WEBVTT 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:07.040 Let's pray once again. Heavenly Father, we are 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.259 rejoicing in you and your great love for us this 00:00:12.259 --> 00:00:19.100 morning. Love that denied his only begotten son 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:23.620 that we might live. So we ask that you would 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:27.100 continue with us now as we open your word. That 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:29.839 you'd speak to us through it. That it would go 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:33.420 forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. accomplishing 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:35.700 all of your perfect will in the hearts of your 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:39.579 people. Grant unto us the response of faith this 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:42.039 morning that we would put into practice all that 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:48.320 you teach. Have mercy on the lost, Father. Grant 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.899 repentance and faith to some who are yet in their 00:00:50.899 --> 00:00:54.780 sins. Pray that you would help me as I declare 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:57.679 the word that I would think and speak clearly 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.740 all that you've given to me and nothing but what 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:05.239 you've given to me. Glorify yourself there in 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:07.480 this time, Father, and we ask it in Christ's 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:12.299 name. Amen. Continuing then in 1 Corinthians 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:23.060 15 this morning. Turn there with me. Paul's going 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:26.219 to be answering two questions. He anticipates, 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:28.879 or probably has heard, some of the reasoning 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:33.680 of the resurrection deniers. So he's going to 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:38.420 deal with two of their accusations in these verses 00:01:38.420 --> 00:01:41.120 that we're going to look at this morning. Remember, 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:44.760 there's no gospel without the resurrection. The 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.799 importance of the truth of the resurrection must 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:51.299 always be emphasized. We serve the living Christ. 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.819 He's not on the cross. He's not in the grave. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:58.780 He's risen. He is alive. And he cares for us 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:01.659 day by day, directing our steps, accomplishing 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:05.140 his will through us, and encouraging us through 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:09.939 one another, as well as his word. So the resurrection, 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:16.699 in verse 35, we will begin to read. But some 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:21.060 men will say, how are the dead raised up? And 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:24.659 with what body do they come? In other words, 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.199 They're deriding the resurrection. They're treating 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:31.599 it as an impossibility. They believe these questions 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.919 to be unanswerable. But obviously they're not, 00:02:36.020 --> 00:02:39.939 and Paul demolishes them both in the subsequent 00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:47.560 verses. So, in my translation, they have thou 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:52.219 fool. You may have simpleton or something else 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:58.150 in your Bible. So obviously if you deny the resurrection, 00:02:58.530 --> 00:03:04.889 you deny the God himself. Therefore you are a 00:03:04.889 --> 00:03:09.169 fool. He's not worried about hurting people's 00:03:09.169 --> 00:03:11.669 feelings. He's worried about defending the truth. 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:17.490 So he goes on. Thou fool, thou which soweth is 00:03:17.490 --> 00:03:21.330 not quickened except it die. And that which thou 00:03:21.330 --> 00:03:24.900 sowest. Thou sowest not that body that shall 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:30.580 be, but bare grain. It may be of wheat or of 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:34.860 some other grain, but God giveth it a body as 00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:38.539 it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own 00:03:38.539 --> 00:03:45.360 body. All flesh is not the same, but there is 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:49.060 one kind of flesh of man, another kind of beast, 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:54.080 another of fishes. and another of birds there 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:58.099 are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:02.900 but the glory of the celestial is one and the 00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:07.039 glory of the terrestrial is another there is 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:10.719 one glory of the sun and another glory of the 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:15.520 moon and another glory of the stars for one star 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:19.899 differeth from another star in glory So also 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:24.180 is the resurrection of the dead. Okay, so we'll 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:27.160 pause there and we'll look at these arguments 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:31.100 that are being put forth. Paul doesn't try to 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:35.139 prove that there is a God. And as far as I know, 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:37.740 there is no such effort ever made in the Bible. 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.819 It's a presupposition that God exists. There 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:45.959 is a God. The very first verse in the Bible. 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:53.800 God. He's saying here that God is doing all of 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:57.060 these things in nature. He has done, he continues 00:04:57.060 --> 00:05:01.439 to do, he will do. And he's created this great 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.800 diversity in the world. It's all of God and it's 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:12.360 all according to God's will. So we see here that 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:18.910 in order to be in a natural world, You have to 00:05:18.910 --> 00:05:24.689 put a dead seed into the ground. It's just an 00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:30.310 old dried up looking seed. In the old days, we 00:05:30.310 --> 00:05:34.149 used to plant from seeds. We didn't have all 00:05:34.149 --> 00:05:37.550 of these full grown or half grown or quarter 00:05:37.550 --> 00:05:39.790 grown plants that we put in the ground. We put 00:05:39.790 --> 00:05:43.870 seed in the ground. So we had the fun of seeing 00:05:43.870 --> 00:05:48.269 what came out of this seed. Have you ever really 00:05:48.269 --> 00:05:50.850 looked at a seed? Do you know how small and insignificant 00:05:50.850 --> 00:05:56.029 it is? It's dry. You would never believe there's 00:05:56.029 --> 00:06:02.389 a life in the seed. You can't believe it. But 00:06:02.389 --> 00:06:06.310 there is. And so you plant the dead seed into 00:06:06.310 --> 00:06:13.230 the ground. Cover it up and you wait. God is 00:06:13.230 --> 00:06:15.589 going to do something with that seed. Yeah, there's 00:06:15.589 --> 00:06:18.170 a natural process and so on and so forth, but 00:06:18.170 --> 00:06:21.550 so it has been designed. And so what comes out 00:06:21.550 --> 00:06:24.649 of that ground from that seed is nothing like 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:29.970 the seed that you put into the ground. It comes 00:06:29.970 --> 00:06:36.089 out a glorious thing. A beautiful thing. And 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.449 diversified. All manner of seeds, all manner 00:06:39.449 --> 00:06:44.410 of plants. And they come out of a dried up, dead 00:06:44.410 --> 00:06:48.589 looking seed. That's what Paul's saying. Don't 00:06:48.589 --> 00:06:54.189 you know anything about nature? You have to die 00:06:54.189 --> 00:07:01.250 in order to be resurrected. I think it was Bible 00:07:01.250 --> 00:07:06.769 that posted something. If you've died already, 00:07:07.089 --> 00:07:15.279 you'll never die when you die. In other words, 00:07:15.379 --> 00:07:19.860 have you really died to yourself? Have you really 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:26.459 come to God and died, giving yourself up for 00:07:26.459 --> 00:07:31.220 God to live his life through you? Well, even 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:35.740 in that, even in our conversion, can you see 00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:41.339 a vast difference? What you were and what you 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:48.579 are? God has done a work, hasn't he? First of 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:51.500 all, he did the work of a generation. A new beginning. 00:07:52.019 --> 00:07:57.980 Genesis. A generation. A new beginning. And he's 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:02.439 made us something entirely different. We once 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:05.439 were self -centered, serving ourselves, loving 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.060 ourselves to the exclusion of everything else. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.920 And now... We love others more than we love ourselves. 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:15.399 We love God more than we love ourselves. We live 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:20.800 for his glory. We live to please him. Well, that 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.420 is a type of resurrection. But that's not what 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:27.620 Paul's talking about. He's talking about when 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:30.540 Christ returns. When the graves will be opened 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:36.120 and when we will receive our new bodies. But 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:42.029 he is... telling us here of the great diversity 00:08:42.029 --> 00:08:45.690 that exists in nature and the great differences 00:08:45.690 --> 00:08:48.570 that there are throughout the nature, including 00:08:48.570 --> 00:08:52.529 the celestial bodies, the sun, the moon, and 00:08:52.529 --> 00:08:56.450 the stars. They all have different glory. They're 00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:59.230 not the same. They're different. The sun is a 00:08:59.230 --> 00:09:02.129 glory all alone. There's nothing like the sun. 00:09:02.450 --> 00:09:05.929 The moon is a lesser glory. It reflects the light 00:09:05.929 --> 00:09:09.759 of the sun. And the stars are all unique in their 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:12.940 glory in that some shine brighter than others. 00:09:12.980 --> 00:09:16.200 Some are closer to the earth. We see so little 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:20.879 of the stars here where we live. If you ever 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:22.799 have the opportunity to get out in the dark, 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:28.679 it's amazing what you'll see up there. Millions 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:33.159 of lights filling the sky. And they're all unique. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.399 And they're all put there by God. They're all 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:39.610 maintained by God. And they all have their own 00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:44.730 glory. What's glory? Do you remember what glory 00:09:44.730 --> 00:09:48.169 is? It's what can be seen and known of a thing. 00:09:50.149 --> 00:09:53.509 That's what glory is. The more that you know 00:09:53.509 --> 00:09:55.889 about God, the more you're able to see his glory. 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:04.029 It's something that is known and seen and felt. 00:10:04.590 --> 00:10:06.509 Depending upon what we're talking about. That's 00:10:06.509 --> 00:10:11.590 the glory of a thing. And so the celestial bodies, 00:10:11.789 --> 00:10:16.990 their glory is their light. We rejoice in all 00:10:16.990 --> 00:10:22.029 of the light that God has given us. So there's 00:10:22.029 --> 00:10:28.450 that. There's this undeniable truth that this 00:10:28.450 --> 00:10:35.379 dead thing, seed, A body, whatever is planted 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:39.460 in the ground, is going to come of a resurrected 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:42.779 body that's not going to be anything like the 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:48.179 body that it was. Now that's what they were saying 00:10:48.179 --> 00:10:51.779 about what are we going to have? A bunch of zombies 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:55.220 running around? A bunch of ugly looking people 00:10:55.220 --> 00:10:58.600 raised from the dead? These people are decayed. 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:00.940 They're horrible looking. That was the argument. 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:04.820 Well, that's no good. Who wants that? And Paul's 00:11:04.820 --> 00:11:09.120 saying, of course it's not it. He's going to 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:13.480 go on then and give us even more information. 00:11:15.820 --> 00:11:20.860 It says, beginning again in verse 42, so also 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:24.320 is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.240 corruption and it is raised in incorruption. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.620 It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:35.960 It is shown in weakness. It is raised in power. 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:40.580 It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:43.960 body. There is a natural body and there is a 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:47.419 spiritual body. And so it is written. The first 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:51.100 man Adam was made a living soul. And the last 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:55.820 Adam was made a quickening spirit. How be it? 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.379 That was not first, which is spiritual, but that 00:12:00.379 --> 00:12:03.759 which is natural, and afterward that which is 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:07.159 spiritual. The first man, Adam, is of the earth, 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.419 earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:18.799 As is the earthy, such are they also that are 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.840 earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.940 also that are heavenly. And as we have borne 00:12:26.940 --> 00:12:29.960 the image of the earthly, we shall also bear 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:36.539 the image of the heavenly. Okay, so there's the 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:45.480 complete and full description of what the resurrection 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:50.990 is going to be for all of us. Remember. Christ 00:12:50.990 --> 00:12:53.590 was raised from the dead. He was the first fruits. 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:55.830 We've already looked at that. We've seen that. 00:12:55.909 --> 00:12:58.470 There can't be any first fruit if there isn't 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:03.850 a continuing harvest. Remember that. It's a surety 00:13:03.850 --> 00:13:06.330 that we are going to be raised from the dead 00:13:06.330 --> 00:13:09.610 because Christ was raised from the dead. We're 00:13:09.610 --> 00:13:14.570 following him. Alright, so here's the description. 00:13:18.230 --> 00:13:22.690 First he says, is corruption the dead body is 00:13:22.690 --> 00:13:29.690 corrupt it's subject to decay the glorified or 00:13:29.690 --> 00:13:33.350 the raised body is incorrupt it's there's no 00:13:33.350 --> 00:13:37.190 corruption in this new body it's totally different 00:13:37.190 --> 00:13:41.450 in that respect it will never fade away will 00:13:41.450 --> 00:13:46.870 never decay it's incorruptible the second description 00:13:46.870 --> 00:13:56.440 is said that this sown in dishonor. And the raised 00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:00.379 body is a glorious body. It's immortal, it's 00:14:00.379 --> 00:14:08.960 redeemed, it's sinless. Okay, so dishonor. Man, 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:20.250 we as men have lost our original honor. Sin is 00:14:20.250 --> 00:14:26.049 in the world. Remember, we said death is not 00:14:26.049 --> 00:14:30.309 natural. Death is not part of the creation. Remember, 00:14:30.490 --> 00:14:37.470 we discussed that. But the reason that there's 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:43.009 death is because there is sin. And we're all 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:46.029 subject to that. We're all subject. We fight 00:14:46.029 --> 00:14:50.620 it. We resist it. But eventually we all succumb 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:55.820 and we all die. But we don't really die if we've 00:14:55.820 --> 00:14:59.639 already died. Remember? We're not subject to 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:05.379 the second death. But anyway, we're lost. We've 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:09.759 lost everything. I mean, we can't even imagine 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:12.779 what the man was original in his original creation. 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:14.860 Have you ever thought about it? Tried to come 00:15:14.860 --> 00:15:17.710 up with an explanation or a reason? How did the 00:15:17.710 --> 00:15:20.070 world ever develop? Well, of course, the world's 00:15:20.070 --> 00:15:22.350 got all kinds of fairy tales that it tells about 00:15:22.350 --> 00:15:25.309 everything. But when Adam was created, he was 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:33.490 a superman. He's nothing like us. He was a superman. 00:15:33.490 --> 00:15:38.629 Eve was superwoman. They had brain capacity that 00:15:38.629 --> 00:15:44.299 we know nothing about. It was untarnished. That's 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:46.860 how the world was able to function and create 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:52.840 things and have a continuing growth in knowledge 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:56.720 and abilities. Adam and Eve were super people. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:03.340 Now when they sinned, yes, they did become subject 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:06.039 to sin. They lost their original relationship 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:10.360 with God. But they didn't lose all of their brain 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:14.279 power and capacities when they sinned. They just 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:20.179 started a decay. Well, that's all going to be 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:24.759 restored. God's making a new humanity. He's making 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:29.419 a new man, a new mankind. And we're all part 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:34.360 of it. He's interested in us. He's interested 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:39.440 in us establishing a real culture, a real civilization. 00:16:40.620 --> 00:16:43.580 Just as Adam was supposed to be doing. He was 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:45.759 supposed to have dominion. He was supposed to 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:49.460 be creating something that would be pleasing 00:16:49.460 --> 00:16:53.259 and honoring and in the image of God. Of course, 00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:58.580 he failed. Miserable. And he became subject to 00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:04.799 corruption and dishonor. So Christ has now come. 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:09.279 We are now living in this new kingdom. This new 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.259 humanity. We have all of these characteristics 00:17:12.259 --> 00:17:15.859 in seed form. We have an incorruptible body, 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:21.319 but not fully realized. We do have a glory that 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:25.440 is ours through Christ, but it's not complete. 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:30.240 So we then come to the next, and it's weakness. 00:17:32.859 --> 00:17:39.380 The body was sown in weakness. Can we testify? 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:43.140 Have we ever been sick? Have we ever been subject 00:17:43.140 --> 00:17:49.000 to any diseases? Yes. We know all about weakness, 00:17:49.059 --> 00:17:51.799 or we should, if we're honest with ourselves. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.000 And the older you get, the more familiar you'll 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.319 be with weakness. It doesn't get any better. 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:05.079 We get weaker and weaker and weaker the older 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:08.230 that we get. And it's all, again, it's all a 00:18:08.230 --> 00:18:11.130 result of sin. It's not the natural order of 00:18:11.130 --> 00:18:17.029 things. But the new resurrected body is a body 00:18:17.029 --> 00:18:23.170 of power, not subject to any diseases or disabilities, 00:18:23.569 --> 00:18:29.069 nothing. There's no more weakness. It's a powerful 00:18:29.069 --> 00:18:32.670 body that we will receive at the resurrection. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:38.200 The body is so unnatural. It's a natural body. 00:18:39.660 --> 00:18:42.319 There's nothing supernatural about it. It's all 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:47.599 natural. It's flesh. Flesh, blood, bones. We 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.619 already said it. Decays. Whatever it is. It's 00:18:50.619 --> 00:18:54.599 totally natural. Totally subject to the natural 00:18:54.599 --> 00:19:05.660 world. The new body is spiritual. Now, does that 00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:10.160 mean it's not a body? No. It is a body, but it's 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.519 a spiritual body. It's not subject to the natural 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:19.259 world. It's totally new. It's totally different. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:24.559 It's a spiritual body that will never wear out, 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:28.440 that will never be subject to anything again. 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.720 It will reign forever. We will reign forever 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:38.619 with Christ. In our spiritual bodies. Now here 00:19:38.619 --> 00:19:46.640 is the key. The thing here. In verse 47. Well 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.980 we could start in 46. How be it that was not 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:52.319 first. Which is spiritual. But that which is 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:54.619 natural. And afterward that which is spiritual. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:59.960 Okay. That's a natural order of things. The first 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:05.509 man. Is of the earth earthy. That's where we're 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:09.910 at now. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 00:20:10.410 --> 00:20:13.990 Adam was the first man. Jesus Christ was the 00:20:13.990 --> 00:20:16.589 second man. He was the head of the new humanity. 00:20:16.849 --> 00:20:21.650 He was the last Adam, as it says earlier. But 00:20:21.650 --> 00:20:24.809 in this verse, he's simply comparing these two 00:20:24.809 --> 00:20:29.089 men. The first and the second. And it's also 00:20:29.089 --> 00:20:34.890 the last. But there's the... The spiritual body. 00:20:36.789 --> 00:20:44.109 And it is from the Lord. As is the earthy. Such 00:20:44.109 --> 00:20:46.950 are they that are earthy. And as is the heavenly. 00:20:47.069 --> 00:20:53.170 Such as they also that are heavenly. And as we 00:20:53.170 --> 00:20:55.190 have borne the image of the earthy. We shall 00:20:55.190 --> 00:20:59.769 also bear the image of the heavenly. We don't. 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:04.420 We get these bodies from Christ. That's where 00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:08.200 they came from. We're not given the body based 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:11.039 upon what we've done or earned or anything else. 00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:15.599 It's the completion of our salvation. And we 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.420 receive the same body that Christ received in 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:22.539 his resurrection. He had a physical body, but 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:26.599 it was spiritual. He had a body that could be 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:32.230 felt, touched, handled. He ate. He was known. 00:21:33.410 --> 00:21:36.130 But it was a spiritual body. He could walk through 00:21:36.130 --> 00:21:40.509 walls. He could get from one place to another 00:21:40.509 --> 00:21:49.750 supersonically. Now that's pretty exciting. I've 00:21:49.750 --> 00:21:54.170 never been able to move fast. All I can do now 00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:58.789 is go super slow. But that's not going to be 00:21:58.789 --> 00:22:03.529 the case in the resurrection. And it's all because 00:22:03.529 --> 00:22:07.309 of Christ. It's all what he has done and what 00:22:07.309 --> 00:22:11.410 he is doing and what he will do. Remember, this 00:22:11.410 --> 00:22:16.049 is our preparation period. We're growing in our 00:22:16.049 --> 00:22:21.130 preparation for heaven. We'll be spiritually 00:22:21.130 --> 00:22:26.890 with Christ when we die. But our body's not coming 00:22:26.890 --> 00:22:32.670 out of the grave until he returns. So there's 00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:35.089 this intermediate period, it's called, between 00:22:35.089 --> 00:22:39.309 our physical death and our physical resurrection. 00:22:40.509 --> 00:22:44.009 But it'll be timeless. You ever thought about 00:22:44.009 --> 00:22:47.410 timelessness? It'll seem like the twinkling of 00:22:47.410 --> 00:22:50.190 an eye. It'll seem like it was no time at all. 00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:55.599 And we'll be raised. Time is no more when we 00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:00.500 pass from this world. Again, we can talk about 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:02.839 this stuff, we can declare the truth of it, but 00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:08.339 we can't really put our minds around it. But 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:14.180 what we exercise is our faith. We know these 00:23:14.180 --> 00:23:16.900 things to be true because why? Because we have 00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:22.069 been given the gift of faith. That's why. That's 00:23:22.069 --> 00:23:26.329 why we have confidence. Because it is Christ's 00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:30.009 faith in us that reaches out and embraces Christ 00:23:30.009 --> 00:23:35.049 and continues to do so and grows and grows and 00:23:35.049 --> 00:23:40.170 grows as we exercise our faith. And eventually 00:23:40.170 --> 00:23:43.009 then, we'll be called upon to pass through the 00:23:43.009 --> 00:23:48.329 water. We'll be passing over. We'll be called 00:23:48.329 --> 00:23:53.980 upon. God is going to call us all one day. And 00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:57.279 we don't know that day. And it's got nothing 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:01.759 to do with age. You all think I'm going to go 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:08.059 before you. Right? I think Thelma's going before 00:24:08.059 --> 00:24:14.019 me. But that's wrong thinking. This could be 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:19.390 the day when we're called upon. Exercise our 00:24:19.390 --> 00:24:25.269 faith, our trust in the Lord Jesus. Leave nothing 00:24:25.269 --> 00:24:27.769 undone. Remember, how do you fight death? You 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:30.490 fight death by maintaining your testimony and 00:24:30.490 --> 00:24:34.849 your witness all of your days. Regardless, you 00:24:34.849 --> 00:24:36.990 can't do everything you used to do, but you can 00:24:36.990 --> 00:24:41.230 do something. It may come down to all you'll 00:24:41.230 --> 00:24:45.289 be able to do to resist death is to pray. And 00:24:45.289 --> 00:24:49.319 that's what we should be doing. But when the 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:52.779 time comes, we won't have to say, oh, I wish 00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:56.740 I had spoken to this person. Or, oh, maybe I 00:24:56.740 --> 00:24:59.920 should have prayed more. Or, am I really good 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:06.960 enough? That's all wrong thinking. When the time 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:12.039 comes, we simply hold on to Christ. Believe every 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:17.829 word that He's told us. Faced with confidence. 00:25:17.849 --> 00:25:21.630 The end of this life. And the beginning of the 00:25:21.630 --> 00:25:25.289 next life. Which will be instantaneous and simultaneous. 00:25:27.190 --> 00:25:31.730 You close your eyes in death. You open your eyes 00:25:31.730 --> 00:25:36.809 in heaven. And then we wait. But we won't really 00:25:36.809 --> 00:25:40.210 wait as I've already said. But that follows Christ's 00:25:40.210 --> 00:25:43.210 second coming. And when the dead will be raised 00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:45.789 and there'll be some shouting and carrying on 00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:50.230 like never before. Are you looking forward to 00:25:50.230 --> 00:25:54.529 these days? Are you realizing that this is a 00:25:54.529 --> 00:25:58.069 preparation? I'm supposed to be learning, growing, 00:25:58.390 --> 00:26:02.089 improving even, should we say. Supposed to be 00:26:02.089 --> 00:26:04.670 honoring, glorifying God in all that I think, 00:26:04.670 --> 00:26:08.309 do, and say. That's what we're going to be doing 00:26:08.309 --> 00:26:12.240 for eternity. If you don't want to do it now, 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:20.819 how are you going to stand eternity? You know, 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:22.700 the sinner says, I don't have any interest in 00:26:22.700 --> 00:26:24.339 going to heaven. That's going to be the most 00:26:24.339 --> 00:26:28.460 boring place in the world. And he's right. He 00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:31.400 would be bored. He'd be totally out of place. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:35.519 He doesn't want to go there. But that's not the 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:40.380 case for us who know him. It's a glorious place 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:43.160 and we should be looking forward to it earnestly. 00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:47.900 The more heavenly minded we are, the more earthly 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:52.819 good we will do. It's just the opposite of what 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:55.420 the world says. Oh, he's so heavenly minded he's 00:26:55.420 --> 00:26:59.420 useless. No. He's not heavenly minded enough 00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:05.799 if he's useless. So never forget these glorious 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:09.190 truths that are ours in Christ Jesus. The glory 00:27:09.190 --> 00:27:12.930 of the resurrection. Think of it. A new body. 00:27:13.230 --> 00:27:16.349 Think of it. That seed that we planted and that 00:27:16.349 --> 00:27:18.849 glorious plant that came up out of that seed. 00:27:19.029 --> 00:27:22.250 How much more glorious is our body going to be 00:27:22.250 --> 00:27:25.430 when we are resurrected? We can't even think 00:27:25.430 --> 00:27:29.789 of it. We can't imagine it. But that's what's 00:27:29.789 --> 00:27:36.650 promised us in Christ. Yeah, there's things that 00:27:36.650 --> 00:27:40.829 we have to do. There's just, it's a natural world. 00:27:41.849 --> 00:27:46.390 We've got responsibility. We have to do it. I 00:27:46.390 --> 00:27:50.369 understand that. I did it for years. But we can't 00:27:50.369 --> 00:27:53.170 let them crowd out our relationship with the 00:27:53.170 --> 00:28:00.069 Lord. Do we know Him? Are we growing in that 00:28:00.069 --> 00:28:04.319 relationship? Yeah, fulfill all your earthly 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.920 responsibilities. That's first. That's what it 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:10.059 says. We live on this earth. We live in the natural 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:17.000 world. So we have to do those things. But we 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:20.559 can't do them in the exclusion of our relationship 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:26.900 with God. They have to be subservient to our 00:28:26.900 --> 00:28:34.569 time with the Lord. So it's a glorious salvation. 00:28:34.710 --> 00:28:39.069 It's a glorious God. We have a wonderful Savior. 00:28:40.569 --> 00:28:45.069 He's given us all things necessary. He's going 00:28:45.069 --> 00:28:47.750 to give us things that are unimaginable to us. 00:28:48.950 --> 00:28:53.789 Let's live for Him. Let's remember these blessings 00:28:53.789 --> 00:28:58.539 as has been already testified to. But by faith, 00:28:58.579 --> 00:29:02.579 we lay hold of these future blessings. We know 00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:11.000 they're coming. So we work on. I think it's Peter 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:14.119 says, He that has this hope within him purifies 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:20.500 himself even now. That's not a direct quote, 00:29:20.579 --> 00:29:27.299 but it's close. Alright, so next week. We're 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:30.420 going to finish up the 1 Corinthians 15.