Hebrews chapter 11, I want to
begin reading for you. In verse 8, Thy faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should actively receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to concede
seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age. because
she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there
even of one and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of
the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore
innumerable. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they
that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly if they had been mindful
of that country from which they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better
country that is not heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. I really, this afternoon, know
where I want to go with this, but I, for the life of me, not
for sure I know how to get there. So I would beg your patience
this evening while we look at this, and hopefully you can stay
with me when I get scattery and get off the trail, maybe just
a little bit. But Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac
and Rebekah, and even their descendants, dwelt in tents. They moved about
all over the land of Canaan, sometimes in other countries,
in Egypt, Syria. And they confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. And we're told that
here in my text. And the reason for their dwelling
in different places in tents, And the reason for their confessing
that they were strangers and pilgrims in this world, we're
told here the reason for all of that, because they looked
for a city that God had promised them, which had foundation, whose
builder and maker was not man. It wasn't man's architect. Someone didn't design it. It
wasn't built with the power of man, but God designed it and
God built it. They were looking for that city.
Here in verse 10 that he calls a city, in verse 14 he calls
a heavenly country. And then in verse 16, he calls
it both a heavenly country and a city. And in the remainder
of chapter 11, we're told of all of these saints in the Old
Testament, they received the same promise. They had the promise
of a country, they had the promise of a city. And all Old Testament
believers died just like we're told that these died here in
verse 13. All the Old Testament believers
died in the faith, not having received the fulfillment of these
promises. But they saw them afar off, they
were persuaded of them, and embraced them. And that's what caused
them to say, I'm a pilgrim and I'm a stranger upon this earth.
Now here's the problem that you and I face as we read the Bible.
Let's be honest about it. We not only face this in ourselves
somewhat, but we hear people all the time complaining about
the Bible. And what's their complaint about
the Bible? How is this relevant to my day? How can this relate
to me? Here are these old saints that
lived over 2,000 years ago, and some of them 3,500 or more years
ago, and how could a promise made to them relate to me today? How is the Bible relative? And sometimes when you and I
read, brothers and sisters, if we'll be honest, here's the problem
we have with sitting down and reading God's Word. It's this
secret thought. How can this relate to me today? Well, I hope when we finish today
that you and I will see, as children of God, how this relates to us. First of all, here's one critical
way it relates to us. In verse 13, look at this. We
can relate to this. These all died. We can relate to that, can't
we? Here were some of God's choicest servants that lived in this world
in ancient times. Patriarchs of old. They accomplished
great things. These were some of the bravest
believers They put them in the dens of the lions, in the fire. They professed the Lord in times
of great afflictions and troubles, not accepting deliverance that
they may obtain a better resurrection. These were some of God's choicest
saints. And look here what happened to
them. They died. They died. And I think that you
and I can convince ourselves surely if these died, being God's
choicest saints, You and I are going to die too. It's appointed
until everybody wants to die. When you come into this world,
there's two wonderful things about being born into this world.
One, you'll never die. Your soul will never die. That's
an awesome thought, ain't it? And yet the other thing, God
has appointed the day of your death of your body. Every one
of us is going to die. And some of these lived to be
a tremendous old age. Isaac was 180 years old, but
the Scripture says he died. And you and I take care of our
health. We try to exercise a little bit,
try to eat right, hopefully. But you know something, in the
final analysis, we're going to die. We're going to die. We can pretty it up. I hope I
sure don't live until I'm repulsive, that people can't come and visit
me when I'm dying or out of my head, say all sorts of things.
They may put us in a fine casket, have a beautiful funeral, people
get up and say nice things about us, dress our bodies up, but
you know something? We cannot face the humiliating
fact that this breath is going to leave this body. They're going
to put us down in the ground, and this body's going to begin
to decay, and skin worms are probably going to eat us up.
We are going to die. And I think if we can come to
grips with this, say, oh, now I see how this relates to me.
Every one of us is going to die. Then we can go on and see how
to die like they died. If I'm going to die, and I am,
I want to die like they died. Boy, they died good, didn't they?
If you're going to die, here's the way to die. And how did they
die? Well, the Scripture says here
in verse 13, these all died in faith. They died in faith. You often see these two little
words in Scripture in the New Testament. In faith and the faith. When you see the faith, it usually
means the body of truth. Body of revealed truth. The faith. Paul said, I've kept
the faith. What does that mean? That means
the truths have been revealed in the Word of God. They were
made known to my heart, I believed them, and I've got a grip on
them, and I'll not let them go. Sometimes we read that in the
last days some would depart from the faith, and that's not the
grace of faith. That is the doctrine of faith. That's the body of truth. And
Paul said, in the last days, people would depart from the
faith. And some people look at that
and they say, there are proofs right there that you can depart
from the faith. But that's not the grace of faith.
When the Holy Spirit begins a work of faith in your heart, He'll
carry it on. It may be strong sometime and
weak sometime, but once He begins a work of faith in your heart,
that'll be carried on all your life long. So it doesn't mean
the grace of faith, but people are departing from the doctrine
of faith. Isn't that happening in our day? We talk about it all the time,
don't we, how sad it is that people don't even believe the
Bible to be the Word of God anymore. They don't believe God to be
God. They don't believe Christ was a virgin born. They don't
believe in His miracles. They don't believe in our inherent
sin and depravity. They do not believe the truth,
the body of truth. And sometimes you see what we
find here in faith. The faith, the body of truth
that's revealed in God's Word, and here in faith. And this means
in the grace of faith. This is a heart that has confidence
in that truth. And Paul had both of those. The
Lord revealed the truth of His Word to him, and he said, boy,
I live in my heart, I live by faith. Listen to Romans chapter 4. Abraham
was strong in faith. He was strong in the grace of
it. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded,
listen now, that what God had promised. His faith was in the faith. His faith was in the truth of
God. Being fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was
able also to perform. And these saints of old here
in chapter 11, they lived and they died in the confidence that
what God had promised them was going to come to pass. God made
them these promises, and they died in the faith of those promises. with confidence, a heart confidence
in what God had promised. Look back here in verse 13 again.
Not only did they die, and not only did they die in faith, in the faith of these promises,
but it said here, and let me read it to you like this. These
all died in the grace of faith, with faith in God's promises,
not having received the fulfillment of the promises. But having seen
them aforeall, were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." What
was these promises? And he tells us in verse 39,
it's a promise. What was this promise that God
promised these patriarchs of the whole? Well, he says in verse
10, look at this. He looked for a city. which had
foundation, whose builder and maker was God. And in verse 16,
God hath prepared for them a city, a promise of a city. They looked
for a city that God had promised them. It wasn't Jerusalem. It wasn't Jerusalem now. That
wasn't the city. The city that God promised them
was one that was not made with man's hands. Jerusalem was made
and designed by man. They were looking for a city
that was made by God. And look here, he said in verse
16, look at this. But now that these are a better
country, that is man heavenly. Not the land of Canaan, but a
heavenly country. And to say this is heaven, that
this city is heaven and this country is heaven, that would
be an understatement. It is that, but it is much, much
more than a heavenly city or a heavenly country. Look here
in chapter 12. Look here in chapter 12 and verse
25. I'm going to have to go slow. Look in verse 25 with me. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escape not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from him that speaks from heaven. whose voice then
shut the earth, but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more
I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." And this word,
yet once more, signifying the removing of those things which
are shaken as of things that are made. Everything that's made
is going to be shaken. That those things which cannot
be shaken may remain. What in the world is there that
can't be shaken? He tells us in verse 28. Wherefore,
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved." What is this
city? What is this heavenly? What he
calls a city in a country in chapter 11, here he calls a kingdom. A kingdom that cannot be moved. Now look in chapter 13 and look
in verse 13. Chapter 13, verse 13. Let us go forth, therefore, unto
him without the count, bearing his reproach. For here we have
no continuing city, but we seek one to come." We have no continuing
city. And this was a Jew, writing to
Jews, and I don't know if it was just the time before or after
the destruction of Jerusalem, but he says to these Jews, Jerusalem
that you love, the physical Jerusalem, it's going to be moved. It's
not going to continue. In A.D. 70, they come into that
place, tore the walls down and burned up the temple, and it's
still messed up today, is it not? That city did not continue. So Paul, the writer of Hebrews
says, we're not looking to hang on to this earthly Jerusalem.
We're seeking. Here we have no continuing city,
but we seek one. We're seeking that same city
that Abraham was seeking. We're seeking the same country
that he was seeking. Now, what is this country? What
is this city? What is this kingdom? What is
this kingdom? In a word, brothers and sisters,
it's this. It's the kingdom of God. It's
the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God's dear Son. When Jesus Christ came into this
world, he came into this world to set up this kingdom. And that's what Abraham saw.
He saw it aforeall, and he was persuaded. What did he see aforeall?
He saw when the Son of God came into this world, and He says,
the kingdom of God is at hand. He came, and in the days of His
flesh, He began to set up that kingdom. Listen to Mark chapter
1 and verse 15. Christ came preaching, and this
is what He said, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God
is at hand. What time is fulfilled? That
time. that God had promised those saints
of old that the kingdom of God would be set up in this world.
Listen to 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 9 through 11. Peter said,
We received the end of our faith, even the salvation of our soul,
which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently. What were they seeking for? The
things that you and I are enjoying now, this kingdom, they searched
diligently unto whom it was revealed that it not unto us, but unto
themselves, but unto us they did minister the things. By them
who have now preached the gospel unto you, where the Holy Ghost
sent them from heaven, and listen to this, they prophesied of the
grace that should come unto you, searching what? or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify."
Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when He testified beforehand,
what? The sufferings of Christ, and
then what? The glory that should follow. Peter said Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob and all those patriarchs, they had the Spirit of Christ.
And he was witnessing to them and telling them that there was
coming a time when the Son of God would come into this world
and suffer and set up a kingdom. And it would be glorious. It
would be glorious. A kingdom. I want you to go over
in the second chapter of Daniel with me. Look in the second chapter
of Daniel. And we begin here in verse 32. Let me just tell you the context
of this right quickly, and bear with me. I hope you get that. This is a wonderful thing. God reveals something to this
great king, Nebuchadnezzar. He had a dream, and in his dream
he saw this awful image. We're told here in verse 32 of
chapter 2 of Daniel, page 963 in your pew Bible. Daniel chapter
2, in verse 32, here's the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. Look
at it. This image head was of fine gold, his breast and his
arms of silver, and his belly and his thighs of brass, his
legs of iron, his feet part iron and part of clay. Now this was
the image that he saw. And it was an emblem of all of
these earthly kingdoms, these great powers that were ruling
at this time and would rule all the way up to the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 34, And thou sawest
till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the
image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay and break them
in pieces. Now here's what this great king
saw. He saw this big image. It had
this head like gold and had this chest of iron and his waist and
his legs was like brass and iron and so on. And he saw this little
rock, this stone that was cut out of a mountain. He tells us
that in verse 45. And it began to roll towards
this big image. And Nebuchadnezzar watched it
until it hit this image in the feet and broke the image. The image come crashing down.
And look in verse 35. Then was the iron and the clay
and the brass and the silver and the gold broken in pieces
together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing
floor and the wind carried them away that no place was found
for them, and the stone that smoked the image became a great
mountain and filled the whole earth." Now, who is the stone?
We know who that is, don't we? That's Jesus Christ. He's the
tribe stone, the stone of Israel. Look down here with me in verse
44. You see, if you'll look there,
you can read this on your own. I don't have time to go through
this. But you can read beginning in verse 36 that you see these
are, he interprets what this image was that had the golden
head and the brass chest and so on. And that were these kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar was this golden
head. And you go on in the fourth kingdom,
verse 40. They had the rule and they had
the reign. But in verse 44, in the days of these kings, shall
the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.
And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume these kingdoms, and it shall
stand forever. And as forasmuch as thou saw
that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and
that it break in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver,
and the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall
come to pass hereafter, and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof is sure." And when the Lord Jesus Christ came into this
world, the last one of these great kingdoms, these five great
kingdoms was the mighty Roman Empire. And when the Son of God
came into this world, He began gradually to grind that empire
to pieces. It was the last of those great
empires. The empire of Nebuchadnezzar
that had the hanging gardens, that was gone. The big empire
of the Medes and Persians, Alexander the Great, they've made movies
about him, haven't they? The Greeks, how they took over
the world and spread their languages. That's gone now, isn't it? And
where is the mighty Roman Empire? It's gone. Jesus Christ outlived
and subdued all these kingdoms. Because when He came and set
up His kingdom, it's a kingdom which shall subdue all other
kingdoms, and it never shall be destroyed. Now look here right
quickly in chapter 7. Look in chapter 7. I imagine
Nebuchadnezzar, his imagination probably ran wild with him when
he saw this little stone hewed out of the mountain. And it come
rolling towards that big image. He probably thought, man, you
know what you're getting yourself into. Until he seen that little
stone hit the feet of that image. And it just kept hitting and
kept hitting and kept hitting. After a while it was ground to
powder and the wind blew it away. And Nebuchadnezzar was amazed
at that little stone. And here now in the seventh chapter
of Daniel, Daniel himself has a vision. And he has a vision
of all these powers too, these governments. You know, governments
are a good thing. But you know, God uses them in
spite of Himself. And He has to subdue them because
the devil is working in these governments too. And flesh is
working in these governments. And here we're told about some
wicked governments. And I don't completely understand
all of this, but here in the seventh chapter, and you'll have
to read this too, Here in verse 4, Daniel had this vision of
these governments, these powers that be in this world. In verse
4, he saw one government that was like a lion. It had eagle's
wings. And then it changed from a lion
to a man and stood up on his feet, whatever that represents.
It went from a powerful government to a weak government. And in
verse 5, another beast, he calls them a beast, was like a bear.
Man, look how vicious it was. It had three ribs in its mouth,
and it arose and devoured much flesh. That's a wicked government,
ain't it? Killing people. And then in verse
6, the third government was like a leopard, and it had four wings
like a fowl. And in verse 7, after this, I
saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, and look
at this, it was dreadful, and it was terrible, and strong exceedingly,
and it had great iron teeth that devoured and broke in pieces,
and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse
from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
And I considered the horns, and behold, there came up another
horn, a little horn, before whom there were three of the first
horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were
eyes like the eyes of a man, and mouths speaking great things."
And look in verse 21, it tells us some of the things he was
speaking. And I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints,
and they prevailed against him. In verse 25, here he is again,
"...and he spake great words against the Most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times
and laws, and they shall be given unto his hands, until the time
and times, and the dividing of times." Boy, that sounds like
a dreadful government, doesn't it? And he's just a little horn
when he starts out. But when he's finished, Man,
he's a mighty horn, mighty power, and he speaks against God and
blasphemes God and wears out the saints of the Most High,
and in verse 21, he prevails against them for a while. You
know something? I think this is still to come.
I think this is something the church is going to have to go
through. This is one of those kingdoms that's going to come
against the church, and it's going to be a blasphemous kingdom.
But look in verse 9. Here's what we're talking about.
Look in verse 9. I beheld, I continued to behold,
till the throne, these thrones, were cast down. And the ancient
of days did set, whose garment was white as snow, the hair of
his head was like pure wool, his throne was like the fiery
flame, and his wills as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and
came forth from before him thousands Thousands ministered unto him,
and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him, and the judgment
was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the
voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld even
till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given
to the burning." And look in verse 13, "...I saw in the night
vision, and behold, one like the Son of Man." He came with
the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient of
Days, and they brought him near unto him, and there was given
him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people and nations and
languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed. And look in verse 18, And the
saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possessed
the kingdom forever and forever." And look in verse 21, "...until
the ancient of days come, and judgment was given to the saints
of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed
the kingdom." Now, what have we seen in this? We've seen this
world is full of diverse kingdoms. Some are good and some are bad.
God has to keep them in check. Some of them hate God. Some of
them are anti-God, anti-Christ. And some of them have been so
wicked and cruel to fight against Christianity, to fight against
God's people. But in the end, when the judgment
is set, the Son of God, by His power, is going to continue to
reign until He has put down all these governments. under his
feet, and then his kingdom not only shall be revealed in its
glory, but the saints shall be given that kingdom." And brothers
and sisters, that's what Abraham was looking for. He not only
looked to the beginning of that kingdom when the Son of God came
into this world, but he looked farther down the road than that
to the ultimate glory when all of the powers that be would be
destroyed and the kingdom of Christ would be given to the
saints. Now let me give you just a few
quick things concerning the nature of this kingdom. In the days
of these kings, And this happened 2,000 years ago. That last great
kingdom of the Old Testament, the Roman Empire. In the days
of those kingdoms, the Son of Man came into this world. And
He set up His kingdom. And here's some things about
that kingdom. First of all is this. It began little. It began very small. It's like
that stone that was you now the mountain. Very little. It began.
When the Lord Jesus began His kingdom, brothers and sisters,
even on the day of Pentecost, there were just 120 people in
that place. That was little when the Holy
Spirit came. And the Lord Jesus said, The kingdom of God is like
leaven. What happens when you put yeast
in some dough? It works its way all through
that dough, doesn't it? And that's the way the kingdom
of heaven is. It began there in Jerusalem, went out to Judea,
through Turkey, into Rome, and all over Asia Minor, even up
into Britain and down through Africa and Spain. And finally,
it fills the world. It's that little stone that kept
growing and growing and growing, and it filled the whole earth. That's the first thing about
it. It started little, but before it's finished. Before it's finished,
it's going to fill this earth. The second thing about the nature
of this kingdom is this. It's spiritual in its nature. It's spiritual in its nature.
They came to the Lord Jesus one time and they said the kingdom
of heaven is going to appear when you get up to Jerusalem. And
boy, they were waiting for the kingdom of God to appear. They
didn't understand what it was. And he says the kingdom of God
don't come with observation. It don't come without a show
and pop. If you want that, go to Catholicism. They've got plenty of that. But
he said the kingdom of God is where? It's in you, didn't it?
It's within you. To get in this kingdom, we have
to be born into it, and it has to be born into us. were delivered from the power
of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. You can't see this kingdom in
this world. You can see the evidence of it, but you can't see the
kingdom, brothers and sisters. It's spiritual in its nature.
It's within us. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. That's the kingdom. It's within
you. It's spiritual in its nature.
And thirdly is this. It's also physical and it's visible
in its nature. It's physical, not in this world,
but I tell you it's physical in heaven right now. You know
heaven's a real place. Today, as you and I are here
in this world, there's a real heaven. And the Kingdom of God
is there, and it's there physically. Jesus Christ is in Heaven this
afternoon in our humanity. You can see Him. You can look
upon Him. You can feel Him. He's physical.
He's glorified, but He said, I'm not spirit. Handle me and
see. A body has not a spirit as you
see me have. A spirit has not a body as you
see me have. It's physical. If you and I went up to Heaven
today, you know what? We'd see a bunch of people there
in glorified bodies. You remember when Enoch walked
with God and he was knocked for God took him? He was translated. He was taken from this world
and changed and went into heaven. Elijah and Elijah was walking
along, two dear friends, and the word was that God was going
to take Elijah to heaven before the day was over. So Elijah said,
I'm going to stay close to him. I want to see him go up. And
while they were walking, suddenly this chariot of fire driven by
angels swooped down and picked Elijah up and carried him up
to heaven. You say, Bruce, that's cartoonish. That's foolishness. That's real,
brothers and sisters. That is real. We're not talking
about a kingdom made by hands. We're not talking about a kingdom
that has limitations that's human. We're talking about the kingdom
that God has set up. And it's an amazing kingdom.
And if you went up to heaven today, you'd see there, man,
this is something else. This is wonderful. There's people
here. It's real. It's a real place. He calls it
here in our text a country, doesn't he? A country. I like the country,
don't you? I love the way the Holy Spirit
writes these things. He says these things on purpose
to appeal to us. When I think of country, oh man,
I think of the wide open spaces. I think of places that's beautiful,
fresh air, don't you? That's what heaven is. You like
the country? Heaven's a country. Some people
like the city. He said it's a city. Some people
like to live where the bright lights are. That's where all
the money's at, you know. A lot of people there to associate
with. Some people like that. That's
wonderful, too. Well, heaven is a city. That's
where the riches of God are concentrated at. The riches of His grace and
mercies and love. They'll be there because there's
a city there. It's a real place. It's spiritual
in its nature because now it's in us. But I'm telling you, it's
a physical place. kingdom too, because there you
see people already that's there in heaven. And think of this. Think of this. This kingdom is
going to continue to increase in its glory. There will be a
new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. As we see this earth now, it's
beautiful. But you know what the creation is doing now? It's
groaning. It's travailing in pain. Sin
entered this beautiful creation. We brought it in ourselves. Man
brought it in. Sin upon God's creation. And look how it's affected God's
creation. Look what it's did to it. The
plates have been broken underneath our earth that causes these volcanoes. The storms come. The natural
catastrophes. And under all of this, this earth,
the world is burdened and it's groaning. What's it groaning
for? It's waiting for the same thing you and I are waiting for.
Redemption. It's waiting to be changed. Heaven
is waiting to be changed. And someday the Son of God is
going to fold all of this up, as it were, and He's going to
change it. And there's going to be a new
heaven and a new earth, and that is the kingdom of God. And it's
real. It's real. And then He'll say
to His people, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you. Inherit this new heaven. Inherit
this new earth. Inherit this beautiful wide open
spaces. Inherit this beautiful city.
It's the kingdom. It's the kingdom. And that's
what Abraham was waiting for. But this is not all of it. This
is not all of it. This is not the full glory of
it yet. Not only the redemption of this earth, but the redemption
of the body. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse
35, we're told about some who were tortured And they did not
accept deliverance, and we're told why they did not accept
deliverance. You remember the three Hebrew children? They didn't
accept deliverance, did they? They thought they were going
to die. But here's what they did. They were hoping to obtain
a better resurrection. Oh, they said, yeah, you can
deliver us from this death. We're dead men. You're going
to throw us to the lions? We like dead men. And you may
give us our life back. We don't want our life back.
We're waiting for a better resurrection. This is what they were talking
about. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 15,
let me see if I can quote somebody. Flesh and blood shall not inherit
the kingdom of heaven. Clarence, you can't go to heaven
like you are. Not in your flesh. Corruption cannot inherit incorruption. I show you a mystery. We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. This corruptible,
what is a corruptible? Well, you go out there in the
grave, and if you could open that grave up and you could look
in that hole, you'd see corruption. You'd see a body that was decaying
and stinking and wounded. That's corruptible. But this
corruptible must put on incorruption. And this mortal, what's mortal?
I'm looking at mortals. Your bodies are mortal. This
mortal must put on immortality. How's that going to happen? In
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, the
trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
we which are alive and remain shall be changed, and then shall
be brought to pass the sin that is written. Death is swallowed
up in victory." Listen to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Listen to this. I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, concerning them that sleep. that you sorrow not over
your lost loved ones as those who have no hope." If we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, we which are alive and remain shall not prevent
them which are dead and asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, The
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up. We're going to have a glorious
body, like unto his body. He's going to change it. And
we're going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. That sounds cartoony stuff. Can
you imagine this? You say, Bruce, that's foolishness.
Ain't that what the world says? Brothers and sisters, this is
why the world looks at the gospel and says, that's foolish. That's
foolish. That's plain foolish. Up in the
air, flying around with new bodies, all of you congregating there
in the air to be with the Lord, that's what He said. Are you
persuaded of this? You had some people all the way
back in ancient times that God promised this was going to happen.
He promised, my son's coming. And Abraham saw it through the
eye of faith. And he said he's going to set
up a kingdom. And that kingdom is going to subdue all other
kingdoms. And in the end, the glory of this kingdom is going
to be revealed. And here is the ultimate glory,
the saints being resurrected, being changed, and being forever
with and like the Son of God in His glorified humanity. And
you know what the Master said in Matthew 13 and verse 33? He
said, Shall the righteous shine as
the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Going to shine. That's
where we got that word glory from glow. They shall glow. I was reading this yesterday
and thinking about it. And you remember what a clear
day it was yesterday. And I looked out my office window
and the sun was bright. And I looked right up into the
sun to see how long I could stare into that sun. I mean about three
or four seconds, almost blindingly. You know something? You shall
shine as the sun in the kingdom of your Father. That's the ultimate glory. And here's what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. You're going to have people coming from the east
and from the west, and they're going to sit down. And who are
they going to sit down with? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Where are they going to sit down
at? In the Kingdom of God. That's it, brothers and sisters. If you could be persuaded of
the truth of what I've been talking to you about this day, if you
could be persuaded of that, and you could embrace this as they
did, As you embrace your sweetest lover, brace it to your heart,
and to love these truths and receive these truths, how do
you think it would affect you? Do you know how it affected them?
They said, man, I'm a stranger on this earth. I'm a pilgrim
here. You guys can have this place.
You guys can have your governments. You can have your stuff. Man,
I'm hoping for what's coming. I've got interest in a kingdom
that's going to put down all other rule, and it's going to
be glorious to be with the Lord Jesus in a new heaven and a new
earth, a city, a country, and to be with Him and His saints
forever. Oh, what a hope! What a hope! It's glorious. This is unheard
of. You won't read this in any other book. Only the Bible, only
the Gospel presents This to you and me. Are you persuaded of
it? Are you persuaded of it? Are you convinced of it? Don't you want to be more
convinced of it? Don't you want to see it? Oh,
I want to live for that world, don't you? Oh, God help us. God help us
to do so. God give us grace to do so. Let's
pray.