that I look considerably older
than I am. And when I was growing up, that
was advantageous. I was real happy. It's not so
pleasant anymore. But I didn't realize I looked
quite as old as some think. Joe just told me Cynthia was
asking their grandson, Andrew, who was the first man God made.
He said, Pastor Shortner. And you tell him I'm not quite
that old. I received a letter from one
of our Free Grace Radio listeners Saturday, I believe it was, and
he asked this question. Can you explain Romans 16, 25?
What does Paul mean by my gospel? What is the mystery he's referring
to? I thought those were two questions
that were fair, thoughtful, and rightly deserved an answer. And
so I spent a good bit of yesterday answering this man's questions.
And when I finished answering the questions, I thought, I've
just got to work on that for a message for you. And I believe
the Lord's given me a message for you. The title of my message
is My Gospel and the Mystery. We'll begin in Romans 16, verse
24. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all Paul's letter to the Roman Saints
is distinct in many ways, but one of the distinctions is this.
When Paul comes to the conclusion, as he's wrapping this thing up,
beginning at the end of chapter 15, he gives four distinct benedictions. That's a little unusual. Not
one, not two, not even three. Four benedictions. Four benedictions
inspired by God, by which he pronounces God's blessing upon
his people. Let's look at them each. Beginning
at verse 33 of chapter 15. Now the God of peace be with
you all. Amen. In verse 5 of this chapter,
the apostle calls our God the God of patience, because God
is patient, long-suffering, gentle. You remember the phrase translated,
the meekness of Christ? Talk about patience, the gentleness
of Christ. Our God is patient, long-suffering,
forbearing. He's good. And He teaches us
patience. The lesson is not easily learned,
but He teaches us patience. Bit by bit, little by little,
He teaches us patience. giving us the Spirit of His grace,
the fruit of which is patience. Then in verse 13, Paul calls
Him the God of hope, because our hope is in God our Savior. Do you remember what Jeremiah
said? Turn over there and look at this
blessed passage in Lamentations 3. Lamentations chapter 3, verse
24. Jeremiah said, The Lord is my
portion. saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. He's the
God of hope. We hope in his mercies. Look
here, Jeremiah 3, verse 21. This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Then in verse 32, though he cause
grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of
His mercies. His mercies give us hope. And we hope in our God because
of His unfailing love. His compassions, they fail not. And He's faithful. His mercies,
His compassions are fresh and new every morning. And so we
hope in Him who is faithful. They're new every morning. He
says, great is thy faithfulness. Look at verse 25. Then He says,
the Lord is good. Oh, the Lord is good. Years ago, I recall reading in
John Gill's Body of Divinity that the word translated in the
English God, or the word we use in the English God, is really
but an abbreviation of the word good. That's good. The Lord is good. So we hope
in Him. The Lord is good whether it appears
so or not. The Lord is good no matter what
He does or doesn't do, anywhere with anyone, including you and
me, including yours and mine. The Lord is good. He is good
to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. And
we hope in this the Lord our God, who is the God of hope,
because of his salvation. Again, in verse 26, here in Lamentations,
it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for
the salvation of the Lord. Is that talking about salvation
in the experience of God's regenerating grace, or is that talking about
salvation Delivering us from trials and circumstances that
are beyond our control and difficulties? Or is that talking about delivering
us from sickness and delivering us from times of great lamentation
and sorrow? Or is that talking about waiting
for the consummate work of God in salvation? That's what it's
talking about. All that. It's good for a man to wait for
God's salvation. To wait. Just patiently wait. I don't mean that we should wait
about anything with irresponsibility. I mean we should wait with faith.
I tell you what, I try to communicate to people, try to communicate
it especially to preachers and pastors, especially to fellows
who are just starting to pastor. They ask me, what do you do about
this? What about that circumstance? How do you handle this? And I
keep telling them I don't handle anything. I don't handle anything. And what about when you have
a mess? God, leave it alone. Just leave it alone. Well, how
are you going to do that? Not easy. Because I want to get
involved. What do you do? You wait. And
God will work it out. Just wait. And so it is with
every aspect of your life, with every difficulty that entangles
you, exercise the responsibility God has rightly given you and
put in your hands, But just wait. I've never in my life tried to
work something out. I didn't mess it up. Have you? Have you? Just wait. Wait on
the Lord. They that wait on the Lord shall
renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
Oh, teach me then to wait. All right, back in Romans 16.
Romans 16. Our God, the triune Jehovah,
is the God of all hope. He's the God of peace, because
He makes peace between God and man. He's altogether the God
who gives us peace, who wrought peace for us, and works peace
in us at all times. Now look at verse 20, Romans
16. This is Paul's second benediction of grace. This is pronounced,
remember, by divine inspiration upon all God's elect. And the
God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Here the Apostle assures us that
the God of peace, who bruised Satan under his feet, our Lord
Jesus, who crushed the serpent's head, he said, now is the prince
of this world judged. I, if I believe, will call all
men unto me. He is that angel with a strong
hand, that mighty angel who came down from heaven. John saw him
take the chain of the dragon and cast him into the bottomless
pit. He crushed the serpent's head. He cast out the accuser
of the brethren. And he promises the God of peace
will crush Satan under your feet shortly. He declares that his thoughts
toward us, this one who is the God of peace, are thoughts of
peace. He made a covenant of peace for
us In the Council of Peace, before the world began, Christ assumed
the responsibility and was appointed to be the peacemaker in that
covenant of peace. He laid on Him the chastisement
of our peace. With His blood, He obtained peace. And by His Spirit, He gives us
peace. And the God of peace promises
us, though for now We are and must be tried with Satan's temptations,
harassed with his accusations, tormented with his devices, and
groaned by reason of his companions, the Canaanites and the flesh
that dwell within. Soon, oh bless his name, the
God of peace shall brew Satan under your heel. Now, Brother
James, that's true no matter what you've got to face tomorrow. And that's true with regard to
the climactic end of all things for our souls when he takes us
out of this world. And that's true in resurrection
glory when our God is finished with all things. The God of peace
shall crush Satan under your heel. So thoroughly, so completely,
that you will prove in the end to be in no wise injured by the
Prince of Darkness. Now I preach that all the time.
I'm convinced it's so. Would to God I could just halfway
believe it. So thoroughly shall he crush
Satan under your feet, that you will not in the least, in the
end, be injured by him. That's called victory. That's
called triumph. Alright, look at the next one.
We're given an assurance of grace in verse 24. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Now, you think, well, didn't
we just read that? Yeah. That's exactly what it
said in verse 20. At the end of verse 20. Why does
he repeat the same benediction here in exactly the same words? Often when a man is endeavoring
to speak of something that's dear to him, to speak of someone
who's dear to him, tries to express himself about something that's
just beyond expression. He repeats himself. And he doesn't
repeat himself falteringly. He repeats himself deliberately
because this is the best he can do. This is the best he can do. I can't say it better than just
to say it, just like I have. And Paul says, children of God,
the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. And he turns right around
and says, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen. It's as though he were saying,
Amen. Amen to that which he has just
declared. He is saying, Verily, it shall
be so. Now, look at verses 25, 26, and
27. Here's Paul's fourth benediction. And in giving us this benediction,
closing the book of Romans, he shows us the means by which God
performs all the wonders of his grace in his elect. Here is God's
method of operation, not occasionally, not just once in a while, but
always God's method of operation. Now to him that is of power,
to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of
Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which
was kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest
and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment
of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience
of faith to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Now I've got to skim the
surface or I won't begin to get done. But here are seven things
stated. Stated plainly that need to be
sounded out loudly, clearly, and constantly in this religious
tomfoolery age in which we live. Today, preachers in churches
everywhere pander to the whims of men for a dime or a smile. They prostitute the gospel for
nothing. They have set aside the preaching
of the gospel to make way for the entertainment of men. Preaching
today has become passé. It's just out of style and out
of date. It's not the trend of the age.
And gospel preaching is by and large forbidden in most churches,
especially Baptist churches. It's forbidden. Man doesn't dare
preach the gospel. I can't tell you how many times
I've had preachers ask me this. Preachers who claim to believe
the gospel of God's grace, would you preach that over there? I want to hit them. I want to hit them. Of course
I would. Preach it anywhere. Well, they don't like it over
there. All the more reason to preach it. All the more reason. These days, churches are filled with entertainment and
drama and movies and family counseling and financial counseling and
everything under the sun except preaching. Everything under the
sun except the preaching of the gospel. Preachers are too busy
sipping coffee with old women and gossiping with old women,
playing golf, or doing nothing, or making some money to study
and pray and preach, so preachers more and more are cancelling
services so that most places you have one, maybe two worship
services a week, and the second one at best is just sort of off-the-cuff
thing where you meet together and say, we at least are meeting
together, and they do it in the name of giving people more time
to spend with their families. Isn't that wonderful? More time
to spend with their families. Hogwash. Hogwash. That's not so, and that doesn't
happen. That's not so, and that doesn't
happen. Well, what do you think we ought to do, Brother Doc?
The best time you can spend with your family is right here. What
are you going to do with your family that's more important
than what you do here? How are you going to spend a
better hour with your sons, your daughters, your grandchildren,
your wife or your husband than what you spend right here? How
are you going to spend a better hour anywhere at any time? How? Oh no, no. The Lord God Almighty
has chosen the foolishness of preaching for the saving of His
elect, but that's not all. This is the means by which God
ministers to his people. Look at what the Spirit of God
teaches us in this inspired benediction of grace. These seven things.
I'll give them to you just very briefly. The Lord our God, the triune
Jehovah, the omnipotent God of heaven, has the omnipotent power,
the divine might, To establish you. To firmly fix you. To set you like a steel post
in a block of concrete. To set you stably. To stabilize you who by nature
are as fickle as water. The God of all grace has the
might to fix you in His place. in your appointed place in his
church and kingdom. And if God fixes you, you're
not going to be moved. Mount Zion is fixed like the
throne of God above. God has the might to fix you. The might of grace to make men
and women who by nature waver about everything Absolutely unwavering. God has the might to fix you. Now, you don't have it, and I
don't have it. The men and the women of the
strongest mental and emotional constitution don't have that
kind of might. It doesn't take much to make
the strongest of men wither. It doesn't take much to make
the mightiest of men tremble. Doesn't take much. But God Almighty
has the might of omnipotence to establish you. Oh, God establish
me. Establish me firm. Fix me in
your house. He will do it, now look at this,
according to. Not just by, but according to
my gospel. God establishes His elect according
to the rich promises of His grace in the gospel. Now watch this.
The Lord God has the power to fix you in your appointed place
in His church, in His kingdom, in His house, in His family.
He has this power to set you firmly according to my gospel
and the preaching of Jesus Christ. You've taken notes or somewhere
close to this passage in the margin of your Bible? Write down
Ephesians chapter 4 verses 8 through 16. God establishes his elect
in his kingdom the same way he saves them by the preaching of
the gospel of his dear son. Looks to me like what Paul said.
He has the might to establish you by the preaching of the gospel
according to the gospel by the preaching of Jesus Christ. God causes his people to be edified,
built up in the faith, by the preaching of the gospel. By the
preaching of the gospel. We gather together in the house
of God, and if God speaks by his word, he establishes you. I'm highly in favor of pastors
being well-trained, but not in the typical way. I can't imagine
the Apostle Paul sending Timothy back to Gamaliel to learn something
about preaching the gospel. I just, I can't imagine him doing
it. I can't imagine any man who knows the gospel sending somebody
to some seminary or Bible college where the gospel is hated and
expected to learn to preach the gospel, or even be benefited.
I can't imagine that. I tell young men all the time,
go to the university, get your degree in English or grammar,
something that's useful, and listen to a gospel preacher.
If I do what I do as a preacher of the gospel, I give you a steady
diet of thoroughly well-grounded gospel truth in shoe leather. I mean by that you can walk around
with it. I mean by that the preaching of the gospel, a man does his
work in the study. That's where the work's done.
And he comes before God's people and instructs them in the gospel. And by means of faithful gospel
preaching, people are established firm. Fixed firm in the gospel. Fixed firm in the truth as it
is in Christ Jesus. Here's the fourth thing. The
gospel we preach is the unveiled mystery of God in the Scriptures. The word revelation means unveiling. You've seen pictures of, you
may have been to some of these fancy art shows or the kind of
thing where they veil things off and they're going to have
a showing of something and everybody's just waiting and waiting and
waiting and finally they take the veil off Oh, look at that. That's exactly the word. By the
preaching of the gospel, we take the veil off this book, open
it up, and Christ Jesus stands there shining in his bright glory
for all men to see. It is according to the revelation
of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began.
Look at verse 26. But now is made manifest by the
scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God, made known to all nations. The gospel was hidden from the
nations of the world, but now with the revelation of Christ
and the preaching of the gospel, made manifest by God's commandment
to all the nations. Fifth, the mystery of God. now made manifest, is openly
declared to all the nations by the commandment of God. Hold your hands here and turn
to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Just turn over a page. 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. The Lord Jesus says, go ye into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Paul said to the Galatians, Jesus
Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Ron, that means I didn't hide
anything. I didn't hide anything. You will
talk to preachers or hear them talk about various things. This
is not something to be preached to just everybody. Why? Why? Who are you? Who am I to take my pocket knife
and decide, let's just, let's cut Romans chapter 9 out of the
Bible. If you're not going to preach it, cut it out. Let's
just take Ephesians 1 and cut it out of the Bible. If you're
not going to preach it, cut it out. Just cut it out. Oh, well,
these things are, these are for, this is the strong meat. This
is not for babes. Our Lord preached it to babes.
He preached it to folks who didn't even know Him. Who are we to
censor Scripture? We're not papists. We don't dare
censor Scripture. We preach the Word openly, hiding
nothing. Look here in 2 Corinthians 2.
I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom. I didn't come preaching to you
with learned rhetoric, logic, and philosophy, declaring to
you the testimony of God. Declaring the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. I determined, making known the
testimony of God, to preach Christ crucified to you. And I was with
you in weakness and in fear. Not because I was afraid of you.
Not because I was afraid of you. Now, I have to acknowledge, I
have on occasion met a few fellas when I was growing up that I
was afraid of. But man, I wouldn't let them
see it for the world. I would let it be known. I wouldn't let
it be known. I'm not going to let them see fear in my eyes.
It's not going to happen. No matter what happens, it's not
going to happen. But Paul was not talking about fearing men.
He was talking about fearing God. He's not talking about inability
to do something. This man had ability to do about
anything he wanted to, except preach. Anything else, except
speak for God. He was learned like few men in
his day, if any men. He was academically brilliant,
but he made it his determination not to speak to men in such a
way as I was with you in weakness before God, in fear, in fear
for God's glory and God's truth, and in trembling, much trembling,
much trembling. God, please, don't let me ever
get over that. fear, weakness, trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. I didn't try to
con you into believing something, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and the power. Now here's the reason. That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power
of God. If I can talk you into believing
something, somebody else can talk you out of it. If I can talk
you into a profession of faith, somebody else can talk you out
of it. If I can get you to come down here and say the sinner's
prayer, some russelite can come along and get you to join his
church. Or some Mormon can come along and get you to join his
church. Or some Buddhist can come along and get you to join
his church. Or some Islamist can come along and get you to
join his church. It's all the same stuff. Oh no, no no. The faith of God's elect doesn't
stand in the wisdom of men or the power of their words, but
rather in the power of God. Look at verse 6. Howbeit we speak
wisdom among them that are perfect. made perfect by God's grace,
yet not the wisdom of the world, nor the princes of this world,
that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the world unto our glory. Turn over a few pages to chapter
4 of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul says, if our gospel, verse
3, if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in
whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach
not ourselves. The reason we don't do this thing
underhanded, the reason we don't kind of take
the rough edge off. The reason we don't just, let's
cover up half the lights. The reason we don't hide a portion
of the truth. The reason we don't hesitate
to declare God's glory in the gospel to you is because we're
not preaching for ourselves. We preach not for ourselves,
about ourselves, or ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord.
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." Alright, back here
in our text, Romans 16. Verse 26, the gospel of the grace
of God, that which we preach, is preached and made known to
all nations for the obedience of faith. You may observe that I don't
spend any time at all Trying to persuade people. I mean with trickery. Trying
to psychologically and emotionally massage people's minds and get
them set for the right time to make a decision for Jesus. It's
not because I'm ignorant. I was well trained. I went to
two of the best Arminian Bible Colleges in the nation. I'm talking
about folks who build super mega churches. I mean, these folks
knew how to get decisions for Jesus. Strike while the iron's
hot. Work everything right up to the
crescendo at just at the right time. Give your altar call. Have
folks sitting up there and have them start moving forward. Deceit and trickery. Nothing
else. Nothing else. Deceit and trickery. Now you can think God uses such
nonsense to save his elect if you want to. If he does, go ahead
and start sending your money to hell and support the devil.
Deceit and trickery. That's all it is. All it is.
God sends his servants to proclaim the word, the gospel of his grace,
for the obedience of faith. We preach the word and just wait.
We proclaim the gospel and just wait. We don't try to scare folks
or con folks into anything. We just preach the gospel. We
announce the good news! And God Almighty produces the
obedience of faith by the word preached. Here's the seventh
thing. All this is for God's glory. To the only wise God be glory. through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. All right. Now to the two questions. What
does Paul mean by my gospel? And what is the mystery he's
referring to? Paul refers to the gospel as
my gospel because this is the gospel God had trusted to him. It is the gospel he had experienced. It's the gospel he preached.
Now, without question, There's only one gospel. There's only
one gospel. It is the gospel of God concerning
His Son, Romans chapter 1. It is the gospel of the grace
of God, the gospel of proclaiming salvation by God's free grace
in Jesus Christ alone, and any other gospel is a false gospel,
Galatians chapter 1. Plain enough, isn't it? Any other
gospel is a false gospel. And Paul doesn't say, now if
a man comes and preaches another gospel to you, than that which
I preach to you will pray for him and try to help him along
the way." That's not what he says. He says, let him be damned.
Let him be damned. That's not mean. That's not get
you a sword and go kill him. Let him be damned. Leave him
alone. Have nothing to do with him.
He's cursed of God. Because that man is preaching
a cursed gospel and that one who follows him follows a cursed
man right to everlasting damnation. No possibility of anything else.
The gospel there is that gospel that declares, H-O-W, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. There's just
one gospel. This is the gospel by which God is pleased to establish
you. By which God is pleased to save
His elect. It declares the sovereign election
of God the Father. the effectual redemption of God
the Son, and the almighty, omnipotent, irresistible grace of God the
Holy Spirit. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1.
2 Timothy chapter 1. The gospel is the declaration
of salvation in Christ by God's free, eternal, sovereign grace
without any contribution from man. Salvation by the blood of
Jesus Christ. Accomplished by the sacrifice
of God's Son for His people. Here in 2 Timothy 1, Paul is
writing his last letter to Timothy. His last inspired letter. And
he identifies the gospel. My gospel, he identifies. You can mark this down. Lindsay, if you come to visit
me, and I'm about to leave this world, and my mind's still with
me, and I give you instruction from this book, you can bank
on it, this is what I believe. This is what I'm going to meet
God with, and this is what I want you to know and believe. Paul
is writing his last letter. And he is speaking to his beloved
son in the faith, Timothy. Look at verse 8. Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. But what is that, Paul? Who hath
saved us and called us within holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher. I once received a letter from
a lady who asked a question It's been some years ago, she said,
how can I know that the gospel you preach is the true gospel? And I thought it was a question
worth answering. This is the only gospel that is according
to the scriptures. I mean, everything I preach to
you, every word I preach to you. I was talking to Brother Darwin
the other day. I want to know if we come to church down there
and say, do y'all allow question time? He said, I don't stand
up and talk about things that are debatable. If they're debatable,
I don't preach them. Every word I preach to you from
this pulpit is verified from the testimony of God. Is that
so or is it not? You're my witnesses. Is it so
or is it not? Not only is this the only gospel revealed in Scripture
throughout the Scripture, this is the only gospel that glorifies
God in all his attributes, both justice and in grace. The wise
men said, by mercy and truth iniquity is purged. This is the
only gospel, I said to this lady, that honors, magnifies, and satisfies
the demands of God's holy law. Believing the gospel of Christ,
we establish the law. Folks talk about somehow we're
contrary to the law, we violate the law, nothing could be further
from the truth. Believing the gospel, we establish
the law. And this is the only gospel that
offers hope to guilty, helpless sinners like you and me who can
do nothing for themselves. The gospel of the grace of God. By this gospel, sinners who can
do nothing for themselves have hope before God. We believe on
the Son of God, and by this gospel we live before God. Well, why
does Paul speak of this, the gospel of God's grace, Speaking
of it as the gospel with such dogmatism, he calls it my gospel,
he calls it the gospel of the grace of God. This is that gospel
by which God's glory is known and experienced in the soul.
He calls it my gospel, because this is what I've experienced,
and this is what I'm sent to preach. And then this fellow
asked me, concerning the gospel, said, what's the mystery? What's the mystery? I'll come
back to this another day. Let me make two or three statements.
The mystery is that which was hid from the nations of the world
in days gone by. It's not suggesting that the
gospel was not known in the Old Testament. Abraham knew the gospel. Adam knew the gospel. Read Isaiah
53. Isaiah knew the gospel. It's
talking about it being hidden from the nations of the world,
and hidden in the types and shadows and ceremonies of the law. But
now, now it is revealed openly and plainly by the preaching
of the gospel, by the commandment of God. God, who at sundry times
and in diverse manners hath in these last days spoken to us
by his Son. He's spoken to us, revealing
the gospel fully and completely in Jesus Christ the Lord. So
that now, all the full revelation of the mystery of God is opened
up plainly. It's called the mystery of godliness. The mystery of godliness. How
did God manifest in the flesh, bore our sins in His body on
the tree, were buried, and three days later justified in the Spirit,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. It's spoken of as the
mystery of the union of Christ and His Church. Ephesians 5. We are bone of His bone and flesh
of His flesh. Colossians 1. Christ not only
became one of us and took our nature, He comes in us in His
sovereign grace, giving us life, making us partakers of the divine
nature, so that this is the mystery. Christ is in you, and you're
in Christ. That means you're perfect. Christ
is in you, and you're in Christ. That means all is well. Christ
is in you, and you're in Christ. Therefore, the apostle says,
I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live. by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. And this mystery, the
mystery of the gospel, reveals that which men have known, some
men have known and believe clearly, resurrection glory. Enoch spoke
about it, Job spoke about it, spoke distinctly about it, and
yet never declared exactly what shall transpire. Behold, I show
you a great mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. This corruptible, compelling
corruption, this mortal immortality, this carnal, be raised up spiritual. And we shall have by our Redeemer,
when this mystery is finally accomplished, In its ultimate
end, our Savior shall change our vile bodies and make them
like unto His glorious body. And so it shall be forever that
we are delivered from this body of death and Satan is crushed
beneath our heels. Amen.