and an Oh. Welcome all of you here this
evening. It's good to see you back out and I'm up here to introduce
our speaker tonight. Some of you may know who he is,
some of you may not yet, but he's Brandon Craft. And Brandon,
consider this the Craft family welcome to Kentucky. They just moved in from St. Louis,
Missouri area a little over a week ago, a week ago this past Friday. They're new residents of this
area, live just a few blocks, about a block or two behind the
church. And we welcomed them to Kentucky.
Trish and I already told them. They were over home the other
night. We already told them that they live in heaven. And they
said, why is that? Well, you live next to Kentucky.
And West Virginia is almost heaven. So you're in heaven because you're
in Kentucky. But we welcomed them to the Ashland,
Kentucky area and welcomed him into this pulpit tonight to preach
for us in the absence of our pastor. He has his son going
to read. scripture and lead in prayer.
Of course, you all have heard Angie play her saxophone, and
we hope to hear that a whole lot more. So make sure you greet
them afterwards and welcome them to Kentucky. And I hope Pastor
Byrd's not watching, because I'm up here without a tie, and
I won't tell if you won't. Cole? Psalm 113. Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O
ye servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. From the rising of the sun until
the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord, our
God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth himself to behold the
things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raiseth up the
poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunhill,
that he may set him with princes, even the princes of his people. He maketh the barren woman to
keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye
the Lord. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful
to you for this great day that you've made. Thank you for giving
us this great experience, this great experience of life that
you've breathed into each one of us who believe the gospel.
Thank you, Father, that you've granted us all repentance and
faith. Thank you, Father, that you set our eyes upon Christ,
giving us the ability to rest in him and to keep from striving
and from trying to earn our way for any merit. Father, I would
ask that you'd be with us tonight as we worship you, ask that you
would be with us as, ask that you'd be with me as I try to
speak the word, and Father, I'd ask that you'd give traveling
mercies to Jim and Nancy, who are on their way back from Almonte, And Father, I'd ask that your
name would be lifted up high and you would be glorified amongst
the people here. And Father, I ask that those
who are listening by way of the internet, that they may too be
edified. And Father, we know that you've
got your people out there. They're scattered all over this
earth, all over this planet. And so many of them are going
through so many troubles and trials. tribulations, afflictions. Father, we know that all these
things are predetermined for our good, and your honor, and
your glory. And sometimes we don't understand
how these things are so, but we know that they are, because
your word tells us they are. But Father, I'd ask that you
be with all of us tonight, all of your people around the world,
and that you'd comfort them. And Father, we do love you. We
thank you for creating all things and making us and even giving
us this day. Every moment, every breath of
life is a gift from you. And you completely sustain us. You sustain all people, even
those who don't believe. They just don't know it. But
Father, you sustain your people and we know it. And Father, we
thank you that you woke us up and you breathed life into us
and gave us the eyes to see and the ears to hear. And Father,
you've given us great joy. And Father, it is my joy tonight
to be able to praise your name and to honor you. Father, we
thank you for all things in Christ's name, amen. Well, I can't tell you how humbling
it is for me tonight to stand before all of you to deliver
the gospel message. As Ron said, I recently moved
here with my wife Angie and my son Cole so that we could all
be a part of this congregation. And we've all fallen in love
with this church and with the town of Ashland as well. And
we loved you all so much. And we love this church so much
that we just purchased a home down a couple blocks from here,
just a stone throw away. And I want to personally thank
every one of you who has helped us. And so many of you went out
of your way to do so many things for us. And we truly do appreciate
everybody's hospitality and the love that has been shown to us
here in this assembly. You made food for us, and you
helped us move in. Susan, thank you for coordinating
it all. I do appreciate that. And you all gave us helpful advice.
Even when we didn't ask for it, it was so helpful. But you've
treated us all like family, and I'm not sure that the words I
can express tonight, I don't think I can express the deepest
gratitude that I have for all of you. Oh boy, I certainly never thought
we'd be living in Kentucky. But here I am standing before
you today. And a few years ago, if somebody had told me that
I'd be standing here, I would have been shocked. And it's still
kind of shocking for me. It's almost a surreal experience
standing up here in front of all of you. And this assembly,
this it's more than than just a place. It's a people. On this
particular group of people, this congregation, this local assembly,
this group of people was founded what? Nearly 70 years ago, when
Henry Mahan took a bunch of folks over from Pollard Street Baptist
Church to start a new congregation dedicated to the gospel of free
and sovereign grace. And I think it's pretty neat
to be a part of that heritage. the heritage of our pastors Bill
Parker and also Jim Bird. But what's even neater is that
we as a people can trace our union with Christ together all
the way back to eternity, when we were joined together in the
everlasting covenant of grace. When we were given to Christ
by the Father for Christ to be our surety and savior, And all
of this was before the foundation of the world, because God is
transcendent of time and space. And indeed, he's always viewed
us as perfectly righteous in Christ. We are seen as just,
and therefore justified within the mind of God from eternity,
for God is eternity. And it is from God, it is from
eternity, which all things flow. And Jeremiah 31 3 says he has
loved us with an everlasting love. We who believe the gospel have
always been held in such high regard, such high esteem because
we have been seen in Christ. We are the apple of God's eye
and he loves us. He always has. And I don't know
about you, But that just makes me want to jump for joy. And I weep. I weep for those
who cannot share our joy. I weep for those for whom God
has not revealed himself. But nevertheless, what we have
is thrilling. And I hope your salvation never becomes humdrum
to you. And oh my, what a thrill it is.
What a joy it is to know these things and to experience our
salvation. And that's what I'm here tonight to do. I'm here
to celebrate. This is a meeting for worship,
but It's also a message of redemption. It's a message of rejoicing in
our salvation. And I so wish we could sing our
hymns. COVID's really messed things up for me. I wish we could
sing our hymns of joy and praise tonight. And I look forward to
the day that our COVID restrictions are lifted and we can all lift
our voices together up to God. And it just doesn't seem right
without us being able to sing. And we're really conducting solemn
business tonight because we're a chosen race, a royal priesthood. And what we have is so special.
We have the privileged duty to worship our Lord and set forth
His message of redemption to the praise and glory of His grace.
And Jim had recently heard my preaching at my grandma's funeral
earlier this year, and he apparently liked it, so here I am. So I hope I don't disappoint
ya. And it is my hope tonight that
I set forth a sermon that will be Christ-honoring, and if you
hear something you don't understand or something you don't like,
just let me know, because I'm not a very practiced speaker,
and so I'd ask for your patience. and your consideration of me
as a weak vessel. I'm just a mouthpiece, and I
don't want any honor. I only want to honor the Lord.
So tonight, we're going to turn in our Bibles to 2 Timothy. 2
Timothy, and we're going to start in verse 14. This may be a strange passage
to start a sermon on, but for some reason I just felt like
I needed to preach on it. We're talking about the era of
Hymenaeus and Philetus. All right. Of these things put them in remembrance. charging them before the Lord
that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting
of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of the truth, but shun profane and vain babblings, for
they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will
eat as doth a canker, or cancer, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus,
who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection
is past already, and overthrow the faith of some." All right. I remember reading this passage
in my Bible years ago and not really paying attention to the
words. Have you ever done anything like that? I'm still guilty of
that. I still fail to pay attention
to what the scriptures have to say. And this is now after decades
of Bible study as a believer. And you'd think I'd learn, but
it's easy sometimes to just look over the words and not pay attention
to them. God is apparently pleased to teach us in bits and pieces,
sometimes over the course of an entire lifetime. And it doesn't
matter how much we try to learn or study, but our learning is
on his timetable. But nevertheless, he's still
faithful to teach us. He's faithful to his people.
So what's going on here in this passage? Who are Hymenaeus and
Philetus? Paul, in this passage, says that
their word eats like cancer. Those are pretty strong words.
I can think of a lot of doctrines that eat and rot a man's soul
today. There is the popular religion
of today. I'm sure most of you are familiar
with it all. that says you have to do something to make yourself
acceptable to God. And this religion, it's been
around a long time, it goes all the way back to Cain and Abel,
with Abel relying upon Christ for all of his salvation, Cain
relying upon the work of his own hands. I call this stage
four or five cancer because it most certainly leads to death
and destruction. Most believers, I know, know
how to avoid this stuff like it's the plague. And I know most
of you do as well. After you've been steeped in
the gospel and been brought to love and rely upon God's sovereign
grace, it's usually easy to point this stuff out. Usually the ministers
of these false doctrines, they'll call upon the hearer to do something
to make themselves acceptable to God. They'll say things like,
God has cast his vote, the devil's cast his vote, now you have to
cast a deciding vote. Your vote's gonna make all the
difference, apparently. And they talk about making so-called free
will decisions, and that one salvation is in their own hands.
And that's a scary thought. Because I know my own soul. And
if salvation was up to me, I know I'd mess it up. I'd mess it up
royally. Wouldn't you agree with that
about yourself as well? If you think you'd get it right,
well then I don't think you know yourself very well. And oftentimes
you'll see these ministers of will worship try and sell something
at the end of their message. Messages which, by the way, My
son has recently noticed they're not at all focused on Christ
and his gospel and his way of saving people. They're usually
messages that are focused on things like how to be a good
dad or husband or leader in the community. And at the end of
their messages, they'll call for their audience to raise their
hand or walk to the front of the church building to get saved
or rededicate their life or something like that. They're always calling
on their audience to do something. And that's usually how you can
tell that what they're peddling is false. So most of you, I think,
listening to this tonight, I think you know how to avoid this type
of cancer. I haven't seen any of it here, so that's good. But
we who believe, we look to Christ who has done something. We don't
have to do anything. We just get it. We just get salvation. How cool is that? But as we look
at the text tonight, we need to ask ourselves, is this the
type of cancer that Paul's talking about? Is the cancer of Hymenaeus
and Philetus works religion? I think it may have something
to do with that. However, I think we need to focus on verse 18
of the text. And I think it tells us not of
the cancer of how we are saved, but a cancer of what, or belief
in what we are saved to. Let's take a closer look, verse
18. Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection
has passed already, and overthrow the faith of some? What's Paul
talking about? These men, these Hymenaeus and
Philetus. I think I got their names pronounced
right. Well, Paul's saying here that they are saying that the
resurrection has already occurred. What resurrection? Well, it's
the resurrection of the dead that you and I look forward to
with anticipation. It's the great hope that we've
been saved to, that we will one day have new bodies in the new
earth. And here, Hymenaeus and Philetus
are saying that this resurrection has already occurred. It's kind
of strange to me, but what What did they mean by that? And why
did this upset Paul so much to write about it? And how does
this apply to us today? And I think these are questions
we must ask of the text. And that is how we study the
scriptures. We study by asking questions and then seeking the
answers to those questions in scripture. So here's a few questions
that come to my mind when reading this. Why is Paul so upset about
what these men are saying? And what harm is there in saying
that the resurrection has already occurred? What does our salvation
mean if our resurrection has already occurred, like Hymenaeus
and Philetus are saying? If we were supposedly resurrected,
what kind of resurrection was it? And so you can ask all kinds
of questions of this text. I'm gonna try to answer some
of them. And I think the best way is to go to scripture. Scripture
must interpret Scripture. So what is Paul so upset about?
Let's see if we can figure that out. What the big problem is. And you may be asking yourself,
when in the world am I talking about and why am I talking about
this seemingly obscure section of Scripture? Well, let me tell
you, I think it has a ton of implications for us today. And
this is not some insignificant warning from Paul. It's very
serious for us. It was very serious for those
who believe the gospel today and not just those of the early
church to whom Paul was writing. Because I'm telling you, believe
it or not, I've actually met people like Kymenaeus and Philetus. Not in this congregation, but
they're out there. And they're more prevalent than you might
think. And their error, I would say, is as deadly as the idea
that one can save themselves through their works or acts of
volition. And would you believe there are many who come in the
name of free and sovereign grace, yet do not believe in a future
resurrection of the dead? Shocking. But they do deny it. And they'll mockingly refer to
us as those who believe in it, as futurists. And they also will
claim to have a more spiritual understanding of the scriptures,
thinking that within them they have eternal life. And I think
that's what these two men are doing here. they spiritualized
the resurrection of the dead. And I don't know if they were
early Gnostics or not, but the Gnostics, if you study church
history, believe that anything that was made of matter or material
in nature was inherently evil. And therefore, men must not be
rid of their sin, but of their bodies. And there was so much
contempt for their bodies at the time that led many to deny
the actual resurrection of the dead. And everything that Christ
talked about the subject of our resurrection was strictly allegorical
or spiritualized. And while it's true that we are
objectively crucified and buried and raised again with Christ
in the mind of God, there's still something to experience. Our salvation is not strictly
an objective event. We get to experience it each
and every day. It's also true that there is
a sense in which we were resurrected from the dead when the Holy Spirit
breathed new life into our hearts and minds. We were quickened
and brought to believe and rest in the work of the righteousness
of Christ alone for all of our salvation. And when we come to
believe the gospel, we repent. meaning we turn from working
or striving and relying on work performed in or by us and resting
in Christ alone. And Paul was intensely adamant
about preaching salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone,
by faith alone, with it all being for the glory of God alone. And
as you can see here in this text, he was also highly concerned
by not just how we are saved, but what we are saved from and
what we are saved to. Some men think we're just saved
to what we are now as believers. And while there is some truth
to that, we are saved to a hope and an expectation of what is
to come. And as believers, we still sin,
we still struggle daily with the flesh, It's a daily struggle
for me. Angie can attest to that. She gets to witness it every
day. But in all of us, we groan within
for that day when we're with our Lord and standing face to
face with Him. We long to put off these bodies
where we no longer have to fight that daily battle against our
sinful desires. but live according to the will,
the spirit that lives within each of us. And I think that's
what Paul is so adamant about here in this passage, that we're
the most pitiable if there is no resurrection from the dead
to look forward to. What's the point if we won't
be resurrected from the dead? Turn with me to first Corinthians
15, starting in verse 12, please. starting in verse 12. Now if
Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among
you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be
no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And
if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain? Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ,
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For
the dead rise not, and then is Christ not raised. And if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ also perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Right here
in Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth, he wrote that
a denial of the resurrection of the dead is a matter of extreme
importance. And he affirms that belief in
the resurrection was absolutely necessary if one wants to have
any hope in Christ. He further says that if there's
no resurrection, then we as men and women are the most miserable."
He's emphatic about this, and these are his words, not mine.
He says, if we were to deny the resurrection, then our faith
is futile. Futile faith. What does that mean? While I'm
not one that insists that you have to have a religious experience
that meets the criteria of ardent religionists, I still firmly
believe that God's salvation cannot help but elicit an emotional
response in his people. I don't know about you, but I'm
really excited about my salvation. And I'm excited to know that
I'm saved from my sins. And I'm excited to know that
Christ holds, God holds nothing against me. And all of my sin
has been charged to Christ. And I'm so glad to know that
this is all mine and I didn't have to do a thing to earn it.
Christ did it all and I just get to enjoy it. And not only
am I excited about what has already happened, But I'm super excited
about and super hopeful about what is coming my way. And you
all know that everyone we know is going to die. We're all going
to be put into the ground and we're all going to be turned
into dust eventually. That is unless, as Ron was saying
this morning, unless the Lord returns and we're all transformed.
But people are vanishing right before our very eyes. And they're going into the ground
and they're being turned to dust. And if you didn't know Christ,
it would be horrific. Absolutely horrifying. But if
you live in Christ, you get to go to the grave in peace. Because
you know that you're going to close your eyes and wake up in
glory. And this body of flesh, this
decaying body, it's going to be renewed. But if we don't have our hope,
if we don't have this hope, where's our peace? What do we have to
look forward to? What's the purpose of our faith
if we aren't resurrected from the dead? Would it be futile? In reality, it doesn't matter
how we die, because those of us who have been granted belief
in Christ have also been given a great confidence that whatever
afflictions we currently or will suffer from is only temporary.
Let's take a look at what we can look forward to. Turn with
me into Philippians 3, starting in verse 20. And I love to talk about this
because it gives me great joy. 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, unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself. We have an assurance that our
body is going to be resurrected from the dead, like Christ's,
right there. It's gonna be fashioned like
unto His glorious body. You're gonna come out of that
grave and walk around with a new body. And it's gonna be, as Paul
put it here, fashioned like unto His glorious body, or the body
of His glory. And our bodies in the resurrection,
they shall be like Christ's. And they shall shine like the
sun. I can't get that, it's a tongue
twister. Shine like the sun. You're gonna live forever in
that perfect body that the Lord is going to give you. And you're
gonna be able to walk with him, and you're gonna be able to talk
with him face to face. And that brings me so much joy
to think about. Doesn't that bring you joy? Can
you rejoice with me tonight? I'm looking so forward to speaking
with him and thanking him face to face for my salvation, for
my life, my body, everything that happened in my life, my
family, the time I was born, my parents, where I was born,
all the circumstances. I can't wait to talk to him about
it all and just praise him and thank him for everything. But what about these men that
Paul is writing about? These guys, Hymenaeus and Philetus,
where's their hope? If you believe that the resurrection
has already occurred, then what does the future hold for you?
Do you believe that salvation in Christ is only salvation of
your soul and not your whole body? Do you believe Christ is
coming again? Do you believe that this world
of death and destruction will continue on forever? All the
sin and evil I've talked to some folks who deny a future resurrection,
and their answers are quite shocking. They would affirm that, yeah,
it's going to continue on forever and ever, and there's nothing
really to look forward to. I don't get it. So there's no end for this body
of death, in their opinion. There's no more end to the sinful
world, according to what they believe. But the scriptures have
an answer to that. Please turn to Romans 8, starting in verse 18. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation
of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of
God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope. Because
the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the
redemption of our body. What's coming? Jesus is coming.
And with his coming will come all things new, We will have
a new earth, no more suffering, no more death, no more sadness
or tears. And I don't know how you all
feel about this, but for me, this is an essential part of
the gospel. What joy is there in thinking that the resurrection
has already occurred and we have no new body to look forward to?
What are we gonna do, float around like ghosts after we die? What
joy is there in that? Are we going to be just floating
on a cloud, jutting around like Casper, the friendly ghost? I
hope not. Again, to repeat what Paul stated
in Philippians 3, our bodies would be fashion-like unto Christ.
And currently our bodies are not like Christ's at all, because
we still sin, and we still have evil thoughts, and we still can
die. And so, the resurrection has
not already occurred. And that some people are still
making the same mistake that Hymenaeus and Philoetus made.
And for them, their so-called faith is just an intellectual
pursuit or fancy. They can write all scriptures
at will, especially on the internet. Internet debates, I'd just advise
everybody to stay away from a lot of those. And they can argue
doctrine. They can even argue against the
errors of some of the worst soul-destroying doctrines that exist. but there's
no hope within them. They aren't looking forward to
anything. They only engage in gospel language, I think, I fear
sometimes, just to be seen of men. And I'm not the faith police,
and I struggle very much with discerning the hearts of men,
but I think this is true for many people, maybe even those
we associate with. There are many terrors that are
raised up amongst the wheat. And one of these guys who like
to argue doctrine, a guy I'll just call Mike, that I enjoyed
talking to about 20 years ago about this, he once said to me
when trying to convince me of his position of there being no
future resurrection, he said, Brandon, if I'm wrong about this
resurrection, I'm merely saying that Christ hasn't completed
something that he hasn't. In other words, what he saw it
as a harmless diverging point of doctrine. And my response
to him was, it's more than that. It's changing the very nature
of what God said he would do. He said we would be raised from
the dead, physically. We're not just raised from the
dead spiritually, but we're to be raised from the dead physically.
And this was the era of Hymenaeus and Philetus. They denied the
physical resurrection of the dead. They changed the very nature
of what God said he would do. But we're going to be raised
from the dead with the same body that we have now. And our body,
it's part of our identity. It's part of what makes me, me.
It's what makes all of you, you. We have our identity and our
physical appearance. Let's take a look at Luke chapter
24. And I love this because it talks
about Christ after he was resurrected from the dead. As you saw in
Philippians 3, he's the firstfruits, and our body's going to be fashioned
like unto his. I'm going to read a few verses
here from 36 to 53, because I just love this story. And as they thus spake, starting
in Luke 24, verse 36, as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood
in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. They were terrified and frightened,
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them,
Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me,
and see. For a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as ye see me have. It's a physical body. And when
he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and feet. And
when they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto
them, have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of
broiled fish and of honeycomb. And he took it, and he did eat
before them. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus
it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day. and that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,
and ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the
promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem
until you be endued with power from on high. And he led them
out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted
from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And were continually
in the temple, praising and blessing God. This is more than just a
lovely Bible story of our Lord. This is our salvation. Notice
something here. Christ appeared before his disciples
in his body. And he asks, why are you troubled?
And then he says, look at my hands and my feet. I'm not a
spirit, I'm flesh and bones. And then he ate some broiled
fish and some honeycomb. Our Lord enjoyed a delicious
meal in his resurrected body. And he's the first fruits. And
Paul says, we're next. In the new earth, we're gonna
be able to eat too, I imagine, just like our Lord did. And I
like to eat. And everybody knows I do. My
friend Drew Dietz likes to call me the big nasty because I love
to eat. And while heaven is more than
eating and drinking, I'm excited to know that that may be there
waiting for me. And I can just imagine meals
in heaven with the lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. With all of us saints sitting around the meal eating
tasty meat and drinking good wine. and all the while giving
thanks to Christ, who completed all of our salvation for us.
And we'll be seated at that table, not just as guests, but as family. When our kids sit at our tables
and eat, they sit there totally accepted and loved, because they
have the right to sit there, because they're our children.
And we'll sit at that table, too. But notice again what was said
in this passage here in Luke. Christ was not just a spirit
or a ghost. He was a physical man that appeared
before men. And before he revealed himself
to the disciples, he even walked and talked with them. And they
didn't even recognize him. His body was incorruptible, and
it was raised from the dead. We're always going to have a
physical body or our bodies will be raised from the dead and they
will be incorruptible and unable to sin and unable to be sick
and unable to die. We won't get cancer. We won't
get heart disease. We won't watch our loved ones
suffer anymore. There'll be no more tears, no
more crying, no more sadness. It'll be all joy. And we'll have
eternal and everlasting life in a body. And I'm excited about
that. I'm just ecstatic about that.
And yet the world denies this. They don't believe it. You walk
out on the street, you ask them, they don't know anything about
it. They don't believe it. They can't believe it, because
it hasn't been given to them to believe it. And you know what? They're miserable, just like
Paul said. But those who can use gospel
language and still not believe what's coming, people who have
a hint of what Christianity is, but they just use it for whatever
means to puff themselves up, they're the most miserable. And regarding our salvation,
there are already fulfilled aspects of our salvation, and not yet
fulfilled aspects of our salvation. We have already received the
salvation of our souls, and with joy we can look to Christ and
rest in his imputed righteousness, his work in his life, death,
and resurrection is a sure thing. We have been saved, but we are
still being saved. We are in heavenly places in
Christ from God's perspective. We've been glorified in God's
perspective even. but we still have yet to experience
our physical resurrection and glorification. We've still yet
to experience heaven and a new earth without evil. And that's
something I'm looking forward to. And so if you share the same
hope as me, please don't allow anyone or some strange doctrine
to rob you of this joy, this hope for the future. And as this
week, as we go out into the world, let us rest in that perfect atonement
in the precious blood of Christ that was spilt on our behalf.
Let us dwell on what he has done for us, but also what is to come. And that's about all I really
have to say on this tonight. So I hope you heard something
you might find edifying and beneficial to you. And thank you for listening. and I'm always available to talk.
You can come by the house if you want. I'm okay with drop-by
visits, so just stop on by and I'll go ahead and pray before
we dismiss, okay? Heavenly Father, thank you so
much for the great things you've given us. Thank you so much for
our future hope and our resurrected bodies. We do look forward to
the day when we can stand face-to-face with you and can smile and talk
and enjoy your company in the flesh. I'd ask that you'd be
with us as we go about our week. Father, that we would rest in
you always, and that we would seek your way in all
things. We thank you for all things in Christ's name. Amen.