I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn back with me to the book of 1 Corinthians,
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. Before we read, let's ask our
Lord's blessing. Our Father, we ask you this evening,
according to your good pleasure, Bless our hearts by the hearing
of the gospel. Lord, help us, help us to worship. We pray this evening for Clyde
and for his family. We thank you that you've given
us this time to be able to pray for our own. Have mercy according
to your good pleasure and forgive us, Lord, where we fail you.
These things we ask for Christ's sake. Amen. There are times when the Spirit
of God is pleased to open a scripture to our understanding and to show
us something in the scriptures that magnify the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this evening, I want us to
look at a passage of scripture that I just preached past Sunday. It's verse 6, 1 Corinthians chapter
15, And verse 6 says this, After that, he was seen of above five
hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. Whenever the Lord is pleased
to show us something in a scripture, You want to go back and look
at that scripture again. And for just a few minutes, I'd
like for us to do that, and it seems so appropriate this evening
for us to look at this verse 6 again. The scripture declares that the
Lord of Glory died as God's Lamb. That's what when Abraham and
Isaac were going up and Isaac asked his daddy, and you know
Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, that's what the Lord told
him to do. And Isaac says, Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, where's the
lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself. a lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ
died as God's lamb, sent of God, submissive, faithful to the calling,
rejected of men by and large. But he was the one who suffered
bearing the guilt of his elect. He died for His people. He died for all that the Father
had everlastingly loved, all that the Father was going to
save, call out of spiritual darkness in time. That's who He died for. Now there's a people in this
world, I'm convinced, many sitting here this evening, that according
to the Scriptures, have been everlastingly loved of God, a
people whose debt before the law of God has been paid, put
away by the blood of Christ, a people that shall surely stand
before God on the day of judgment, robed in the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, accepted in the Beloved. Now, of such
a people, I've got some good news. This scripture declares that
after the Lord died, was buried, raised again the third day according
to the scriptures, the Apostle Paul was moved upon by the Spirit
of God to write this. He was seen of Cephas, then of
the twelve, after that he was seen of above five hundred brethren
at once of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but
some are falling asleep." Now, I could not find in the scriptures
where any record other than right there, that that was, any record
was made of that event. It happened obviously because
the scripture says it did. But it was not mentioned anywhere
else that there was He was seen of Cephas, then of the remainder
of the 12 apostles. Judas obviously is gone at this
time. And then there were 500 brethren,
but what I want us to consider for a few minutes is the wording
of the Apostle Paul. He said, of those 500 of Cephas,
of the 12, and of whom the greater part remain. unto this present. And then he said, but some are
falling asleep. I got just two points tonight.
I want us to look first of all at who saw him. It said it was Cephas, it was
the 12th, and above 500 brethren. Now I don't doubt for a second
that there were not others that probably looked on him, probably
realized, but the only ones that were mentioned that saw him,
and saw him obviously because they're brethren, it was Peter,
the remainder of the apostles and 500 brethren, 500 plus believers,
the greater part. And what were they doing? Now
here's what the scripture said they were doing. They were remaining. Now that word, remain, this is
what captured me when I realized what the word meant. The word, it wasn't, it's not
a word that means, there is a word in the scripture that remained
that just talks about living. They remain, they're still here,
they're just, and they were still here. I have no doubt about that,
they were still here. But this particular word is a
word that describes that what they were experiencing, they
were actually continuing, that word remain, it means continuing
in expectation. That's the meaning of that word.
They weren't just still alive and on the earth. They were remaining. Listen, these had seen him die. It was Peter and the other apostles
that were still left and 500 brethren. They saw Him die. They know that He was buried. And now they're beholding the
risen Savior. And that sight of Him now walking,
alive, has invigorated them with expectation. It's the Lord. He's alive. And these were God's
people, like us, who were alive. They were alive in this world,
experiencing the same trials and tribulations of all men,
knowing that the Lord that had died was buried and now has risen
from the dead. That Lord that taught them, and
they watched Him perform miracles, raise the dead, feed 5,000 men
plus women and children, calm the seas, He's alive. He's real. He's really alive. And now they're moved, now invigorated,
remaining. The Word is not just, they just
were still here. Oh, no. This word is a word that
is of watchfulness. Watchfulness. Listen to what
the Spirit of God says. 1 Corinthians 16, 13. Watch ye. Stand fast in the faith. Quit
you like men. Be strong. Watch. Watch. Watch against evil. Now, here's
what's happening right now, just like it was for these. There's
some folks in this world, brethren, who are remaining, remaining
watchful. They're going through their everyday
life. They're going to work. They're at home. They've got
duties. They've got whatever. Whatever
they're doing, they're not just going through the motions. The
believer is remaining. He's watchful. He's expecting. This could be the last day. This
could be my last day. This could be the night that
the Lord comes back. They're watching, watching against
evil inside and out. Watching or alert. for opportunities
to do good, watchful over each other in love and defending each
other, watching for those who would desire to draw them away
from the desire to draw them away, which you can't, but there's
those that would, to draw them away, to discourage them. from the belief of the truth,
the unity in the gospel. So watch ye, or stand fast in
the faith, Paul said. Hold fast to what you believe. That's what a believer's doing. They're remaining watchful, standing
fast in the faith. Quit you, Paul said. Quit you like men. What does
that mean? Be a man. Be a man. Stand fast. Don't be like children
tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Be men, be
women in the faith. Be willing, if need be, if it's
the Lord's will, that my life is given up for His sake. Quit you like men. That's what
it means. Be a man. That's what it means. Be strong. Obviously not in yourselves,
Paul says, though, when I'm weak, then am I strong. When I'm weak. When I can take pleasure, he
said, in mine infirmities, whatever the Lord has sent our way, whatever
it is, whether it's physical, whether it's emotional, whatever
it is, the infirmities that we go through in this life, that
were called upon to endure, you know this, you that remain. You know that the steps of a
good man are ordered by the Lord. You know that all things work
together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. You know that.
So what are we doing? What is a believer doing right
now? As I said, you're not just going through the motions. I
mean, it's just day in, day out, day in, day out. What happened
today? About what happened yesterday. Well, that's concerned what's
going to happen tomorrow. Probably what happened today, more than
likely. But that's not the attitude of a believer. They remain remain
with an expectation. That's what they were doing.
They remain knowing that the Lord himself is controlling. He remains, a believer does,
he remains living in this life, giving diligence, giving diligence
to make his calling and election sure. How often does a believer
do that? He's always doing it. This is the attitude of a believer. This is what you're gonna do,
you that believe. This is what you're gonna do
until you die. You're gonna go the rest of your life giving
diligence to make your calling and election sure. Now, when
we are commanded, give diligence, That is, make an honest effort. Make an earnest, honest effort. About what? About your calling.
Give diligence to make your calling and your election. If you can
know something about your calling from God, you'll know something
about your election of God. Whom the Lord chose, predestinated,
He called. taught, what is a believer doing
when he is giving diligence? I, I, you know, give diligence.
Okay. I want to do that. I want to do it. What is that? What, how is that done? I'm just going to ask you just
a few questions. I'll ask all of us a few questions
and you just answer them to yourself, giving diligence. to make your
calling and election. This is what they were doing.
They were remaining. They were remaining. They were expecting.
They were invigorated. Their minds were fixed. It's the Lord. The Lord is here. The Lord is here. This is what
a believer does when he examines. Alright, let me ask you this.
Do I truthfully... Now you ask yourself this. Do
I truthfully believe, as I'm given diligence to make my calling
and election sure, do I truly believe that I myself, in myself
as being born in Adam, that I am absolutely, totally depraved? That I am in myself as far as
being born in Adam, that I am a self-righteous sinner by birth? by choice, by practice, do I
truly believe that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth
no good thing? Now you say, well, that's not
really relevant. My friend, that question right
there is absolutely relevant because men and women are being
told that there's a little good in all men. And that's not true. I'm talking about making my calling
and election sure. Do I believe that Almighty God
has chosen to show mercy to me? Has chosen me to salvation? And that had He not chosen me,
I would have never chosen Him. making my calling and election
sure, do I believe that my salvation was God's choice and not mine? Do I believe thirdly that Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners of His choice? Call His name Jesus for He shall
save His people. from their sins. Now, I'm asking
myself this. I don't want to answer according
to what everybody's telling me. I want to answer from these scriptures.
The scriptures say that Christ loved the church and gave himself
for it. The church, the bride, husbands
love your wife as Christ loved the church. Do I believe that
He came into this world not to make salvation possible? I'm
talking about He came into this world to actually redeem, to
pay the debt of my sin at Calvary. to live a life as the man Christ
Jesus, earning a righteousness before God, and robed me with
that righteousness. That's all the righteousness
that I have that God will accept. Now I'm making my calling and
election sure. Do I have a righteousness of His making? Do I have a putting
away of my debt by His shed blood? Have I been chosen by God Almighty
and not by myself? Am I a depraved sinner? And then,
did the Holy Spirit powerfully, effectually, in particular, stop
me in my wayward journey of self-righteous religion? Do I truly believe
that the Lord was pleased to put me under the sound of the
gospel, whatever what the means was? You know, I can't tell you
how many times I've heard men say, well, I just came over here
because I was, you know, like my girlfriend, I just came over
here. She was just going to church, you know. She went to church.
So if I was going to see her, I was going to have to go to
church, you know. Now you can look back, if the Lord is pleased
to save you, and say, no, you weren't just coming to see her.
God providentially put you here. Providentially. Do I believe
that the Lord put me under the sound of the gospel, and caused
my path to cross with a preacher of the gospel of God's grace,
and then called me out of darkness, gave me life, and I believed
what I didn't believe before. Before, you couldn't have convinced
me of this. You'd tell me this, and I'd say,
well, bless your heart. I'll humor you. But now I believe
that. I believe what you're saying.
God has granted me faith. And am I being kept by the power
of God, willingly, through faith, with a heart to honor and serve
and obey Him? Kept by the power of God through
faith. Kept constantly aware of my need
to continually cry out to Him, Save me. Save me. You say, well, I've already asked
him to save me. I need him to save me right now.
And if I wake up in the morning, I need him to save me tomorrow.
I need him to save me. If I can, by grace, answer those
questions in a way that gives all the honor and the glory and
praise to the Lord, then I've made my calling in election sure.
I've given diligence. I've taken what God has to say
and I'm asking myself, is that my experience? Is that my belief? Is that what I'm holding to?
So this was how those that had seen the Lord remained. They
were an enlightened people that walked by faith knowing that
the day of the Lord was going to come as a thief in the night,
knowing that very soon the trump of God would sound, the dead
in Christ would rise first, and we which are alive on this earth
will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. That's
what a believer is doing right now. There were Cephas and the
twelve and above five hundred that remained until this day.
remained faithful, kept, kept. But secondly, Paul said, but
there was something else about those that had seen him. And
they had seen him. Some of them, the scripture said,
are falling asleep. Now look what it said. After
that, he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the
greater part remain unto this present. But some of the ones
that had seen Him are falling asleep. Now, is it not amazing
how the Scripture speaks of those who have died in the faith? They
are said to sleep, to sleep, to sleep in the Lord, to rest
from their labors. And this is what happens when
a believer actually dies. I'll use the word, when this
body and this spirit, this soul is separated. You know, the body,
it dies. What happened? Listen to what
the Lord told Moses, Deuteronomy 31, 14, Behold, thy days approach
that thou must die. It's appointed unto man wants
to die. It's appointed. There's going to be a time, and
when that time gets here, our time is time. He told Moses,
thy days approach that thou must die. That's what the Lord said
to him. Two verses later, verse 16, Deuteronomy
31, 16, he says, behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. This body would be separated
from the spirit, but he said, this is what is going to happen
to you, Moses. And all like him, all believers,
they sleep. They sleep. This was the state
of Lazarus when the Lord said in John 11, 11, Our friend Lazarus
sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of his sleep. Now
when the natural man speaks of a soul leaving the body. This
is how we all do this. We speak of that person as dying.
But for a believer, this is a scriptural terminology. A believer is said
to sleep. And let me tell you what's being
promised right there. You're going to wake up. You know, all of us in just a
little while, go lay down, we'll go to sleep. Now let me tell
you what you expect. You expect, and of course you
know and you'll admit, if the Lord takes me tonight, I'll be
with the Lord. But if not, physically speaking,
you'll wake up. You'll wake. It's the Lord's
way of refreshing this body and rejuvenating this body, we're
just made to where we go to sleep. We sleep, we rest. Now that laying
down of oneself to rest is a picture. When physically we sleep in the
Lord, there is, according to the Scriptures, a resurrection.
We're going to wake up. We'll come out. We'll come out
of the grave. That's a promise that a believer,
by virtue of faith that the Lord's given him, has that he will rise
again. And even in the wording, sleep,
even if our physical dying is associated with some kind of
violence. What I'm thinking about is, turn
over to Acts 7, hold your place there, I'm almost done, Acts
chapter 7. I'm going to start in verse 54. There was a man
named Stephen. And Stephen, he preached his
final message. He preached to a group of Jews.
And what he told them was, he said, you're stiff-necked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears and you do always resist the
Holy Ghost as your fathers did so, so do ye. And then in Acts
chapter 7, verse 54, It says, when they heard these things,
they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their
teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly
into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on
the right hand of God. Now, just before I continue reading,
I mean, think about this. Think of the comfort. Here's
a man, they heard what he said, They were cut to the heart and
gnashed on him with their teeth. They bit him. He, being full of the Holy Ghost,
looked up into heaven and he saw just exactly what Cephas
and the Twelve and above 500 saw. They saw the Lord. They saw the Lord. Comforted. Comforted. And he said, as he
saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God, and I'm absolutely, I believe this, I believe he saw the Lord. He saw the Lord and behold, he
said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing
on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud
voice and stopped their ears and ran upon Him with one accord,
cast Him out of the city, stoned Him. The witnesses laid down
their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul, Saul
of Tarsus, who God made to be Paul the apostle. And they stoned
Stephen, calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay
not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep. Now whether one is permitted
by the Lord to die in his physical sleep quietly, whether the Lord
is pleased to take him in an act of violence, hatred, and
resentment, you know, the comfort for a believer is to hear the
sweet promise of the Lord that informs him how he's going to
depart. Now believer, this is how we're
going to depart. No matter what the circumstances.
You say, well, he was struggling, he was this, that, and the other.
Here's what the Lord has to say. Even if it's united with physical
pain, one that is having to endure is in that time of departure. The Lord has promised, I will
never leave you. I will never leave you. I will
never forsake you. I will keep you in the hour of
your need. Be there. I will be there. Now brethren, that's a comfort
to me. That's a comfort to know. Lord,
you said you would never leave me, no matter what. What were these doing? Well,
they remained, but some of them had fallen asleep. When they
fell asleep, they fell asleep in the Lord. And the Lord has promised those
that know Him, in grace, He said, you're never going to die. Now that doesn't mean physically,
you know we'll die physically, but eternally. We won't experience,
we won't experience, here's the last scripture, turn to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4 verse 13. A believer will never experience what it is to have to face the
guilt, dying with the guilt of sin. Now listen to what I just
said. A believer will never experience having to die with the guilt of his sin upon
him. When the Lord Jesus Christ died
at Calvary, He died being made sin. He knew experientially what
it was to die under the judgment of God. Do you understand what
I'm saying? He knew. He experienced. the actual dying under judgment,
being made sin. He died as our absolute substitute. He experienced that. Now I want
you to listen to this scripture here. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to
15. But I would not have you be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep. that ye sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died, as I just said, actually experiencing the judgment of
God, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was made
sin. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Did you notice the difference in the wording there? Jesus died
that his people might sleep. in him. He experienced the justice
and the judgment of God's law in our stead and put it away,
put that judgment away, satisfied, consumed it. He has abolished
death for his people. The physical fact of it remains,
but the sting of death, the victory of the grave is gone. for God's
people. And when God's people are called
upon to leave this world, this is the wording of Scripture.
They sleep. They rest in the Lord. Isn't
that a comfort? That Almighty God, in mercy,
grace, and compassion, would cause His people to fall asleep
in Him, receive Him in glory, and they'll ever be with the
Lord. May the Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's
sake. Amen.