Lord willing, in the morning,
I'm going to go to South Florida to visit with the Coffees. They're
down there and they've asked Lynn and I to come down for a
few days and we'll return Friday and I'll be thinking about you
all. It's cold up here. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I'd like
to begin reading in verse 50. I was thinking, I counted, If
you will remember, some of you might have been here a few months
ago, Bruce Crabtree was preaching here and he preached out of first
Corinthians 15. He preached this whole chapter in one message.
Well, this is my 10th. So. Beginning in verse 50. Now this, I say, brethren. That
flesh and blood. Cannot inherit. the kingdom of
God. Neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at
the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible. and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is 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. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, I entitled this message, Therefore. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye 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. I've entitled this message, therefore. That's a word Paul used a lot. Therefore, in light of what I've
just said, therefore, Now, we do not believe any more than
we actually put... Excuse me. What did I do wrong? Try to start over. We do not believe any more than
we actually put into practice. Do you believe that? Now let
me repeat that. We do not believe any more than
we actually put into practice. Doctrinal knowledge that does
not have an effect on our character, our attitude, and our conduct
is useless and pointless knowledge. In reality, it's not knowledge
at all. You know, we fear, I'm afraid
that I believe more in my head than I do in my heart. Every
one of us have had that fear. But you know, in reality, if what you believe If what I
believe doesn't come out into my practice, I don't really believe
it. I don't really believe it at
all. Well, he believes the doctrines
of grace in his head, but it hadn't had any effect on his
life. No, he doesn't really even believe the doctrine of grace
in his head. Not really. Because if he really did, if
he really believed, it would have an effect on his life. He doesn't understand what he
says, he understands. Not really. You see, faith always
works by love. Doesn't Paul say that in Galatians
5, 6? From Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything
nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. And when it doesn't work by love,
it's because real faith is absent. And notice what Paul says in
verse eight, therefore, my beloved brethren be steadfast. Verse 58, if I don't know what,
verse 58, first Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
in light of what I've just said, 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. Now, in light of this glorious
truth that I've just spoken, you be steadfast. And you have this assurance,
your work, your labor, and there is a work of faith. There is
a labor of love. Your work is not in vain in the
Lord. Now you will remember the issue
of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is the resurrection. Look 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? Now, Paul has laid down the truth
of the resurrection so clearly in this passage of scripture.
And I believe he's dealing with their final objection to the
resurrection. How can flesh and blood, the
flesh and blood we have right now, how can it be resurrected
to live eternally? Well, the fact of the matter
is, is the flesh and blood we have right now will not be resurrected
to live eternally. We're going to be changed. Verse 50. Now this, I say, brethren. that
flesh and blood. And when he's talking about flesh
and blood, he's not talking about sinful flesh the way we generally
think of that. He's just talking about flesh
and blood. He's talking about what we're made of. He's talking
about our flesh, our blood, our bones, and so on. Now this I
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. That which is corruptible, subject
to decay and destruction, is not going to inherit the kingdom
of God. Now, you have a dying body right now. You have a corruptible
body, and you know that, don't you? You know, you look at As
we age, what happens to us? We know we're dying. We start
dying as soon as we're alive, and we're dying men and women.
And he says that this corruptible is not going to inherit incorruption. You will not be in heaven as
you are right now. He says in verse 51, Behold,
I show you a mystery, something that you could have never known
unless God was pleased to reveal it. That's what a mystery is.
I love the mysteries of the scripture. It's filled with mysteries. things
that we would have never known unless God was pleased to reveal
it in his word. Now, he says, I'm going to show
you a mystery, something very special that God has revealed.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. There are some that will not
experience physical death, You know, when the Lord returns,
and I don't know when that return is, I hope it's soon, don't you?
I hope the Lord returns tonight. I really do. I'll be so happy
if He returns in a year. That's fine, whatever His time
is. But the point I want to make is that there's some people that
are alive when He returns, they're never going to experience death.
Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 for a moment. Let me show you
that. Beginning in verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. And I
love the way the death of the believer is called 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 shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
Now, Paul is saying, not all of us are going to die. And he
didn't know when the Lord was coming back when he wrote that. He was thinking maybe he'd come
back in his lifetime and that he would experience this, but
he does say this, not all of us are going to die, but every
single one of us will be changed. We're going to go through a great
change. Now, the word change means to
make something other than it is. We shall be changed. Our physical bodies will be changed
into glorified bodies. Now, this is a hard thing to
understand. I have a holy nature. Every believer has a holy nature.
And the holy nature I have right now is the same one I have in
heaven. That's not going to be changed.
You see, if it could be changed, it wouldn't be holy, would it,
if it's mutable? True holiness is immutable. It can't be changed.
And I have the same nature. that I'm going to have in heaven.
Now, that's hard to get hold of, isn't it? I mean, we hear
that, we believe it, if it's what the scripture teaches, but
it's hard to get hold of it because we got this thing called the
flesh, sinful flesh that I'm aware of right now. But thank
God, that is going to be changed. I'm going to have a glorified
body. I'm going to have a body just
like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, flesh and blood, the way
we are right now, cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, but we
shall all, without exception, will be changed and given glorified
bodies. Turn to Philippians chapter 3,
verse 20. For our conversation, our conduct,
our lifestyle is in heaven. Well, I like that. My conversation
is in heaven. The Lord's in heaven. I'm there
too. And my 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, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things to himself." Now, we're not all
going to sleep, but we shall all be changed. We're going to
be given glorified bodies, verse 52, 1 Corinthians 15, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye. At the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound. I just read that passage of scripture.
I can't wait to hear the sound of that trumpet, can you? For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and
with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and
the dead in Christ shall rise first. That's exciting to think
about hearing that mighty trumpet sound. And we shall be changed. In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for
the trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed." Now, I love the way the believer's
death is described in the Word of God. It's described as gain. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. Blessed, said John, are the dead. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord. What a blessing will be changed.
I'm going to be made just like the Lord Jesus Christ. I won't
have flesh, sinful flesh anymore. I'll have a glorified body. I
won't be a sinner anymore. No wonder we're looking forward
to it. Now, our We die. What happens between death and
the resurrection? I don't know. We have some kind
of existence with the Lord, but it's not physical existence.
I don't understand this. I don't think anybody else does
either. You know, the Lord did say to the thief, today you'll
be with me in paradise. So we're going to have some kind
of existence with the Lord, but we're not going to be reunited
to our bodies until the resurrection. And at that time we shall all
be changed. Verse 53. For this corruptible,
subject to decay, sinful, weak, this corruptible must put on
incorruption. And this mortal, subject to death,
must put on immortality. And I love that word, must. That
means it's necessary. It's absolutely necessary. You
see, if I'm one with Christ, if He's my representative, if
He's my Savior, Is He incorruptible? So must I be. There's a necessity
to it. Is He immortal? Immortal, invisible,
the only wise God. Is He immortal, not subject to
death? So must I be, because whatever
He is, I am. Whatever he must be, I must be. And that's our confidence. He
says this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal
must put on immortality. Verse 54, so when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, Then shall be brought to pass the saying that
is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Now this is a
quotation from Isaiah chapter 52, verse eight. Death is swallowed
up in victory. You see, death is gain to a believer. It's gain. Best day of your life
is gonna be your last. That's the, if you're a believer.
Now, if you're an unbeliever, I can't give you that assurance.
But if you're a believer, the best day of your life is going
to be your last. You're going to go to sleep and
you're going to wake up in the very presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You're going to behold his face without shame. You're
going to be just like him. And who can describe heaven?
I mean, there's no way I could describe heaven. It's impossible. And John said, it does not yet
appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall
appear, we'll be like Him, for we'll see Him as He is. And that's
a vision I'm looking forward to, to see Him as He is. Then shall be brought to pass
the saying that's written, death is swallowed up in victory. You see, it's only after death
that we'll really begin to live. And Paul goes on to tell us how
death is swallowed up in victory. But let me say this before I
go on. You ever heard somebody say, well, they're living a defeated
Christian life. There's no such thing. Thanks be unto God who always
causes us to triumph in Christ. That's all I've got, but that's
plenty. That's plenty. You believe you're victorious?
I certainly do. I'm more than conqueror through
Him that loved me. And that's the heritage of every
believer. There's no such thing as a defeated Christian. Christ
has won all my battles for me. Death is swallowed up in victory.
Now look what he goes on to say. Verse 55, Where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? Now death seems to have a sting.
You know, I'm in the habit every morning I get up and I read the
obituaries. I want to see who died, if I
knew them. I was looking at the state to
see if anybody from Ashland, where I'm from, died. I always
want to find out. I don't, Lynn started that and she got me doing
that. I wish I hadn't started that, but I do it. I always look
at the, I look at the obituaries and I look at these people who've
lived and they've been so important to people and all of a sudden
they're dead, your life's over. And there's a sting to death.
It's sad. And one of these days, they're going to bury me. Some
people are going to be sad, but soon enough, I'll be forgotten.
So will you. I mean, I think of my grandfather
dying in 1972. I can't even remember him. He was my grandfather. I can't
even remember him. I don't remember having a relationship. There's
a sting in death. I mean, everything seems so alive
right now, but you're going to die soon enough. And death seems
to have a sting. Nobody can hold off death. Death
defeats all. And yet Paul says, and this is
true only regarding the believer, but it's still true. Death, where
is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? Now look what he says in verse
56. The sting of death is sin. The sting of death is sin. If there were no sin, there would
be no death. The wages of sin is death. By one man, sin entered the world,
and death by sin. The sting of death is sin. And
it's sin that gives death its terrors. If you had no sin, you
wouldn't be worried about death, would you? The only reason people
fear death, the only reason people worry about death, now I realize
young people say, well, I want to experience this, I want to
do this, I want to, I'd like to experience these things before
I die. But as you get older, you'll
quit thinking that way. You really will. I mean, it's, you will.
The only thing that makes somebody afraid of death is sin. But if you don't have to worry
about sin, there's no fear to death, is there? I can look at
death without fear. You see, the sin has been taken
away. The sting of death is sin, but that sting has been taken
away for the believer. If the sting of death is sin,
Christ was manifested to take away our sin. In Him is no sin. Therefore, if I'm a believer
washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, clothed in His
righteousness, a new creature in Christ Jesus, what do I have
to fear? My sin's gone. It doesn't have
anything to do with how good I am or how bad I've been. My assurance of salvation has
absolutely nothing to do with me. I mean that from the depths
of my heart. My assurance of salvation is
that when he said it is finished, my salvation was accomplished. And I do not have to worry about
death. Sin's taken away. I have no sin.
That's wonderful. I have no sin. It's washed away. It's gone.
It's non-existent. It's done. What sin? If God says
it's not there, it's not there. That's how powerful the blood
of Christ is. The blood of Christ actually put away sin. So the
stinger's been taken away. I don't have anything to worry
about. The sting of death, if sin, look what it says next,
the strength of sin, verse 56, the strength of sin is the law. Now, what in the world does that
mean? It seems like the law restrains sin. How can the strength of
sin be the law? Well, all the law does is expose
sin. It gives no power to obey. It
simply exposes sin. Now where there's no law, there's
no sin, but there is law. And all God's law does is expose
to us that we have not kept it. Now I want you to listen real
carefully. God's holy law, the 10 commandments. I love the 10
commandments. They express God's holy character. I love God's holy law. I say with Paul, I delight in
the law of God after the inward man. I love the law of God. Let me tell you something else.
Personally, I've not kept one of those commandments one time. Now, do you believe that's true
about you? You've not kept one commandment one time, and that's
what the law says. says. The law exposes sin. The strength of sin is the law.
What the law does is show me that what I am in and of myself
is nothing but a lawbreaker. That's all the law shows me.
It doesn't give me any power to obey it. I love God's law in my new
nature. I'm not in any way speaking of
the law in a derogatory manner. I love God's law. But all God's
holy law does is expose to me that all I have done is broken.
I've not loved God with all my heart and I've not loved my neighbors
myself. You go across all the Ten Commandments. I've broken
every one of them even when I tell the truth. I tell it in such
a way as to glorify myself somehow. I've got a slant on it, a fleshly
slant, even when I tell the truth. I've never committed physical
adultery, but does that mean I'm not guilty of committing
adultery? The Lord said if you look upon a woman to lust after
in your heart, you've committed adultery with her already. That's
what the Lord said. Well, I'm not covetous anymore.
Well, you don't covet anything. All God's law does is show us
how sinful we are. The strength of sin is the law. As long as God's law is around,
it's going to show us what we are. Turn to Romans 7. Let me
show you this. God's law actually stirs up sin. Verse 7. What should we say then? Is the
law sin? Is the law the cause of my sin?
Is the law the problem? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, It used the law as a base of operations,
but sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all
manner of lust, of desire, of covetousness. Now for without
the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law
once. I thought I was fine. But when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died. When it said, Thou shalt not
covet, and that came to me in power, I couldn't keep the covetousness
down. I couldn't stop coveting. That's
what God's law does. It exposes what we really are.
There's nobody in this room that has any idea how bad you really
are. All God's got to do is take away the restraints and you'd
find out. Do you believe that about yourself?
I do. I do. I believe that about myself.
God's law says that I'm nothing in and of myself but sin. The
strength of sin is the law. And as a matter of fact, if you
put somebody under law, it stirs it up. Don't covet. You start
coveting. Don't lie. You'll start telling
lies. You know, you put a, you draw a line and say, and don't
step over that line. What are folks going to do? They're
going to step over that line. That's just the way we are. You
put your spouse under law. You better do this. How's it
work? Doesn't make for much of a marriage,
does it? Of course, I've never done that. Lynn does it. But
I always got to throw something like that in. But the point is,
law. All it does is stir up. That's
what Paul tells us in this passage of Scripture. He says in verse
9, For I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment
came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment which was
ordained to life I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore,
the law is holy. And the commandment, holy and
just and good, was then that which is good made death unto
me? Is the law the cause of my sin? God forbid! But sin that
it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is
good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding, superabounding
sinful. That's what the law does. It
shows you that you are exceeding sinful. That's all God's law
does. And I love the law of God. It's
our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Let me ask you this. Aren't you
thankful you found out you're exceeding sinful? It's easy to trust Christ as
your righteousness before God when you have no personal righteousness,
but you believe yourself to be exceedingly sinful. But I tell
you what, when you see Christ as your righteousness before
God, where He honored God's law, He kept God's law, His obedience
is mine, my sin was washed away, I can look at death without fear.
And I can say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. It's blessed. Oh, we can look
forward to that. The gospel so wonderful. Why is it that the law just stirs
up our sin? Look at Romans chapter eight.
Here's why. Verse six. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind That's the natural mind. That's the mind we're born
with. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, for it's not subject to the law of God. Neither, indeed,
can be. It lacks the ability to be. So
then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Now, the problem is not with
the law. The problem is with us. Now,
back to our text in 1 Corinthians 15. O death, where is thy sting?
Verse 55, O grave, where is thy victory? Paul is speaking in
such jubilation. The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But, there's every believer's story.
But, but God did something. But God intervened. But God made
a difference. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us this
victory. We didn't earn it. He gives us
this victory. This victory over death. He removed
the sting of sin by keeping the law and by answering the demands
of the law. He suffered the penalty of the
broken law. And now every believer is victorious
in Christ Jesus. every single one of us. You see,
the Lord was delivered for our offenses. That's why He died. And He was raised again for our
justification. Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. nothing should
be able to separate us from the love of God. We're more than
conquerors through him that loved us. Now, this is our confidence.
And I can look at death, and I'm thankful for my life. I'm thankful for my family. I'm
thankful for you, for this church. I enjoy this. I enjoy pastoring
this church. I find it such a privilege. It's
such a wonderful group of fellowship. I'm so thankful for this. But
I can't wait to die. I'm looking forward to it. I'm
looking forward to getting out of here. I'm looking forward to being
in the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I don't have
anything to fear because my sin's been put away. Thanks be to God
which hath given us freely the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ. Defeated Christian, there's no
such animal. Every believer is victorious
in Christ Jesus. Now, verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, I love the
way he calls them beloved brethren. And, you know, I can look at
this group of people I'm looking at right now and I look at you
as beloved brethren. People I love, people I want
to live with, people I want to spend my time with, beloved brethren. Isn't it wonderful to have beloved
brethren? What a blessing. But he says,
in light of what I've said, Beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. That means seated, moral fixity,
stable, unchanging, be steadfast. In doctrine, hold fast the form
of sound words. If all I'm doing is changing,
going back and forth, believing one thing one day and something
else the next, all I prove is I don't believe anything. As
the Scripture says, meddle not with them that are given to change. You know, I love seeing new people. I love seeing new people come
to church. But you know something I like just as much? Seeing old people
still coming. Still there. Still there. Steadfast. unmovable, steadfast
in our doctrine, unbending. You see, our stability in doctrine
shows the state of our heart. In our character, servants of
the living God, steadfast in our purpose to do his will. He
says, be steadfast, be unmovable. And. I believe the gospel, I believe.
I really do. I mean, I believe the gospel
I believe. And you know what? I'm unmoved
by the world's frowns. I really don't care. If the world
does like this, that's their problem, not mine. This is the
gospel. I'm unmoved by the world's frowns,
and I'm unmoved by the world's smiles. They don't do anything
for me. You know, if I have the smiles
of this world, if I have the frowns of this world, what do
I have? Nothing. I'm unmoved by that because my
gospel is unmovable. He said, beloved brethren, be
steadfast and unmovable, grounded and settled in Christ. Turn to
Colossians chapter one. Verse 22, this is what the Lord
has done for His people in the body of His flesh. And you know,
I quote this verse of Scripture all the time. He's to present
you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. Isn't
that wonderful? That's what every believer is,
holy. Nothing to blame me for. You can't reprove me. I'm perfect
in Christ Jesus. But look what He says next. If, if you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel which you've heard, and which was preached to every
creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister."
Now, in light of the victory that you already possess in Christ
Jesus, Paul said, I beseech you by the mercies of God, the mercies
of God, which he's shown for you, that you present your body
as a living sacrifice. Same principle. Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord. Now, I understand this, the work
of the Lord. This religious world talks about,
well, there's clergy and there's laity. They're secular and they're
sacred. To a believer, there's no such
thing as that. All of God's people are God's clergy. That means
God's inheritance. And everything a believer does
is sacred. Everything that we do is the work of the Lord. If
you're digging ditches, it's the work of the Lord. You're
doing it as unto the Lord. I don't care what you're doing.
If you're a believer, you're doing it as unto him, whatever
it is. So always abound in the work
of the Lord. You know, there is a lot of toil
and weariness and labor in this thing of following the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not easy. It's not easy to be a disciple
of Christ, is it? There's a work involved. There's
a toil involved. Self-denial. crucifying the flesh
with the affections and the lust, mortifying the flesh. That's
a work and it's not easy. It's not easy to be a disciple
of Christ. Nobody ever said it was. Lord
said, whosoever shall come after me, let him deny himself, take
up his cross daily and follow me. There's nothing easy about
this work. It's a toil and it's a labor
and it's difficult. Just finding out who you are
is difficult, isn't it? Finding out what you're like
apart from the grace of God and your need of him. It's a work.
Don't think it's not. It is a work. But he said, be
steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord. For you have this blessed promise. For as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Paul said, be not weary in well-doing,
for in due season we shall reap if we don't quit, if we faint
not. Now, while it is a work, Remember
the words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Now, a yoke is a coupling for
two oxen. You bring them together. He says,
take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly
in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls. For my yoke is
easy." You know why? Because he bears all the weight
of it. You know, a yoke for oxen, who's the one who bears all the
weight of that? Is it you and him equally? No, no, not at all.
It's him. He says, my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light. You know, Lord Jesus Christ is
so beautiful. He's so glorious. Meek and lowly
in heart. That's something that just amazes
me. He is meek and lowly in heart. He's God, yet he's meek and lowly
in heart. And he says, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. Now, is this work hard? No, because
salvation is all by grace. His yoke is easy. And his burden
is light. It is, isn't it? Let's pray.