Okay, you've got a bookmark there
in John chapter 19. You hold your bookmark there
in John chapter 19. And then I want you to find Luke
23. Luke 23. I'm going to try to
look at these seven sayings that the Lord uttered from the cross. You turn to Luke 23 verse 34. We find the first of the seven
sayings in Luke 23 verse 34. So what we have here is our Lord
Jesus Christ as a prophet of God, son of God. appointed of
God, anointed of God, to come and accomplish our salvation
for us. And as he dies for our sins,
according to the scripture, the Lord, as a prophet of God, declared
the gospel of God unto us. And the first saying we see there
in Luke 23, verse 34, the Lord Jesus Christ said, Father, Father,
forgive them. He was crucified there at Calvary. The thieves, one on the right
hand and the other on the left. And the first thing our Lord
declares is there is forgiveness. Father, forgive them. They do
not know what they are doing. The Lord Jesus Christ started
his ministry as a gospel preacher. And now, as he ends his life
and gives his life for us according to the scripture, he said, no
man takes my life from me, but I lay it down. He ends his ministry
from the cross as God's prophet preaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ unto us. In each of these sayings that
we're going to look at, we see the Lord in his office and his
person. We see the Lord in his doctrine
and the gospel work the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for
us. Father, forgive them. Now, who are these people? He's not praying for everyone
in the world. He did not die for everyone in
the world. In John chapter 17, he said, I pray not for the world,
I pray for them which you have given to me. So Father, forgive
them. Who are those people? Those given
to the Lord Jesus Christ in the covenant of grace. Those for
whom he prays for and whom he's the mediator and advocate for,
if he prayed for them and died for them, there certainly are
forgiven in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's good news, isn't it? Here
we see the Lord Jesus Christ in his office work as a mediator.
One God and one mediator between God and sinners, God and man,
that is the Lord Jesus Christ. We must have someone to represent
us before God. Thank God we have the high priest,
the great high priest, that was sent of God to represent us before
God. That's the good news of the gospel.
The Lord ever lived to intercede for us. Seeing that we have a
great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. We can come boldly
to the throne of grace because we have an advocate, we have
a mediator, we have an intercessor who ever lives right now. the Lord ever lives to intercede
for us. That's why he's able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by him, saying that he
ever lives to intercede for us. So we see here the Lord Jesus
Christ is praying for our salvation. He's praying for our forgiveness.
Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. Now, specifically talking about
those who crucified him that day, they did what their wicked
heart wanted to do, but they only did what God determined
for to be done. It wasn't what wicked men did
to him that day that accomplished our salvation. You understand
that? It's what God was doing at the cross. The Lord, This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. He looks
beyond the instrument of the cross, the nails, the cruel soldiers. He looked beyond the instrument
of the cross to the author of the cross and said, this is of
the Lord. This is the Lord's doing. This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. So we
have one in the Lord Jesus Christ who prays for us, who intercedes
for us, who reconciled us to God through his blood. And even now, he appears, think
about this, he appears in the presence of God for us. Ever living to intercede for
us. We seek no earthly mediator. We seek no earthly priest. I
feel sorry for those people who are seeking an earthly priest
to represent them before God. We have a great high priest that
God has provided. Which one would you rather have?
Of course, believers know that the Lord Jesus Christ ever lives
to intercede for us. Those for whom he prays and intercedes
for must be forgiven. That's what the scriptures teach. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all our sin. I love Psalm 32 where it said,
blessed is the man whom the Lord will not impute sin, whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. Now, that's the blessed man.
And we only have that because he intercedes for us as our advocate,
as our mediator. When you sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Who is he? Jesus Christ the righteous. Now, he said, my brethren, don't
sin. But when you do, we have an advocate and a mediator. And that's in the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is forgiveness of sin based upon His blood atonement. He separated. We read in Scripture,
in Isaiah 59, that our sin has separated us from God, and Adam
all died. But in the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified, He has separated our sin from us. As far as the
east is from the west, so far have I separated you from your
sin. I love this scripture in Hebrews
10 where it talks about that one sacrifice that he gave. And
it says there that because of that one sacrifice, when he by
himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of God
and he said, their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more. He prays for us. He intercedes
for us. He reconciled us. He redeemed
us. And in time, He crosses our path
and tells us that there is forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Now, do you
have a mediator? Do you have a mediator to represent
you unto God? Yes, believers do. Do you have
a payment for sin? Yes, believers do. It's Christ
and Him crucified, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace. Father,
forgive them. What a privilege. The Lord prays
for us, intercedes for us, died for us, justified us, and He's
coming again to receive us. unto Himself. He obtained for
us eternal redemption for us. Now, here's the second one found
here also in Luke 23. And I don't know that these are
in any particular order, but we'll look at them as we find
them here. Again, in Luke 23, we see the second statement that
we'll consider. And we looked at this very carefully
last week And there were two malefactors, or thieves, that
were crucified with him. Verse 39, one of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him, Luke 23, 39, saying, if thou
be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, doth not thou fear God, seeing that thou art in
the same condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we receive
the due reward of our deeds, but this man had done nothing
amiss. And he said unto the Lord Jesus, Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. And here's what the Lord says.
We looked at this carefully last week. You can find a copy of
this message out on the table there, entitled The Salvation
of the Thief. And the Lord said to this dying
thief who was granted faith and granted repentance, Verily I
say unto thee, this day, or right now, Thou shalt be with me in
paradise. So here's the second saying we
see. We see in his office that he
is king. This is, it says there in verse
38, the sign and the title over his
cross was this is the king of the Jews, but we know that he's
king in all things. He's king of all the earth. And
he certainly is king in salvation, is he not? This dying repentant
thief rejoiced in the Lordship of Christ. He addressed him as
Lord. Now he didn't look like Lord,
did he? He's beaten and mangled and bruised and bleeding. His
visage so marred he didn't even look like a man. But this dying
thief looks past that with eyes of faith granted to him and he
addresses him as Lord. Remember me. You're coming into
a kingdom, remember me. And the Lord said to him, barely
I say to you, now this day, you'll be with me in paradise. I say to you, to thee, unto thee,
you'll be with me. Now wherever Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ is, that's paradise. To be with him is paradise. So
here we see the Lord Jesus Christ is king in salvation. He will
have mercy on whom he will. The dying repentant thief rejoiced
in the lordship of Christ and he was given eternal life in
Christ Jesus. And the Lord passed by the one
dying thief and saved the other. Why did he save one and not the
other? Why didn't he save both of them? Or why did he save none
of them? It pleased the Lord to save one of them, because
that one was chosen of God unto eternal life from all eternity. Eternal life is to be with the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, thou shalt be with me.
He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. Eternal life is to be one with
Christ. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Salvation not only of the Lord,
but salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul
said, oh that I may win Christ and be found in Him. So you got the first two? Father
forgive them. This day you'll be with me in
glory. Now here's the third one. Turn
over back to John 19. John chapter 19. Here's the third
saying. And in these sayings, we see
the gospel. In John 19, verse 25, here's
the third saying. Now there stood by the cross
of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife
of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. Remember, she was the one that
was demon-possessed, and the Lord cast out seven demon spirits
out of her, and she faithfully followed the Lord. The women
were there at the cross, and the women were the first at the
grave on the resurrection morning. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother, now you imagine what's going through her mind. Here's
her darling son. She knows that this is the Messiah,
Son of God. That holy thing born of thee
shall be called the son of God. But here's this mother, Mary,
the mother, the one who had born this baby, son of God. When he saw his mother and the
disciples standing by whom he loved, some think it's John,
we don't know for sure. He saith unto his mother, woman,
behold your son. I'm thy son. And he saith to
the other disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour, that
disciple took her. into his own home. Now some speculate
that Mary's husband Joseph had died and she's a widow woman
now. She had no one to care for her. So he said to that disciple,
you take her to be your mother and you take her home and you
care for her. And here we see the Lord Jesus Christ in his
office as the shepherd taking care of his people, as a provider
taking care of his people. He is the Shepherd and the Savior.
He's called the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.
He's called the Great Shepherd of the sheep. He's called the
Chief Shepherd who will come again. Here's the point. The Lord provided for Mary with
a home, with food, with shelter. The Lord provided. He's called
Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide. He said,
I will lay down my life for my sheep and I will provide for
them. He is a provider. He's a protector. He is the great shepherd. He
loves us. You remember the Psalmist? Right
after Psalm 22 is Psalm 23. Where it says, what? The Lord
is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Then
he says, because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
I shall not want for any good thing. any good thing. The Lord
is my shepherd. He makes me to lie down in green
pastures. I shall not want for rest. He
leads me beside still waters. He's a water of life. He restores
my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. I shall not want for righteousness
or salvation." You see, he provides for us, doesn't he? My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord is our provider. He's provided all things for
us. He's our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption.
We lack nothing. We're complete in Him. dwells
all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and we're complete through
his providing for us. He is our shepherd who provides
for us, and he does so because he loves us with an everlasting
love. Now, I want you to turn back
to the book of Matthew and find Matthew 27. Matthew 27, at verse 45, Matthew 27, verse
45. And here's the fourth statement
our Lord makes from the cross, Matthew 27, 45. We looked at
this several times. Now from the sixth hour, there
was darkness over all the land to the ninth hour, three hours,
high noon till three o'clock, darkness. Complete darkness. The Lord blotted out the sun.
And about that ninth hour, the Lord Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, this is a most mysterious
statement. The old reformer, Martin Luther,
In his study one day, he was looking at that statement, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he said, God forsaking
God, no man can understand that. We believe it to be so, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is he? He's God, God the Son, God the
Father. How can God the Father forsake
God the Son? I don't know, but that's what
happened when he was made sin for us. He too holy to look upon
sin. with favor. Why hast thou forsaken
me? Well, he was made sin for us. When he was made sin for us,
the holy God cannot look upon sin with favor. He was forsaken
because he was made sin for us. The Lord Jesus Christ as our
Savior, he saved us by the sacrifice of himself. He is what he is
called, he did what he came to do. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sin. He was forsaken as he was made
sin for us that we may never be forsaken. He was made sin
for us that we might be clothed with his righteousness. That's
the good news of the gospel. Substitution satisfaction. Christ
was not spared the holy wrath of God that we might be spared. that we might be spared. Turn
to Romans 8 for just a moment. Let's see if we can see something
of the beauty of the Lord's death for us. In Romans chapter 8,
verse 32, it says there, He spared not His own son. Romans 8, 32.
He spared not His own son. He didn't spare him from the
wrath of God, from the guilt of sin. He didn't spare his own
son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with
him also now freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. How
we justify? We're justified by his blood,
justified freely by his grace through the redeeming blood of
Christ. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also It seemed like he just climbed higher and higher
and higher, doesn't he? Who also maketh intercession
for us. Now who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
forsaken because God too holy to look upon sin with favor.
We read in Psalm 22, thou art holy and I am a worm. When sin was laid on Christ and
imputed to Him, the Father had to forsake Him because God is
holy. He bearing our sin and His own
body on the tree. It was made sin for us that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him and have a perfect
righteousness reckoned and imputed unto us without works. Blessed
is that man whom the Lord imputes righteousness without works.
He was wounded, bruised, that we might be healed. He was slain,
that we might be saved. He died, that we might live. You remember the scripture that
the Lord declares, in the revelation, I am he that liveth and was dead.
Behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death. He's in charge. Why hast thou
forsaken me? He bear our sin in his own body
on the tree. Now here's the fifth saying,
turn back over there to John 19, John chapter 19, verse 28,
John 19, 28. Then he said to his, to the disciples, Behold thy mother, and from that
hour the disciple took her unto his own home. Verse 28, after
this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
he said, I came to accomplish that which you gave me to do,
that the scripture might be fulfilled. We read this in Psalm 22. mouth dried up like a pot shirt. He said, I thirst. Now there was a set, a vessel
full of vinegar and they filled it with a sponge. They filled
the sponge with vinegar and put it upon a hyssop and put it to his mouth. I thirst. Here we see the Lord
Jesus Christ as a real man. He thirsted, He hungered, He
wearied in body. Remember the story in John chapter
4, where He sits on that well, Jacob's well, at high noon, and
there a woman comes, and He says to that woman, give me to drink. He sits there on that well being
wearied in body, needing a drink of water. He was a real man. Yes, eternal God, and yet God
was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Lord Jesus Christ had
a body prepared by God. It says there in John 19, Verse
five, turn there, John 19, verse five. Then came Jesus forth wearing
the crown of thorns and a purple robe and Pilate saith unto them,
behold, the man. The man, he is the man of God. The word was with God and the
word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God and the word was made flesh. and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. He is the King, and he is the
man. He is God, totally, fully God,
and totally, fully man, in one blessed person. As a man, he
hungered, he wearied, he was tempted and tested in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. A body was prepared for him to
inhabit. He didn't have his beginning
at Bethlehem, that was the beginning of his humanity, but he is the
eternal God. The eternal God who inhabits
eternity inhabited a body of a man, just like your flesh. Just like mine, apart from sin. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. God was manifest in the flesh. As the man Christ Jesus, he knew
pain, he knew agony, he knew turmoil of soul, a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief. Now how many times did we see
the Lord Jesus, through our study in the book of Matthew, perform
miracles for others? The dead were raised up, The
crippled were made to walk. The blind were made to see. The
deaf were made to hear. But we never see the Lord Jesus
Christ. He one day took some fishes and
loaves of bread and fed 5,000. A great miracle. But we never
see the Lord Jesus Christ performing a miracle to relieve His own
suffering. He does it for others, but not
for Himself. Why? He's a real man. Tempted and
tested. In all points, like as we are,
He never performed a miracle to relieve His own suffering. As a God-man, He suffers like
no other for us. knowing that the scripture must
be fulfilled. He said, I thirst. I thirst. Now who wrote Psalm 22? Psalm
22 was written probably a thousand years before the Lord Jesus Christ
actually came. He's fulfilling everything that
he wrote about. Everything that happened that
day through his life and that day at the cross was foretold
by the prophets. To him give all the prophets
witness. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of God for
us as the God-man mediator. He went about in perfect obedience
to the law of God, establish the righteousness for us through
his obedience, through his faithfulness, and then he freely give that
to us. His faithfulness to God and to
the law of God is ours as a gift of his grace. His obedience is
ours. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. His righteousness is ours. His
perfect work is ours. He gives those things freely
to us. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Blessed is that man whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without works. Thank God we have a suitable
substitute, the man Christ Jesus. Bear our sin in His own body
and put away our sin. God alone cannot suffer, man
alone cannot satisfy, but the God-man mediator suffered and
satisfied to put away our sin. And He did this to fulfill all
Scripture. Now here's the sixth saying right
down below that saying in verse 30, John 19 verse 30. When Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it's finished. It is finished. It is finished. He bowed his
head. in total surrender to the will
of God, to the decree of God, and he yielded up his spirit. We'll see that being the last
saying in just a moment. It is finished. It is finished. I pointed out in the reading,
in Psalm 22, verse 31, they shall come and say, They shall come
and declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born,
that He hath done this." Salvation is accomplished by the Lord Jesus
Christ. He fulfilled every type, every
picture, every shadow. He fulfilled all those things
for us. Accomplished righteousness for
us. Accomplished redemption for us.
Putting away our sin. He said, it is completed. All that the Father had given
me to do, I've completed. Father, I've glorified thee on
the earth. I've finished the work that you gave me. And now,
oh Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. I've finished
the work you gave me to do. Redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as our great high priest, didn't bring the blood of bulls and
goats. He brought His own blood and He obtained for us eternal
redemption with His own blood. He is the Savior who saves His
people from their sin. He is the Redeemer that actually
redeemed us with His own blood. We have a successful redemption. We have a victorious redemption. His death was not a defeat, a
victory. a victory. We have victory over
sin, over death, over hell and the grave. The work of redemption
is done. Don't bring anything or try to
add anything to his perfect work, but rather rest in Christ who
finished the work. Now listen, we often say, or
people in religious circles often say, I'm trusting the finished
work of Christ. That's really not a good statement
because we're trusting Christ who finished the work for us.
We're trusting him who finished salvation for us. Paul writes
this, thanks be to God who has given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. It's finished, it's done. Salvation's
accomplished. He justified us with his own
blood. He justified his people at Calvary. And at time, in time, in due
time, he comes to us and he tells us about his doing for us. His doing and his dying for us.
Now turn back to Luke 23. Here's the seventh saying. Luke
23, verse 46. Luke 23, verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, it's finished. He said, Father, into thy hands
I command my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up his spirit. Let's read one more verse. I
like this verse. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous
man. So he commended his spirit, his
soul, to the hands of Almighty God. Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ
as a forerunner. As a forerunner, He entered into
glory for us. He entered into glory for us.
Don't turn to this, let me read it to you. We had this in our
study in the book of Hebrews. You remember the forerunner He
is called? in Hebrews chapter six, verse
18, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have strong consolation who fled for refuge
to lay hold upon the hope that set before us, which hope we
have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which
enters within the veil, whether the forerunner for us is entered,
even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Where is the Lord Jesus Christ
right now? Seated upon the throne of glory. The forerunner as our covenant
head entered into glory. And the good news for us is,
where He went, we went. What's true of the head is true
of the body. Believers right now are already seated in the
Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies. Right now. It's done. It's done. I've not experienced it in my
person. But in my representative, we're already there. It says
that in Ephesians chapter 2. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, He quickened us together with Christ. He made
us to sit together in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ, that
in the ages to come, He might show forth exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us. in Christ Jesus. The forerunner for us has entered
in. When he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right
hand of God. We know they took his dead body
down from a tree. We're going to see that. Joseph
of Arimathea came and asked Pilate, begged for the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They took his body down from
a tree. And they laid him in that new tomb where never man
has laid. They put a stone on that tomb
and his body was really in that grave, but he wasn't there. Remember what he said to that
dying thief? Today, this day, you're going to glory with me. His body went to the grave, but
where did his soul and spirit go? Back to God who gave it. He went immediately to eternal
glory there with the Father. Glorify thou me with thine own
self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Three days later, he came back and occupied that new glorified
body. His body was raised a glorified
body. He walked out of the tomb in
a real body, flesh and bones, lived among men 40 days. and
ascended back to glory. If you look over at Luke 24,
what kind of a body did he have? Notice Luke 24, here is a glorified
body. the resurrected body, his soul
and spirit came back and inhabited that same body, a resurrected
body, like we'll have one day. As, verse 36, as they thus spake,
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, peace
be unto you. And they were terrified and afraid,
supposed that they had seen his spirit. And he said unto them,
why are you troubled? Why do your thoughts arise? Behold,
my hands, my feet, That is, I myself handle me and see for spirit
hath not flesh and bones as you see me have. He had a real glorified,
had a real body of bones and flesh, a glorified body. And that's just exactly the body
that we'll have in that day of resurrection. To be absent from
this body. What happens when a believer
dies? To be absent from this body is to be present with the
Lord. Now one day you're going to take
this flesh. I told you when I came here 31 years ago that I planned
on staying here. I said I'm either going to bury
you or you're going to bury me. And when the Lord is pleased
to end my ministry, you take this body and put it in the grave.
Over here on, we have a cemetery, over here on Wynn's Branch. I
made arrangements to have my body put in that grave. But I'm
not there. Where are you going? To be absent
from this body is to be present with the Lord. For me to live
is Christ, but to die is what? Is gain. That's why the Lord
told those women, don't weep for me. You weep for yourself. Don't weep for me. We have, by
His grace, a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. And we take these bodies of our
dear loved ones and we'll place them in the ground, knowing that one day the Lord
Jesus Christ will resurrect that same lump of clay and will inhabit
that spirit and soul will come back and inhabit that glorified
body and will be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's close
this service by reading about that. Turn to the book of Philippians
chapter 3. I've got marked out several scriptures
here. Philippians chapter 3 talking
about the body that believers will have being raised from the
dead. Philippians chapter 3. Verse 20, for our conversation
is from heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, fashion it like
unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself. One day we'll have
a body just like the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, that's what
predestination is all about. to be conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer is predestinated
to be conformed to Christ. Let's see if we can find another
one over here. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. We'll go to verse 1. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us. that we should be called sons
of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
But beloved, verse John 3, 2. But beloved, now are we sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We'll see him as
he is. Can you find one other? Let's
find 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We talked about in our Bible
study this morning about looking for the Lord who is coming back
and He's going to destroy this place and He's going to make
a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
The Lord Himself is coming back looking for the hastening of
the day of the coming of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians chapter
4. The Lord himself, verse 16, shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
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, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. We'll
be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. One more scripture. Can you handle
one more? First Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15 verse 50. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50. Now, I often read this when we
go to the cemetery and place the body of our dear loved ones
who have passed away. And for those who die in faith,
1 Corinthians 15 verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, Neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. But I show you, mister, we shall
not all sleep, for we all shall be changed. In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, where the trumpet shall
sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we who are
living shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, 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. The
strength of sin is the law. The Lord put away sin, honored
the law. Now we can say, thanks be unto
God, verse 57, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord came as God's prophet,
and he finished his ministry as God's prophet, declaring unto
us that salvation is of the Lord.