Turn with me now, if you would,
to Colossians chapter three. Colossians three. I want to speak
to us tonight on a subject that I'm not qualified to speak on. No man living on this earth is. No man is qualified to speak
on this. But our Lord has declared some
things about our subject in his word. And we're gonna pray and
we're gonna beg him to send his spirit to us and to open up his
word to us and to bless us and to teach us and maybe let us
enter in to some of the things that he told the Apostle Paul
to write right here in Colossians 3. Let's read the text and then
I'm gonna give you the title of this message. Colossians 3,
look at verse 3 with me. It says, for you are dead and
your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. The title of this message is
Appearing with Christ in Glory. And just think about that. I
can't help, every time I think about that, I can't help but
get excited. You just see if that will sink
in. Appearing with Christ in glory. What a moment, what a thing.
What an amazing thing. Appearing with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Can you imagine what that's gonna
be like? What I want to say first about
this is, without Christ, there will be no appearing in glory
for any man or woman. Without Christ, all souls are
sinful souls by nature. Therefore, all souls are separated
from God and separated from His glory by nature. That's how we
are in our natural state before God. The only hope that any soul
has of being accepted into God's glory is if Christ accomplished
the work that it took for a soul to become acceptable to God. That's the only hope. That is
the only hope. Christ had to make the souls
of his people acceptable to God or else there would have been
no acceptance of God, no acceptance from God. Christ had to do that. That's what the Apostle Paul
told us in chapter one. If you look at chapter one, verse
12, he said, Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet. That word meet means acceptable. It means sufficient. It means
qualified. It means worthy. Giving thanks
unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us
from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom
of his dear son. He delivered us from the power
of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. He did that by making us meet to be partakers of that. Verse 14 says, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Christ came to this earth and
he accomplished the work that was necessary For us, sinful
us, to be made pure and spotless and holy. How can I be holy before
God? How can I be pure before God
and spotless before God? Christ had to do that. Christ
had to do that. And he did it. He came here and
he did it. We're only acceptable because of Him. We're only accepted
in Him. We are only going to be accepted
with Him. We have to go with Him. We can't do anything to make
ourselves acceptable to God. Ephesians 1 verse 6 says, we
are only accepted in the beloved. God the Father made us to be
accepted in Christ his beloved. We're only accepted in the life
that he lived. Only. You know, we constantly look
at this word and our lives don't match up. We're not accepted
in our lives, we're accepted in his life. We're accepted in the death he
died. We're accepted in the blood he shed. We're accepted in the
righteousness He earned. It's all because of Him. All
because of Him. So back in Colossians 3, verse 3 says, For you are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. This is what that means. Your
soul is right now living in the spiritually dead body of your
sinful nature, your soul. All souls are of God. God created
souls and he gave them to bodies. And Solomon said, when all this
is over, our souls are going to go back to the God who gave
them. but he paired a soul with a body. And all of our souls
right now are living, they are housed in these spiritually dead
bodies. Paul said, I'm living in a body
of this death. It's where I live. Because of
that, we are constantly groaning and struggling. Because of that,
we fall. Because of that, we're disappointed
in ourselves. We're always, I am, I don't know
about anybody else, but I'm always disappointed in myself. At this moment, my soul, your
soul, is housed in your sinful body of death. I've given you
this illustration before, but if you were to lose a limb, you
would still be you. You'd still be you. You lose all of your limbs. You're
still you. You are not your body. You are
your soul. Your soul is just housed in a
body. We are living right now in spiritually
dead bodies. That's where our souls are housed. All we can physically see and
know and experience is death. The things of death, the effects
of death, that's all we can physically experience right now. Verse 3
says, you are dead and your life, the life that Christ
has earned for you and secured for you and given to you, your
holy life, the scripture talks about these Holy lives that have
been given to us, applied to us. Well, your holy life, your
spotless life, your sinless life, your eternal life is right now
hid. You can't see it. If you look
with these eyes, you can't see it. When you look at yourself,
And you look at your flesh, you don't see holiness. You don't see spotlessness. You just don't see it. You don't
see the eternal dew of youth on you. And it's because that life is
right now hid with Christ in God. But verse 4 says, when Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with
Him in glory. Christ will come back. He will
come back together all of His people to Himself. Christ is
coming back. Let's not be shocked if all of
the sudden the Lord Jesus Christ appears to this world. Let's
not be shocked. Honestly. It could happen at
any moment. He is coming back. And when He
does, every eye shall see Him. Every eye. When He comes back,
there won't be one human being on this earth that doesn't see
Him. No one will miss Him. It won't be told to anybody.
He came and you missed Him. Every eye shall see Him. And
every soul, every soul shall know who He is, including the
very soldiers that pierced His body on the cross. And to all those who are not
made acceptable with Him, the judgment of God is gonna fall
down on them. But to every soul who was given life in Him, when
He appears, that eternal life that is right now hidden with
Him, it will be made known to all of His people. When He appears,
it'll be made known to all of His people, that perfection.
will appear to his people, and they will, with Christ at that
moment, walk straight into the physical reality of God's glory. Just a moment ago, we all walked
straight into the physical reality of this building, and we're in
it. Well, in that moment, We're going
to walk into the physical reality of God's glory. Everything that
is God's glory. The Apostle John worded it this
way. Turn with me if you would to
1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3 verse 2, He said, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be. At this moment, it is hid with
Christ in God. He said, Now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when He shall appear, We shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. The moment that our Lord appears
and our eyes see him as he is, as soon as we physically lay
eyes on him, our eternal, spotless, holy life will appear to us. And we're going to see ourselves
being just like Him. Right now, all we can do is look
right here and just moan and groan and complain and all those
things. In that moment, when our life
that is right now hid with Him, when He appears, that life will
appear. And we're going to see ourselves
being just like Him. In order to get into heaven,
you have to be just like Him. He's the standard. And that's
what we're going to be. We're going to be just like Him.
The Apostle Paul said it this way. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 21 says, For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Verse 35 says,
but some man will say, how are the dead raised up and with what
body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened except it die. Whenever you plant a seed in
the ground, it dies. And then life comes out of it. Verse 37,
and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall
be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain.
put a corn stalk in the ground, you put a seed in the ground.
And it becomes what it's to become. Verse 38, but God giveth it a
body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body. Verse 42, so also is the resurrection
of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it
is raised in incorruption, 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. Verse 48, as is the earthy, such
are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Is that not amazing? Verse 50,
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast. unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord. Our Lord said in John 11, whoever
lives and believes in me shall never die. Never die. Changed, but not die. Changed for the good. Corruption
goes away. Sin goes away. Death goes away
and all that's left is perfection with Christ. It's all that's
left. Paul told the Philippians, when
Christ appears, he's gonna change our vile body that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body. And that's how we will
appear with him in glory, just like that. Now, what is glory? What is glory? What will we do
there? The Apostle Paul was taken there
by the Lord one time and then brought back to the earth. And
you talk about a thorn in the flesh after seeing and hearing
and then having to come back here. He was taken there and
Paul said, all I can tell you is, eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things
that God has prepared for them that love him. He said, if I
could, if I could tell you what I saw and what I heard, I would.
But he said, it's not possible for a man's mouth to utter it. With that being said, God's mouth
has described it to us in a small way in his word. He's just given
us bits and pieces in his word. And with those gifts, we can have
an anticipation, an expectation, and we can look forward to glory. So I want to show you just a
few of them, all right? Maybe the Spirit of God will shed a
little light on what our Lord has written here. Go with me
first to Isaiah 11. This is a wonderful chapter.
A brother read this in my study Wednesday night. And take the
time, if you want a chapter to read, read this one. The heading
at the top of my page says, The Peaceable Kingdom of Christ.
Doesn't that sound wonderful? The Peaceable Kingdom of Christ.
Look at one verse in it. Isaiah 11 verse 10. It says,
And in that day, There shall be a root of Jesse, that's Christ, which shall stand for a sign,
a banner to the peoples, something they can all look to, which shall
stand for an ensign of the people. To it, meaning to him, shall
the Gentiles seek, and watch this last part, and his rest
shall be glorious. Now, do you have a center margin
in your Bible for the word glorious? You see what that says? That
word translates glory. His rest shall be glory. What is glory? It's His rest. Christ's rest,
the rest that He has earned, the rest He has secured, the
rest He has demanded, the rest He has provided, the rest that
we will enter into. What is God's glory? What is
the peaceable kingdom of Christ? If I can say it this way, what
is heaven? People talk about heaven. What is heaven? This
is all I know to say about it. It's his rest. That's heaven. His rest. Because he had mercy on whom
he would have mercy. Moses said, show me your glory.
Because He had mercy on whom He would have mercy, and because
He was gracious to whom He would be gracious, because He finished
the work, and because He sat down on His throne, the end result
of all of that is rest. Rest. And once we enter into
it, we're going to realize it's glorious. It is glorious. Look at verse 6 right here. It
says, the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, a wolf and a lamb
side by side. The leopard shall lie down with
the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear
shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and
the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child
shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
put his hand on the cockatrice den, or the adder's den, the
poisonous snake. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. That's glorious, isn't it? Rest is going to be rest. Rest. All right. Now, is that
all we will do? We just going to sit and rest?
No. And yes. I want to show you just a series
of scriptures here, OK? Go with me to First Thessalonians,
chapter four. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 15 it says, For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, we're saying this by the according to 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.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall 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. All right, he's gonna come back.
There's gonna be a shout. The voice of the archangel, he's
going to take his people up. From that point on, what will
we do? When he comes back to get us
and he takes us up, where will we go? What will we experience? Turn with me to Jude chapter
1. There's only one chapter in Jude,
just before Revelation. Jude verse 24 says. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. This I say by
the word of the Lord. He is going to come get us. and
he's gonna take us back to be with him where he is. And when
we all get there, he will present us faultless before the presence
of his glory. And it's gonna be an exceeding
joyful moment. And if God says it's gonna be
an exceeding joyful moment, That moment is going to exceed joy. That moment is going to so far
surpass anything we know about joy. It can't be described. It
is exceeding joyful. He's going to come get us, present
us faultless before the presence of his glory. Then what? Turn
with me to Revelation 19. Revelation 19 verse six says, And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto
me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are
the true sayings of God. With indescribable joy breaking
out, All of heaven is going to cry hallelujah for the Lord Jesus
Christ has sovereignly reigned. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him as we sit down at the wedding reception feast
of the lamb. I may be a little strange, but
I love wedding receptions. It's a happy moment. Union has
just been made. Love is in the air. It's a joyful,
joyful event. Our Lord, in that moment, he's
going to call all of his bride to sit down at their wedding
reception feast. How long is that going to happen?
He's going to carry us up. He's going to present us faultless.
We're going to celebrate. How long is that going to happen?
It doesn't say it's going to end. It does not say it's going
to end. I've always wondered that. How
long are we going to sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb?
Who said it's ever going to end? We're going to celebrate and
celebrate and celebrate throughout all of eternity. Well, are you saying that we'll
never get up? We'll just sit there and eat?
No. Turn with me to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65 verse 17 says, For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come
into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing, and her people a joy, And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people. And the voice of weeping shall
be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall
be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath
not filled his days. For the child shall die an hundred
years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be
accursed. And they shall build houses,
and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the
fruit of them. They shall not build, and another
inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat. For as the days
of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall
long enjoy the work, of their hands. They shall not labor in
vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the
blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall
come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while
they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall
feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, And
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. Somebody will say,
well, that sounds like a lot of work to me. They're going
to do all that. If the Lord ever reveals the glory of Christ to
a person, he or she will say, that sounds like an awful lot
of rest to me. That sounds like rest. No matter what we do, you
really think we're going to do all that? I don't know. That's
what our God wrote. Spiritual meaning only? I don't
know. That's what our God wrote. No matter what we do, it's going
to be rest in Christ. Whether we eat, whether we work,
whether we sit, whether we worship, whether we sing, no matter what
we do, It's going to be rest in Christ. And no matter what
we do, His rest is going to be glorious. It's going to be so
glorious. Our Lord said to comfort one
another with these words. So here are our words of comfort.
Right now, you are dead. But your life is hid with Christ
in God. And when Christ who is our life
shall appear, Then shall you also appear with him in glory. I can't wait. I really can't
wait. I'm thankful to be here, but
I can't wait. Come quickly. May the Lord come quickly. Amen. All right.