and verse 6. Revelation chapter
20 and verse 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. Now we who believe live on this
earth in hope of the resurrection. I want you to hold your hands
here, but turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and I want you to
look at a statement that perhaps has caused you a little confusion.
1 Corinthians 15 and verse 19. The Apostle Paul says, if in
this life only we have hope in Christ. We are, of all men, most
miserable." Now, in making that statement, Paul does not mean
that the believer's life in this world is a sad, morbid existence. Neither does he mean that it
is really more delightful and pleasurable to live in this world
without faith in or submission to Christ. He's not implying
that somehow the life of the godless is to be envied by the
godly. And he certainly does not mean
that were it not for the hope of eternal glory, then God's
people would prefer not to live as they do, in obedience to and
submission to their Heavenly Father. Paul is not at all suggesting
that God's people serve him for gain. Well, what does he mean
when he says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable? The apostle simply means for
us to understand that if there were no such thing as eternal
life, no eternal bliss of life with Christ in glory, and no
resurrection of the dead, then the believer would be the most
miserably frustrated creature in this world. We would never
have that for which we most earnestly are desirous. We would never
enjoy that for which we are most ambitious. We would never see
the end of our hope. That is, we would never embrace
Christ or be embraced by Christ. We would never see our Redeemer,
and such a thought as that simply is unbearable. I cannot imagine
a thought more cruel or more miserable to my own mind, that
the hope which we have is not well-founded. To imagine that
our hope, the hope of seeing Christ, of having Christ, of
being embraced by Christ, is a vain hope, most miserable thought
I can imagine. Nothing could be more cruel and
miserable than to live in hope of seeing Christ, of being like
Christ, of spending eternity in Christ's presence with him,
only to die in the end like a dog. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, then truly we are of all men most miserable. What a horrible thought, what
a tormenting superstition, but it is not so. there is a resurrection
of the dead. We live in hope of the resurrection,
and our hope is both sure and steadfast. We say with Job, 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 shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and not another. whom I shall behold
for myself, and not another, though my reins be consumed within
me." What I'm saying is this, in sickness, and I know something
about that, so do most of you. In sickness, even severe sickness,
the believer is calm, because we live in hope of the resurrection.
In sorrow, the believer has peace, a peace that passes understanding,
Though his heart aches, he has peace, because we live in hope
of the resurrection. In trial and affliction, the
believer's at ease. Yes, we do fret and worry. God forgive us. But all in all,
when all's said and done, the believer has ease, an ease the
world cannot understand, because we live in hope of the resurrection. In time of bereavement, who hasn't
gone to the graveside and buried one dear to them. But in time
of bereavement, the believer is confident. Confident because
we live in hope of the resurrection. And we hope to die with confidence,
with joy, with serenity. And the reason we have hope that
we shall face death with confidence, with joy and serenity, is because
we live in hope of the resurrection. I have watched men die without
hope, and I have watched men die with a good hope, and I have
seen men breathe their last breath with confidence, with joy, and
with serenity, with peace, peace the world knows nothing of, because
they fall asleep in the arms of Christ in hope of the resurrection. Now, this is not some fool's
philosophy. It is not some mere religious
tranquilizer by which we convince ourselves we ought to be able
to endure the trials and heartaches of life. This is the calm, confident
assurance of our hearts. It is the necessary, inevitable
result of faith in Jesus Christ. I'm not talking now about some
point of orthodox doctrine which we hold and believe to be true. I am talking about a person,
confidence in and hope in, arising from faith in Jesus Christ who
is himself our resurrection. Turn to John chapter 11. We'll
be looking at a lot of scripture tonight. I trust that God the
Holy Spirit will both instruct us from the word and cause our
hearts to be lifted up with confidence, with joy, and with assurance
in Jesus Christ our Lord. You're familiar with this passage.
Our Lord is speaking to Martha concerning the death of her brother.
And he said, Lysas is going to live again. And she said, Lord,
I know he's going to live in the resurrection. But she didn't
understand what he was talking about. Our Lord says in verse
25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. He said, I'm
not talking to you about a doctrine. I'm not talking to you about
something men argue over in points of theology. I'm talking to you
about myself. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. What a word. Whosoever liveth
and believeth in me, the resurrection and the life shall never die."
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life of
all who trust him. And those who trust him, though
we will probably, unless the Lord comes beforehand, and he
may come now, right as I speak to you. But in all likelihood,
if the Lord leaves things as they are, you and I will die
physically. These bodies, because of sin,
must go to the grave. But for the believer, that's
not death at all. It is just a transition. No,
it is an elevation of life. When we drop this robe of flesh,
which hinders us, which constantly calls for our care and our attention
and brings burden and sorrow to us, when we drop this body
of flesh and with it the body of sin, we shall rise to life. Oh, we shall then live. We just
had begun to live now. The resurrection of the body
is that which we anticipate, because though this body goes
to the grave and we ascend to be with our Lord Jesus, in the
last day, the Lord Jesus Christ will raise these bodies from
the dust of death and transform them into the likeness of his
glorious body. Look at what he says in Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians, the third chapter, the Apostle Paul tells
us concerning this very thing. After we've ended this time of
suffering, after we've finished our pilgrimage here, when the
Lord Jesus Christ comes again, then it shall come to pass that
he will change these vile bodies. He says in verse 20 of Philippians
3, our conversation is from heaven, or is in heaven. That is our
life. The word conversation here doesn't
mean talking to one another. It means our life. Our life is
in heaven. Do you understand that? Judy
sang about it just a little bit ago. Our life's not here. It's not here. Our life is in
heaven. Our life is Jesus Christ. Our
life is in heaven. From which also we look for the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. who shall change our vile body,
that it should be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself." All right, now, my subject tonight is Christ,
Our Resurrection, and I want to give you, from the scriptures,
three reasons for our confident hope of the resurrection of these
bodies. We live in hope of the resurrection. Is that hope well-founded? We
hope that one of these days, the Lord Jesus will come again
and change these vile bodies and fashion them like unto his
glorious body. We have hope that these very
bodies in which we now live shall be gloriously transformed and
conformed exactly to the image of Jesus Christ so that we're
like him in body, soul, and spirit perfectly. Is that hope well
founded? Let me give you three reasons
for our hope. First, we live in hope of the
resurrection because all of God's elect have been resurrected with
Christ Jesus representatively. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
The Apostle Paul is talking to us here about the new birth.
He's telling us that we were dead in trespasses and in sins. but that we have been quickened
together by God's grace in Jesus Christ. We have been raised from
death to life in the new birth. Now, the basis of that new birth,
the cause of the new birth, that of which the new birth is the
inevitable result, is our spiritual resurrection representatively
with Jesus Christ the Lord. La Croix says in verse 4, But
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. That is, when Christ Jesus was
quickened to life, when he was raised to life, we were quickened
together with him. Even when we were dead in sins
have quickened us together with Christ by grace you're saved
and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. In other words, Paul is telling
us that we have already been raised up together with Jesus
Christ and made to sit together with Jesus Christ at the right
hand of the majesty on high, representatively. You see, when
the Lord Jesus arose from the grave, he did not arise as a
private individual, but as a public representative. All that he has
done and all that he has experienced, all of God's elect have done
and experienced in him by virtue of our representative union with
him. As Jesus Christ, the God-man,
lived in this world, as he came into this world in human flesh,
and lived in this world, everything that he did, everything that
he experienced, every blessing that he has now received in glory,
we have done, experienced, and received in him, because we're
one with him. We're one with him, representatively.
His obedience to the law of God was our obedience to the law
of God. This is our righteousness. Let's look in the scriptures
and see if this is so. Romans chapter 5. God demands righteousness,
but we can't perform it. But our Lord Jesus has performed
it for us, and we have performed it in him. In Romans chapter
5 and verse 18. Therefore, as by one man Sin
entered into the world and death, I'm sorry, I'm reading verse
12, verse 18. Therefore, as by one man judgment came upon all
men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men under justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. For what reason? That as sin
hath reigned unto death through our father Adam, Even so might
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. As we were represented by Adam
in the garden, and sinned in Adam, and died in Adam, so we
were represented by Jesus Christ as he lived on this earth, and
we fulfilled righteousness in him, and we live in him. He is the Lord our righteousness. His death as a penal sacrifice
for sin was our death under the curse of God's holy law. Look
in Romans 6 and verse 6. Knowing that our old man is crucified
with him. Quite literally, that our old
man has been crucified with him. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. That the body of sin might be
destroyed. That henceforth we should not
serve sin. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. We're dead, then, in Jesus Christ,
for we died with Christ under the penalty of God's law. Insofar
as the law and justice of God is concerned, the sinner, Don
Fortner, no longer exists. Insofar as the law and justice
of God is concerned, my sin and me as a sinner no longer exist. Look what it says in Romans 6
and verse 9. Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over
him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Now
look at verse 11. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed. This is not just an imaginary
thing. Dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. One more text, Romans
7 and verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law. Do you see that? Dead to the
law. The law has nothing to do with
me. I have nothing to do with the
law. I'm dead to the law. By the body of Christ, that is,
by the sacrifice of Christ's body, that you should be married
unto another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that
we should bring forth fruit unto God. Now, this is our atonement. Christ Jesus lived in righteousness
for us, that's our righteousness. He died as our substitute under
the curse of the law, that's our atonement. We lived in him
and we died in him. Even so, his resurrection was
our resurrection. We have been raised up together
with Christ and seated with him in heavenly places, and that's
our life. Our life's in heaven, from which
we look for the Savior, who shall change our vile bodies. Now,
the resurrection of Christ is an indisputable fact of revelation
and of history. It is a fact upon which we rest
our immortal souls. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
15. 1 Corinthians 15. Now the resurrection is so very
important, so very important that we get hold of this and
understand something concerning what God's word teaches about
it. Disprove the resurrection of Christ and you disprove the
whole gospel. Paul says in verse 17, if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain and you're yet in your sins.
If Jesus Christ did not literally rise from the dead, then our
faith is vain and the gospel we preach is vain. But this resurrection
of Christ could never be disproved. It is as well attested as any
fact in history. Look at what Paul says in verse
1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. Now, he's
talking about that which is vital, the gospel of Christ, which I
preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein
you stand. by which also you are saved,
if you keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless you
believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Well, is
there any evidence that he did? any credible witness that he
did indeed rise from the dead. Well, he was seen of Cephas and
of the twelve, and after that he was seen of above five hundred
brethren at one time, of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, but some are fallen asleep. And after that he was
seen of James and then of all the apostles. Yet there's some
pretty good witnesses that he did rise from the dead. Our Lord
Jesus was verified to have risen from the dead by a great multitude
of men and women who saw him five hundred at one time, who
were honest men, whose report could not be disputed. They were
not hallucinating, there were 500 of them who saw him at one
time. And he was seen on multiple occasions. It's well enough established
to be proven in any judicial court in this land. And then
Paul says, last of all, he was seen of me also, as of one born
out of due time. Now, our Lord Jesus was raised
from the dead literally. It cannot be disputed. The bodily,
physical resurrection of Christ necessitates the resurrection
of all who are in Christ. That is, the fact that Christ,
as the God-man our representative, has risen from the dead, necessitates
that all of us who are represented by him shall also rise from the
dead. Let me give you five arguments
to demonstrate that very briefly. First, that which has been done
for us representatively must be experienced by us personally,
otherwise the representative work is meaningless. If Jesus
Christ rose for us as our representative, and we do not rise, then we have
no benefit from his resurrection. Secondly, we are members of Christ's
mystical body, the Church. You and I are members of him. Members of him. We haven't yet
really begun to get hold of this. As really, as genuinely, as truly,
as this head cannot be severed from this body, the body of Christ
cannot be severed from him. He's the head. He's the head. We're members of him. Look at
what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 12. As the body is one, just one
body, just one body. The church of God is not little
denominations or little churches or little assemblies gathered
like this, though we are a church of Christ. But the church of
God, considered in its whole framework, is made up of all
God's elect scattered throughout all the world in all the ages
of time, some in heaven and some on earth. But we are members
of that one body. Look what it says. The body is
one. And all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body. So also is Christ. Here's Wes
and Shirley and Don and Shelby. We're four different people.
But we're one body in Jesus Christ. One body. Doesn't matter whether
you're talking about the finger or whether you're talking about
the foot. The body is one. And every member a part of that
body. Look at verse 27. Now you are
the body of Christ. and members in particular. If one member of the body were
lost, then the whole body would be maimed. There's no exception
to that. There's no recovering of it.
Some of you have lost portions of fingers. I have a friend who's
now in glory, who all the time I knew him, had lost one of his
legs. He hobbled around on a wooden leg all the days I knew him.
And that wooden leg meant that his body was maimed. That leg
missing meant that his body was not whole, that it was not complete.
Now, our Lord's body will never be maimed. He's the head, and
every member of his body will be whole. If one member of the
body were lost, then the head could not be complete. This is
how Paul argues. First time I saw this, over in
Ephesians chapter 1, The first time I saw this, I like to have
jumped out of my seat. He talked about something demonstrating
the security of God's people, the security of God's elect in
Christ. The apostle was talking to us
about the resurrection and the exaltation of Christ. And it
tells us in verse 22 that God the Father had put all things
under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church. Now look at verse 23. The church
which is his body, what is it? The fullness of him that filleth
all in all. The church of Jesus Christ is
the fullness of Christ the mediator. He feels all things. He's got
her body. He feels everything. But as a
mediator, as a Trinity, as the head of the body, he cannot be
complete except he have every member of his body, all his church. You see that? So we, being his
body, are the completion of Christ as our head. And these bodies
of ours must be fashioned like unto his glorious body. When
our Lord appeared, we read it in Philippians, he shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body. Now Christ was raised as the
first fruits of them that sleep. And so the third argument is
just this. If he was raised as the first fruits of them that
sleep, then the full harvest must follow. The firstfruits
are nothing without the full harvest. The firstfruits demonstrate
that there is a harvest yet to come. And Christ being raised
declares that all his members shall be raised as well. Fourthly,
the Lord Jesus is described in the scriptures as the second
Adam. And Paul argues like this over
in 1 Corinthians 15, if you want to look at it again. He tells
us that as we were born the image of our first covenant head, Adam,
so we must also bear the image of our second covenant head,
the Lord Jesus. In verse 21 he says, For since
by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead. For as in Adam all, that is, all who are in Adam, die,
even so in Christ shall all, that is, all who are in Christ,
be made alive. But every man in his own order,
Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming."
Look in verse 47. The first man, Adam, is of the
earth earthly. 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, so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly. And fifthly, Christ Jesus has
obtained the victory over all that would hinder this glorious
resurrection of his people. are saying he put away by the
sacrifice of himself. death, hell, and the grave, he
has spoiled by his resurrection from the grave. And Satan, our
arch enemy, that one who walks about as a roaring lion, speaking
whom he may devour, stalking our souls because he would rob
Christ of his own soul's travail, Satan has himself been led into
captivity and bound by the hand of Jesus Christ when he died
as our substitute. and again the covenant engagements
of our Lord Jesus, as our surety, the surety of God's elect, will
not be complete until the hour of our resurrection. Turn over
to John chapter 6, John the sixth chapter. Here our Lord Jesus
is talking about what it is the Father sent him to do. In John
chapter 6 and in verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up at the last day." And this is the will of him that sent
me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last
day." What's he saying? The last glorious, triumphant,
crowning act of the Lord Jesus as the surety of the covenant
will be just this. He will transform us in the resurrection
day and present us before the Father, holy and without blame
and unreprovable in his sight, saying, Behold, I and the children
which God hath given me, and there shall be one fold and one
shepherd. So we live in hope of the resurrection
because all of God's elect have been resurrected representatively
with Christ. Secondly, we live in hope of
the resurrection because we have experienced the resurrection
of Christ in regeneration. We have experienced a spiritual
resurrection. And this is what our text is
talking about over here in Revelation 20 and verse 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. The new birth is nothing less
than a resurrection from the dead. To be born again by the
Spirit of God is the first resurrection. I know that some of you have
been instructed otherwise, probably all of you, I don't know that,
but a good many of you. And some of you have read Schofield
reference Bible notes and been taught that there is going to
be a first resurrection, there's going to be a secret rapture,
and then a first resurrection, and then there's going to be
a thousand years between the first resurrection and the second
resurrection. And the first resurrection is
going to be a resurrection of believers, and the second resurrection,
a resurrection of unbelievers. That's a bunch of hogwash. The
scriptures never imply anything of the kind. The first resurrection
is the new birth. The first resurrection is life
in Jesus Christ. It is depicted for us plainly
in the scriptures. In Ephesians chapter 2, we read
a portion of it earlier, the Apostle Paul describes the new
birth as a resurrection from the dead. In John chapter 5,
our Lord Jesus describes it himself in just that manner. He says
in verse 24 of John chapter 5, to get there, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death unto life. Verily, the resurrection and
the life, he says, he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live. Now we're given numerous illustrations
of this in the scriptures. In Ezekiel chapter 16, You have
that description of the deserted infant, naked, cast out from
its mother's womb, polluted in its own blood, dead. Dead until the Lord God says,
I pass by thee, and I spread my skirt over thee. And I said
unto thee, live ye, I said unto thee, live, when thou wast in
thy blood, and behold, thy time was the time of love, and you
became mine." That's the resurrection I'm talking about. That's the
new birth. That's what it is to be born of God's Spirit. The
new birth is not a decision, it's a resurrection. It is not
a reformation of life, it's a regeneration. It is something more than a new
start in life, it's a new life altogether begun in you by the
power of God. I preached to you a couple of
weeks ago out of Ezekiel 37 concerning that picture of dry bones. The
dry bones represent death. And the dry bones were made to
live by the power of God's Spirit attending the Word of God preached
by God's prophet. And they rose up a mighty army
living before God. That's the new birth. That's
how many women are born again of God's Spirit. Not by the power
of the preacher, not by the art of illustration, not by soul
winning tactics, but by the power of God Almighty. Never one time
in the New Testament Never one time is the new birth attributed
to the will of man or anything about man, not even his faith,
but it is always attributed to the Spirit of God. So whether
or not men and women are born again does not depend on them,
but on Christ our Lord sending his Spirit in saving power. It is the Spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. But perhaps My favorite illustration
of the new birth is found in John chapter 11. John the 11th
chapter. I'm not about to try to expound
this whole passage to you. I'll give you some things you
can look at later at your leisure. But here are five things concerning
the resurrection of Lazarus that find their parallel in the experience
of every believer in our experience of the new birth. The scripture
tells us that Lazarus condition was just this. He was dead. In verse 14, our Lord spoke plainly
and said, Lazarus is dead. He's dead. But his death wasn't
an accident. His death was not something that
took the Lord Jesus by surprise. The Lord could have easily stopped
Lazarus' death, and everyone around knew that he could have
done so. But our Lord declares that there was a reason for Lazarus'
death. In verse 4, when Jesus heard
that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, in other words,
he doesn't want to stay that way, but rather for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. And you
and I, by nature, were dead in trespasses and in sins. And God,
in his infinite wisdom, allowed our death when he could easily
have prevented it. He allowed our death in our father
Adam, that by our death he might provide himself an opportunity
to glorify his own name in our resurrection from the dead. Read
Ephesians 2.7. He's done this, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might show in us the exceeding
riches of his grace. Lazarus' calling is described
in verse 43. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. Well, what's going
to happen? He that was dead came forth.
He that was dead came forth. I heard someone a long time ago,
I don't remember who it was now. He said there was such power
in the voice of Christ. that as he said those words come
forth, if he had not specified Lazarus come forth, he would
have emptied the cemetery. Now, what I'm saying is this,
our Lord's call of Lazarus was a personal call, it was a particular
call, and it was a powerful call. He didn't call everybody, he
called Lazarus. He called Lazarus particularly,
distinctly, he called Lazarus alone. And he called Lazarus
from death to life. When he spoke, Lazarus lived. And if you live, you lived and
began to live when he spoke to your heart. I grant that there
is a general call that goes forth to all men in the preaching of
the gospel. We call upon all men everywhere
to repent and come to Christ, and everybody who hears the word
of God is responsible to obey that call. But nobody can or
will until the Spirit of God calls, and when he calls, he
calls with invincible, irresistible power, and the dead are made
to live. I never despair of anyone, of
anyone being born of God's grace. Never. I don't care how hard
they are. Nobody ever lived any harder
than I am. I don't care how sinful they are. Nobody ever lived any
more sinful. I don't care how rebellious they
are. There's never been a rebel born any more rebellious than
I have been. When God calls, the dead live. The dead live. I don't look to
you for that. I don't look to men for that.
My hope of being living is not in my ability to reason with
them or persuade them or woo them. My hope of dead sinners
living is the call of God Almighty through the gospel of His grace.
Look at Lazarus' conversion. In verse 44, we're told, And
he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with gray
clothes, and his face was bound with a napkin. Jesus saith unto
them, Loose him. and let him go. Conversion always follows the
call of God. If you've not been converted,
you've not been called. There hasn't been a change take
place in you. You have been called. When men and women are brought
to Christ by the power of God's grace, The gray clothes begin
to drop off, Dr. Merrill. The gray clothes of
tradition and superstition and religious darkness and fear,
they begin to drop off. And that conversion is always
the inevitable result of God's call. And then Lazarus enjoyed
sweet communion. In verse 2 of chapter 12, the
Lord Jesus was at Bethany, and they made him a supper, and Martha
served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. You see, genuine conversion,
genuine conversion gives men and women a heart to seek continually
communion with Christ. Anything on this earth more important
to you than that? Really? Really? When we come here, you men faithfully
pray that God will be pleased to meet with us. But I'm talking about more than
meeting with us here. I'm talking about communion with
Christ continually. Oh my soul, nothing is more prized
by the believing heart than communion with Christ. Lazarus being called
and being converted is found at the table with his master.
And wherever there is communion with Christ, communion that demonstrates
life with Christ, there's going to be conflict. And Lazarus had
his, and so will you. In verse 10 of chapter 12, the
chief priest consulted that they might put Lazarus to death. Why? Because that by reason of him,
Many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. That's a demonstration
of the new birth. It is a spiritual resurrection. And we have confidence in the
hope of the resurrection because we've experienced the resurrection
in the new birth. All right. Thirdly, we have hope
of the resurrection. because we believe God's revelation
concerning the resurrection. Turn back to John 5 again, John
chapter 5. Now, in verses 24 and 25, our
Lord is talking about the new birth, the spiritual resurrection,
the first resurrection. In verses 28 and 29, he's talking
about the resurrection of the body. He says, marvel not at
this, that is, don't marvel at the new birth, for the hour is
coming into which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice,
everybody, at one time, in one hour, and they shall come forth,
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and
they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Whosoever liveth and believeth in me, he said, shall never die. God's elect will never die. These very bodies shall be raised
again. There shall be a resurrection
of life at the second coming of Christ. No word here about
a secret rapture. You can forget that. It's a glorious
resurrection. When Jesus Christ appears, every
eye is going to see him. and the fates of God shall be
transformed, and the dead in Christ shall be resurrected by
the power of his grace. Matter of fact, they're going
to precede those who are living, according to Paul. This is a
resurrection of the dead which shall bring about a glorious
transformation such as we have not yet begun to imagine. You carefully read 1 Corinthians
15 again, Paul said when you sow seed in the field, you don't
go out there and sow the plant itself. Bobby was out here today
and he sowed some wheat out here in the field. He didn't get stalks
of wheat and lay them down in the ground. But you take the
seed. Take the seed. Now in that seed
is the essence of everything that's fixing to come up. The
essence of it all is in the seed. But that seed And that plant,
when you look at the two, don't even resemble each other. There's
no similarity at all. And what Paul is telling us is
that this body, this body going to the grave is going to die. It's going to rot. It's going
to go to the dust. Thank God it'll end. But in that body that's sown
is the seed. of everything that shall be in
that resurrection body. But what you're looking at now, what you're looking at now, it
doesn't even begin to bear a shadow of resemblance to what it shall
be when we shall be made like unto Jesus Christ in his glorious
body. a heavenly body, a celestial
body. Explain that. I can't explain
that. I know it's so. I know it's so. We shall be transformed
into the likeness of Christ. But there shall also be a resurrection
of damnation. It's going to take place at the
same time. The wicked and unbelieving shall
be raised by the power of Christ in order to be judged and condemned.
The believer shall be raised by the virtue of his union with
Christ in order to be judged and rewarded with everlasting
glory. The wicked shall be raised in
wrath. The believing shall be raised
in love. The wicked shall be raised for
execution. The believing shall be raised
for a wedding. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such, the second death, eternal
damnation, has no power. We live in hope of the resurrection
because Christ is our resurrection. May God add his blessings to
his word.