His Resurrection and Ours

Q: What does the Bible say about the resurrection of Christ?

The Bible states that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day, confirming the gospel message. The resurrection of Christ is central to the Christian faith, as highlighted in 1 Corinthians 15. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again, marking the foundation of the gospel of grace. This resurrection not only affirms Jesus as the Son of God, but it is also the guarantee of believers' future resurrection. Without Christ's resurrection, as Paul states, our preaching is vain and our faith is in vain, emphasizing the significance of His victory over death.

Q: How do we know the resurrection of Christ is true?

The resurrection is affirmed by multiple witnesses, including over 500 brethren who saw the risen Christ, as documented in the Scriptures. Paul's assertion in 1 Corinthians 15 establishes the resurrection's authenticity through the testimony of numerous witnesses. He mentions that Christ was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, and later by over 500 brethren at once, many of whom were still alive to verify the accounts when Paul wrote his letter. This multitude of witnesses provides a compelling case for the reality of the resurrection, as none recanted their belief, testifying even to the point of death for the truth they witnessed. Therefore, the resurrection is a validated event in history and central to the faith of believers.

Q: Why is the resurrection important for Christians?

The resurrection guarantees believers' eternal life and victory over sin and death, central to the hope Christians possess. The resurrection is of utmost importance for Christians as it represents the victory of Christ over sin and death, providing hope for eternal life. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul outlines the dire consequences of denying the resurrection; if Christ has not been raised, then faith is futile and individuals remain in their sins. However, because Christ is risen, believers have the assurance that they too will be raised incorruptibly. This promise of resurrection brings comfort and confidence, urging Christians to be steadfast and immovable in their faith, knowing their labor is not in vain.

Q: What does Paul mean by Christ being the firstfruits of the resurrection?

Christ as the firstfruits means He is the first to rise from the dead, ensuring that all who belong to Him will also be raised. In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul proclaims that Christ is the firstfruits of those who have died, signifying that He is the initial recipient of resurrection life. This analogy of firstfruits draws from agricultural practices where the first portion of a harvest is presented to God as an offering, an assurance of the full harvest to come. Similarly, Christ's resurrection assures believers that they too will experience resurrection. His victory over death is the precursor to the future resurrection of all who are in Christ, emphasizing the hope and certainty Christians hold for eternal life.

Q: Why do Christians believe in a future resurrection?

Christians believe in a future resurrection based on scriptures affirming that all in Christ will be raised when He returns. The belief in future resurrection for Christians is rooted in the teachings of Scripture, particularly emphasized in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul assures believers that just as Christ was raised from the dead, those who belong to Him will also be raised at His coming. This promise encompasses both the spiritual and physical aspects of resurrection, ensuring that believers will receive glorified bodies free from corruption and sin. The theological basis for this hope is found in Christ’s victory over death, which provides a model for what every believer will experience, reaffirming the assurance of eternal life.

The words of it mean more if
we know something about the author of that hymn. Fanny Crosby, born
in 1820, born blind, lived 95 years on this earth and never
ever saw a human face, never ever saw a human body. And she's writing there about
the first one that she's going to see. First person she ever
looked upon was Christ Jesus. Closed her eyes in death and
opened her eyes in glory to see the Lord. How will you know him? I know him by the nail prints
in his hands and feet. That gives us a little more appreciation
for hymns. If people could realize that you don't just sit down and write
a hymn or a poem or anything for that matter. Hymns and great
poems are written under great trial and experience, trials and experiences and occasions. That's when great things are
born. We were listening to some music
the other night, Darcy and I from the 40s, and I made the comment,
I said, Great love songs and great classics were written when
this country was under a great siege and trial. That's when
great things are written. You just don't, what the junk
you're here eating now is written in a, you know, who knows what. But when, that's right, I'm telling
you the truth, that's when great messages are preached. That's
when great hymns are written. That's when great articles are
written. That's when great speeches are
made. Gettysburg Address. What, one
minute, two minutes long? It'll live as long as America
lives. That's when great things are said and done. And that's
the reason God sends trials. To make great people and give
them some inspiration to do something that'll last. That's just so. Don't ever ask the Lord not to
put you through a trial because we're not worth a dime unless
we go through some trouble to anybody. That's just so. Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. I want to preach tonight from this
chapter, 1 Corinthians 15. I'm just going to touch on some
things that will be a special blessing and comfort to our older
believers, but I believe to everybody, and the innumerable doctrines,
lessons, and truths in this chapter. But what I'm going to do is try
to find in each paragraph or group of verses the primary point
that Paul is making, and just touch on that. So let's start
with verse 1. the gospel, which I preached
unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand,
and by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain." Now Paul
says, brethren, let me remind you, dear brethren, of the gospel
I preached unto you when I first came among you, the gospel. You notice that? There's just
one gospel. One gospel. He said, if any man
preach any other gospel, let him be accursed. And the gospel
which I preached unto you is the gospel of God. It's God's
gospel. It's the gospel of his grace.
It's the gospel of his Son. And it's the gospel you received.
Our Lord, in his high priestly prayer, said, Father, I have
given unto the man which you gave me your word. And they have
received it. And they believe that thou didst
send me. And that's what Paul says about
these Corinthians. I preach the gospel of God to
you. And you received it. You received
it. And he said it's the gospel wherein
you stand. Wherein you stand before God.
And wherein you stand before men. This is the gospel we believe.
We tell the world that. This is our gospel. And it's
the gospel by which you're saved. If you keep in memory and hold
fast that which I preached unto you, because to depart from the
gospel would indicate that the gospel was not really received,
not really believed, to depart from it. That's what John said,
if there'd been of us, they'd still be with us. But the fact
that they left indicates that they never did receive this gospel.
But Paul says we're not of them who depart, we're of them that
believe to the saving of the soul. We keep on believing, keep
on coming to Christ, keep on coming. Now in verse 3 and 4,
let's read 3 and 4. I delivered unto you first of
all that which I received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures. He was buried and he rose again
the third day according to the scriptures. Now Paul is going
to identify this gospel. And it's not necessary to write
a long list of doctrines and a long list of systematic theology
to define this gospel. It only deals with the person
and work of Christ. Like he said in Romans 1, 3. that I'm separated from the gospel
of God concerning his son. This gospel is concerning his
son. And two things about his son.
In verse 3 says, he died for our sins according to the scriptures. According to the Old Testament
scriptures. All of those promises and prophecies
and types and patterns and pictures, the first fruits I read about.
All of these things are presented in the law. And they picture
Christ. And his birth and his life and
his death was according to the scriptures. That's our gospel. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures. He's the Passover lamb. He's
the blazing serpent lifted up. He's the city of refuge. He's
the high priest. He's the mercy seat. And he's
the atonement. Everything. The Old Testament. And that he was buried and rose
again the third day according to the scriptures. That's our
gospel. It's according to the scriptures. Completely dependent upon the
scriptures. The word of God is the foundation
for everything we believe and everything we do. All right,
look at verse 5 now. The fact of his resurrection.
That's what we're talking about here in verse 5 through 8. The
fact of his resurrection, of course, is confirmed by the father
who raised him from the dead. Confirmed by the angels who sat
by the stone road away and said, he's not here, he's risen. He's
risen. Why seek you the living among
the dead? But here, his resurrection was confirmed by over 500 brethren. None of whom, none of whom ever
broke faith. Now that's interesting to me.
All these people who saw our Lord after he arose and were
witnesses of his resurrection, witnesses of his glorified body,
none of them ever broke faith. None of them. You can't find
any historical account or biblical account of anybody who denied
what they saw. That's right. They died for the
testimony of the resurrection. Listen to it. And he was seen
of Cephas. and then of the town. After that
he was seen of about 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater
part remain under this present, and if you fellows want to, you
go ask them. And they'll tell you. Most of them are still living,
Paul said. When I'm writing this, most of
them are still living, who saw him. You want confirmation, go
ask them. None of them ever recanted, none
of them ever denied what they saw. Our Lord's witnesses were
selected carefully and kept carefully. They confirmed his message. But
some had fallen asleep. And after that, he was seen of
James, and then of all the apostles, and last of all, he was seen
of Nephi, I'll say. Where was that? On the road to
Damascus, the Lord Jesus appeared to me, he said, appeared to me. Not just spoke to me, He appeared
to me. That's what Paul said. He saw
him. See, an apostle had to have seen the Lord. An apostle had
to have received his gospel from the Lord. There are no apostles
today because nobody has ever, in this day, seen the Lord. Nobody's
ever been taken aside, taught the gospel by the Lord himself.
But Paul said, I saw him on the road to Damascus. He appeared
to me. And immediately, I didn't confer with flesh and blood.
I didn't even go to those who were apostles before me. But
I went into Arabia, and the gospel I received was taught me by the
Son of God. That's what Paul said. That's
why we listen so keenly to Paul. He's an inspired writer. So he
appeared to me. Now, here in verse 9 through
11, Paul teaches us the genuine humility of God's servants. The
genuine humility of God. This man, we're reading who's
writing here, had more revelations than any man. More revelations. This man was actually taken. He said, whether in the body,
I don't know, or out of the body. But I was taken to the third
heaven. There's a heaven above us, and there's a heaven where
the planets are, and then there's the third heaven, is the abode
of God. That's paradise. That's where
our Lord told the thief that he would be with him. The third
heaven is the throne of God. And Paul said, I was taken, either
in the body or out of the body, I can't tell you, he said, but
I was taken to the third heaven. And I heard things that's not
possible for me to tell you. Now that's a revelation. This
man and the Lord Jesus appeared to him and told him the gospel
after he died on the cross and risen and went back to glory.
Now you know if anybody's going to be lifted up with pride, it'd
be this man. But not so. Not a true servant
of God. No servant. Pride and grace cannot
live in the same heart. Cannot. Cannot. Cannot. He says, I'm least, I'm the least
of the apostles. I'm talking about him being the
greatest. He says, I'm the least. He meant that. He wasn't just
using words. God's preachers don't just use
words. Satan's preachers use words. But not God's. They don't,
they don't, they're not deceptive. And they don't rest the scriptures
or twist them. I'm the least of the apostles.
I'm not meet or fit to be called an apostle, he said. Because
I persecuted the church of God. But I'll tell you this, look
at verse 10. By the grace of God, I am what I am. Whatever
I am, by his grace. Whatever I have, by his grace.
Can we say that? Who makes you to differ? What
do you have you didn't receive? If you can breathe, you're breathing
God's breath. If you can see, you're seeing
by permission. If you can hear, you're hearing
by His grace. If you know of, if you're just
this side of a moron, it's by His grace. That's right. Barney
didn't say anything this side of hell is grace. I am what I am by His grace.
And His grace wasn't bestowed on me in vain. Because I labored. I labored. The apostle Paul says,
I'm the least of the apostles, not in office. I'm just as much
an apostle as they are, not in gifts. I have his gifts, not
in labor. I labor more abundantly than
all of them. But I know no man sufficient
for this. Listen, yet not I, but the grace
of God that was with me. That's my labor. It's his labor,
it's his grace, it's his gift, it's his. Therefore, listen, therefore,
whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believe. It
matters not who you hear, it's what you hear, it's who's preached. That's where one time a fellow
and his wife were driving by the church. She said, who preaches
there? He said, it doesn't matter a whole lot. What does matter
is who is preached there. That's what Paul said. Whether
it's I or they, so we preach and so you believe. That's the
key. That's true humility. Coming
from the lips of a man who had every cause naturally to be proud. All right, verse 12 through 19. You know, the resurrection, do
you realize the serious consequences of denying the resurrection of
Christ? Paul lists in the next few verses some serious consequences
of denying the resurrection. I'm talking about the bodily
resurrection. I'm not talking about a spiritual
resurrection. I'm talking about Jesus Christ died in a body,
that body was buried, and that body arose from the grave, himself. a glorified body. To deny that,
there are some serious consequences, and here they are. There are
six of them. Verse 12. If Christ be preached
that he arose from the dead, I say, some among you, there
is no resurrection of the dead. Number one, if there is no resurrection
of the dead, Christ is not risen. He is still in the grave. If
he is still in the grave, he was an imposter. He is not the
Son of God. That's serious. Number two, and
if Christ be not risen, our preaching is vain. And not only that, but
your faith is vain. This is all a waste of time, a waste of effort and a waste
of men's lives, if he didn't rise. Number three is verse 15. And if he did not rise, we've
found false witnesses of God, we've lied on God. All the apostles
and prophets, they're liars. And so is all the preachers.
Because we've testified, this has been the basis of our message.
We've testified of God that he raised up Christ. Whom he raised
not up, it so be that the dead rise not. And look at the next
reason, verse 16, 17. Now you preach this, if the dead
rise not, then Christ is not raised. And listen, if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain, and you're yet in your
sins, and we are looking for another Savior. You're yet in your sins. Oh,
my. And the next, verse 18, the fifth
reason, And they also which are fallen asleep in Christ, all
of our brethren and sisters who've gone from this place over the
last 49 years, they're perishing. Never see them again, never hear
from them again, if Christ be not raised. And verse 19, summing
it up, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, if this
is all we've got is this life right here. We're a bunch of
miserable people. That's miserables. That's what
we are. We're the miserables. If this
is all. Because there's not much to this.
At its best. At its best. Now here's the good
news, verse 20. But Christ is risen from the
dead, and he's become the firstfruits. That fellow went out and reaped
his crop. First tomato. First cantaloupe. first potato, got them and put
them in a basket and brought them to the house of God, presented
them to the Lord. Now, there's going to be a whole
lot more. There's going to be thousands of tomatoes and thousands
of fruits, but this is the first fruit. And Christ is the first
fruit from the dead. Listen to this, let me give you
this. The first fruits were what sprang out of the earth and were
soonest ripe. And when they were reaped, they
were presented to the Lord. So Christ arose from the dead
and ascended to heaven and presented himself to the Father, the firstfruits
of all of us. As our representative, he's called
a forerunner, he is the Savior and the Lord of hosts. What's
host? A whole lot. The Lord of many,
which shall follow him. which shall come after him. But
he's the first to rise and die no more. Everybody else who was
raised from the dead died again. So he's the first of us. Christ,
listen, hath the ransom paid. Redemption's work is done. On
him our sins were laid. By him our victory won. Captivity is captive led. For Jesus lives who once was
dead. That's the good news. All right,
verse 21 through 23. Here is what got us in this mess
and who gets us out. All right, in verse 21. For since
by man, Adam, came death, all types of death, spiritual death,
physical death, all these things. By man, by the God-man. came
the resurrection of the dead. Representation, federal headship. This is preaching you don't hear
in this day because they don't believe it and they don't understand
it. But by man came death, what happened
in the garden. And by man came the resurrection,
what happened on the cross and what happened out there in that
cemetery, Christ arose. For as in Adam, everybody dies. All Adam's race, all his posterity,
all who were in his loins, all who were represented by him,
all of them died. And the whole world came from
him. I know there are many colors of people, and races of people,
and shapes of their faces, and their eyes, and their mouths,
and they're different. But they all came from Adam.
And when they started being different, I can't answer. Maybe it's Tyre
Babel when he confused their languages and divided them up
into nations and separated them. I don't know. But I just know
that every human being on this earth came from Adam. And when
Adam sinned and died, they sinned and died in him. Even so in Christ
shall all, all these people in Adam? No. All who are in Christ. shall they be made alive. The
Bible doesn't teach universal redemption, it teaches universal
sin. It teaches universal death, but
it doesn't teach universal redemption. There's a people who are going
to be saved. But all who were in Adam, all who were represented
by Adam, sinned in Adam and died in Adam, and death passed upon
all men. And all whom the Father gave to the Son," and he says
that over and over again, six times in John 17, those that
the Father gave me. My sheep, the Father gave me
my sheep. The elect in Christ, they're
in Christ. We're chosen in Christ. We're
created in Adam. We're chosen in Christ. There's
a different operation there. Created in Adam, died in Adam,
sinned in Adam. Chosen in Christ. put in Christ
as a Heavenly Father. And they all made a lie. But
verse 23, every man in his own order, every man, you're going
to be raised too? I am too. All my love was raised
in the body in which I died. Perfected, but
still, I myself. Job said, I'm going to save the
Lord. I'm talking about me now, not talking about somebody else.
I myself. And he says here, every man in
his own order, in his own time, Christ the firstfruits afterward. They that are his, not everybody
in Adam, but they that are his, they that are Christ's, when? When he comes. Now verse 24,
we have here the kingdom, the kingdom of our son. Lord, you
know, the Bible talks about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of
heaven. the kingdom of his dear son.
I wrote all one and the same. There's not a bunch of kingdoms
up there. There's one kingdom, and that's the everlasting covenant
kingdom. That's the kingdom that God prepared
and purposed and planned for the foundation of the world.
That's the volume of the book of which Christ said in the Bible
where the book is written of me, me and my sheep and my people
and my kingdom and my covenant and I'm the charity of that covenant,
it's the last will and testament of the testator. That's to be
unveiled and to be revealed when all of his people are gathered,
when the old heavens are gone, the old earth is gone and there's
nothing but righteousness, the kingdom of God. And here's the
story here, now listen. Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up this kingdom. This kingdom was laid in his
hand well back yonder, as surety of his people. Even the Father,
when he shall have put down all rule, principalities, powers,
rulers of darkness, all authority, all power, he must reign till
he puts every enemy under his feet. And the last enemy that
shall be destroyed is death. God, the Father, has put all
things under his feet. But when he says all things are
under Christ, it's manifested, God the Father is accepted who
put all things under him. The only one who's not under
his feet is the Father. Everything and everybody and everything
that wiggles is under his feet. It belongs to him to do with
what he pleases. That's exactly right. To subdue,
to conquer, to reign over, to rule, to confess every lip, every
tongue, every knee bow or confess that He's Lord. I say that's
His kingdom. Now when all this is finished,
he sent it to cross, it's finished. It's finished in purchase, it's
finished in price paid, it's finished in work completed, it's
finished in righteousness worked out, it's finished as far as
all those things are concerned. Now we don't see everything under
his feet, but it's there. We don't see that kingdom, but
it's there. We don't see that everlasting eternal life, but
it's there. And where all things shall be subdued unto him, then
shall the Son himself," and this is what someone said, "...then
come at the end." The kingdom is complete, Christ will lay
the crown of the kingdom before the Father, that's what he says.
Then shall the Son be himself, himself be subject unto him,
that put all things unto him, that God may be all in all. The
kingdom complete. Christ will lay the crown of
the kingdom before the Father, and the man Mediator, Jesus Christ,
there's a man in glory. There's one God, one Mediator
between God and men, that's the man Christ Jesus, the forerunner.
And then the man Mediator will be subject to the Father. There
will be no Mediator then. That's the end of the office,
but not the end of the person or the honor of the glory. Because
we're going to praise him forever for being our mediator. But that's
the end of the office. I don't need a mediator then,
because I'm just like him. So that's the end of the mediator,
but not the person nor the honor, for we are joint heirs with him. Joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
That's too big for me. That's too much. I just know
it's so, because I'm reading it right here. That's right.
Kingdom. It's his kingdom. Read on. And
if this is not true, verse 29, if the dead rise not, then why
are we baptized for the dead? Does that mean we're baptized
by proxy for somebody who's dead? No. We're baptized, our baptism
declares that Christ died and was buried and rose again. Our
baptism declares we died. We're buried and we arose again.
We're baptized as dead people. That's what we declared in baptism,
we're dead. We declared he was dead, he arose. We declared we're
dead and we arise. This ordinance is meaningless
if the dead rise not. It's meaningless. So why then
are we baptized for the dead? And here's another thing he said,
if the dead do not rise, why are we subjecting ourselves to
all this harassment? in trouble. We stand in jeopardy
every hour. Why do we expose ourselves to
ridicule and suffering and imprisonment and death if we have no hope
of eternal life? If the dead rise not and we have
no hope of eternal life, listen to what he says down here in
verse 31, 32. I protest by yielding joy, which
I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die daily. If after the manner
of men I fought the beast at Ephesus, What advantageth it
me if the dead rise not? What did I accomplish? Let us
eat, drink, and tomorrow we die. If the dead rise not, we have
no hope of life, then let's just live as a heathen lives and die
like a heathen dies and it's all over then. In verse 33 he says this, Now
don't be deceived, be not deceived, by people who deny the word of
God. You'll encounter them on every hand, people who deny the
word of God, they deny the resurrection, they deny the atonement, they
deny the precious things, things that are precious to us. Don't
be deceived by these people. And I'll tell you, he warns us,
he said, evil communications corrupt good manners. What's
that saying? It's saying that evil companions
corrupt good character. It's like good apples don't make
bad apples good, but our bad apples make good apples bad.
That's what he's saying. Our association with them is
not going to change them. The Word of God will change them.
Don't misunderstand me now. We haven't preached to them.
The Word of God will change them, if God be willing. But my association
and socializing and friendship with them is not going to change
them. That's right. But they're socializing with
you. And friendship with you will change you. They'll rub
off on you. You won't rub off on them. They
need an operation of grace. How men become bad has already
been done. How men become good must be done.
So that's what he's saying. The evil companionship corrupts
good character. So verse 34, listen. Awake to
righteousness, sin not. A lot of people don't have the
knowledge of God. I speak this to their shame. to their shame,
they don't have the knowledge of God. All right, verse 35,
let's look at this. But some will say, How are the
dead raised dead, and with what body do they come? Thou fool,
that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. I've
dealt with this a lot of times. What you put in the ground, the
seed has got to germinate, got to go back to the dirt. And that
which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, he
sowed bare grain, maybe wheat, maybe corn, maybe some other
grain. But God will give it a body as it pleases him, and every
seed his own body. Every seed, you plant a seed,
an individual seed, there's an individual product that comes
up from it. And every individual, his own
body is planted, his own body will come forth. But what you
plant is not going to come forward. It will be from that seed, but
it will be infinitely more beautiful and greater and sweeter and wonderful. This old body is put in the ground,
but this old body is not going to come out a new body, a body
of flesh and bones. But how can we have flesh? All right. All flesh is not the
same flesh. There is a flesh of men. There
is a flesh of beasts. There's the flesh of fish, there's
the flesh of birds, you see there's the flesh of man, and then there's
glorified flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ walked
this earth with a body made of a woman. His flesh was identical
to this right here. Identical, it's human flesh.
He was a human being, he was a man, 100% man. And his flesh
died, like mine will, on that cross. So when he arose he had
flesh, but he had the flesh like Adam had when God created him.
Never die, Adam would have never died if he hadn't of sinned.
The body keeps reproducing itself, keeps renewing itself, keeps,
he lived forever. And when our Lord came out of
the grave, he told his disciples, they said, well they thought
it was a ghost. He said, a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones
as you see me, touch me. They said, touch me. And that's
what he's talking about here. And in this verse 40, now watch
this, there are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies.
And the glory of the heaven is one, the glory of the earth is
another. What's he saying here? Paul is saying there's a difference.
There's a difference. There's a difference in heaven,
in stressing the difference in what we shall be compared to
what we are now. Now we're earthly. Then we're
going to be heavenly. There's not going to be a difference
in us up there. but to be a difference in the
body we have and the body we had. Just like he said there's
a difference in heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. And we're
going to have a spiritual body, heavenly. Right now it's pure
earth, pure flesh. It's one glory of the sun, another
glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, and one star different
from another in glory. So also is the resurrection of
the dead. Now here's the difference. It's sown in corruption. This
body's corrupt in its thoughts and desires and all these things. It's sown in corruption, it's
raised in incorruption. And it's sown in dishonor, it's
raised in gloating. It's sown in weakness, it's raised
in power. It's sown in natural bodies,
raised in spiritual bodies. You see, that's the difference.
When we die, we're put in the ground. When we come out at His
coming, It's going to be as different as heaven and earth. It's going
to be as different as spiritual and natural. It's going to be
as different as holiness and death. That's right. There is
a natural body, there is a spiritual body. As it is written, now watch
this, here's where these bodies come from. The first man was
made a living soul, the last man a quickening spirit. However,
if that was not first, which is spiritual, But that which
is natural, afterwards that which is spiritual. That's the way
we are. The natural is first, then the spiritual. The first
man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. We're going to be like him. We're going to see him and
be like him. And there's a key there of understanding
that passage. Let me quote it. He said, Beloved,
now we're sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But we know when he shall appear,
we shall see him as he is, not as he was, as he is, and be like
him, heavenly bodies. The first man is of the earth,
the second man is the Lord in heaven. As he is the earthly,
so are we that are earthly. As he is the heavenly, so are
they which are heavenly. As we have borne the image of
the earthly, we shall bear the image of the
heavenly. You talk about exciting, something to look forward to.
That's when Paul said, I'm ready to leave here. I have a desire
to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Now brethren,
let me tell you this. Flesh and blood can't inherit
the kingdom of God. As you are now, you just can't
inherit the kingdom of God. Just like corruption can't inherit
incorruption. Behold, I'm going to show you
a mystery. We're not all going to sleep because when Christ
comes, somebody's going to be walking on this earth. Maybe
he's coming tonight. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Well,
we're not buried. We don't have to be. Watch this.
We shall not all sleep, but we're going to be changed in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye. At the last trump, the trump
will sound, and the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible.
And those that are living are going to be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality,
then and only then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is
swallowed up in victory. Whose victory? His. That's right. Oh, death, where's your sting?
O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and
our sins are put away. The strength of sin is the law.
He obeyed it. Thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, listen to me. Be steadfast. I looked up these
words. I want to tell you what they
mean. Steadfast means settled, established, rest. My brethren, be settled. Second,
unmovable. That means constant, fixed. Four times in the book of Psalms,
David said, My heart is fixed. I trust the Lord. My heart is
fixed. Be settled, established, unmovable,
fixed on Christ. Always abounding. Abounding in
the work of the Lord. Abounding in the ministry. Abounding
in faith. works of faith, labor of love,
a bounty in patience, for as much as you know, your labor
in the Lord, your faith in the Lord, your confidence in the
Lord, your rest in the Lord is not in vain. He's the first fruits. And I'm a tomato that's coming
along after him. And my dear wife, I said, you
believe I can preach 58 verses in one sermon? She said, no. I did it.

His Resurrection and Ours

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of Christ?

How do we know the resurrection of Christ is true?

Why is the resurrection important for Christians?

What does Paul mean by Christ being the firstfruits of the resurrection?

Why do Christians believe in a future resurrection?

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His Resurrection and Ours

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of Christ?

How do we know the resurrection of Christ is true?

Why is the resurrection important for Christians?

What does Paul mean by Christ being the firstfruits of the resurrection?

Why do Christians believe in a future resurrection?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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