It's time to take our Bibles and to look together
into the New Testament. The book of 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians chapter 15. Beginning in chapter
7 of the book, the apostle answers specific questions
that had been asked him by the Corinthian church.
Some of these were practical, pragmatic issues
that were coming up in the fellowship. tending
to cause divisions among them. And so Paul writes
some very pointed and clear words regarding matters
as varied as marriage and divorce and the way
to act of communion. Well, here in chapter 15,
he picks up a doctrinal issue. It is the matter
of the resurrection. There were some in the church
at Corinth who had picked up the idea that the...
believers who had died would not be resurrected,
that they were just dead, gone, and that though
they might be seen in heaven, still their bodies
would not be resurrected. This was typical of
Greek thought. Even Plato taught that the body
is a prison for the soul and that only the soul
is immortal. The body is a glad day when you
get rid of your body. let it return to dust so
that your soul can be free. And apparently that
kind of philosophic thinking got into Christian
theology. And so some of the believers ceased
to teach that the dead in Christ would be raised
from the dead. So Paul writes to them to reassure
them of the fact that indeed that the dead in
Christ will be raised. In fact, he asserts in
this chapter that all who have died will be raised
from the dead. not at the same time, not to the
same destiny, but all who have died will be resurrected.
We're going to begin reading for our text today
in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 15. You follow along,
please, as I read from the New International
Version. But if it is preached that Christ has
been raised from the dead, how can some of you
say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then
not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ
has not been raised, our preaching is useless,
and so is your faith. More than that, we are
then found to be false witnesses about God, for
we have testified about God that He raised Christ
from the dead. But He did not raise Him, if in
fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead
are not raised, then Christ has not been raised
either. And if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile. You are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ
are lost. If only for this life we have hope
in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all
men. But Christ has indeed. been raised from
the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep. For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead comes also through a
man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all
will be made alive, but each in his own turn.
Christ, the firstfruits, then when He comes,
those who belong to Him. Then the end will come,
when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,
after he has destroyed all dominion, authority,
and power. For he must reign until he has put
all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy
to be destroyed is death, for he has put everything
under his feet. Now when it says that everything
has been put under him, It is clear that this
does not include God himself who put everything
under Christ. When he has done this, then the
Son himself will be made subject to him who put
everything under him, so that God may be all
in all. Now let's pray again and ask God to open
the word to our hearts today. Father, we pray
that the word will today speak to us and you
will help us to grasp the significance of the
text that we've read and how it applies to our
lives. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. We can be
assured that the body of every person who has
ever lived on the face of the earth will be raised
from the grave. That is Paul's thought in this
text. And there are three arguments as to why
Paul believes this and teaches this. The first
argument is a negative argument. He takes the
position, suppose Christ were not raised from
the dead, then what? Suppose there were no resurrection
of the dead, then what? So it's a negative kind
of argument, but he proves his point. Then in
verses 20 through 22, it's a collective argument
as he speaks about Christ, the first fruits,
and what that means. And then finally in verses
23 through 28, a prophetic argument. He says
there is one enemy of Christ that must be put
under his dominion. Now it is at this point in
the mind of God, but in time it has not yet occurred.
And so his thought is in the future there is
a time when even death itself will be subjected
to the authority of Christ and rendered inoperative.
And so he looks to the future. He says, if there
is no resurrection of the dead, then death has
conquered, and Christ is not the conqueror. Do
you see the point there? Three arguments as to
why the dead must be raised. The first one, a
negative argument. And in these verses, 12 through
19, he stresses the close association between
the resurrection of the believer and the resurrection
of whom? Right, Jesus Christ. You cannot separate
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the resurrection
of His people. In fact, in the first verse he
says, if it is preached that Christ has been
raised, and of course the word if there does
not imply doubt about it, it really is saying
this, but since it is preached that Christ has
been raised from the dead, How can some of you
say that the dead are not going to be raised?
You see, the two fit together. The two truths
are companion truths, Christ's resurrection and
the resurrection of believers. Now, it's interesting
that every time in this text, and there are seven
of them, in which it refers to Christ's resurrection,
and it says like this, Christ has been raised,
it is in a tense in the original language that
points to an historic fact. that has a present
effect. In other words, it's something that happened
in the past, but it has reality and impact in
the day in which we are reading these words.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just
something that happened 2 ,000 years ago, but
is unrelated to us. It happened 2 ,000 years
ago, but its impact, its effect has been felt
from that time on to now and will be forever,
is his thought. Now there are seven results that
the apostle points out to us if the believer's
body is not going to be resurrected. Seven results
if the believer's body will not be resurrected.
First, it means that Christ Himself has not been
raised. He says that in verse 13. If there is
no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ
has been raised. Again, in verse 16, he says
the same thing. For if the dead are not raised,
then Christ has not been raised either. And so
again, he underscores this point that we cannot
separate the resurrection of believers from the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The second result
to occur if the believer's body will not be resurrected
is that all of our preaching is useless or is
in vain. Verse 14. If Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is useless. In other words,
the gospel that we preach is robbed of its life
and of its uniqueness. It is the resurrection
that makes the message that we preach and we
believe with all of our hearts unique. You can
go to the tomb of Buddha, and it says, Occupied.
You can go to the tomb of Mohammed, and it says
occupied. But you go to the tomb of Jesus Christ,
and it's empty. That is the uniqueness of our
faith. And he says, if there is no resurrection,
and if Christ has not been raised, then our gospel
is meaningless. It is useless and vain. It's
no different than any other religion. If that
should be the case, then we would have to change
all of our music and write it only in minor keys.
We should go back to worshiping on the Sabbath
instead of on Sunday, the day of the resurrection.
All of the joy and all of the hope that we preach
as a part of the gospel message would be meaningless
and empty if the dead are not raised. Then a
third result is found in the last part of verse
14. Not only is the preaching... of the gospel
in vain, but he says our faith is in vain too.
He says, our preaching is useless and so is your
faith if the dead are not raised. Again in verse
17, if Christ has not been raised, your faith
is futile. The first word means that it's empty
in verse 14 when he says useless. It means that
our faith is empty in its essence. There's nothing
to it. if Christ is not raised. And when he says
in verse 17 that our faith is futile, it's a
little bit of a different word. It means that
it's fruitless. Not only is it vain in its essence,
but it's vain in what it produces. There can't
be any change in the life, he says, if Christ
is not raised, because our faith then has no
power. There is no forgiveness to our faith.
There is no heaven. to our faith. There is no
mercy to our faith. There are no promises to
believe in our faith if Christ has not been raised
and if the dead are not raised. And then a fourth
result is in verse 15, and it is that Paul and
those who preach the gospel are liars. He says,
more than that, we are then found to be false
witnesses or liars about God, for we've testified
that God did in fact raise Christ from the dead.
But he did not raise him if, in fact, the dead
are not raised. So he said, the one you've trusted,
me, your friend, the one who preached the gospel
to you, I'm a liar if, in fact, the dead are
not raised. A fifth result, if, in fact, the
dead are not raised, the last part of verse 17.
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile. He goes on to say, you are still in your
sins. In other words, the position that we have
in relation to God now through Jesus Christ doesn't
really exist. Instead of being in Christ, we
are still in our sins if the dead are not raised.
We are still under condemnation. We will still
die in our sins and be eternally lost. If Christ
be not raised, then He has no more power than
Mohammed or Buddha or Plato or any other... religious
or philosophic leader of history to forgive sins.
The sixth result, if the dead are not raised,
is in verse 18. He says, then those also who
have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. The way
that he phrases that means that they are forever
lost, that there's no hope of ever seeing them
again. They are perished. There is no hope of
a future reunion with them. They are lost forever.
Every word at every funeral that's ever been
preached is meaningless. There is no thought
of a future seeing our loved ones again who died
in Christ. Vance Havener, a number of years ago,
was preaching in our church in Kentucky. And
it was just a few months after his dear wife
had died. They had traveled together through
the years. Some of you have heard Vance Havner.
I think he spoke last summer, did he not, at
the Lake Johanna Conference. A very frail man.
He has always looked like he was 95 since he
was 30, I think. That's what I've heard. His
wife has always taken care of him. In fact, when
I was a student at Moody Bible Institute, I was
walking out the arch one day. The first day of
Founders Week, which is a Bible conference held
there in February each year. And a taxi pulled
up and this old crotchety man got out of the
taxi cab. And from behind him came a woman carrying
two suitcases. So I picked up the suitcases,
four of them, and took it to the room where they
were staying. And it was Mr. and Mrs. Vance Hadner.
She took care of him. She did everything for
him. And then she became very ill and died. You
can read the story in one of his books. most
recent books as he recounts the sadness and sorrow
that he initially went through. But I remember
one statement that he made to us during that
time. He was with us in Kentucky. He said, we
often speak of our loved ones as being lost.
He said, you don't speak of something being lost
when you know where it is. He said, I know where
my wife is. She's not lost, but I really miss
her. And he knew that he would see her again.
But you see, if the dead are not raised and if
Christ be not raised, then there is no hope of
ever seeing these ones again. The seventh result
in verse 19. He says, if only in this life we
have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more
than all men. We are the most miserable of all
men. If, in fact, the dead are not raised. Why
is that? Well, because for the sake of Christ,
we face hardships and reproaches. We sacrifice
and we suffer. Paul's an example of that. He
went through more than all of us combined in
his ministry in terms of suffering and persecution.
Now, he could have led a life of ease and wealth.
He was of that stature. But when he came to consider
which he would do, he laid all of that aside
and chose Christ, as he says in Philippians chapter
3. All that was gained to him he counted lost,
and he took Christ. Now he says, if Christ be
not raised, then he said, we are to be pitied
of all men, for we are most deluded. We sacrifice
and suffer in this life and then to go into oblivion
and eternity. Why, it's silly to even think that
a person... would sacrifice and suffer for something
as silly as that if Christ be not raised and
if the dead are not raised. And so you see the
point that he comes to. As we look at the seven
results, if the dead are not raised, we must
conclude with Paul that life is meaningless and
why go on? But the fact is that Christ has been
raised from the dead and he immediately picks
that up. In verse 20, He emphasizes strongly
a change of tone is involved. He says, but Christ
has indeed been raised from the dead. And thus
he begins what I have called his collective argument.
He says, Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
In the New Testament, the idea of sleeping is
a metaphor of death, the death of believers.
It does not mean that the dead have fallen asleep
and that they are unconscious and are in soul
sleep, as some of the cults teach. To be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord.
And so the apostle could not be more clear about
the fact that when one dies and leaves his body,
He's absent from it and he's present with the
Lord. There's no period of time in between when
one is unconscious or unaware of what is going
on or asleep. When this term asleep is used,
it's used here in this chapter, it's used again
in 1 Thessalonians 4 and other places. It refers
to the repose of the body. For it's as though
the body is put asleep. We use the word cemetery
to describe the place where the body is put when
an individual dies. The word cemetery comes from
the Greek word for motel or inn. It means a place
where one is put to bed, put to rest, in repose.
And that's what happens to the body. When you
view a body at a funeral, the individual looks
asleep. Well, the body has fallen asleep in death.
but not the soul. The apostle said, I desire
to depart and to be with Christ, which is far
better. Now, if he were looking forward to soul
sleep somewhere, he would not be talking about
that being far better. But he says, I look forward
to departing and being with Christ, which is
far, far better. Now he says, Christ is the first
fruits of those who died. What does that term,
firstfruits, mean? It seems like a strange term.
Well, if one is familiar with the Old Testament,
the strangeness is taken away. In Leviticus chapter
23, the feasts of the Lord are spoken of. We're
not going to take time this morning to read that
portion. We will hear more about this under the
ministry of Dr. Warner in the days ahead on Wednesday
nights. But the Feast of Firstfruits was one
of the seven feasts observed by the old Israelites,
the ancient Jews. It was a feast that was observed
on the day after the Passover Sabbath. In other
words, it was on the first day of the week. It
was a ceremony that involved presenting a sheaf
of grain before the tabernacle and later the
temple. In other words, it was the time of the
barley harvest in Israel in the springtime. They
would go to the field, and there they would cut
down some of the grain. They would take it back
to the tabernacle and hold it up before the Lord,
and they would often wave it in a wave offering,
it was called. I heard of a different kind of
a wave offering one time. There was an evangelist
who came, and you'd expect an evangelist to use
this, I suppose. The evangelist came and held
a citywide meeting. He said, tomorrow night we're
going to have a wave offering. Well, people had
read about that in the Old Testament. They thought,
what in the world is a wave offering? And so
the next night the place was packed out. They
want to see him perform a wave offering. And
so they passed the plate around, took up the
offering. They set it up on the front and said,
everybody wave at it. I about died when they
did that. A wave offering. Well, that wasn't
what it was in the Old Testament, I assure you.
It was literally some grain that was brought
before the Lord at the altar, and it was waved
back and forth this way in this kind of a motion.
This was called a wave offering. That was part
of the Feast of First Fruits. This was the first
of the fruit of the harvest. That's where the
name comes from. And what it meant was that it
represented all of the harvest that was to come.
And it was an act of dedicating all of the harvest
to the Lord. Now, it is a picture of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know why? Because
it was on this day, as Israel was observing the
Feast of First Fruits, that He rose from the
dead. He died as the Passover Lamb, and then
on the Sabbath after the Passover, the day they
would observe this feast, He rose from the dead.
That's why He is called here the First Fruits.
Now, furthermore, It means that he has represented
the harvest of the resurrection that is to come.
He presented himself before God, just as they
presented the first fruits of the harvest in
the Old Testament. He was alive from the dead,
and he represents all of those who are yet to
be raised from the dead. That's the significance
of it. And he goes on to explain this further
in verse 21. He says, since death came through
a man. Who was that man? Adam, right. Death came
through Adam because of his disobedience. Death
passed upon all men, Romans chapter 5. He says,
since death came through a man, the resurrection
of the dead comes also through a man. And who
is that man? Jesus Christ. And Paul emphasizes
here his humanity. Not denying his deity now,
but his humanity. It was through a man that death
came upon all men, and it is through a man, Jesus
Christ is fully man, it is through a man that
the resurrection of the dead also comes. He goes
on to say, for as in Adam, all die. Every generation.
All die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
I take those two alls to be universal. All die
in Adam in sin, and all will be resurrected in
Christ. Not at the same time, not to the same
destiny as I said before, but Jesus Christ, because
of His resurrection, will raise all men from
the dead. All men will stand before God someday
at one judgment and give account of themselves,
at one judgment or another, and give account
of themselves. And so here we have the collective
argument. Jesus Christ represents us in his resurrection,
just as Adam represented us in his disobedience.
We were in Adam when he sinned, weren't we? All
of us were. We were genetically in Adam because
Adam and Eve were our first parents. So that
when he sinned, we were literally in him. And
likewise, when Jesus Christ died and rose again
from the dead, we were in Jesus Christ. He represented
us when he rose from the dead. And because he
rose, we too must be raised. If we will not be
raised from the dead, it means that He was not
raised from the dead. Dr. Coleman Luck puts it
this way, By man, Adam, came death. By another
man, Christ, comes the resurrection of the dead.
All related to Adam die. This includes the whole
human race, Genesis 3 .19, Romans 5 .19. The
statement that in Christ all shall be made alive
again refers to the whole human race, not just
the saved. Christ's mighty power will someday
call forth all from the grave. Their relation
to him will determine their future destiny. I
agree with that fully. And now in verses 23 through
28, we have the prophetic argument. How many
will be made alive? All. A -L -L. Beginning in
verse 23, he looks into the future and he delineates
for us the order of the resurrection. God has
prophetically outlined the order in which the
resurrection of all men will occur. The resurrection
of the future will not be all at the same time.
The idea that God is going to call all men before
Him at a general judgment is unscriptural. That
will not take place. There are several judgments
to come, and there are several phases to the
resurrection that is to come. He explains that.
He says, but each in his own turn. Now, the original
language is better here, I think, than the NIV.
Because literally it says, for each in his own
regiment, his own company. It's a military term.
He says, every person belongs to one company
or another, and he will be resurrected with his
own company, the people he belongs with. Now
he says, the first is Christ. He's the first
fruits. He's the first to be raised from the
dead. There are people who say, well, what about
Lazarus? He was raised from the dead. Well, a
better term would be that he was resuscitated
because, you see, he died again. We are talking
here about resurrection, never to die again.
Jesus said, I am He that was dead and is alive,
never to die again. So Christ, the firstfruits.
Then, when He comes, Those who belong to Him.
And we need to stop and talk about that for a
moment. Because within that sentence is a great
deal of truth and a great expanse of time. Those
who belong to Him will be resurrected when? What
does it say? Anybody? Got a Bible open? When
He comes. When He comes, those who belong to
Him will be resurrected. It's talking here about
all of the redeemed, all of the saved. And that
resurrection will occur in three phases. We may
not have time to look at all the Scripture involved
in this this morning, but it's important to get
a hold of this. The first phase will be when
he comes for the church in what we call the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 through 18, the
key passage in the New Testament on that subject.
But 1 Corinthians 15 is also a key passage on
it. Look at verse 51. Listen. I tell you a mystery.
We will not all sleep. Now, what does it mean
to sleep? To die. He says, but we will all be
changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye
at the last trump. For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be raised imperishable, and we,
in other words, we who are living, will be changed.
That is a condensation of 1 Thessalonians chapter
4. He's talking about the resurrection of the
church at the rapture. Those who have been saved
since Pentecost until that day when he calls
the church out. That's phase one of the resurrection
of those who are Christ's at his coming. That's
the first part of his coming. And then there
is the second phase of this resurrection. And
it occurs roughly seven years later at the beginning
of the millennium. After the Great Tribulation
has ended, then there will be the resurrection
of the Old Testament saints. The people like
Abraham, Noah, Adam will not be resurrected at
the rapture of the church. For the rapture of
the church refers to this distinct body that
God is calling out in this age. But they belong
to God's Old Testament people. That period of
time. Saved under those covenants. They will
be resurrected before the reign of Jesus Christ
on the earth. Why? Because their hope was His
coming back to the earth and His reign upon the
earth. So they will be resurrected to participate
in the kingdom. They have long to look forward
to that, and they will participate. That part
of the resurrection will occur when Christ comes
back to the earth to reign. At that same time,
the tribulation saints who were martyred, and
there will be many, many of them, will be raised
from the grave. They too are a part of Israel,
in a sense. And they will be resurrected after
the tribulation and before the millennium. Now
to see some of this, let's go to Revelation chapter
20 for a moment. Keep your finger here. Let's
go to Revelation chapter 20. There's no question
but that the book of Revelation is one that requires
study. But there are some people who have the
idea that it's impossible to understand the book
of Revelation. I disagree with that. The book
of Revelation, if understood, falls open in a...
chronological sequence of future events. Those
of you who have been studying it on Tuesday nights
here at the church, and I think you're what,
up through chapter 12, something like that, understand
what we're talking about. And by the way, that
study in Revelation is going to begin again the
first Tuesday night of February. You need not
have come the first half of the book to join
the second half. If you want to join now, you're
welcome to do that. It'll be at 7 o 'clock, 7,
10, something like that, on Tuesday night, February
the 2nd, I believe, as they undertake the second
12 -week series in this book. As we come to Revelation
chapter 20, we come to the point where Jesus
Christ returns to the earth. That is seen in
chapter 19. Now chapter 20 says, And I saw an
angel coming down out of heaven, having the key
to the abyss. Or the bottomless pit. And those
of you who have studied Revelation know that
that's not the first time this has been referred
to in the book. And holding in his hand a great
chain, he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent
who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for
a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss
and locked and sealed it over him to keep him
from deceiving the nations anymore until the
thousand years were ended. Now, should we take
the liberty to spiritualize this and call this
an allegory? There are some who do. There are
some who do not believe that Jesus Christ will
return to the earth and reign for a thousand
years. They say that right now he is reigning
in the church, and they say that right now, therefore,
Satan too must be bound. Well, if he is bound
now, I'd hate to see him when he's loosed. And
it says, after that, he, Satan, must be set free
for a short time. He says, I saw thrones on which
were seated those who had been given authority
to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had
been beheaded because of their testimony for
Jesus, because of the word of God. They had not
worshipped the beast or his image and had not
received his mark on their foreheads or their
hands. Now, these people obviously are out of
what period? Write the tribulation. And he says,
they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand
years. So here's a reference to the tribulation
saints being resurrected, reigning with Christ
a thousand years. And then he says in verse 5,
in parenthesis, the rest of the dead, that is
the lost, the unsaved, did not come to life until
the thousand years were ended. Now referring
again to these ones who came to life and reigned
with Christ, he says, this is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the
first resurrection. The second death has no power
over them. But they will be priests of God and
of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand
years. You notice again and again here he talks
about the thousand years. That's where we get
this term millennium, which simply means a thousand
years. The millennial reign of Christ is His
reign over the earth for that period of time.
It's yet to come in the future. We take the eschatological
or prophetic position of being pre -millennialists.
That is, we believe that Christ will come back
before the thousand years and will literally
reign on the earth for a thousand years. I talked
to a fellow this last week. He said, well, when
it comes to things like that, I call myself a
pan -millennialist. I believe it's all going
to pan out in the end. Well, that's a nice non
-committed kind of view to take and in some ways
a little comfortable, I suppose. But I believe
the Scripture is much more clear than that. We
need not be that non -committed on it, that the
Bible talks about a thousand -year reign of Christ
and that's what we believe and teach. When the
Bible talks about a thousand years, I believe
it means a thousand years just as much as it
means that Christ was in the grave for three
days and three nights. It's talking about a period
of time. Well, that's the prophetic argument.
Going back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, that
Christ was raised of the firstfruits, and then
He says, when He comes, those who belong to Him.
His coming will be first for the church and then
back to the earth. And at that time will come
the resurrection of Old Testament Israel and
the saints of that period and the tribulation
saints as well. But then in verse 24 he says,
then the end will come. I have to pardon my pneumonia
here today. He says, then the end will come.
Now you notice he uses that word then again in
verse 24. That is a word that is a key word for
sequence. And so he says, Christ first, then
next in sequence those who belong to Him, then
the end. What's he talking about? Well, he's
talking about the rest of the dead that were
not raised until the thousand years were over.
Remember that? We saw it in Revelation 20, verse
5. He says, then they will be raised. And they
will be raised. Not to share in Christ's reign,
but to stand before Him in judgment. In fact,
it would be good for us as background before
we go on here in 1 Corinthians 15, I suppose,
to go back to chapter 20 of Revelation for a
moment and to see what's going to happen at the
end of the thousand years, the thousand -year
reign of Christ. He says in verse 7 of Revelation
20, When the thousand years are over, Satan will
be released from his prison and will go out to
deceive the nations in the four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.
In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
They marched across the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of God's people, the
city he loves. What city is that, friends? Jerusalem.
Who are these people? They are people who are
born during the millennium and who covertly and
secretly hide rebellion against Jesus Christ.
There will be people born in the millennium.
There are some people who enter the millennium
in their natural bodies. They will not die during
the thousand years. Only the saved will enter
into the millennium. You see, there will be people
saved in the tribulation period who will not
be killed. Obviously, they're not going to be
resurrected either at the end of the tribulation.
They will enter into the millennium in their
natural bodies. And during the thousand -year
reign of Christ, the earth will be repopulated.
And because of the kind of conditions it will
be and the absence, for the most part, of death
and of war and disease, and famine, the earth
is going to be very, very heavily populated by
the end of the thousand -year reign of Christ.
The population explosion will, I'm sure, far
surpass our population on the earth today. And
so at the end of that period of time, the thousand
years, there will be a vast multitude of people
who will have been born during the millennium
who will refuse in their hearts the Lordship
of Christ. They will not be able to overtly,
outwardly express it, for that would mean execution.
That's the suggestion, at least, of Isaiah chapter
65. But they will hide their rebellion. And then
at the end of the thousand -year reign of Christ,
Satan is loosed for this period of time. He is
loosed so that these who have covertly rebelled
against Christ may be exposed. He will gather
them together as a vast army, and they will march
against Israel and Jerusalem in that day and
will surround it. What happens? Well, it says,
fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
In other words, they were all immediately killed.
And it says, the devil who deceived them was
thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where
the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.
a thousand years before. They will be tormented
day and night forever and ever. Not a very pretty
picture. And then he says in verse 11, Then I
saw a great white throne and Him who was seated
on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence.
There was no place for them. And I saw the dead,
great and small, standing before the throne.
And books were opened. Another book was opened,
which is the book of life. The dead were judged
according to what they had done as recorded in
the books. The sea gave up the dead that were
in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that
were in them, and each person was judged according
to what he had done. Then death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire
is the second death. If anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, He was thrown
into the lake of fire. When does this occur?
Way on down yonder in time, at the end of the
millennium, after this final rebellion against
Christ has been put down by a fire from heaven.
Then there will be the final judgment of the
end ones, those who come right at the end of
time, the wicked, those who are lost outside
of Jesus Christ. Now let's go back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and wind this up. Again, verse 24
says, Then the end will come. And we've talked
about some of the things involved there with
that. Also involved is that He will hand over
the kingdom to God the Father after He's destroyed
all dominion, authority, and power, whether it
be on earth or in the spiritual realm. All enemies
of Jesus Christ will be destroyed at that point.
And he says in verse 26, the last enemy to be
destroyed is death. We've seen that in chapter
20 of Revelation. For he has put everything under
his feet. He says now when it says that everything's
been put under him, it's clear that that doesn't
include God himself who put everything under
Christ. And so when He's done this, that is,
when He's put all of His enemies down, then the
Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put
everything under Him, that is, the Father, so
that God may be all in all. The language here
does not suggest that Jesus Christ is inferior
to God the Father. It simply suggests that the
kingdom, the thousand -year reign of Christ,
will come to its conclusion, its culmination.
But that's not the end of Christ's reign. Then
will come the eternal kingdom of Christ when
He will reign, ultimately over a new heaven and
a new earth. The new Jerusalem, described also
at the end of Revelation, will be a part of that.
All that will come yet in the future. At that
time, Christ Himself will subordinate Himself
to God the Father. So that God will visibly be
the ruler over all. God will be all in all in
the new heavens and the new earth. Now, of course,
there must be three or four questions that come
to your mind as we talk about all of these things.
May I encourage you simply to be a good student
of the Word and to study it. The Bible tells
us a lot. Some things it doesn't tell us. Those
things remain hidden. We need to be careful of
conjecture. But when the Bible speaks, we can
be assured that it means what it says. It's a
wonderful book. And isn't it great that all of
history is moving toward this final destination
of God being all in all? He's not right now in
the lives of the unsaved and in the government.
the administration of the world system. He's
rejected and shut out and mocked and cursed.
Those who participate in that will someday face
their doom as they stand before God. And there
is a day coming when God will be all in all.
And those of us who are in Jesus Christ will
be there. We will participate in it. We will
enter into His new creation. and reign over it
with Jesus Christ. I tell you, there is no sense
in which it could be not true that the best is
yet to come for those of us who know the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, if you don't know Him, the
worst is yet to come for you. You may think that
you're experiencing hell on earth now, and your
life may be that in a metaphorical sense, but
my friend, the Bible teaches a literal hell too.
It talks about a lake of burning sulfur, an eternal
place of torment for the devil. If you're born
twice, you may only have to die once. And it
may be that we won't even have to die once because
Christ will come and get some of us away. in
the rapture, before we go through the portals
of death. What a blessed hope that is. Let's
bow together. Heavenly Father, we have looked
over a lot of Scripture in a hurry. We have spanned
a lot of time. And some of the brothers and sisters
here today may be a little bit lost in it all,
but I pray that the main truth of it that Christ
has been raised and the future is secure, will
bring peace to your people. We face many disturbances
and concerns in our world today, the economy
and terrorism. And yet we thank you that all
of history, despite these skirmishes and battles,
is flowing to judgment. And that someday you,
Father, will be all in all. We rejoice in that
day. We pray that you might be all in all in
our lives right now. There'll be some friend
here who doesn't know Christ. I pray that today
the knee will bow and the heart door will be
opened and Christ will be received. That the
future may be made secure for that one too. That
one may have the assurance of a home in heaven.
In Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's take our hymnals
and close by singing together number 238.