Let us turn again to God's Word. Our text is found in Paul's epistle
to the Philippians in Philippians chapter 3 and reading verses
20 and 21, the last two verses of Philippians chapter 3. For
our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for
the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself." More particularly, this last verse, Philippians
3 and verse 21, who shall change a vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Now in
the context, we read the previous verse, where the Apostle speaks
of the believers conversation being in heaven. Oftentimes we find in our authorized
version this word conversation and many times it has regards
to the way in which believers are to conduct themselves. The
particular word that is used and translated as conversation
is that that has to do with the believers behavior in this world. But it's not that particular
word that is used here in verse 20. In fact, the word that we
have as conversation is derived from the noun for city. More literally, he is speaking
of the believer's citizenship rather than the believer's manner
of living. Our citizenship, he says, is
in heaven. We know that believers are clearly
strangers and sojourners in this world. When Paul speaks of faith
there in Hebrews chapter 11, he makes it plain, does he not,
concerning the believers' relationship to the world. Speaking of those
of faith in the Old Testament, he tells us, these all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. He goes on, but now they desire
a better country, that is, and heaven Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. Their citizenship is in heaven. He goes on in the next chapter,
chapter 12 of Hebrews to speak of that. You have come unto Manzion.
to the heavenly Jerusalem. The believer's citizenship then
is clearly in heaven. And so whilst in this world there
is that sense in which the believer is one who desires another world,
who looks and longs for heaven itself. This was the experience
certainly of Paul as he writes back at verse 23, there in the
opening chapter, I am in a strait, he says, having a desire to depart
and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide
in the flesh is more needful for you. It is that concern that
he has for these believers, this great burden for the churches
that causes him to see the necessity that he should remain in this
world and yet his real desire is for heaven where his citizenship
is. Again, remember the words that
we have in Colossians 3. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, and not on things on the earth. For the believers, citizenship
is evidently then heaven. our conversation, our citizenship
is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so it is of course that when
that that God has appointed to his children, that time to die
comes There is that separation. At death the believer's soul
goes immediately into the presence of God. That is the glorious
hope of the Christian, is it not, to be absent from the body
and to be present with the Lord. Even on the cross when Christ
addresses himself to that penitential thief, what does he say? Verily,
I say unto thee, to die. shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Or the believer then longs for that day when his soul shall
be taken up, taken up altogether with the Lord Jesus Christ, the
sum and substance of all his religion. And then of course
it is that at death the body is laid In the grave there is
a separation between body and soul. It is the body that is
left. The soul has departed. The preacher
says in Ecclesiastes, all go unto one place, all are of the
dust, and all turn to dust again. And we're reminded of that, are
we not, in the familiar portion that we read there in the 15th
chapter of 1 Corinthians. concerning the body Paul declares
it is sown in corruption. When it's laid in the grave it
is sown in corruption, it is sown in dishonor. It's left there in the grave
awaiting the glorious morn of the resurrection of the dead. Even Job speaks of it. And as we said before it's the
book that is dealing with probably the earliest of periods, probably
the first book of scripture ever written was the book of Job,
written previous to the books of Moses, the first five books,
although of course in those first five books Moses speaks of the
creation, and he speaks of the world before the flood, he speaks
of the patriarchs and so forth. But Job, his book seems to have
been written before the days of Moses. And what does Job declare
concerning these things? Job 19 verse 26, So after my
skin, worms destroy this body, he says. Yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and not another." He
looks for that resurrection then of the dead, but he speaks of
that place where the body is laid even in the grave. Though
after my skin, worms destroy this body. And how believers
whilst they are in this world, recognizing that their citizenship
is really ultimately in heaven, how they are made to feel something
of the corruption of that old nature, that body of sin and
death that they carry about with them. Again, we have the language
of the apostle there in chapter 5 of his second epistle to the
Corinthians. We know, he says, that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, speaking of the
body, we have a building of God and house not made with hands
eternal in the heavens. For in this, in this present
body, we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house
which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
in this earthly body, to grow, be in burden, not for that we
would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life." Now the believer feels it, you see, and
is bound down by a body of sin and of death, all wretched man
that I am, Christ born. You shall deliver me from the
body of this death. But we're not friends. We're
not to be those who would despise the body. Though our citizenship
is in heaven, and though the believer longs to be absent from
the body, to be present with the Lord, yet we're not to despise
the body. When God's made man, he made
him body and soul. That was what we're told concerning
the manner of creation, how he formed his body out of the dust
of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and man became a living soul. And that separation that comes
between body and soul, of course, is the consequence of sin. God
didn't intend that the body, in that sense, should be separated
from the soul. We're not to despise our bodies. Though I know that here in the
text we have this expression, our vile body. But what is the
significance of the word vile as we find it in the text? Well,
it literally means the body of our humiliation or the body of
our abasement. It's not vile as we would use
the word now, as something to be despised. When Paul writes
again to the Corinthians, he reminds them of what the body
is. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own. And so what is it that the believer
ultimately is looking for? Not just to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord, but looking for that glorious
day of resurrection." And that's what we read of here in the words
of the text this morning. "...who shall change our vile
body," says Paul, "...the body of our humiliation, that it may
be fashioned like unto his glorious body." according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." This
is what the believer ultimately desires, with that glorious morn
of the resurrection, the end of time, when the bodies are
raised again and reunited with those glorified spirits. Well,
let us consider what he says here concerning the resurrection,
and I want us to observe some three headings concerning what
Paul is declaring in the text. First of all, we must observe
the efficient cause of the resurrection. The efficient cause of the resurrection. Who is the one who does it? Well, look at the opening words
of the text. Who shall change it is. Who is being spoken of? Well, it is that person that
we read of in the previous verse. We look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Who shall change our vile body? He is the one who is himself
the resurrection. Or remember how we have those
statements scattered throughout John's Gospel, in which we see
the Lord Jesus Christ as the revelation of the great I Am,
how God has declared Himself to be Jehovah, the God of the
Covenant, a declaration that He makes to Moses at the burning
bush, I Am that I Am, or the Unchanging One. And it is the
Lord Jesus who comes in the fullness of the time and reveals to us
the significance of that name, we have then those many I am
statements throughout John's Gospel and amongst them. Those
words that were spoken to Martha upon the death of her beloved
brother Lazarus. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, Yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Oh, what
a question it is that the Lord puts there to Martha, and He
puts it to us, does He not, as we read it today here in Holy
Writ. Believest thou this? Are we those
who believe that Jesus Himself is the resurrection and the life? He is that one who is the cause,
the official cause of the resurrection. The guy in the apostle can speak
of those that through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. And Christ comes, you see, to
minister to such as that. Through death he comes to destroy
him that has the power of death, that is the devil. and to deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. He has a work to do. And the
resurrection is really the completion of that work. The work of Christ
you see. It's entire. He doesn't just
come to save the souls of sinners. He comes to save sinners. And
He has saved them body and soul. And Paul is confident of it,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. What is the day of Jesus Christ?
Ultimately, it is when Christ himself returns in power and
great glory. And that resurrection morn will
complete his work. He shall change our vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. according
to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto
himself. Who does it? It is the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is a complete Savior. And what is it that the Lord
Jesus Christ is here said to do? Well, look at the language. He changes, says Paul, our vile
body, that it may be fashioned fashioned like unto his glorious
body." Now it's interesting, this word that he uses, this
verb, to fashion, because we have it used previously in the
Epistle, there in the second chapter, where Paul says much
concerning Christ. It's a great chapter, where you
say to me, all of Scripture is It's full of great chapters.
But there are these portions, quite remarkable portions. And
what a chapter is that that we have here in Philippians 2, which
speaks so gloriously of Christ in his person and Christ in his
work. And we have this word fashion
there in chapter 2 at verse 8. We read of him being found in
fashion as a man. being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross." Now the word that he uses here, fashion,
as a man, refers to that that is external, that that is accidental,
we might say. What Paul is doing in chapter
2, you see, is drawing a contrast because he also previously speaks
of Christ in verse 6 being in the form of God. The contrast
is between verse 6 and verse 8 there In verse 6, we read of
Christ, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Verse 8, being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself. And it's these two words, form
and fashion. As I say, form has to do with
that that is external and accidental, whereas form has to do with that
that is essential, that that is inner, that that is abiding.
What he is saying, you see, is that Christ is truly and eternally
God. He is God from everlasting to
everlasting. He is the eternal Son of the
eternal Father. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Equality with God was not something
he was grasping after, that was what he was and is. Equal to the Father, equal to
the Holy Spirit in the form in the form, that essential abiding
form he has got. But in the fullness of the time,
he became a man. A real man. But there was a time when he
was not a man. He was found then in fashion
as a man. And how important it is for us
to recognize the significance of the incarnation what says
to God in human flesh I see my thoughts no comfort for him the
holy just and sacred three are terrors to my mind but o'er the
condescension of the Son of God that he was pleased to be found
in fashion as a man and I say it's the same word that is used
here he shall change our vile body, this is the work he does,
and it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. That external appearance, that
outward fashion is to be changed. In the resurrection, you see,
the believer's body is going to be a glorified spiritual body,
which was true of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. when he
is found in fashion as a man, he is a real man, flesh and blood. How the apostles testified to
the reality of his human nature, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, says John, and our hands have handled of
the word of life. But how that body was changed
and glorified in the resurrection, and we see it there, do we not,
in that portion that we were reading in the 15th chapter of
1 Corinthians when Christ rose again, his body
was a glorified body and as that body was glorified
so it was that when the disciples were met together and the doors
were barred and bolted. They were in fear of the Jews
and yet Christ can suddenly appear in the midst and it's a real
wonder. Thomas is not present on that first occasion but on
the next Lord's Day Thomas is there with them and the Lord
appears again and declares peace to them and invites Thomas to
come forward and to put his fingers in the nail-pierced hands and
to thrust his hand into the side of Christ, it's a real body but
it's a glorified body and so too with believers in the resurrection
their body will be glorified just as Christ's body was and
so in that portion that we were reading It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is
sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is
sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And then he goes on, does he
not, to declare the fact. We shall all be changed, he says
in verse 51. We shall all be changed. And
the text, who shall change our body. that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body." This is the work that Christ
does, and He is that One who is the essential cause of it. He is the One who, at His coming,
will change the bodies of those that are still upon the earth.
They'll be glorified, and those who were dead and laid in the
tomb, they will be raised again. The Lord himself is to come in
power and great glory and demonstrate that power even in the general
resurrection. The essential cause, the Lord
Jesus Christ. But then, in the second place,
I want to say something with regards to what we might term
the energizing cause, the energizing cause of the resurrection. He says here, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."
Here is the energizing cause. Look at the words that he used,
according to the working, the working whereby he is able even
to subdue all things unto himself. Now, The word that shows there,
and renders working, is the word from which our English word,
energy, is derived. The etymology of the word energy,
if you look it up in the dictionary, it comes ultimately from this
particular word in the Greek. And what is this energy? Well,
it is God's power in action. It is the power of God in action. Now remember that power was there
when Christ Jesus himself was raised again from the dead. He's declared to be the Son of
God with power. With power according to the Spirit
of holiness, says Paul, by the resurrection from the dead, Romans
1.4. The word power, as we have it
there, is another interesting word because again it is the
root of our English word for a dynamo, a source of power. And that power, you see, is demonstrated,
that power is seen in action here in our text. This is that
great energy that is there in Christ. He is the one who is
the resurrection. In the resurrection Christ is
vindicated. Satan and sin are defeated. Isn't that what Paul says at
the end of our reading? O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law, he says, but thanks be to God which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead with power and
now he demonstrates that power, he demonstrates it in the day
of grace and he will demonstrate it again when he comes in the
final judgment. How does Christ demonstrate that
power and that energy today in the day of grace? In the work
of regeneration. In the work of regeneration.
Remember what we've said so many times, it's the same power that
was there when Christ was raised again from the dead that is necessary
to come into the soul of the sinner dead in his sins in order
that that sinner might come to faith. It's the exceeding greatness
of his power to us who do believe, says Paul, according to the working
of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised
him from the dead. and set him at his own right
hand. What God did in vindicating the Lord Jesus Christ in the
resurrection from the dead is necessary to come into your soul
and my soul if we are going to be those who are truly born again. It is such a mighty work, the
work of regeneration. Because by nature we are those
who are dead. in trespasses and in sins and
we are truly the sons, the daughters of Adam and Eve we are full of
unbelief that sin which God so easily beset us or that accursed
sin that is there in the garden of Eden when Eve is tempted and
partakes of the forbidden fruit, why? because she doesn't believe
God's Word on belief you see God had said remember in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die that's
the word of God and she rejects the word of God and she embraces
the lie of Satan when he says thou shalt not surely die on
belief and we're full of it we're full of it friends how can we
believe him? it must be the power of God It
must be the exceeding greatness of his power to us wards who
believe. Didn't John Newton know something
of it? Or could I but believe? Then all would easy be I would
but cannot. Lord relieve my help must come
from thee. We cannot of ourselves believe
and that is the awful thing to want to believe. To want that
true faith, that saving faith, that faith that is of the operation
of God, that's what we need. Not enough is it just to give
a mental ascent to the Scriptures. We want somebody that's root
of God in our souls. And I say friends, it is Christ's
power, Christ's energy that must come into our souls, and we demonstrate
it. in the day of grace, in the work
of regeneration. But the text is not speaking
so much of what Christ is doing today. It's speaking of that
that is yet to be. When Christ returns in power
and glory, we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His
glorious body. according to the working whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. He doesn't
only save the soul of his people, he saves his people in their
entirety. He saves body and soul. And we'll
see it in that day, in the glorious resurrection. See how Christ
speaks of it in the Gospel? There in John chapter 5. Listen to the words of the Lord
Jesus, John chapter 5, verse 21, He says, As the Father
raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. And then at verse
25, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming And now
is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. The Father has committed the
judgment into the hands of Christ. The Father judgeth no man. He
has committed all judgment unto the Son and our Christ will demonstrate
that in that day when He returns in power and great glory and
there is that general resurrection when the dust, the sleeping dust
of believers will be raised again, glorified, reunited to their
blessed spirits who shall change our vile body that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body. Oh Christ is that one who
is the cause, the energizing cause, not only the efficient
cause but the one who does it because the Father has committed
this to him as the Son of Man And then, in the third place,
the cause of this resurrection, we must consider the exemplary
cause. The exemplary cause. Christ's
own resurrection body is the pattern, the example. Again, we read it
there in 1 Corinthians 15. Now is Christ risen from the
dead? and become the firstfruits of
them that slept. Christ is the firstfruits. And
remember the significance of the firstfruits in the Old Testament,
in Leviticus. What is the feast of the firstfruits?
It's a firstfruit that guarantees the full harvest. And this is what Christ's resurrection
does, you see. Because Christ is risen. His
people will also be risen, raised again in that day. Now is Christ
risen, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. The Puritan
Richard Sibbes makes this observation, he says, as we bore the image
of the first Adam in corruption, so we must bear the image of
the second Adam in glory. All the believers He's found,
is he not, in that second man, the last Adam, the Lord from
heaven. Remember how in God's sight there
are but those two men, those two Adams, there's the first
Adam, and there's the last Adam, and we're either in one or the
other by nature, we're all of course in the first Adam, we're
all descended from him. He is represented representative
head there in the garden and when Adam sinned, we sinned and
that fallen nature has come to us down the generations that's
where we are by nature but there is another Adam that one that
we read of in our portion the last Adam the Lord from heaven
and the vital thing is that we know that by the grace of God
we're in that now, ought to be in the last Adam. By nature we bear the image of
the first, the first Adam, corruption. We ought to bear the image of
him who is the last Adam, to be glorified in Christ, as in
Adam or God. Even so, in Christ, says Paul,
all shall be made alive. Oh, the last Adam, he says, was
made a quickening spirit. The Lord Jesus is that one, you
see, the last Adam. Adam was but a type of him. Adam
directs us to him as that one who is the great, the glorious
head of his people. And what does he say? Thy dead
men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Because I live, ye shall live
also. The Lord Jesus is that one who
is the pattern of the resurrection. We love it, now are we the sons
of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when we shall see him we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. This is the glorious hope, is
it not, of the believer, to be altogether like unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. Isn't that the end of God's great
purpose? Glorification. We have it there
In Romans 8, in that golden chain of verses 29 and 30, where does
it end? Then He also glorified. And all is in Christ. All is
in Christ, whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate, to
be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom he predestinates, he calls.
Whom he calls, he justifies. Whom he justifies, he glorifies.
That to be conformed all together to the image of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He himself, I say, is the exemplary
cause of the resurrection. And so we have it here in our
text, you see. as we remember the rising again
from the dead of the Lord Jesus. We don't only remember it today,
of course. I know there are those who call
the day Easter Sunday. We don't observe such seasons,
but we know it is that time of year. It's Passover. To the Jew
it is the time of Passover. And Christ is that Paschal Lamb
who was sacrificed for His people. But every Lord's Day do we not
desire to remember this? that the Lord Jesus Christ is
risen that he is risen indeed and he is rising again from the
dead is the guarantee that his people also are to be raised
again in that great day their salvation all the fullness of
salvation for man, for body and soul in that person and that
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it
may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the
working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. The Lord then blessed His word
to us. and the tune is Malcolm 369.
Blessed are they whose guilt is gone, whose
sins are washed away with blood, whose hope is fixed on Christ
alone, whom Christ has reconciled to God, 681. His guilt is gone, His sins are
washed away with blood, His hope is fixed on Christ alone, And
Christ has reconciled to God. So temptation meets the heart.