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Well, Pastor already said my name.

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It's Gloria.

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And I'm reading today's scripture from 1 Corinthians 15, 50 through 57, page 991.

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I want to see somebody reach for a Bible in their pew and look that up in the Bible in

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the back of your pew.

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Okay.

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And here it goes.

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What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom

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of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

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Listen, I'm telling you a mystery.

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We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of

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an eye at the last trumpet.

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For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we will be changed.

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For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility and this mortal body

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must be clothed with immortality.

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When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility and this mortal body is clothed

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with immortality, then the saying which is written will take place.

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Death has been swallowed up in victory.

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Where death is your victory, where death is your sting.

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The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

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But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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This is God's word.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Thank you.

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If you have your Bibles handy there or the Bibles in the pew, yeah, the Bibles in the

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back of the pew, I would encourage you to turn over to 1 Corinthians 15.

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We'll be spending our time there.

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Today we begin a six week journey together titled Ashes, the glory of the gospel.

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And this journey tracks with what has historically been called the season of Lent.

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And some of you may wonder what is that?

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What is Lent?

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Is that something in my pocket or my belly button?

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No.

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Lent is actually derived from an old English word which means the spring season.

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And it came to represent more than just the spring season, it actually came to represent

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in the Christian faith this season of preparation pointing toward Easter.

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It also reflects the 40 days of Jesus' fasting and praying and his temptation in the wilderness.

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Lent is 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter if you don't count Sundays.

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And Sunday is the Lord's Day.

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And since Lent focused around reflection and fasting and repentance, they reserved the

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Lord's Day for celebration, feasting and participating together in the Lord's table.

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The earliest mention of a season of preparation before Easter or leading up to Easter dates

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back to the writings of Irenaeus from the late 100s AD.

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Go ahead and put that slide up there, Kaia.

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Irenaeus wrote about this season that the saints were going through in preparation for

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a celebration of Christ's resurrection.

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But it really didn't organize itself, the celebration of Lent and the season of preparation,

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until the period right around the Council of Nicaea 325 AD.

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And like I said before, the season of preparation was marked by a time of reflection and a time

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of fasting or abstaining from certain things, a time of repentance.

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And some scholars believe that in the beginning it was first applied to new converts, people

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who had just accepted the faith and were preparing for baptism on Easter.

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They went through this season, this time of training, learning about the gospel truths

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and spending time in repentance, reflection and fasting.

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But shortly after that it became much more widely adopted as a practice.

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The later Roman Catholic Church had specific rules for observation of Lent, including fasting

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and abstinence, whereas Protestant churches began to emphasize Lent as more of a time

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of personal reflection and devotion without the strict rules that were laid on by the

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Catholic Church.

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So you may ask, why are we participating or why are we even bringing this up?

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Well, my hope is that we are able throughout the year to mark off certain times and seasons

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for preparation, that we turn our hearts to certain things and that the Lord might over

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the next six weeks stir in our hearts affection for Him as we study.

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My hope is that we wouldn't just fly over this season leading us to Easter, but instead

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each one of us would spend time reflecting on three things primarily.

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The first being the gravity of the fallen human condition.

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Also the goodness of the character of our God.

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And finally, the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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The gravity of the fallen human condition, the goodness of the character of God and the

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glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Yes.

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So ashes represent the idea, thank you, Gloria.

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Ashes represent the idea that we are formed from dust and to dust we will return.

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And so it's a way of reflecting on the brevity of life, our mortality.

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So as we prepare and we prepare to reflect on these themes and we're gonna touch on a

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few different themes and each time we touch on those themes, I want you to remember these

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three kind of points here.

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The gravity of the fallen human condition will be present in each of the themes.

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The goodness of the character of God, look for that as well.

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And ultimately we always want to point to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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As you personally prepare to remember the cross on Good Friday and celebrate the resurrection

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on Easter, I pray that your time of preparation would also serve to deepen the meaning of

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both those and that it would stir up your affections to love and glory in who God is.

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Today we are going to talk about death.

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Many preachers have given up the old ideas about the total corruption of mankind.

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People are often, or not often told that they are guilty sinners before a holy God.

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Such sermons are looked at as relics of the old dark age.

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However, there is one old school preacher and he speaks today as boldly as ever.

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He is not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels over every part of the

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globe and speaks in every language under the sun.

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He visits the poor, he calls on the rich and preaches to people of every religion and many

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who are of no religion.

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He is an eloquent preacher though, often stirring up feelings which no other preacher could

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reach and bringing tears into eyes that seldom weep.

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He addresses himself to the conscience and to the heart.

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His arguments, none are able to refute nor is there any heart that has remained completely

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unmoved by the force of his appeals.

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Most people hate him and many are afraid in his presence.

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He is not polite.

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In fact, he often interrupts in public and breaks rudely on the private pleasures of

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life.

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He frequents stores, the office and the factory.

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He appears among legislators and intrudes on fashionable and religious gatherings at

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inconvenient times.

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This preacher's name is Death.

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And today we are going to face death.

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The problem of death is one of the greats, if not the great problems that face all of

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humankind.

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It does not care whether you are rich or poor.

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It does not care what race you are or what class you are a part of.

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Death reaches all parts of humanity.

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Through human history, people have disagreed on what to do with this problem of death.

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And two answers have often been offered to deal with it.

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The first is hide.

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Hide it.

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Hide from it.

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Pretend it really doesn't exist or at least keep it out of sight, keep it out of mind.

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This is particularly true of the modern Western world.

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Jews all over the world experience death, death in the streets, death right in front

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of you from a young child's, you know, a young age all the way until you are older, death

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is all around.

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But here we have cleaned it all up.

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We have put death out of sight.

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I bet it goes even more deep than that.

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You see death in the wrinkles on your face?

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Plastic surgery.

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I have got to fix this.

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More fitness, more herbs, more water, more masks, more quarantines.

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Older folks, man, I don't want to see that.

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I don't want to see as they march toward death, let's hide them away in nursing homes so we

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don't have to deal with the reality and the pain of death.

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That's one approach.

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The other approach we might take is to fully and completely embrace it.

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Death a welcomed friend.

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Mark Twain once said that I do not fear death, no.

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I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born and had not suffered

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the slightest inconvenience from it.

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Death?

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Oh, well that's just a return back to the infinite rest of my preborn state.

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Even Christians who know some biblical truth can fall into this thinking that death is

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simply a doorway.

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Death is just a means to an end.

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And we can civilize it.

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We can spruce it up.

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We can make it look pretty.

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But the Bible actually says something different about death.

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On the very first pages of scriptures in Genesis chapter two we see that humankind is eating

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of this life giving, life sustaining fruit in the garden.

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And they have free access to the tree of life in communion with God with one simple command

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which is to obey.

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Obey their creator who is good and who wants good for them.

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Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good or evil or else you will die.

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So what do they do?

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They disobey.

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They disobey and they rebel and they suffer the penalty which is banishment from the garden,

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no more access to the tree of life.

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Their physical bodies are now destined to return to the dust from which they were formed.

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From dust you are and to dust you will return.

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That is the ashes.

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In verse 26 of first Corinthians chapter 15, just before the scripture that Gloria read

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for us, the apostle Paul is talking about the work of Christ and he calls death the

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last enemy.

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Death is not a welcome friend.

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Death is not some hidden inevitability.

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Death is an enemy.

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Death is both the consequence of rebellion against the life giving goodness of our God

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and it is also the fear of death which produces in us all kinds of sin.

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There's a scripture that says eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.

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Someone who is fatalistic saying hey, it's all gonna end anyways.

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What's it worth?

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Let's eat, let's drink, let's be merry and people can get in a lot of trouble when they're

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merry making and drinking, right?

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Let's eat, let's drink, let's be merry.

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Tomorrow we die and it's that kind of fatalism that is like the parable of the rich fool

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that was told in Luke 16 and he sees his riches that he's amassed, that he's accumulated as

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some sort of escape from the reality of death.

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I can escape the reality of death, the fear of death by amassing this wealth and numbing

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myself to it, by giving myself all the pleasures that I can take so that day after day I'm

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stimulated with all of these pleasures and I don't have to think about the reality of

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death and the parable in Luke 16 says you fool, that night his life was demanded of

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him.

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The rich man numbs himself with his wealth, the poor man steals to eat to live to escape

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death.

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It is the fear of death and what awaits as a result of it that leads brother to turn

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on brother, that leads to all kinds of envy and strife, to stealing and murder.

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The human condition is tortured and terrorized by the fear of death.

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In our scripture this morning in verse 15 or verse 50 we read that flesh and blood cannot

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inherit the kingdom of God nor can corruption inherit the incorruptible.

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Flesh and blood is just another way of saying the parts of us that are subject to decay.

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Our frame is not strong enough to endure on its own.

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Our bodies are flesh and blood and our bodies are corruptible or another word that you could

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put there is perishable, some of your translations say that.

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Well what does it mean?

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Think about a banana peel, a banana peel that someone threw out the window.

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Banana peel lands on the side of the road, what happens to that banana peel?

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Does it live on forever?

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Having a good old life on the side?

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You know it, the water slowly is leached out of it, it starts to shrink up pretty soon,

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it's like that big and it's as hard as a stick and then the next time you look there it's

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gone, dust.

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It shrivels up, it hardens and returns to dust.

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Why?

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Because it has no life in and of itself.

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It has no life in and of itself.

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It cannot sustain itself forever.

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We cannot sustain ourselves.

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We are by nature perishable.

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This verse says, how can something that is subject to decay and death inherit and benefit

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from something that is incorruptible and eternal and the answer is it can't.

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The kingdom of God, the eternal rule and reign of God is incorruptible and not subject to

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decay.

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In 1 Timothy chapter six verse 16 it says that God alone is immortal.

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God alone is immortal.

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Living an unapproachable life, that he is self powered.

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He is not in need of anything, there is no resource that he needs to power himself or

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a person to sustain him but instead he is the source of all sustaining life.

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Jesus promised that the inheritance of the kingdom of God would go to his disciples,

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to those who were poor in spirit, who walked with him in obedience and trust and so something

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has to happen for them to inherit this kingdom which is incorruptible and they as human are

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corruptible.

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When humankind turned its back on God, we slipped steadily down that slope of corruption

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and decay and we fell right into the grips of death.

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The only one powerful enough, the only one not subject to death's grip is God.

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And so if humanity is to be rescued, it will have to be by the gracious power of the very

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one that humanity turned their back on.

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The only one with the power to save is the one that humanity rejected.

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The only hope for this condition is him.

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But why would he?

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Why would he?

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You and I aren't that good.

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Rejected, betrayed, stabbed in the back only to go and find a way to save them.

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Not frequently at least.

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Not repeatedly for sure.

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Well the apostle John, when he was writing about this, he wrote that a defining attribute

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of God is love.

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A defining attribute of our God is love.

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God is love and that this God of love so loved the world that he acted to save it.

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He so loved the world that he acted to save it that he desires that all would be saved

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from this curse of sin and death.

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He desires that all would be saved and he desires that he might have the opportunity,

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that he might be able to show mercy and forgiveness so that none would perish but all would have

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eternal life.

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This is in the very character of who God is.

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Humanity betrayed, turned their back and rebelled against God.

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If it had been any of the gods of the Greeks or any of the gods of the Romans, do you know

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what would have happened to humanity?

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Done.

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Gone.

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Toys in the hands of God.

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Furious gods.

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No, but it happened to a God whose essence, his character, his attribute, defining attribute

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that John lays out is love.

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He wants to show mercy.

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He desires to show mercy.

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He wants that none would perish.

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He loved the world so he acted to save it, to rescue it.

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He's also though a God who is just and holy and righteous and therefore if he was going

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to do anything, the way in which that he rescues humanity could in no way minimize.

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It could in no way minimize or ignore the rebellion that sin had caused.

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And so he is a God of love.

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He is a God of mercy.

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He is a God of forgiveness.

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He's a God of justice.

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He's a God of righteousness.

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He's a holy God.

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Every sin must be paid for.

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Every act of rebellion must be punished.

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It is only right and fitting for a holy, just, righteous God.

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And that's difficult for us because you and I, we tend to move between attitudes and attributes.

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We're like loving and then you cross me or you do something bad and I just flip and I'll

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apply a different one to you now.

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I don't like you.

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00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,580
You messed with the wrong guy.

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I went from love and I want to supply for you and care for you to vengeance.

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I want to undercut you.

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I want to cut you off in the car.

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I want to pull you out of your, whatever it is, we switch our attributes, our characteristics.

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It's difficult for us to understand a God who is constantly all that he is.

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Constantly and consistently all he is without favoring one attribute over the other in perfect

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unity and harmony all the time.

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When he acts out of his justice, he is also acting out of his mercy, out of his love,

283
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out of his holiness.

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He cannot act contrary to who he is.

285
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:14,000
And so he is both God, the God of love, God of mercy, the God of forgiveness and the God

286
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,080
of justice, the God of holiness.

287
00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,400
So how is this going to happen?

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How is God going to accomplish the rescue mission that he so wants to have for humanity?

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00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:29,920
Well, how could God who is immortal, incorruptible and imperishable, how could he retrieve us

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00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:31,720
from death?

291
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:33,900
We are in the clutches, the grip of death.

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How could that God who has never exposed himself to corruption and cannot fade away for he

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00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:46,240
is eternal, a source of life within himself, how can he rescue us from the clutches of

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00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:50,960
the perishable, the corruptible death?

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00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:57,960
Paul says in verse 51 of our scripture, I love this part, he says, listen, I'm telling

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00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,640
you a mystery.

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00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,320
And that listen is like, lean in, come here.

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00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:09,200
You're about to hear something revealed for the first time.

299
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:10,880
I'm gonna reveal something.

300
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:11,880
And what does he reveal?

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00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:20,720
He says, we will not all fall asleep, but we all will be changed.

302
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,240
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound

303
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:29,760
and the dead will rise incorruptible and we will all be changed.

304
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:31,920
Here Paul is saying, again, lean in.

305
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,520
I want to tell you this mystery that God is revealing to you.

306
00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:40,560
When God's defeat of death is once for all put on display for everyone to see, it'll

307
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:41,560
happen like this.

308
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:42,560
You ready?

309
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,560
It'll happen like this.

310
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,000
We will not all fall asleep.

311
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,800
What does that mean?

312
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,640
Fall asleep is this kind of euphemism that's used in the New Testament and it's used of

313
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,980
believers specifically.

314
00:23:54,980 --> 00:23:57,680
Other people die, we fall asleep.

315
00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:58,680
Why?

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00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:03,040
Because we plan on being woken up.

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00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,000
We're coming back.

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00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:06,840
Not all of us though will fall asleep.

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00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:13,680
The scripture tells us that some will be alive when that trumpet sounds, when Christ returns.

320
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:14,680
Not all will be dead.

321
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,880
It's not like humanity comes to the end and everyone dies and there's no one on earth

322
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:19,360
and then Jesus comes back.

323
00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:20,800
Some are alive.

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00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,000
Some have not fallen asleep yet.

325
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,680
Others have.

326
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:30,240
But either way, whether you are alive or asleep, you'll be changed.

327
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,000
You'll be changed.

328
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,160
And is this change a process?

329
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:42,520
Is it an evolutionary process over tens of billions of years that we'll know?

330
00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,800
It says in a moment.

331
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,360
It's this Greek word at most.

332
00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:50,120
We get the word Adam from it.

333
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,360
It's something that is undividable.

334
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:56,280
That's the smallest possible unit.

335
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,440
The smallest possible unit.

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00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,640
In other words, in a moment.

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00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:02,640
In a moment.

338
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,280
And then he adds onto that, he embellishes on it.

339
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,440
He says in the twinkling of an eye.

340
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,920
And the word twinkling actually means casting or throwing.

341
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:11,520
So really it's like this.

342
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:12,520
See this speaker over here?

343
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,520
You guys see that speaker?

344
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,040
When I say go, look at that speaker over there.

345
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:18,040
Ready?

346
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,880
Set, go.

347
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,800
That fast.

348
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,760
That actually is probably too long, honestly.

349
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:26,880
Because you had to move your head too.

350
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,280
So I'm gonna walk over here by the speaker.

351
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,520
Look up at the speaker and then look at me.

352
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:33,520
Ready?

353
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:34,520
Set, go.

354
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:35,520
That fast.

355
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:41,200
And the twinkling of an eye and the throwing of your eye, the casting of your gaze changed.

356
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,160
I remember as a kid thinking about this moment.

357
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,200
When Jesus is coming back and I thought, well, I'm gonna see it and I'm gonna be like, whoa.

358
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,200
And then I'll be like, what?

359
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,640
I gotta run home and tell someone and then I gotta confess really quick for the last

360
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,040
few sins that I've done and pray that God takes me up there.

361
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,680
You're not gonna have any time.

362
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,200
Bam, changed.

363
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:03,960
Changed.

364
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,480
Twinkling of an eye, a moment, an atmos.

365
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:12,760
You will be changed.

366
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:18,160
Some will be alive, some will be dead, but all will be changed.

367
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:19,880
Then at the sounding of a trumpet.

368
00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,080
The trumpet was actually, there was the last trumpet.

369
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,200
The last trumpet was something well known to the Roman community.

370
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,920
It was the trumpet that sounded when the victor won the games.

371
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:32,400
The last trumpet.

372
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:39,920
When the victory was won, the trumpet sounded and it signaled triumph.

373
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:41,960
It signaled overcoming.

374
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,960
The trumpet marked the victor.

375
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:52,360
And Paul says that the final event of time in history, the final event will be a trumpet

376
00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,520
and a change.

377
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,240
A trumpet and a change.

378
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:04,960
And the new life in the kingdom of God, for those of us who follow after Christ and yearn

379
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:10,480
to be in his presence and long to be restored to him, the new life in the kingdom of God

380
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,080
under his reign and rule will require new clothes.

381
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:19,200
It will require new clothes, new equipment and God will have to provide them for us and

382
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,120
that's exactly what he's saying.

383
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:23,880
I got new threads for you guys.

384
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:29,600
You're gonna put them on, you're gonna be in.

385
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:35,560
What we're talking about here is the glorified resurrected body that God has in store for

386
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,640
all who believe.

387
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,360
For those who are dead, I don't know how it's gonna work.

388
00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:46,760
Is he gonna gather up all of the molecules and atoms that represent the dust of those

389
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:51,720
people and bring them together and reform them and bring new life and a glorified body

390
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:52,720
into it?

391
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:53,720
I don't know how it's gonna work.

392
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:55,440
Some of us will still be alive.

393
00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:56,920
I don't know if it's coming next.

394
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,760
Paul thought maybe it was happening in his time, but either way it's gonna happen, the

395
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:05,560
dead, a new body, those who are alive walking around with their current body, a change,

396
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:06,560
a new body.

397
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,560
It'll be theirs.

398
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,800
Resurrection, glorification is the process of equipping our bodies for the kingdom of

399
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:15,800
God.

400
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,200
Not everyone likes their body here.

401
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,160
In fact, lots of people are tortured by that.

402
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:29,280
The fading beauty or the beauty that never was or the life that we've had to live in

403
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,560
these bodies.

404
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,120
God will give us a glorified body.

405
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,520
It's coming and it's for all who believe.

406
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,240
And notice something else that it doesn't say that he will destroy everything and remake

407
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:41,840
it.

408
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:46,240
He says it'll change, change.

409
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:50,000
We will be clothed in an incorruptible nature.

410
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:55,000
And when this happens, we will see, it says we will see the fulfillment of what was promised

411
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:56,000
before.

412
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:57,240
And here's the promise, okay?

413
00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,680
We're coming up to the end here.

414
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,960
The promise begins in verse 54.

415
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:05,360
The promise comes after verse 54.

416
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:06,360
Here we go.

417
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:11,320
In this corruptible body, it's clothed with incorruptibility.

418
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:15,960
And this mortal body is clothed with immortality.

419
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:22,240
Then the saying that was written in Isaiah and Hosea, many hundreds of years before the

420
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:27,400
events of Jesus Christ, the saying that was said back then will be fulfilled.

421
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:32,240
And here it is.

422
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:36,920
Death has been swallowed up in victory.

423
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:41,280
And then the mocking happens because awesome, that's what they used to do when you defeated

424
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,760
someone is you mocked the person you defeated.

425
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,880
Death, where's your sting?

426
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:53,080
Oh, death, where's your victory?

427
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,320
Ha, ha.

428
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,600
You don't get the final word.

429
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:06,600
You thought you were the biggest thing in all the world, in all the universe.

430
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:11,120
You thought you could swallow up anyone and everyone.

431
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:12,120
What happened?

432
00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:13,120
Death, ha.

433
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:22,560
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives

434
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,600
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

435
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,040
How did he do it?

436
00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:32,700
How did God, who is imperishable, go into the heart of death and save humanity from

437
00:30:32,700 --> 00:30:33,700
its grips?

438
00:30:33,700 --> 00:30:40,720
Well, God clothed himself in the corruptible so that we might receive the incorruptible.

439
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,680
He clothed himself in the incarnation.

440
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:51,200
He became flesh in the person of Jesus, a uniting of his divine nature, and our flesh

441
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:52,200
nature took place.

442
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,440
And out of that, we have Christ.

443
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:55,840
He took on our nature.

444
00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,680
He became like us, the God we rejected, the God that we rebelled against, we turned on

445
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:07,920
back on, but the only one in all the cosmos who could save us, he took on our nature.

446
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:14,020
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus.

447
00:31:14,020 --> 00:31:19,540
And in doing so, he lived in perfect obedience to God.

448
00:31:19,540 --> 00:31:20,760
We rebelled.

449
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,600
We had one, one law.

450
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,960
Don't eat the fruit from that tree.

451
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:27,960
Just trust me.

452
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,920
We couldn't do it.

453
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:32,580
Fruit looked really good.

454
00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:34,360
Some weird snake thing said, eat it.

455
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,400
We're like, cool, let's eat it.

456
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:44,240
Jesus comes along and perfectly obeys the Father, perfectly obeys the Father, and he

457
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:49,400
does not give in to temptation and sin.

458
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:54,320
And this one of Word, who became flesh, Jesus, he died on the cross in the God man who was

459
00:31:54,320 --> 00:32:01,320
guilty of no sin ever, willingly took our punishment for our sin.

460
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,160
He paid the wages.

461
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:04,640
This is how Romans puts it.

462
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:10,280
The wages of sin is death.

463
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:17,560
If you sin, like if I go to work or you go to work and you work, you get paid.

464
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,360
If you sin, you get paid.

465
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,520
Death.

466
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,200
The wages of sin is death.

467
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:33,400
But the one who sinned, not at all, willingly bore the penalty that all of us were on the

468
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,320
hook to pay death.

469
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:40,540
And it says that he surrendered his life even unto death.

470
00:32:40,540 --> 00:32:43,440
He said, take me death.

471
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,120
Try to swallow me.

472
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:51,840
But how could death completely swallow up the Son of God?

473
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:52,960
How could he do that?

474
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:58,680
It certainly had the power to swallow up you and I, but the eternally existing Son of God,

475
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:08,320
who is the source of all life, who lives in unapproachable light, how do you swallow him?

476
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,720
And in that, death met its match.

477
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,400
Death never had a chance.

478
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:18,880
Death deserves mocking because Jesus was victorious over death.

479
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:24,600
Second Timothy tells us, Second Timothy 1, 10, says that Jesus abolished death.

480
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,880
Death was the penalty for a law that was broken.

481
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,440
Jesus says, no, not anymore, I'll take it.

482
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,240
I took all the penalty on myself.

483
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:38,320
No longer is death required for the breaking of the law.

484
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:47,620
The law, the one law, the big law from the Old Testament was the one who sins must die.

485
00:33:47,620 --> 00:33:50,680
And Jesus said, I paid for that one, for all of them.

486
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:51,960
It's paid.

487
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:53,320
So that law abolished.

488
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,680
Not necessary anymore.

489
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,160
Death's already paid.

490
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,680
Jesus satisfied the required penalty for our disobedience by paying the price for our debt

491
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:03,880
and he satisfied God's justice.

492
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,760
God was still just in being able to do this.

493
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:11,640
His character could still be put on display and gloried in by all of creation because

494
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:15,520
he was both merciful and loving and just.

495
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,560
The penalty was still paid for and he could save humanity.

496
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:21,160
What kind of God is this?

497
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:26,040
If you haven't read large and wide on the other kinds of gods that are out there, do

498
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:27,040
it.

499
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,920
And you'll go, what kind of God is this?

500
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,440
Who would do such a thing for his creation?

501
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,160
The resurrection, the ultimate resurrection is our hope.

502
00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:38,160
Why?

503
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:39,160
Because Jesus first went there.

504
00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:44,680
Yes, he went into death and he rescued us, but he came up from the grave, resurrected

505
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,560
as the first fruits for all of us so we could see and we could have a hope in what would

506
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:52,200
come one day for us.

507
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:58,560
As Jesus was glorified and walked among his disciples and interacted, so we will have

508
00:34:58,560 --> 00:34:59,560
that body.

509
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:00,560
He's the first fruits.

510
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:07,560
And he shows us that the power of death to completely swallow us is broken.

511
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,480
Resurrection is our hope.

512
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:10,480
I'm gonna read a scripture.

513
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:11,480
Where did I put my Bible?

514
00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:13,480
All right, here we go.

515
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:14,480
First Corinthians.

516
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:18,240
Sorry, I'm getting excited this morning.

517
00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:25,640
This is good stuff, man.

518
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,480
Earlier in 1 Corinthians 15, I'm gonna begin in verse 12.

519
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:31,440
I'm gonna read a big chunk of scripture here.

520
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:36,840
It's not gonna be on the board, just glory in it.

521
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,080
Just rest in it.

522
00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:43,440
Just marvel in it.

523
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:51,000
Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is

524
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,440
no resurrection of the dead?

525
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:58,080
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

526
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:02,760
And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain.

527
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:05,160
And so is your faith.

528
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,040
Your faith's worthless if Christ didn't raise.

529
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:12,640
Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we've testified wrongly

530
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:20,760
about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised.

531
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,600
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

532
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,520
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless.

533
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:32,060
You are still in your sins.

534
00:36:32,060 --> 00:36:36,760
Those then who have fallen asleep in Christ will also perish, those who've gone before.

535
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:41,320
And if we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, then we are to be pitied above

536
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:47,040
all others.

537
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:54,040
But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead and the firstfruits of those who

538
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:55,200
have fallen asleep.

539
00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:59,920
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.

540
00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:08,280
For just as in Adam all died, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

541
00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:09,280
Amen.

542
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:21,360
And in the place of the reign of fear, sin, and death, Jesus established the reign of

543
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:23,960
grace.

544
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:29,440
No longer under the reign of terror that is death, we are now under the reign of grace.

545
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:34,040
Romans five says, because of one man's trespasses, death reigns.

546
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:39,920
Because of one man's trespasses, death reigns through that one man.

547
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,440
How much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness

548
00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:51,160
reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?

549
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:58,120
This morning, we remember the gravity of the fallen human condition.

550
00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,160
Death is no welcomed friend.

551
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:01,520
Death is our great enemy.

552
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:05,000
It's a neighborhood bully.

553
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,120
And we must remember that our life in this body is temporary.

554
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:13,600
It is not suited for the kingdom of God.

555
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:19,840
And that changes a lot of the way we live and how we view this body.

556
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:24,240
There's a story that Eugene Peterson tells in one of his books.

557
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:26,760
He went to visit a monastery.

558
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:31,220
And while visiting the monastery and interacting with the monks, it was meal time.

559
00:38:31,220 --> 00:38:35,300
And so they moved from one area of the compound to the dining hall.

560
00:38:35,300 --> 00:38:37,220
And it was an outdoor path.

561
00:38:37,220 --> 00:38:41,520
And as they walked on the path, this outdoor path to the dining hall, they passed by a

562
00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:43,200
small graveyard.

563
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:49,400
A graveyard for those who were a part of the monastery or ministered to by the monastery,

564
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:50,400
a very small one.

565
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:57,120
And he noticed right near the path, one grave had freshly been dug.

566
00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:58,920
And it was empty.

567
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:02,680
Nothing was in it yet, but the pile of dirt was next to it.

568
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,520
And it was ready.

569
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:08,680
And he turned to one of the monks that he was walking with.

570
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:16,520
And he said, I'm so sorry, like who of your people have died recently?

571
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:20,240
You guys must be in mourning or someone you know must have died.

572
00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:23,480
And the monk casually looked at him and said, no one.

573
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,360
And then in silence, they kept walking to the dining hall.

574
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:28,680
And he thought that was odd and peculiar.

575
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:34,520
And until it dawned on him that this grave had been dug.

576
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:39,520
As a daily reminder, three times a day, they had to walk from where they were to the dining

577
00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:40,520
hall.

578
00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:45,920
And they walked by an open, empty grave to remind them that they could be next.

579
00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:53,680
And their body will one day go into the ground from dust we were created to dust we will

580
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:54,680
return.

581
00:39:54,680 --> 00:40:02,280
But I feel like that statement too around ashes and around Ash Wednesday, we talked

582
00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:06,000
about it a little bit earlier where it says, you are dust.

583
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,040
And to dust you will return.

584
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:12,040
I just I still feel like it's missing something.

585
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:17,740
I just want to add on there until the resurrection.

586
00:40:17,740 --> 00:40:23,360
From dust you are until the resurrection.

587
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:25,440
It's coming.

588
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,920
Death where is your sting?

589
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:30,640
We've remembered the fallen human condition.

590
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:36,600
We also remember that God in his love, mercy and justice is good.

591
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:42,160
And he would not allow humanity to slip away into the grips of death.

592
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:49,920
And so he planned and executed the greatest rescue mission for you and I.

593
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:54,920
And I think the final thing we did this morning is we gloried in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

594
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:56,720
Death where is your sting?

595
00:40:56,720 --> 00:40:58,760
Oh, death.

596
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:03,360
Oh, big tough death.

597
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,280
You don't get the last word.

598
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:07,280
That's right.

599
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:08,280
You were disarmed.

600
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:09,280
That's right.

601
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:10,560
You're powerless.

602
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:14,600
The neighborhood bully has no more strength.

603
00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:17,240
And therefore we can walk with no fear.

604
00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:20,720
For we are promised a resurrected glorified life in the kingdom of God.