Let's begin our service opening
our Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I'm sure you've all noticed our new
bulletin cover. I was able to beg Brother Marvin
Stoniker. I didn't have to beg too hard.
He was willing to do the drawing of our building and put it on
there. I thought that kind of snatched it up some. Looks very
nice, and if you ever wanted a Marvin Stoniker print, now
you got one. I have one every week. Lord willing, next Sunday I'll
be preaching at the conference in Arkansas, Louisville, Arkansas. Brother Darwin Pruitt is the
pastor, and Brother Aaron Greenleaf will be preaching here. I know
you'll look forward to that. And also, I hope everybody will
stay and enjoy a church dinner together after the service today.
as we celebrate zero birthdays. Barb Collins, Emmy Thornberry,
and Bobby Lee Baston. We're looking forward to that.
Hope you'll stay and enjoy a time of fellowship. All right, 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. Let's begin our reading in verse
35. Our subject this morning is going
to be the resurrection, and this chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, has
a lot of instruction on that topic. 1 Corinthians 15, verse
35. But some men 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.
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall
be, but bare grain. It may chance of weed or of some
other grain. But God giveth it a body, as
it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh
is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men.
another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. But the glory
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory
of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differeth
from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of
the dead. Its own incorruption is raised
in incorruption. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised
in glory. It is sown in weakness. It's
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 so it is written. The first
man, Adam was made a living soul and the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit. I'll be it. That was not first,
which is spiritual, but that which is natural and afterward
that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. 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. We look forward to that day,
don't we? All right, let's stand together
as Mike leads us in singing our call to worship. My God, my life, my love, the
only I adore. My Savior, Lord, my priest, my
King, I owe forevermore. O let my heart rejoice, Thy grace
my every thought, But when I see Thee as Thou art, I'll praise
Thee as I ought. Thus is Thy servant Lord, Thy
gospel to proclaim, Great is the Lord our God, O
let His praise be great! He makes His church His own abode. His laws be like full sea. Thank you. You may be seated.
We'll turn now to 132. 132. Oh, let's stand on this one.
I don't think you need to stand. You're not going to make those
high notes. Neither. I serve a risen Savior, He's
in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever
men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear
His voice of cheer. And just the time I need Him,
He's always near. He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with
me along life's narrow way. He lives! He lives, salvation
to impart. You ask me all, I know He lives. He lives within my heart. In all the world around me, I
see His loving care. And though my heart grows weary,
I never will despair. I know that He is leading through
all the stormy blasts. The day of His appearing will
come at last. He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with
me along life's narrow way. He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives. He lives within my heart. Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,
lift up your voice and sing. Turn, O alleluias, to Jesus Christ
the King, the hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who
pine. None other is so loving, so good
and kind. He lives, Christ Jesus lives
today. He walks with me and talks with
me along life's narrow way. Thank you. Now you may be seated. Turn to 184. 184. Do you hear them coming, brother,
Thronging up the steeps of life? Clad in glorious shining garments,
Blood-washed garments pure and white, Tis a glorious church
without spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Tis a glorious church without
spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb. To hear the stirring anthems
filling all the earth and sky. Tis the grand victorious army
Lift his banner up on high. Tis a glorious church, Without
spot or wrinkle, Washed in the blood of the Lamb. Tis a glorious church, Without
spot or wrinkle, Washed in the blood of the Lamb. Never fear the clouds of sorrow,
never fear the storms of sin. We shall triumph on the morrow,
even now our journey begins. Tis a glorious church, without
fathering coal, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Tis a glorious church, without
fathering coal, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Wave the banner, shout His praises,
for our victory is nigh. We shall join our conquering
Savior, we shall reign with Him on high. Tis a glorious church,
without spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Tis a glorious church, without
spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Our pastors ask that we read
from Hebrews chapter 11. We'll begin with verse 35 and read
down through the end of the chapter. Hebrews 11 verse 35. receive their dead raised to
life again. And others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Others had trial of cruel mocking and scourgings, yea, moreover
of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and
tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered
in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. These all, having obtained a
good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect." We'll end our reading there. Let's pray. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Thank you for this place you've
given us to assemble together. We're thankful to gather together
as a people, Lord, knowing that you've brought us here this day.
Lord, help us to be, Lord, continue to remind us to not not take
these things for granted or to be thankful. Thankful for thy
mercies or thankful for thy goodness to us or thankful that thou art
sovereign or that you order and direct all things. But we thank you for your many
blessings. We thank you for our families, for our homes, all
that your hand has provided. Above all things, we thank you
for the Lord Jesus Christ, for we desire to know more of Him,
or to be taught more of our Savior. Lord, cause us to cease from
our labors and to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, for
those of our number who are in a time of trouble, or in sickness,
difficulty, or there seem to be so many, Lord, bless your people. Be with
your people. Strengthen and encourage. Lord,
all things teach us to look to thee, to rest in thee for all
things. Lord, we thank you for these
many young ones you've blessed us with. Lord, we pray that you
would watch over and protect and keep them in this world.
Lord, above all things, that you'd be merciful to them. Lord,
that in your time you would reveal the Lord Jesus Christ to them
or reveal the Savior to them. Again, we thank you for your
many blessings, thankful for this place, thankful for this
opportunity to gather together, but we pray for your presence.
Lord, bless us with your presence here this morning. Be with our
pastor, Lord, as he stands to proclaim thy word. Or truly,
who's sufficient for these things? Who's sufficient to stand in
this place and declare thy word? Lord, we pray that you would
hear word from thee. Lord, speak through your servant
here this morning. Bless us with your presence.
Give us ears to hear and hearts to receive the truth of thy word. Again, we thank you for your
many blessings. Thank you above all things for
the Lord Jesus Christ. In His name we pray and give
thanks. Amen. Singing the medley of songs and
choruses this morning. When you hear one you know, please
join me. What a day that will be when
my Jesus eyes shall see And I look upon His face The One who saved
me by His grace When He takes me by the hand And He leads me
through the promised land Oh, what a day, glorious day that
will be Leave the load of guilt and shame. Then the hand of Jesus touched
me, and now I am no longer Since I met this blessed Savior, Since
He cleansed and made me whole, I will never cease to praise
Him. I'll shout it while eternity
rolls. Sing it with me. He touched me. Oh, He touched me. And oh, the joy that floods my
soul. Something happened, and now I
know he touched me. There is coming a day When no
heartache shall come No more clouds in the sky No more tears
to dim the eye All is peace forevermore What a day, glorious day, that
will be! And there'll be no sorrows there,
No more burdens to bear, No more sickness, no pain, No more parting
over there, And forever I will be With the One who died for
me. Oh, what a day, glorious day,
That will be! Someday this stammering tongue
will falter no more, And a grander, sweeter song I shall On heaven's bright shore forever
to praise my King. And when a million years have
passed in that wonderful place, thy song of praise will just
have begun. For my joy will never end while
I look on his face, and my song will never be done. And while the ages roll, I'll
keep on praising him, And my voice will never tire or grow old. And my song shall ever be,
Praise the Lamb who died for me, And I'll sing it while ages
shall roll. When my Jesus I shall see, And
I look upon His face, The One who saved me by His grace, And
when He takes me by the hand, And He leads me through the Promised
Land, Oh, what a day, glorious day that will be. Well, I wish I could say what's on
my heart about that day. We don't even know. I mean, we
just can't imagine. The thought of it overwhelms
me. We can't even scratch the surface
of what a day that will be. I remember this like it was yesterday. We were standing at the cemetery. We just laid the clay prison
of our brother Cecil Roach in the ground and we were standing
there talking about what Cecil must be seeing now. Brother Dale
Simpson made this statement. He said, the Lord doesn't let
us know. We just can't even imagine the
Lord doesn't let us know wisely. He said, we can see the Ashland
Bridge from the hill where we were standing. And he said, if
we knew what Cecil was seeing really right now, we'd all be
lined up in that bridge, jumping off. Well, I digress. I got a few
minutes. I can take a few extra minutes.
We're going to eat right after service. All right. Turn your Bibles again
to Hebrews chapter 11. I titled the message this morning,
A Better Resurrection. I took my title from the end
of verse 35. It talks about others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Now, the resurrection is one of the doctrinal pillars that
hold up all of the gospel. This begins with the resurrection
of Christ. The early church was most persecuted
for preaching and believing the resurrection of Christ. Many
saw him resurrected and it's not recorded that ever one of
them recanted. They never did. And that tells
me that you and I today cannot compromise on this doctrine of
the resurrection of Christ. Look over at first Corinthians
chapter 15. If you take away the resurrection of Christ, we
don't have a gospel to preach at all. There's no gospel. This is how important the doctrine
of the resurrection is. If you take it away, we have
no gospel, no good news to preach at all. 1 Corinthians 15 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 our preaching is vain. And your faith is also vain.
You've trusted in a Savior that can't save if Christ is not risen.
Yea, and we be found false witnesses of God, because we've testified
of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you're yet in your sins. If Christ be
not raised, you have no forgiveness of your sin, no cleansing of
your sin. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are
most men, most miserable. You see what Paul's saying there.
There's no gospel to preach. There's no hope of the forgiveness
of sins. There's no hope of eternal life if Christ be not raised. The resurrection of Christ is
the evidence. It's the proof positive that
Christ's sacrifice justified everyone for whom he died. Christ
was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Raised again is the proof that
his sacrifice justified all of his people. He was raised from
the dead because all the sin that was laid on him is gone.
There's nothing that could keep him dead. Sin is gone. And our
bodies will one day be raised from the dead too. And God's
people have been longing for that day for a long, long time. Now hold your finger there and
look back at the book of Job. We read that the book of Job
is the oldest book in the Bible. Job lived before Abraham lived. In Job, Job chapter 19, Job looked
forward to the resurrection of his body. Even before Abraham
lived, Job was looking forward to the resurrection of his body.
Job 19 verse 23. Oh, that my words were now written.
Oh, that they were printed in a book. that they were graven
with an iron pin and led in the rock forever. Job said, You carve
this of my tombstone, for I know that my Redeemer liveth, and
that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh, my flesh,
resurrected flesh, shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself. And mine eyes, these eyes, my
eyes are going to behold him. and not another. He won't be
a stranger. I'm going to know him, even though my reigns be
consumed within me. Job is saying, sin is going to
destroy this body. It's going to go back to the
dust from whence it was made. Yet in my flesh, in glorified
flesh, I'm going to see Christ. Gene, he was looking for the
second coming of Christ before he came the first time. He was
already looking forward to the resurrection. And I can tell
you why. The resurrection of Christ also
guarantees a glorious resurrection for his people who believe him.
Now back in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. Christ is the first fruits and
the first fruits mean there's going to be more fruits coming.
More fruits just like him. I remember back in the spring,
we got our first ripe tomato. Oh, we were so excited. It tasted
so good. That was the first fruits. You know, all the fruits that
came after that, not one of them was an orange. Not one of them
was a potato. They were all, they were all
tomatoes, weren't they? Every one of them, just like
that first one. Christ is the first fruits and there's more
to come. There's more to come. His people,
believers, are going to be raised just like Christ, embodies just
like His. Now, right now, believers are
in the flesh. We live this life in our sinful
flesh. We live bearing the image of
Adam because we're born from his seed. We bear his nature.
But when believers are resurrected, they're not going to bear the
image of Adam anymore. then they're going to bear the
image of Christ and only the image of Christ because they'll
have his nature. Let me show you that verse 49, first Corinthians
15. And as they have borne the image
of the earthy, they born the image of Adam who is made from
the earth. We shall also, we who believe Christ also bear
the image of the heavenly. Now this, I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We should 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 should be changed. We
who remain should be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So in
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal
shall put on immortality Then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh,
death, where's thy sting? Oh, grave, where's 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. Now that's the doctrine of the
resurrection. God's people are going to be
raised incorruptible, just like Christ. They're going to be raised
immortal. And I tell you, don't ever, ever
compromise on this doctrine, this truth of the resurrection,
of being raised in the glorious image of Christ our Savior. Don't
ever compromise it. And Luke, I wonder why would
anybody want to? Why would anybody want to? Because look at verse
58. Therefore, this is what he's saying, don't compromise this.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be 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." Don't compromise
this. You remain steadfast, unmovable. And why would you ever want to
move away from the hope of being made just like Christ? Oh, what
a glorious day God's people have to look forward to in the resurrection. Now that is some of the important
teaching of the resurrection. I'm not going to go into all
of that chapter because I want to get over to what the writer
to the Hebrews is talking about here. What does he mean? What's he talking about when
he talks about a better resurrection? Let me give you four answers
to that. What does he mean by the better resurrection? I don't
think he just means one thing. I think I see at least four things
he's meaning here. Now, we've got to remember this.
The subject that he's writing about here in Hebrews chapter
11 is faith in Christ. And as he closes this chapter,
He's encouraging God's people to continue, continue in faith,
continue trusting Christ. Don't quit. Now you're going
to run into hatred in this world. You're going to run into resistance
to the gospel in this world. If you made yourself a hermit
in a mountain somewhere and didn't ever see another human being,
you're still going to run into resistance to this gospel from
your own flesh. The world is set in your heart. So when you
run into resistance, Don't quit. Don't quit believing Christ.
When life gets hard, and it will, it's going to get hard. Oh, it's
going to get hard. Some of you might not have to
wait until you're old. It's going to get hard. Oh, it's going to
get hard. When that happens, don't you quit. Don't quit trusting
Christ. Trials and troubles in this life,
they're not evidence that you're not a child of God. They're not
evidence that God's cast you off. As a matter of fact, trials
that try your faith. I'm not just talking about common
things that happen to all of us. I'm talking about trials
that test your faith. You're going to find out in this
trial, do you believe God or not? Do you trust Christ or not? You're
going to find out. When those things come, that's not the evidence
God's cast you off. That's the evidence you are a
child of God. That's the evidence you do have faith. When God gives
faith, he's going to try it. The evidence you have faith in
Christ, God tries it. The writer here saying that don't
quit. Because remember, this life is not all that there is. The believer lives this life
looking for a better country, looking for a better life. But
we're living it in the flesh, aren't we? We're in this world.
And truth be told, We're all pretty attached to these fleshly
bodies. And with good reason, with good
reason. If something goes wrong with
it, it's going to cause a lot of pain, a lot of suffering.
And I'd just soon do without it if I could avoid it, wouldn't
you? But the believer is looking to cast off this corruptible
flesh to one day be clothed with incorruptible flesh. We're looking
forward to casting off this mortal flesh, sinful flesh and taking
on immortal, holy flesh. So you keep trusting Christ.
You keep believing Christ. That's how I closed our lesson
in the Bible class this morning. You keep trusting Christ. Faith
always receives what it's looking for. Faith always receives what
it's expected to be made like the Lord Jesus Christ, to live
with him eternally. So here's the first thing I believe
the writer means when he talks about a better resurrection.
Number one, resurrection with Christ is better than being delivered,
being resurrected from earthly troubles. I want you to listen
to the sufferings of believers of the past. In the end of many
martyrs, verse 35 says, women received their dad raised to
life again. Others were tortured, not just for a moment. I'm sure
this went on a long time. They were tortured. not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea, moreover,
of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn
asunder. They were sawed in half, were
tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in
sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented,
of whom The world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. They didn't
have homes. They wandered around in the deserts.
They lived in mountains and dens and caves of the earth. Now some
of these martyrs were tortured, tortured to death. Some of them
were scourged with the cat of nine tails. You've heard what
that is many times. It's a whip that had nine or
several at least strips of leather and Put in that leather were
pieces of rock and broken pottery and glass. And when they hit
the victim of scourging, they'd rake those things across their
back, just tearing the skin off. And often, the victim of scourging
died because their flesh was ripped off their back and their
organs fell out their back. They died because of that. I
just can't imagine how painful that is. Can you? And all they
had to do to stop that pain was to say, I don't believe Christ
anymore. And they didn't do it. They didn't do it. And they didn't
do it because they counted the resurrection of those who kept
faith in Christ. They counted that to be more
valuable than being delivered from physical suffering in this
life. They counted that more valuable than denying Christ. The resurrection of the faithful
is more valuable than being delivered from pain and suffering in this
life. Some of these martyrs were put in prisons. I'm sure that
they are prisons today. Those prisoners would think that's
a cakewalk compared to where they were. I mean, these were
horrible, horrible, horrible places. They're put in prisons.
And there they stayed. And they could have gone home
any time they wanted. All they had to do was say, I
don't believe Christ anymore. There they stayed in prison. Some of
them were kicked out of their homes, kicked out of their cities.
Their jobs were taken away from them, and they literally had
nothing materially. They said, we're taking your
home away from you. You can't live here anymore. You can't
work here anymore. Homeless. They wandered around in the deserts.
They needed some covering. So what they did, they found
a cave. They found a den of the earth. They didn't have any clothes. They had to wear old animal skins
for clothes. They had nothing materially.
If they're going to eat, they had to scrounge around in the
garbage to find something to eat. Just something anywhere
to eat because nobody's going to allow them to have any food.
Nobody's going to allow them to have a job to earn money to
get food. And all they had to do, move back in their home,
sleep in their comfortable beds, have their good job again, be
able to go to the market and buy food. All they had to do
was deny Christ. And they refused to do it. Refused. Spent 11 years in prison. He had a wife and four children.
Youngest daughter was blind. They think maybe that's why when
he wrote Pilgrim's Progress, he wrote it so vividly with the
imagery and stuff that he wrote it with for his blind daughter.
Can you imagine being a husband and father and being in prison
and not be able to go home, not be able to provide for them and
help them? And all John Bunyan had to do
to leave that prison, all he had to do was tell the king,
I won't preach anymore. I promise you I won't preach
anymore. You can go home. He refused to do it because he
counted the resurrection of those who kept faith in Christ. He
counted the resurrection of those who refused to deny Christ to
be more valuable than being delivered from the king's prison and being
able to go home to his wife and his children. Some of these martyrs
were killed in the most painful way imaginable. They were stoned
to death. People would throw great big
old stones at them until one of them crushed their skull and
killed them. Or one of them broke their rib and made that rib puncture
their heart or their lung or something, you know. They were,
that's how they died. Others were stretched out on
the rack as far as they could go until all of their bones were
dislocated. Hips, Shoulders, elbows, knees
are all dislocated. And then they saw them in half.
And all they had to do to make that suffering end was say, I
don't believe Christ anymore. And they refused to do it because
they considered the resurrection, the resurrected life of those
who kept the faith to be far better than being delivered from
death in this life. And if say they did deny Christ,
They'd be set free. And then you know what happened?
They'd still have to live life in this sinful flesh, in this
sinful world. And they counted life with Christ
far better than life in this sinful world. That's what they...
I mean, they did an accounting equation and saw one side's more
valuable than the other one. All right. You know, I'm not... I don't know the term. I can't read people and know
what people are thinking. And Janet really can do that.
I can't do that. But even somebody who's unskilled in this area
is me. I know what's in every mind right here. I know what's
in your mind. If you're listening to me, I
know what's in your mind. This is what you're thinking.
The same thing I'm thinking. If I was in their place, I couldn't
do that. That's what I'm thinking. I bet that's what you're thinking.
And it fills you with fear, doesn't it? I'm fearful. I'm fearful. I wouldn't be that brave. I mean,
I just wouldn't. I mean, really, I get to the
point I would say or do anything to make that kind of suffering
in. I really would. I would say I'm afraid of this,
but I know this about my weak self. I hate to even say this out loud.
I deny my savior to make that suffering in. Is that what you're thinking?
That's what you're afraid of too, isn't it? And you know what? If we're depending on our own
strength to survive that, really, if we're depending on our own
strength to survive the rest of this surface, we're going
to be disappointed. We're going to be disappointed.
Now, remember, our subject is faith in Christ. I'll ask you
a question. Do you have faith in Christ?
Do you? Do you believe Christ? Do you
believe He's your Savior? Do you believe He's your Savior
because He's your only hope? Do you believe He said, I came
to save sinners? Do you believe Him? Do you cast
all your soul upon Him? Do you? Well, if you do, let
me ask you this question. How'd you come to have that faith?
How'd you come to get it? Did you get it by the strength?
By your own strength? That you just said, I made myself
have that faith. Is that how that came? It wasn't,
was it? How'd you get that faith? God
gave it to you. And you had to depend upon God
to give it to you, to give you that gift of faith, and that's
right in it. Alright, if you believe God, many of you here
have believed Him a long, long time. A long time. Well, however
long it is that you believe Christ, who's kept you believing Him
all that time? Did you keep yourself by your own strength? I mean,
did you just say, no, I will not surrender. I will not leave
Christ. No, I'm going to keep believing Him. Did you do it
by your own strength? Not at all, have you? Not at
all. You know, if God just lifted
His finger off of you, you'd fall in a split second. Now,
if you believe God and you keep believing Him, the reason for
it is God's kept you, isn't it? He's kept you. believing Him.
He has kept you faithful. He has kept you from leaving
Him. That's so, isn't it? Alright
then. If you find yourself in the place
of these martyrs, do you reckon it's going to be at that moment
that God's going to say, I'm leaving you to your own to test
you and see how you do? Do you think at that moment God's
going to leave you alone? Of course He isn't. Of course He
isn't. If we're going to bear up like
these martyrs did and refuse, refuse to surrender. The Lord's
going to have to give us that kind of faith too. In that trial,
we're not going to be any more dependent upon our strength than
in a sunny day and walking down the road. We're as dependent
on Christ now as ever. In a sunny day as a dark day,
in the worst trial or a minor trial, we depend upon the Lord
to give us faith and to keep us. We're going to have to depend
upon him in that day too. And if God gives it, we'll do
the same thing the martyrs did. Now, that does not mean that
every believer would never deny the Savior. That doesn't mean
that. And somebody says, you got scripture
for that? I told you that in the lesson this morning. You
got scripture for that? I do. Our brother, Peter, And if we have to face this kind
of adversity, what Peter went through, if Satan desires to
sift us as wheat, we're going to fall just like Peter did,
unless the Lord holds us up, unless the Lord keeps us from
it. If we have to face the kind of adversity that these martyrs
faced, and we would never waver in our faith because of our strength,
because of our determination, if that is what we're saying,
Clark will preach and works in our grace. Isn't that so? Now,
I don't ever intend to deny the Savior. I don't ever want to
deny the gospel. That's my determination. But
if I get in a little bit of pain, I know how quick my determination
is going to go away. But this is my comfort. My comfort
is my salvation is all Christ. And it's never in the strength
of my faith at any given time. It's all in Him and His strength. His keeping power. So I think,
I believe the main point to be made here is this, that there's
no doubt that being resurrected with Christ in the image of Christ
is far better than anything this world has to offer. All right,
here's the second thing. Resurrection with Christ, the
second resurrection, is far better than our bodies being raised
to life again in this life. Now, when we get very sick. And even when we don't, we just
think about moving forward. We would all like that the Lord
would miraculously heal our bodies and that before the suffering
got too bad, that, that he would end, you know, our suffering,
but that, but he would make it a long, that a long time in coming. You know, I, uh, it's just my
Janice desire that until we'd be about, you know, 85 or 90
that we walk two or three miles a day. We do jumping jacks. She
does her yoga every morning and we feel really, really, really
good every day. And then one day we lay down
to go to sleep holding hands and we just die together. That's
what we like to have happen. I think it's unlikely that that's
the Lord's will for us. I think that's unlikely, but
that's what we like, isn't it? It won't let me choose. When one of our dear loved ones
dies, we're all such good Christians, good Calvinists, that we're not
going to say out loud the desire of our heart. But the desire
of our heart would be if we're totally honest that the Lord
do for me what he did for Mary and Martha when he raised Lazarus,
their brother, from the grave. I'm sure any parent who's ever
lost a child, I can't imagine the heartache of that. I'm sure
that parent would be thrilled. if the Lord raised that child
from the dead, just like Elijah did for that poor widow woman
we looked at a couple of weeks ago. And that would be a blessing. Oh, that would be a blessing.
But you know what? The second resurrection with
Christ, far better, far better than that. Yes, the Lord raised
Lazarus from the dead. He did do that. He raised Lazarus
from the dead. But you know, poor old Lazarus,
He had to get sick and die all over again. He had to go through
that veil of death not once but twice. We read that the Lord
wept at Lazarus' tomb. I've looked and looked and looked
at that verse. Thought about it a lot. Wonder, why did the
Lord weep? Why was He there weeping? I don't think there's any one
particular reason. I do like what people say, what
people believe, that the Lord wept because there he was at
that cemetery and his children, his children, those whom he loved,
Mary and Martha, they're there weeping and his heart was touched
at their sorrow. Oh, their sorrow touched him.
I believe that's so. But I believe it was more than
that. Our Lord also could have wept
because he knew what he was getting ready to do to Lazarus. He was
getting Lazarus, whom he loved. He was getting ready to bring
him back to this life. And he wept, knowing what he's
going to have to go through. So I say again, I believe the
main point here is that eternal life, spiritual life is far better
than physical life. Thank God for it. Thank God for
my physical life. I do. But eternal life, spiritual
life is far better, far more valuable Being resurrected with
Christ in the image of Christ is far better than any life in
this world. And I really do believe we'd
be more content if we could get our focus off of this life and
get it on to the next one. I believe we'd be more content.
All right, here's the third thing. The resurrection of the faithful,
of those to whom God has given faith. is far better than the
resurrection of those without faith. And we spent months, I
went back and looked at this, just eight months I spent on
Hebrews chapter 11, never spent that much time in a single chapter
before. We spent months looking at these
patriarchs. The scripture says they all died
in faith. They will experience the resurrection
of the righteous. They're going to be raised in
righteous, holy bodies. Bodies just like the Savior.
They're going to be with Christ face to face for eternity. Mike just said, what a glorious
day that will be. But you know, the resurrection
doesn't just apply to these patriarchs. It doesn't even just apply to
believers. The resurrection of the dead applies to everyone,
believer and unbeliever alike. Every human being that has ever
lived in the last day is going to be resurrected. And in that
day, you'll find the resurrection of the faithful is far better
than those who had no faith in Christ. The wicked are going
to be raised to God's wrath. The faithful are going to be
raised to God's love. In God's love and to God's love,
the wicked are going to be raised for an execution. They're just
going to be raised for the Lord to tell them, depart from me,
I never knew you, and be cast into hell. The faithful are going
to be raised to a wedding, to be wed to Christ, to enjoy that
wedding feast. The wicked are going to be raised
to eternal death. Those to whom God has given faith,
the faithful, they're going to be raised to eternal eternal
glorious life. You know, when the Lord calls
one of His children home, I believe we should quit saying they died. I believe we should say they
started living. They started living. What body are they in right now?
I do not know. But I do know this, when they're
resurrected, it's going to be in a perfect just like the body
of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be with Him forever, to never
again feel a fear, to never again feel a doubt, to never again
feel sorrow that brings a tear, never. Perfect bliss with the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it won't be because of their
surroundings. I'm sure the surroundings would be spectacular, but who's
gonna notice them? They're looking at Christ face
to face. Perfect bliss. All right. Here's the fourth
thing. This resurrection is not better than other believers.
Now the martyrs who died and they refused to be delivered
from that suffering. Why did they do that? Well, it
was not because they're trying to earn a better place in heaven
than you. I can tell you that. They suffered and died in faith.
in confidence, in confident hope of a better resurrection, something
better than physical deliverance. They suffered and died in a confident
hope of resurrection with Christ, in the confident hope that Christ
is better. And whatever situation you're
in, Christ is better because Christ is all. And just like
I said a moment ago, to preach anything else is to preach works,
not grace. That's all it is. To say that
the martyrs who suffered and died are going to receive a better
resurrection than you who believe, is to say that in some way, somehow,
there was some merit to their suffering and their death. You want to say that? It's to
say that their suffering and their death earned them something
from God. Now be very careful of that blasphemy. The only suffering The only death
that is worth anything is the suffering and death of Christ
our substitute, Christ our savior. The only suffering and the only
death that means anything to the father is the suffering and
the death of his son. It's not my suffering. It's not
your suffering. It's the suffering of his son. You want to compare
your suffering to his? I don't. Do you? The only death,
the only suffering that means anything, that's worth anything
to the father is the death of his precious son. And in his
death, the Lord Jesus Christ purchased the same redemption,
the same righteousness, the same forgiveness, the same glory for
every one of God's elect. It's fair for you to ask of me
the same question I ask of you in the Bible class this morning.
You got scripture for that? Well, I do. I got a whole book,
but let me give you one, one scripture. You can read it this
afternoon if you want. First Samuel 30. David found
himself in a situation. He had to go to battle and he
told the men, let's go to battle. And they got ready to go to battle.
And he told some of the men that you stay back here by the stuff.
You stay back here in the camp by the stuff, whatever stuff
it was they had. You stay here by it. I'm going
to take these men and we're going to go down to battle." David
took those men. They went down to battle. Brady,
they won a glorious battle. Oh my goodness. These fellas
came back. They had, I mean, if it was our
military day, they'd have chests full of medals. They won this
glorious victory. They took all the spoil. I mean,
everything that enemy had, they took it all. They took every
stitch from them. and brought it back to the camp.
And David divided the spoil. And he gave everyone the exact
same amount. And those men that went down
to battle said, now wait a minute, we bore the heat of the day here.
We should get more than these fellows that stayed back here
by the stuff. And David said, no, no, no, no, no. Those who
stayed by the stuff and those that went to the battle all get
the same reward. And they made it a law in Israel. They made it a law. Every believer
has the exact same reward, singular, Christ. The word, I know you
know this, the word rewards in scripture is not one time in
scripture used in reference to a believer. It's always in reference
to an unbeliever. Because a believer doesn't have
rewards, they have one reward. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. The
reward of faith is to be made just like Christ and to be with
Him forever. The thief on the cross has the
same reward in glory as the Apostle Paul. That's exactly right. The thief on the cross has the
exact same reward as the Apostle Peter, who we're told was crucified
upside down because he wouldn't be crucified the same way as
his Savior. Thief on the cross has the exact same reward. The
thief on the cross has the exact same reward as Stephen the martyr. It's perfection. It's Christ. Now I ask you, what's better
than that? Is there anything better than
him? Isn't there? If you think there's something
better than him, you don't value Christ as he ought to be valued.
That's exactly so. Now the writer here says in verse
38 that the world was not worthy of these saints who lived and
died trusting Christ. And that's true. They made the
world around them a better place to live. They, just like you
who believe, are the salt of the earth. God, salt is a preservative. God preserves this world for
your sake, for the believer's sake, for those even who are
not yet born yet, who someday will believe Christ. Maybe our
little ones here. who someday will believe Christ.
They have, yeah, you're the salter. God preserves his whole creation
for his people. But salt also makes things taste
better. I mean, that's, I mean, you can worry about high blood
pressure if you want. Jan's philosophy is salt first, ask questions
later. Salt just makes everything taste better. It does. She's
not wrong. God's people are the salt of
the earth. They make it taste better. They make it more palatable. It's easier. to be in this world
with you all. It is. God makes his people who
believe Christ to be different than the world. Now, we still
have the same flesh. You know, I'm not saying we're
better. We're better off. We're not better. Please understand,
I'm not saying we're better because we're not. But God does make
his people to be different. And honestly, I question the
faith of someone who's not different. And they were before they said
God saved them. I just do. I'm sorry. And I'm
not preaching words now. I'm not preaching works at all. I'm not saying our works make
us any better before God. I'm not saying that at all. What
I'm saying is the conduct of a child of God matters. Again,
you got scripture for that. Yeah, I do. You go read the second
half or the last part of every epistle in this book, and they
all deal with the believers conduct the believers walk. Oh, it's
important. The Apostle Paul said, such were some of you, such were
some of you. He said, but you're washed, you're
sanctified, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. Such were some of you, but not
anymore. Not anymore. Now that conduct,
a believer's conduct will be far from perfect. Don't look
at somebody who does something wrong and say, oh, they don't
know, they can't know the Lord if you do that. Now wait a minute,
don't say that. Because that's going to exclude every one of
us, isn't it? Beginning with Abraham, the father
of the faithful, through Jacob, through Job, through the Apostle
Peter, through the Apostle Paul, through every one of us. If you
take a snapshot of any of us, and make that the condition of
salvation, we're going to fail every time. Because that's not
the condition of salvation. The condition of salvation is
the righteousness, the obedience, the doing and the dying of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ reveals himself to the
heart of someone. They got a new heart and their
conduct has got to be different. Far from perfect, but it will
be changed. And that's what the writer to
the Hebrews says about these people who died in the faith.
They made the world around them better. Made it easier to be
in and the world wasn't worthy of them. The world hated them.
The world didn't want to hear their gospel. They didn't want
to have anything to do with them. The world was not worthy of anyone
who ever dies in the faith. And when those people die, the
world is worse off. It really is. The world is worse
off. Oh, but they're better. Oh, they're better. They're instantly
in the presence of Christ. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord should not prevent, won't precede them
which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and
the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
should be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. The magnitude of the glory of
that statement is greater than our human mind will ever be able
to grasp. But with what you can grasp of
it, Paul says, wherefore, comfort one another with these words.
Now quickly back to our text, Hebrews 11. This passage, the
end of this chapter, is written to encourage us who believe today
to continue in the faith. Verse 39. And these all, having obtained
a good report through faith, received not the promise, God
having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect. Those who died in the faith,
these patriarchs, they died before they ever saw what they longed
for, before they ever got what they expected physically. What
were they longing for? They were longing for the same
thing Eve longed for when her firstborn son came into this
world. She's looking for Christ. She's looking for the man from
God. And they died before Christ came incarnate in the flesh.
They died before they saw God fulfill all of his promises concerning
the Messiah, the redemption of his people. But they did receive
the end of their faith. The very moment they died, they
awoke. in Christ's likeness. They left
this world and went to be with Christ face to face. And every
believer, everyone who has this faith in Christ is going to receive
the exact same reward. Those who have died in faith,
they won't be perfect. The word there means complete. They're not going to be complete
until all of God's elect are gathered around the throne of
Christ. That's going to happen. God's going to see to it because
God's going to do what He promised to do. So this is the encouragement
that the writer leaves us with. You continue to believe in Christ.
You continue trusting Him. You continue to follow Him in
all things. Sooner or later, God's going
to give you what you hope for. Sooner or later, God's going
to give you the object of your faith. And more than likely,
it'll come sooner than what you think. And when it comes, it'll
be perfect. All right, let's bow together
in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you for this time
we've had together to look into your word and to worship you. Father, I pray that you take
your word as it's been preached and for your glory, apply it
to the hearts of your people to enable us to be established
in the faith, to to encourage us to continue in the faith,
continue looking to trusting our Lord Jesus Christ. He is
all and in all. Father, how thankful we are.
Father, I pray you'd bless the hearts of your people, that you'd
comfort and that you'd encourage. Thank you for giving us this
place where we can meet together in peace and unity for our heart's
desires to hear more, learn more, to worship our Lord and Savior
even more. Father, I thank you for this
time of fellowship that we're about to have. I thank you for
this food, the ladies that have prepared it. Pray you bless it
to our bodies. Bless this time of fellowship
together. Make it a sweet time of fellowship. We thank you for those that we
celebrate here this morning. Thank you for Barb, her faithfulness,
what she has meant to all of us. Father, we thank you for
our two young ones, Emmy and Bobby Lee. Father, we thank you
for them. Thank you for giving them to
us. And Father, I pray mercy. Oh,
would you be merciful. Preserve them and protect them.
Father, cause us as a congregation to be faithful to them. to teach
them, to preach the word to them, to give them examples of faithfulness,
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, all these things we ask
and we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the
name of Christ our Savior. Amen. All right. Now, we finish singing this song. The men are set up some tables
for us. And you know the drill, you watch
our three birthday people, our two birthday girls and our birthday
boy, they get to go first. Don't anybody get in that line
for them now. It's your chance. I know, I know what happens,
especially Bobby Lee. Boys like D, his daddy tells
him every time, don't you go first. This time, Bobby, you
get to go first. Just get all you want. Just get
everything first. All right? And when they go through,
then the rest of us can go through and enjoy some time fellowship
together, all right? I'll stand and sing 267, please.
267. All things work out for good,
we know, such is God's great design. He orders all our steps
below for purposes divine, for purposes divine. This is the faith that keeps
me still, no matter what the test, And lets me glory in His
will, for well I know it is best. Well, I know it is best. So now the future holds no fear. God guards the work begun. And mortals are immortal here. Until their work is done Until
their work is done Someday the path he chose for me Will all
be understood In heaven's clearer light I'll see All things worked
out for good. All things worked out for good.