Well, we are indeed blessed thus
far today in hearing the truth of God set forth. Surely there can be no greater place of rejoicing for
the sons of God than to hear Christ preached and declared
as He is revealed in the pages of God's
Word, and we are blessed immensely each time that we hear of those
things that are woven throughout the Word of God that would be hidden to the wise and prudent
but revealed unto babes. And you know, isn't it amazing
that that Lord used that terminology because a baby doesn't know anything
except that which is told. I mean, you know, realistically,
a baby will believe anything. And when I say a baby, I mean
young children. I mean, they'll believe anything
you tell them. until such time as they get of an age to realize
that these things are not so, but insofar as they are, they
just believe what you tell them. I mean, they don't know any different.
And it is to those whom the Lord says that He will deliver His
truth and hide those things from men that think they can figure
it out. And there's plenty of folks out there in the earth
that think they can figure it out. They think they've got it
figured out. They know just exactly how it is, and if you try to
tell them how it is, they don't want to hear that. I mean, what
the Lord told them, like Brother Al pointed out, the Pharisees
didn't want to hear anything of what the Lord said because
they already knew, didn't they? But the people that didn't know,
and by the grace of God were given a mind and heart to believe
Christ, they wanted to hear what He had to say. And just like
Peter, when many did, as Al pointed out there, many did turn aside
and walk no more with the Lord. They couldn't stand it any longer. I mean, they liked what he was
saying and everything at first, And they liked seeing all the
miracles and all of these things, and to the Pharisees, as long
as he didn't propose a threat to their place of authority among
the people, they were in favor of him. But whenever they began
to see that what he was saying was actually directly opposed
to what they were saying, they began to try to turn the people
away from him. And whenever the Lord Jesus really
began to declare the truth of God in a clear fashion unto men,
many turned aside and walked no more with Him. But there was
a few that did not turn aside. And the reason they didn't, when
the Lord spoke to Peter, He said, well, Peter, He says, are you
also going to leave? And Peter spoke words of the
truest faith, of what true faith is more clearly than it can be
set forth by men in any other way. And this is it. He said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Now that is true faith because
it rests in what Christ said. It doesn't rest in what somebody
told them, but it rests in what Christ said. They believed, and
he went on to say, and we believe and are sure that thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And so it is that that's
the faith that Peter expressed, and that's the faith of God's
people now. There is no other faith that is true faith. But that. And so that's what
Paul has been declaring to us throughout his ministry and as
he speaks here to these Corinthians and speaking to them of this
subject of the resurrection, which some among them, had become
wise in their own conceits and said, well, you know, it's not
really just exactly like that, and sought to overthrow the faith
of some. But Paul would have none of it,
and so he's setting forth the very grounds upon which they
believe. And he said, if you don't believe
this, you have believed in vain if these things are not true.
Now, if the things that Christ did are not true, and if there
is no resurrection, then you don't have a leg to stand on,
basically what he's saying. And so, you know, that's putting
all your eggs in one basket. And that's what it is to have
faith. It is to have faith. faith in a backup plan, but faith. You know, if it's about Christ,
then we're done for. And if these things aren't true,
then we've believed in vain. It's an empty thing and we've
fooled one another. But he's saying you didn't, because
we bear witness of them in ourselves and many of the other saints
have borne witness of it. And he says these are the true
things. And he said, Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Now, if
you ask an average person what heaven is, it's going to be something
like, well, if it's a fellow that likes to fish, he's going
to fish all day. You know, he's going to be doing
something that he likes doing. That's what heaven is. And we're
going, you know, everybody's standing up there waiting for
us to come, and they're looking and seeing us coming down the
road, and Grandma and Grandpa's going to be there, and all of
that kind of stuff. Now, you know, I'm not trying
to overthrow anybody's pet ideas about such things as that, but
that's not at all what Paul is describing here as being what
the result of being raised incorruptible is. It's not about all of those
carnal things in mind, things that we think in our mind of
what that is going to be like. Because old things must pass
away, and behold, old things are become new. Now he says here
that corruption cannot inherit incorruption. It can't do it. It just is impossible. And so
there must be something that takes place in order for men
to inherit the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Now this is first manifested
in the new birth. Now, the new birth is a resurrection
of sorts. It is not the resurrection. Now,
some would teach that the Scripture, when it's speaking about the
resurrection, is talking about being born again. There are similarities
and there are many parallels that take place between the new
birth when a man comes from being dead in trespasses and sins and
he is awakened by the Spirit of God to walk in newness of
life in Christ. That is a resurrection of a sort. But that is not the resurrection
of which Paul speaks about here, but it is a picture of it. And
in the same fashion as the Lord Jesus said, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That is, until a man's
eyes are opened and he is awakened out of death, until he is born
from above, he cannot behold the things of the kingdom of
God. The Lord Jesus said, you know, these things are a mystery.
And he revealed them unto babes in parables, he said, so that
those that see cannot see, and those that do not claim to be
able to see are unable to see. And in that same fashion, in
the same way, As we have come from the carnal to the spiritual
in the new birth, so too must these bodies. Now see, all of
that took place. Not a thing in the world had
happened to your body in the new birth. Not a thing. Your body didn't change at all
when the Lord God from heaven opened your eyes when He awakened
you from the deadness of sin and brought you out of darkness
and into the light. Now the thing in the world happened
in your body. It just went on just like it
always did. But you were raised to spiritual
life. You were given life. The life
of the Son of God came into you and you could now see and understand
and see the things of God. Well, in the same fashion, What
he is speaking of here is what is going to undergo to the bodies
of the people of God. Now, man is a tripartite being,
as some great scholars would use big terms to describe something.
It means we are body, soul, and spirit. Now, the soul and the
spirit is a hard thing to differentiate between. In fact, the Scripture
says that the Word of God is able to discern between the soul
and the spirit, and the indication is that it is just about impossible
for us to articulate what the difference between the spirit
and the soul is. But nonetheless, that spirit
which we have as a natural man has been We've been born from above so
that we have a Spirit now that dwells in us that is heavenly. Now that is the Spirit of God. We've been given that. Now He
dwells in us, but we're still flesh and blood. But according
to what we read in the Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ came into
the world to redeem Now, He made men, did He not? And He made
us to be just like He wanted us to be. He made Adam just exactly
like He wanted him to be. He looked at him and He said,
He's good. This is good. All creation is good. I made
it like I wanted it to be. And so it is that as we are,
we're as the Lord made us to be. But in the same fashion in
which A man is born from above in a spiritual birth. So in like
fashion shall the bodies of God's people be born from above in
a resurrection. And we shall be raised. That
which was corruptible is going to be made incorruptible. Now
how can that occur? Well, how can a man be born again? In only one way, it's the power
of God. I mean, the Lord said you can
see the sound of the wind, but you don't know where it comes
from. You don't know how it takes place. So as everyone is born
of the Spirit, and in like fashion, I cannot explain to you how the
Lord is going to raise the bodies of His people that He has redeemed
from the grave. I can't explain it, but I can
tell you that it is a fact according to what the Scripture says here.
As we have talked many times, if that be not so, then Christ
is not raised because the Scripture says He has become the first
fruit of them that slept. Now, in what form did He come
out of the ground? In what form did He enter into
heaven? In bodily form. In fact, The
angel said to the disciples, they said, What are you doing
standing here, gazing up into heaven? Don't you know that this
same Jesus shall so come in like fashion as he has departed? Now
how did he leave? They saw him go up, did they
not? What did they do? They saw him in a bodily form
go up. And if he went up in that form,
guess what? He is coming back in the same
form. So he does have a body in the
present time. Now we sing a song that was written
by Charles Wesley, and in that song it says, Five bleeding wounds
he bears, Received on Calvary. They poor effectual prayers,
they strongly plead for me. There's only going to be one
body in heaven that's going to bear scars and wounds. And it is that same body in which
the Lord Jesus went into the heaven, because how do we know
that He has those wounds? What did He say to Thomas? He said, Thomas, reach forth
your hand and put it into my side. Here are the wounds in my hands,
Thomas, that I bore for you." Oh, dear brethren, those wounds,
they strongly plead for us because, you see, it is the risen Christ
who ever lives before the throne of God who is ever there. that is our intercessor. Now
He doesn't intercede for us with prayers, I mean in words. He
intercedes with us with prayers, but they are the prayers of the
wounds that He bears. In other words, He is our substitute. So in like fashion, as the Lord
Jesus Christ was raised up into heaven in a body that men could
see, so in like fashion, shall the dead in Christ be raised. But they will not be raised like
they are. They're not going to come out
of the ground in some corruptible state, but they're going to come
just like a corn of wheat, a grain of wheat is put into the ground
and it sprouts and comes forth. It's corn. You see it as corn.
You knew what the corn looked like when it went in the ground,
and you can see the corn when it comes up out of the ground,
but it's incorruptible. It's not the same in every sense,
but it is indeed the same body. Behold, I show you a mystery.
Now this is a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. Now that's the mystery, we shall
all be changed. This is a mystery. And it's a
mystery because it can't be received by men. That's the stupidest
thing you ever heard of. I mean, isn't it stupid to think
that the ground is going to open up and the graves, the scripture
says the grave is going to be opened and the sea is going to
give up its dead people that have been buried at sea and all
of those things? Isn't that the most fantastic
tale you've ever heard in your life? Would you be surprised if people
had a hard time believing that? Of course you wouldn't. It can't be received there, brethren,
apart from the gift of God. Giving man faith to believe it.
I mean, I can't explain it to anybody. I can't prove it to
anybody. How are you going to prove it?
I'll prove to you that the dead are going to rise. Good luck
with that. I mean, you know, you'll have
a hard time proving that to anybody. You can't prove it. But oh, dear
brethren, let me tell you, when God, who is rich in mercy, is
pleased to write the truth of God upon a man's heart, he can't
help but believe it. I mean, he can't pick and choose
what he believes. I mean, if the Lord Jesus Christ
said that I'm going away to prepare a place for you, and if I go
away and prepare a place for you, I will come again there
to receive you to myself. And then he said this, if it
were not so, I would have told you. He said, if I'm pulling
your leg, I would have told you. That isn't the way it is. He
said, this is the way it is. And this is the evidence of it.
That's what Paul speaks about here, that he shall indeed in
his own time and according to his purpose change the people
of God. A mystery. We shall not all sleep. Now, not every man who is a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ shall taste death. Now, I know the
Scripture says that it is appointed unto men once to die. And, of
course, this causes some people great consternation. Well, how
can that be true and the other? Well, because the Lord, that
is a general and absolute fact that people are going to die
in this world. But there are some who, according
to the purpose of God, who are alive and remain at the coming
of the Lord, who shall be called up to meet the Lord in the air.
not having gone through death, but they are not going to go
up to heaven in the same corruptible body which they are because whether
they lived or whether they are alive at the time of Christ or
whether they have died, Paul says, I am going to show you
a mystery, he says, we shall all be changed. Now whether a
man has been dead for a thousand years or whether he is still
living, the only way that he can enter into that eternal place
is to be changed. And how does it happen over the
course of time? I've heard people say we're being
fitted for heaven. Well, brother, that's just not
so. I mean, we're being fitted for earth right now. The Spirit
of God is working in us to make us fit inhabitants of the earth. But the transformation that takes
place to make us fit inhabitants of heaven is going to happen
just like that. I mean, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, the last trump and the dead in Christ shall rise,
and we which are alive and remain shall be called up together to
meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. We shall all be changed, 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. It must. See, that's the word
there of strength. It must happen. If something
must happen, it has to happen. Now, I remember Brother Johnson
that used to be fond of saying, because something is predestined
to happen does not mean it does not have to happen. See, some
people think about predestination like the old fellow said, you
know, I believe whatever is to be will be even if it does not
ever happen. If it's predestined, it is going
to happen. It must. And according to what
the Scripture says, for whom He did predestinate, He also
justified. Whom He justified, He also glorified. And so the Lord's work is a work
that is certain. It must occur. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, now it also must put on incorruption
in order to enter there, because it can't enter there in a corruptible
state. So when this corruptible, that
is these bodies, shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, Now notice that it says, have
put on immortality. We shall wear immortality like
a garment. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, He
has life within Himself. He is the garment. See, Christ
is the garment of our immortality. We don't have immortality in
ourselves. Now I know that it is a popular
view many to say that men have immortal souls, but you can't
find that in the Scripture. I mean, you can find some things
that you can turn and twist and go around and you can try to
prove that from it, but you can't come up with anything that says
that to be true, because immortality The only one who has immortality
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is going to give us the
garment of immortality because He gives life to as many as thou
hast given Him. And so it says here that when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, is swallowed up in victory. Now
when we go to a grave and we have a funeral and we say, death
where's our sting, oh grave where's our victory, we're looking in
prospect are we not? Because when we're standing there
in this life and we just put somebody we love in a grave in
the ground, death is triumphant is it not? Of course it is. But
you see there is coming a time, and this is the prospect of our
hope, We may say that death is swallowed
up in victory when this corruptible puts on incorruption, because
as long as a man is in the ground, he is still the captive of death,
is he not? I mean, if you snatch open a
coffin and look in there and there is a body in there, then
that body is still the captive of death. But according to what
the Scripture says, just like the Lord Jesus Christ came forth
from the tomb and you could walk in his tomb and he wasn't in
there. His body was not in there. In
like fashion, there's coming a day when the graves are going
to be opened and those who are in Christ are going to come out
of that ground and they are going to have put on incorruption and
then shall be brought to pass the same that's written. is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Now Paul is going to speak in
terms as he has spoken of that this is going to come to pass.
He is going to speak of it in terms that would be our hope
in the present time. The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law. The thing that makes death a
reality is sin. And the reason that sin brings
death is because of the law. If there had been no law given,
then there wouldn't be any sin. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? You know? But death passed upon all men
because all have sinned. Where there is no sin, there
is no law. And where there is no law, there
is no sin. But the sting of death is sin.
The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because you see,
we have that victory and prospect. And it's a real victory so that
we do not mourn. Paul said we do not mourn as
others which have no hope. When our loved ones die, if they
are those who confess Christ, those who give us reason to believe
they have a life in Christ, then we don't mourn for them in the
same fashion as the world mourns over its dead. Because we believe
that they have victory. But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no other pathway for that victory to occur. Now, here
he gives an exhortation, and this is the application of all
that he has said up to this point. Now, you know, we could say,
well, we believe in the resurrection as just a matter of doctrine
and then go on about our lives just like it was or wasn't true,
didn't make much difference to us. We just, well, yeah, we believe
that. See, a lot of people, if you
ask them if they're a Christian, they'd say, well, oh yeah, I'm
a Christian. I believe Jesus died on the cross
and He rose from the dead and all that kind of stuff. But that's
about it. Now what Paul says here, he says,
let's make an application here. He said, therefore, if we believe
that, He said, if that is our confession, he said, if indeed
the Spirit of God dwells in us and we have a living hope in
Christ and a hope of the resurrection, therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord. Now you remember what he started
off talking about, unless you believed in vain? He said your
labor is not in vain in the Lord. This is not an empty promise.
But he said God has called us to be the followers of Christ.
And he called us and gave us hope in the victory over death,
not just so we could sit around and talk about it, but that we
might go forth and live in this world as the inheritors of the
promise, believing those things, and believing those things, believing
what He said and what He would have us to do, to love our neighbors
as ourselves, to love the Lord our God with all of our heart.
You see, that's the thing that we're called to do, to walk in
the fashion in which He has called us Be steadfast, unmovable. Don't be moved about there when
the doctrine... Somebody comes along and says,
well, wait a minute now. There might be something to this
resurrection, sir. Somebody might have fooled you
about this. He said, don't be listening to that. He said, don't
be moved by it. He said, be abounding in the
work of the Lord for as much as you know that those things
God has called you to are not empty. but they are full of promise. And the hope and expectation
of the sons of God shall never perish. And that is an encouragement
to the man who has fled for refuge to Christ. May the Lord help
us to walk in that fashion.