Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. When we use the word conversation
in the present day, we are generally referring to a dialogue between
two or more people. Yet the Greek word which is used
here literally means citizenship or community. In fact, the root
of this Greek word is where we get our English word politics.
Now it is indeed true that you can tell the country of a man's
citizenship, or more accurately his nativity, by the manner of
his speech. For instance, if someone heard
me speaking, they would not mistake me for an Englishman, nor even
a resident of New York City. They would know that I come from
the deep south among the palmetto bushes, gopher turtles, and sand
hills. Beyond that, a man's interests and concerns are also belied
by his speech. The Lord pointed this out, saying,
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good
man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good
things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth
evil things. So those who have their citizenship in heaven are
indeed mindful of heavenly things, and even their manner of speech
will testify of it. Paul is speaking here of the
fact that those who are born again, or properly born from
above, have renounced their citizenship in this world and are expectantly
waiting to be clothed upon with an incorruptible body in the
day of the resurrection. Nearly all of the religions of
the world teach that there is an afterlife of some sort which
men will enter into when they have died. It is commonly assumed
by the multitudes that men go to live in a place called heaven
when once their life in this world is done. Of course, some
also assign the place of that abode as being the torments of
hell, depending on several factors which vary from one religious
order to the next and the degree to which they wish to startle
men into walking in a fashion which will assure that they do
not arrive there. We are quite certain that there
is a place called heaven and also a place called hell, but
find little in the common descriptions of either that are not based
as much on human suppositions as they are from the scriptures.
The average Christian has been conditioned to consider that
man has a principle of eternal life dwelling within them which
causes them to continue on into this afterlife. It is commonly
taught that the souls of all men will live on somewhere. The
only immortality which is spoken of in the scriptures which men
might enjoy is that which is bestowed upon them by the one
who alone has immortality and who inhabiteth eternity. In nature
they possess nothing that is either eternal or immortal and
do currently abide under the shadow of death both naturally
and spiritually. The scripture is quite plain
that all men by nature are dead in trespasses and sins. They
abide in death and have nothing to look forward to in their natural
state at the cessation of this mortal life but death, judgment,
and destruction. In fact, the very fact that their
mortal bodies die is the result of the corruption caused by sin
which eats away at their vitals. Yet such a bleak outlook is not
the inheritance of those who were chosen in Christ and ordained
unto eternal life. It is to these saints that Paul
writes with words of encouragement and a reminder of the certainty
of their resurrection. The natural religious man's hope
is that he shall be raised from the dead, but he would be content
and even expects in his desirous that he shall be raised in the
very same body in which he was buried. He expects and looks
forward to a continuation of the same carnal pleasures which
he has enjoyed in the present time. If he loved fishing, then
he expects to be fishing without interruption or problem, always
loading the boat and never getting sunburned. If he loves food,
then he expects that he can eat dessert all day long, etc. He
wants to stroll over heaven with his loved ones and sit on the
front porch of heaven and reminisce over old times. Such is the carnal
understanding of the resurrection to the satisfaction of the natural
man. The resurrection of which Paul speaks involves not simply
a reanimation of the carnal body and its thought process, but
rather a transformation or change of it from that which is vile
to that which is fashioned like the glorious body of Jesus Christ. The man who has been born again
recoils in horror at the thought of spending eternity in the same
corrupt tabernacle on which he presently dwells and groans and
prevails until this change comes. Paul said that the Lord would
change our vile body into one which is incorruptible. 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. The resurrection of the saints
is far more glorious than simple reanimation. 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.