Now here's my text today, John
chapter 6, verse 39 through 44. John 6, 39 through 44. Now my
subject is the resurrection of the dead, or this is the title
of the message, I will raise him up. I will raise him up. Now while I read the text, you
listen for that phrase, I will raise him up. Now listen carefully. I'm reading John 6 verse 39. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking and He says, This is the Father's will which hath
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise him up. again at the last day, I will
raise him up. Verse 40, and this is the will
of him that sent me that everyone which seeth the sun by faith
sees the sun and believes on him may have everlasting life
and I will raise him up at the last day. Now verse 44, no man
can come to me Believe on me. Come to Christ in faith. Except
the Father which hath sent me, draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. I will raise him up at the last
day. We're talking about the resurrection
of those who have died in Christ. Now, of all the doctrines which
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us, perhaps,
perhaps, the most difficult to human thought and human understanding
is the actual resurrection of this body from the grave, from
the dead. After this body has died and
rotted and decayed and gone back to the dust, for God to raise
it up a hundred, two hundred, 5,000 years later, for God to
raise it up, a new and glorified body. That's perhaps the most
difficult doctrine for the human mind and understanding, but the
Word of God promises that. The Word of God promises to believers
a perfection of soul and a perfection of body, body and soul, and an
eternity of glory and happiness on a new earth, a resurrected
earth, a new earth, recreated earth and heaven. Actually, our
Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated the glorified, resurrected body
when he appeared to his disciples in the 24th chapter of Luke.
Do you remember? Have you read that scripture,
Luke 24, beginning at verse 36? when He appeared to His disciples
after He had risen from the grave. And this is what He said to them.
They were afraid. They saw Him die. They buried
Him. And here He is standing in the midst of them. And the
first thing He said to them is this, It is I Myself. It is Christ Himself. That's
the word He uses in verse 36, Christ Himself. And then He said,
It is I Myself. Well, they were afraid. They
thought they'd seen a ghost, a spirit. And he says, a spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see me have. Touch me. That's what he said. Handle me.
A spirit does not have flesh and bones or does not have a
body. And then he showed them his hands
and feet. Why did he do that? Why didn't
he show them his head or his back? He showed them his hands
and feet. I'll tell you why he did that. There were scars in
his hands, the nail prints, and in his feet. And they recognized
him. They saw the Roman soldiers drive those nails into his hands
and into his feet. And he said, look, it's I myself. A spirit doesn't have flesh and
bones as you see me have. Touch me. Behold my hands and
my feet. And they were still in unbelief. They still did not believe for
joy. And he said, now listen, Do you
have anything to eat? And they said, we have some fish
and a honeycomb. And he took the fish and the
honeycomb and ate it in front of them. Our resurrected body
is going to be like his. Now, I know that's tough. You
stay with me and listen, though, as I show you this from the scriptures. But our Lord was in the grave
and he arose. And this is the body that he
had and showed to his disciples. And we're going to have a body
just like his. Now, the first preachers and
apostles, they went forth preaching two doctrines for which they
were hated, stoned, imprisoned, and finally martyred, slain. Do you know what those two doctrines
were? The two doctrines for which they were hated and stoned and
imprisoned and finally put to death. The first one is this,
salvation. by the free grace of God, not
of works, lest any man should boast, but salvation through
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
by faith, not by works, not by keeping days and paying tithes
and doing certain duties. Salvation is the gift of God,
by the grace of God, through the sacrifice of Christ, through
the blood of the Son of God, by the Holy Spirit's regeneration
through faith in Christ to believe Him. That's what they preached
in opposition to duties and traditions and customs and professions. Salvation is the work of God
in the heart. That's the first doctrine. And
the second was this, the other doctrine which cannot be separated
from the first. The other doctrine for which
they were despised and hated and finally slain was the resurrection
of the dead. That's right, the resurrection
of the dead. What I read to you a moment ago,
salvation is by grace, salvation is through the blood of Christ,
salvation is by faith in Christ and faith alone, and those who
believe are going to be raised from the dead in perfection. In holiness and in corruption
in power in glory and be made just like the lord who redeemed
them That's what he said that I read to you a few moments ago
He said this is the father's will which has sent me that of
all which he had given me By his grace. I'll lose nothing
but raise it up again at the last day And everyone that seeth
the son and believeth on him May have everlasting life and
i'll raise him up again at the last day No man can come to me
except my father was sent me draw him and they shall be taught
of God and learned of the father and Everyone that's taught of
God and learned of the father cometh to me and I'll raise him
up at the last day those two doctrines stand together Salvation
full complete eternal by the blood of Christ by the grace
of God through faith and the resurrection of the dead all
who believe are going to be resurrected and made like Christ. Now the
Old Testament believers, you say, where do you get that doctrine?
Throughout the Word of God. All of the Old Testament believers
look forward to the resurrection of the body. They believe that
the body would rise. Let me quote some of them. Abraham,
he accounted that God was able to raise up Isaac even from the
dead. Abraham believed in the resurrection. Job, listen to Job. Though after
my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh and bones, as
Christ said, I shall see God, whom I shall see myself and not
another. I'm going to die and worms will
destroy this body, but I'm going to see God in my flesh. David
said, I would not leave my body in the grave. Daniel said, those
who sleep in the dust shall rise. Isaiah said God's dead man shall
live together With my dead body shall they rise? That's Daniel
Isaiah Listen Isaiah The dead shall live together He shall
raise them up and they shall live in his sight all of the
Old Testament believers believed in the resurrection of the dead
and then the Apostles and Like I told you, they went forth preaching
salvation by grace and the resurrection of the dead. And the thing that
people hated and despised, not only that message of redemption
by Christ, but the resurrection. In Acts 1.22, when they chose
an apostle to take the place of Judas, the apostle said, now,
he must be a witness of the resurrection of our Lord. He's got to have
seen the resurrection because that's what he's gonna preach
If Christ or I'll tell you that in a minute listen to this Acts
2 31 Peter's message on Pentecost was largely a declaration of
Christ's resurrection He said you with wicked hands have crucified
the Lord of glory, but God raised him up This same Jesus whom you
crucified hath God raised up God raised him Acts 4, 1 and
2, the apostles were arrested and put in jail. Why? It says,
for preaching the resurrection of the dead. In Acts 17, 18,
you remember this story, don't you, when Paul came to Mars Hill
to preach? And it says that he was accused,
listen, he was accused of setting forth strange gods because he
preached the resurrection of the dead. In Acts 17, 32, they
mocked Him and ridiculed Him when they heard Him preach. What?
The resurrection of the dead. And then in Acts 23, verse 6,
Paul was called in question. Why? For preaching the resurrection
of the dead. Now here's what I want you to
see. And you jot this down. If you don't turn down and read
it, jot it down. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 13. Paul
presents the problems that we face if there's no resurrection
of the body. If there is no resurrection of
this body, I'm going to die and be buried, and someday the Word
says I'll be raised. Now listen, if there's no resurrection,
Christ is not risen. This is 1 Corinthians 15, 13
through 19. If there's no resurrection, our
preaching is vain and your faith is vain. Thirdly, if there's
no resurrection, we're false witnesses of God. Fourthly, if
there's no resurrection, we're yet in our sins. Five, if there's no resurrection,
all who have died in faith are perished. All your loved ones
perished. In the sixth place, if there's
no resurrection, all we have is this world, and if all we
have is this world, we are of all men most miserable if there's
no resurrection. Philippians 3, Paul said, but
thank God there is. Thank God for the promise of
the resurrection. I will raise him up. Listen,
our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our vile bodies and make
them like His glorified body. Yes, He will. Now, here's the
big question. Here's the big question. Here's
what causes the problem in these human minds and thoughts. Here's
the question. How are the dead raised? And
with what body do they come? Now, we're old enough and live
long enough and seen enough death to know what it's like. The body
dies and it's buried. And it rots. And it decays. And it goes back to the dust
from whence it came. And what the problem is, what
the thing that is the problem to us is the deterioration of
the body. The total deterioration of this
body. And that presents a problem.
But one of the great old writers said, that's not a problem. That's
not a problem. The decay and corruption of the
body is not a problem to the resurrection. It's a necessity. What? Yes. The decay of the body,
the death of the body is necessary in order that there shall be
a new body, a new person. The old person's got to die and
decay and disappear. before the new body comes forth.
That's what the Lord said in John 12. Listen, listen, listen,
will you? John 12, 24. Except a grain of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. He says if you got a grain of
corn or a grain of wheat in your hand, you hold it a long time. No change. It's still a shriveled,
wrinkled grain of corn. What do you got to do? You got
to bury it. It's got to die. It's got to decay. It's got to
rot. And listen, but if it dies, it'll
bring forth more fruit. It'll grow up. So that grain
of wheat or corn decaying, that's not the problem. That's the necessity. The problem is if it doesn't
decay. And 1 Corinthians 15.35 says this, but some man will
say, but how are the dead raised? With what body do they come?
Thy fool. Thy fool. That which you plant
is not made alive to bear fruit except it die. That's what Paul,
that's the answer he gives. Now let me see if I can help
you with that. Listen. We plant seeds. Most of you people listening
to my voice today have planted gardens. And you put a seed in
the ground, and there that seed dies and rots and decays by water
and dust. And in a few days, there's a
green blade appears, which grows and grows and grows until it
becomes a full stalk of corn or wheat. and has a beautiful,
luscious ear of corn on it with many, many grains. Now, this
tall stalk of corn which is growing there, is that the same corn
you planted? Well, you say, yes, of course
it is. It came right up where I planted it. It came out of
the same little shriveled seed I put in the ground This New
Year's stalk of corn came from it, of course. That's where I
planted it. And this happens before our eyes
every day, and we take it for granted. Everybody takes this
miracle for granted. Every year we plant seeds, and
then these beautiful vegetables come up, and they fill our tables,
and we take them for granted. A few days ago, all we had was
a little shrivelly grain of corn and now we have a five or six
foot stalk of corn and no one doubts it's the same corn we
planted. Came out of the same hole in
the ground where we put that little shrivel dried up wrinkled
grain of corn. Now listen to me, this body will one day die and it'll be
buried And it'll be buried as an old shriveled seed, dried
up, no life, no beauty about it, fit for nothing, but to be
put in the ground. And there it'll rot. And there
it'll go back to dust. And the years will pass. And
when the trumpet of God sounds some morning, and the Lord Jesus
Christ comes, there's a new body going to come forth from that
old seed. It'll be a glorified body. It'll
be in full flower. It'll be worthy of Him who made
it. And while it'll be the same body that I planted and you planted,
it'll be oh, so different. Oh, so different. You understand
what Paul is saying? People say, well, how are the
dead raised? With what body do they come? He says, now take
that grain of corn that you planted. You've got to put it in the ground.
And from that grain of corn comes a new stalk, beautiful, rich,
and wonderful. And then in 1 Corinthians 15,
42, Paul talking about these bodies said they'll be buried
in corruption. Corruption. A frail body, a weary body, a
body full of disease, decay, flesh, a vessel of clay with
sin in its nature and essence. It'll be raised in incorruption,
without sickness, without disease, without suffering. Can you think
about that? Without the possibility of wear or destruction. You remember
when the Israelites were walking through the wilderness 40 years?
Did you ever read Deuteronomy 29.5? It says their shoes didn't
wear out. They wore the same shoes for
40 years and the same clothes for 40 years. I've been preaching
the gospel over 40 years, and this is not the first suit that
I had when I started preaching the gospel. The others, they've
worn out. Worn out a lot of something.
And this old body's wearing out. And it's going to be sewn in
corruption, but it's going to be raised indestructible. Indestructible. Incorruptible. It'll never wear out. He said
it'll be buried in dishonor. It'll be raised in power, holiness. It will be raised in glory, subject
to deformity that makes it ugly. This body is subject to losses
that make it useless. People, you lose the use of their
arms and legs, their eyes and ears. This body is subject to
bruises and sores and wounds and scars, subject to age and
weariness and sin. It will be raised. in glory,
unblemished holiness, spotless beauty, loveliness. Our new bodies
will be without wrinkle, without spot, without stain, without
age, eternal beauty, eternal youth, so that our youth is renewed
like the eagles. It'll be buried in weakness.
This body is too weak to work without weariness. It's too weak
to think without foolishness. It's too weak to live without
sin. It's too weak to walk without falling. It's too weak to continue
without dying. But he said, I'm gonna raise
it in power. I had an old friend, he's dead
now, but he used to sing a song. I'll never grow tired again,
praise the Lord. I'll never grow tired again. And in that new body, there'll
be, listen, no emotional burden, no physical burden, no mental
burden will ever present itself because God's gonna wipe away
all tears from their eyes. There'll be no more death, no
more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. I'll make all things
new. Our eyes will see unlimited distances. Our ears will hear the beauty
of heaven. Our memories will never fail
and never forget. Can you imagine that? Our minds
will comprehend all things. I'll know like I've been known.
Our hearts will love perfectly because we're going to be like
Jesus Christ. That's what the scripture teaches.
I'll raise him up. And just like that little shriveled,
wrinkled, useless grain of corn, you can't even eat it. It's not
table worthy. It's just one thing you can do
with it. Put it in the ground. Put it away. Bury it out of sight. And you stand back and watch
the power of my God. Stand back and watch the power
of my God. And every time you bury a believer, he said, those
that the Father gave me, I'll not lose, I'll lose nothing,
I'll raise Him up. Those who see the Son and believe
on Him, I'll raise Him up. Those whom the Father draws and
they come to me, I'll raise them up. There were two martyrs, two
martyrs who were going to be burned at the stake during the
days of Queen Mary, Bloody Mary over in England. One of them
was a crippled man, one of them was a blind man. And before they
lit the fire, the crippled man turned to his brother, the blind
brother, in the faith. And he said, my brother, have
courage. This fire is going to heal both
of us. This fire is going to heal both
of us. I read an illustration. There
was an old, old woman who lived all of her 90 years in an old
house. She was born in that old house
and lived there all her life. And it's now old and broken down. It's cold in the winter and hot
in the summer. That old house, the windows are
small and dark and the roof leaks and the foundation's crumbling.
And she feels like a prisoner. And often times she cries like
Paul the Apostle, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this bondage, this body of death in this old house. And
one day her landlord comes by. And he calls to her and he calls
her by name. He says, now you come with me.
I'm going to build you a new house. I'm going to tear down
your old house, I'm going to destroy your old house, and I'm
going to build a brand new house for you. So you come live with
me while I tear down your old house and build a new one. You
come live with me." You know, Paul said, if our earthly house
of this tabernacle be destroyed, while it's being destroyed, while
it's rotting and decaying and going back to dust, we have a
building eternal in the heavens, not made with hands, made by
God. And that's our residence and
our habitation and our dwelling place till he builds the new
house. Now listen, the landlord said,
you come live with me. Come live with me while I destroy
the old house and build another. So every board is ripped up and
every stone falls and the foundation is dug up and nothing remains,
nothing remains, nothing. Not any remembrance, just maybe
a memory. Where it was? The place where
it stood? Nothing remains! Nothing. And soon the new house is finished.
And the foundation is eternal stone. And the walls are precious
gems. And the gates are pure gold.
And the windows look out over the river of life. And it'll
never fail, and it'll never fall. and the landlord, our eternal
Lord, says, come now and move into your new house and enjoy
it forever. I'll raise him up. My friends,
that's the promise of our God. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll in no wise
cast out. And this is the will of my Father which sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I'll lose nothing, I'm going
to raise him up at that last day. And everyone that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, hath everlasting life. And I'll
raise him up at the last day. And no man can come to me except
my Father draw him. And those whom my Father draws
and teaches, from whom they learn, I'll raise them up. If you want
this message, it's called, I'll Raise Him Up. You write for it,
send two dollars, we'll mail it to you. Here's the address.
Till next week, the Lord bless you.