all of God's people who have lived before us, who are
living now, or who shall be born in time if the Lord tarries and
they're born. He said, we shall not all sleep. That means we're not going to
all die. physically in the same way that
we're accustomed to see people leave this world. This is a way we naturally behold. We see somebody and according
to God's will and providence, whether they're taken out instantaneously,
whether they have a long lingering disease, whatever, we recognize
a physical death. And he said, we're not all going
to do that. We're not going to slumber from
living in this world, from the toils of this world. We're not
all going to sleep. There's some that's going to
be here when the Lord returns, but we're not all going to sleep.
We've all been chosen in Christ and justified by His grace, regenerated,
but we're not going to all experience physical death, burial, as we
know it. We're not all going to do that,
but we all shall be changed. We're not all going to die physically,
but we're all going to be changed. Now, though there's so much that
we don't know about that, but we do know this. Our bodies in
heaven are truly going to be flesh. Now, we've looked at that
script. We looked at it in Job, and Job
says, I know. I'm going to see God. in my flesh
I'm going to see God. So I know that it's going to
be flesh. We're convinced of that. But
not in this present state. It may look like this. It may
look like this. I don't know. We're going to
recognize each other. Peter, James, and John knew who
Moses and Elijah was. They knew them. They knew that.
I know you. They knew them. How'd they know
them? Our bodies are going to be not
physical, carnal, corruptible. They're going to be spiritual
bodies, real bodies. Our bodies that are corrupted
by sin, subject to all the effects of sin that, you know, just continually
going in a downward spiral of corruption, you know, that Paul
says, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We bury it now, we're
not going to bury it then. We're going to be changed by
a quickening spirit, the Lord himself. We're going to possess
that spiritual body, flesh, real flesh. flesh that's changed into
that which is now capable of living in heaven forever. And then he said this change
is going to take place this way. Look at verse 52. In a moment.
In a moment. in an indivisible atom of time. That's the description. I looked
it up. An indivisible atom of time. Before we can even realize
anything that's happening. Then he says this, in the twinkling
of an eye. John Gill said this, he said
that the twinkling of an eye, it refers to the fastest movement
that a body can make. I tried to do it. I thought,
I guess there's nothing else in my body that moves faster
than that. You know, just the twinkling of an eye. A twitch. A jerk. Just something that happens
so quickly you didn't even know it happened. It was just, bam,
it was over. In a moment. And when is that
going to happen? The scripture says, at the last
trump. The trumpet shall sound. That
sound, according to these scriptures, that's going to silence all other
sounds. Can you just imagine? Now look,
all the activity that's going on right now. Everything. I mean,
some parts of the world, people are sleeping. Sometimes, somewhere
it's dark, and somewhere it's, you know, another time, this,
that, and the other. All kinds of business is going on. All
kinds of stuff that's happening right now. At the last trump,
The scripture says that sound that's going to stop all men,
all women, all economy, all the activity, it's going to just
stop. It's a sound that's going to
be so arresting and so powerful. How powerful is it going to be?
It says that the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall
be changed. A sound so powerful The dead's
gonna hear it. The dead in the ground, and for
God's people, they're gonna come out changed immediately. They're the first ones that's
going to actually be joined with the Lord, body and soul now. And the ones still on the ground,
they're gonna be changed too. They're still here. but we're
not gonna prevent them. They're gonna meet the Lord first.
I mean, in a moment, how fast? So fast we didn't even, but God
said that they were gonna be raised first. Then we'll meet
them, and they're gonna be raised in corruption. That animal body created and
suited to this world which we live shall, in a moment, in a twinkling of the eye, that
last sound before anybody even realized they didn't even have
time to take another breath. Whatever they were doing, wherever
they are, wherever they are concerning the Lord, it's over, it's over. Last moment, last time they ever
heard the gospel, last time they ever drank any water, last time
they spoke, it was done. God's people will be in a spiritual
body immediately. The Lord spoke of this event
in John 5, 25. He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, truly, truly, write this down. Believe what I'm saying. This is the way it is. The hour
is coming. Now is when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear Not just naturally
with a natural ear, but if they that hear Him calling them, those
that hear with new ears, they're going to live. They're going
to live resurrected and changed into that which shall endure
forever. He said, you listen to what I'm
saying. It's coming. The last trump is going to sound.
I'm telling you, the dead are going to hear the voice of God.
Those that sleep in Christ, united with Him. Look at verse 53. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. God's decreed it. Heaven requires
it, and though the Holy Spirit has not been pleased to explain
to us all the details of this change. That change from a physical
to a spiritual body, according to these scriptures, is absolutely
necessary. It's going to take place. We're
going to be made incorruptible. We're going to be made immortal.
We're going to be flesh, but we're going to be different.
There's going to be a blessed life hereafter. And death, Physical
death, for a believer as we know it, is just that vehicle by which
God Almighty shall usher us into His presence. That's what death
is. It's that vehicle, it's that means by which the Lord is going
to call us to Himself. So, verse 54, when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption in that time, When the trump
of God sounds, the dead in Christ arise, they hear the voice of
the Son of God, they are raised incorruptible. When this corruptible
shall I put on incorruption, this mortal shall I put on immortality,
then, and not before then, shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. when the Lord
has been pleased to call all of His sheep that'll ever be
born into this world unto Himself. And He's gonna call them all.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. All power is
given unto the Son that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given Him. So all of God's elect are going
to be saved. They're all going to be saved.
They're all going to be made like unto Him. After the Lord
has called them all out in regenerating grace, after the trump of God
is sounded, after those that sleep in Christ have been raised
from the dead and we would meet them, change in the air, then,
then, Not before then. It's gonna be brought to pass
what was written. Written where? Well, Isaiah 25,
eight. Hold your place there in 1 Corinthians.
Turn to Isaiah 25, verse eight. This is where God Almighty said
something back in the Old Testament, repeated it. 25, eight. Isaiah 25, eight. He will swallow
up death in victory. And the Lord God will wipe away
tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall
he take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken
it. God Almighty wrote this, Paul
says back in verse 54, then, when? This corruptible shall be put
on incorruption, this mortal shall be put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that was written back
in Isaiah. What saying? This, death is swallowed
up in victory. And then the Spirit of God had
the Apostle Paul write something, the Spirit of God was saying
this. Paul said it and all believers say it in agreement with what
the Spirit of God said. We believe God, we agree with
God. Here's what the Spirit of God
said first, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory? Where, where, death, where is
your sting? Here's the, there's the, that
question of all questions now that settles the heart of God's
people being delivered from the bondage of sin and destruction. Death, where is your sting now? When I was a kid, We lived in
a little old house down in Louisiana. And I can remember, I mean, I
remember right now this exact illustration that I'm about to
give you. I remember where I was in the backyard. I was barefooted,
running around out there in the grass. And the little old house
right there behind us I was back and forth to their house all
the time, you know, going over, playing with those kids, and
back and forth, barefooted. And we had these little old honeybees,
and I'm telling you, they were all over the place, you know,
and they'd get on clover and stuff like that, you know. And
man, I'm telling you, I was standing by the clothesline. I remember
where I was. And that bee got me, and I'm
telling you, I'm, stung me, and I'm, oh man, I reached in and
looked at my foot, had a little stinger, stinger stuck up in
my foot, you know? Man, I reached in and pulled
that out. Man, that hurt. And I still saw the bee. I stepped on him, he stung me,
and I guess I pushed him down in the grass, but he was just
kind of crawling around a little bit, so I just reached down and
picked him up, picked him up by his wings, put him in my hand,
just kind of watched him. He was kind of walking around
a little bit, but you know what? He couldn't do anything else
to me. You know why? Ripped his stinger out. ripped
his guts out with it too. I remember it just jerked it
right out. Man, I tell you, I could have
held that bee all day long and he'd have never gotten me again.
Why? He didn't have another stinger.
He only had one stinger. Oh death, where is thy sting? Where's your sting now? O grave,
where is thy victory? Christ has died. Christ was buried. Christ rose from the dead victorious
over the grave as the first fruits, as the promise of God to all
those found in Him, chosen in Him, found. There's the promise
of God. As He came out, we're going to
come out. Oh, we're going to die unless
we're here with the Lord. We're going to be changed, but
we're all going to die and be buried too. But in that last
trump, I tell you what, we're coming out of that grave. We're
not going to stay in that grave. We're not going to have victory
over us by the grave. Grave? Where's all your boasted
glory now? Verse 56, the sting of death
is sin. That's stinger. And that bee,
that was his power. Yeah, you step on me, I'll get
you. And he did. But I tell you what,
the sting of death, what is it? What's the power of death? What is the power of it? Sin. Sin. when Christ was made sin
for His people. Now here's the sting of death. It's that sin in which we're
born. That's what gets us. If I just
wasn't a sinner. Well, yeah, but we are. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And that's the sting. That's
the power of it. That's the hurt of it. That's
what gets us. We're sinners and we can't do
anything about it. But the sting of death is sin.
What did God do? Christ came into this world and
was made what was getting us. He was made sin. He was made that stinger. And
Almighty God judged Him for it. He spewed out his judgment on
what we deserved, he deserved. Now, he said, my iniquities are
more than the hairs of my head. My iniquities have taken hold
upon me. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He was made sin. For God to show
mercy to us, somebody's going to pay that debt. Because the
wages of sin is death. And he died under the judgment
of God. The sting of death is sin. And when God's justice was spewed
out on him, on our behalf, sin's stinger toward us removed. No condemnation. He paid the
debt. There's no condemnation to them
that be in Christ Jesus. Why? He took the sting of death
himself. He paid it. I'll pay that. And
the strength of sin? The sting of death is sin. And where does sin get that sting? Where does it get its strength? It's the law of God. Law of God. If it wasn't for God's law, there'd
be no sin. There'd be no sin if there was
no law because sin is the transgression of the law. That's what sin is.
God Almighty has set forth His demand for justice and righteousness. That's His law. That's the strength
of sin. Sin can say, you broke God's
law. Because sin being the transgression
of the law, Christ Himself had to come to this world and obey
it. Obey the law. Every jot, every
tittle of God's law for His people. For us to have any hope, He had
to bear the guilt of it, but He had to satisfy it. He had
to satisfy it and pay the debt of it. Now, the law of righteousness
for everyone that believes. He's the end of that. He is the
end of the law for righteousness. What am I saying? He obeyed it
and then charged it to us. Righteousness. So now the law
has no hold, has no demands, no judgment toward God's people. So what's the conclusion? Look
at verse 57. The thanks be to God which, look
at this blessed word here, giveth, and giveth, and giveth, and continually
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, let's never get away from
that word, how we receive this victory. It was something that
we didn't earn. It was something that was bestowed,
something that was given. We didn't deserve it. We didn't
even desire it. It was not until He revealed
to us in regenerating grace what He had done for us. Until the
Lord calls us out of darkness, we don't care. What difference
does it make? That's our attitude. We're like
Pharaoh. Who's the Lord that I should
obey Him? That's the attitude. Oh, but a believer, he can say
just about the same thing, but he says it like this. Oh, who
is the Lord? Holy Joshua. Oh, I should obey
Him. They don't say it as a doubtful
slur against Him. They say it with adoration. My
Lord, my God. They say it's Thomas. Thanks
be unto God, which giveth us the victory. We are victorious. Victorious in Christ. How? We have obeyed perfectly
every demand in Him. Have we obeyed? Are we holy? Yes. In Him. in Him, found in
Him, robed in Him. We are victorious over sin. Why? Because our head, our federal
head, our surety on our behalf bore that sin for us and paid
its due in His precious blood. I know He did because God the
Father said, when I see the blood, I'm going to pass it over you.
Why? He paid it, paid in full. Victorious over the grave because
he went to the grave and came out of the grave. Why did he
come out of the grave? Because God accepted what he
did. It's my beloved son. I'm well pleased. He had to die
because that was the wages of it. But I tell you what, the
grave couldn't hold him. He came out victorious. And he
won't be able to hold us either because we're in him. He laid
down his life for the sheep. He gonna raise up the sheep just
like he was raised up. And therefore, here is the conclusion
of the whole matter. Therefore, verse 58, my beloved
brethren, you that hear the word of the Lord and do it, my beloved,
beloved of God, beloved of each other, Be ye steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord. Let me just say that again. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in what He did. In
what He did. Not thinking that we're all the
faithful ones. Now God's people are faithful,
kept by the power of God through faith. But here's where we're
steadfast. Here's where we're immovable
because he keeps us by grace and power through faith. Here's
where we're always abounding in what he's done for us in the
work of the Lord. In that which he accomplished.
What did he accomplish? He accomplished that which God
commissioned him to accomplish. He said, my meat is to do the
will of him that sent me and to finish the work. And Calvary,
what did it say? He's finished. Death paid. Righteousness established by
his life, justification by his blood, redemption, salvation
for his elect. For you know, for as much as
you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. What labor is that? What labor? For as much as you know that
your... What labor? Your belief. This
is the work of Him that you believe. For as much
as you know that your labor, labor of love, You know, your
belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, your labor is not in vain. My friend, trust in Him, believe
in Him, waiting on Him, casting your all upon Him. That's not
going to come to nothing. I can tell you this, that's not
in vain. Oh, no. In that day, that trumple sound,
dead and Christ raised will meet them in the air. So shall we
ever be with the Lord changed God's people say, I believe that.
I endeavor, we abound in His work. That's what He's done for
us. And that labor of believing Him
is going to endure because God Almighty is going to keep us.
I pray God bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.
Amen.