Excuse me, we've taken a fourth of our service
to show you videos that demonstrate what the
real problem is. If we want to pray, we also
want to take action. In your bullet sets, man,
there's a sheet that tells you what small step
you can take in a limited situation. Beyond writing
those letters, you're able to write out congressmen
or senators to express your concern for persecuted
Christians. running the State Department in Washington,
D .C. as well, being kind but also very clear
that as Americans do, we expect our government
to take a stand on the human rights issue. As
we open our Bibles this morning, the message
is one that is not only for us in America, it's
for the church around the world. It's the hope
of the mystery. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So
let me begin reading in verse 51. If all I tell
you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling
of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
will sound and the bed will be raised and perishable
and we shall be changed. For this perishable
must put on the imperishable and this mortal
must put on immortality. Everyone loves a good
mystery. And the mystery that we're going to
look at today is one that will lift you literally
out of this world. It is a mystery that one day
you're going to be all up in the air about. It
is a mystery, however, in a different sense than
in the typical sense that we use that word. In
the New Testament, the word musterion or mystery
is used of a matter that was not previously known,
but which has now been revealed to us by God.
It is a matter that we could not discover on
our own. Only God could expose this truth to
us. That is a musteria. We have a defining chorus
in Ephesians 3 verses 4 and 5 where Paul writes
about the mystery of Christ and says, Which in
other generations was not made known to the sons
of men as it has now? that revealed the mystery
of Christ, not known to other generations, but
now revealed. That's a lusterity. The truth of
a coming resurrection would not be considered
a mystery because it was foretold in the Old
Testament. Even Job, the man who lived the earliest
of his life as recorded in the Old Testament,
said, after my skin is destroyed, yet from my
flesh, that is from within my flesh, I shall
see God." Which was an early statement of Job's
belief in the resurrection. Daniel Prophets wrote
these words that many of those who sleep in the
dust of the ground will awake. to everlasting
life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting
contempt. And so the resurrection would now be
considered a mystery in the sense that we're
defining that term biblically. However, the transformation
of believers living at the return of Jesus Christ
is a musterion. As Paul concludes, his polemic
in this chapter against the false notion that
there is no resurrection of the dead. He addresses
the reality that some of God's people will in
fact be alive on that day of the resurrection.
And they, those who are alive, will not miss
out on the glorious change from mortality to
immortality. of the mystery belongs to all believers,
the living, the living as well as the dead. Paul
is not going to explain that idea to us. The
explanation of the hope is found in these verses
we have just read. We're going to answer some
very simple questions as we seek to understand
what this mystery is. The first question is,
who? Paul says, I tell you a mystery, we shall
not all sleep. We shall be changed. He is using
we here to set to those who are alive in his
day, those who are reading the letter. It gives
us the hint at least that Paul would not have
been surprised to have been alive himself at
Christ's return. We know, of course, 1900 years
have passed. since Paul was martyred. Let those
of us who are alive today still read this letter.
And we are the ones who are spoken of here. And
if we are one day later to the grave, it will
be the next generation. Paul is addressing especially
those who are still living in this world and
who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what
does he say? He says, we shall not all sleep.
As we have said before, sleep in this chapter
is a metaphor for death. We shall not all die,
says Paul, but we shall all be changed. That
word changed in the original language means we
will be made other than we are now. We will exchange
what we are now for something else. Or are we
now? We are mortal. And we will exchange our
mortality for immortality when the Lord comes.
Perhaps a good illustration of this transformation
is that of metamorphosis. A crawling, lonely
caterpillar like we have up on the screen there
this morning, the best I can find in my footwork.
or the small, lonely caterpillar eats and then
forms around himself a chrysalis. And that secret
cocoon in that darkness, a change takes place
so that later the same creature emerges in a
new altered form as a butterfly. So our bodies
now are like that caterpillar. Our bodies now
are lonely earthly. But one day, our bodies will
be changed in a moment, it says, to a heavenly,
spiritual likeness like the body of Jesus himself.
And how is this going to happen? The book Paul
says, in an invisible moment of time, in the
twinkling of an eye, he says as an illustration.
That is, instantaneously and suddenly, When the
Lord comes, our bodies will be changed and transformed.
This will occur when at the last trumpet, says
Paul. The trumpet in the Bible is used to gather
God's people together. On that day that Jesus
comes, there will be the last trumpet, it says,
of this age, calling out the people of God together,
together, to meet the Lord in the air. The trumpet
of ancient Israel was also used to signal the
moving of the camp. With hundreds of thousands
of people scattered over many, many square acres,
how were they able to get them all moving at
once? Well, it was through the sounding of a
trumpet. And when the trumpet sounded, then the
camp would begin to move, their brothers and
sisters, around the world. trumpet will be heard.
And on that day that the Lord comes, God's people
will begin to move out of this world and be gathered
in his presence. Paul says it this way in 1 Thessalonians.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel
and with the trumpet of God. Three things accompany
his descent from heaven. A shout, the voice of
an archangel, the trumpet of God. And following
the sound of the trumpet, the dead in Christ
rise first, and then instantaneously those of
us living in that day will be changed, transformed
to have glorified bodies like those who have
been resurrected. And why is this going to happen?
Well, verse 53 Paul explains it. It is in order
that the entire church, the dead as well as the
living, the entire church around the world, whatever
place they live in, the entire church Christ
brought in, will in that instant of time be brought
into conformity with His likeness. Christ has
been raised to immortality. And in that moment
of His coming, we too will be changed to immortal
persons by the resurrection of our bodies. H.
L. Turner caught this idea in a hymn that he
wrote, a poem that he wrote, and we sing as a
hymn sometimes. Oh, joy or delight should we
go without dying. No sickness, no sadness. No
dread and no crying. Caught up through the clouds
with our Lord into glory when Jesus receives
His own. What a wonderful expectation we have.
This hope of the mystery tells us about this
expectation of our change that is coming. In
verses 54 to 57, the apostle Paul talks about
the explanation. of the hope. As he exclaims
about this hope, he tells us first that this
hope has a prophecy about it. Look at verse 54.
And when this perishable will have put on the
imperishable and this mortal will have put on
the immortality, then will come about the saying
that is written, death is all about victory.
Here he is freely quoting from Isaiah the prophet
the 25th chapter in the 8th verse. And he is
saying that when the Lord comes, there is going
to be the fulfillment of this specific prophecy,
death is small enough in victory. That is, victory
is just going to gulp down death. Over the last
time he lived in Canaan. or some other soft drink
that you like, and you chug it down because you
were so thirsty. That is the victory here of
death just being swallowed entirely by the victory
that will be ours when Jesus comes. And when
he comes, he is not simply going to stop death.
He is going to reverse death. All of the death
has When the Son of God comes, it is the consummation,
really, of what is promised in Genesis 3 .15
and the promise of the Redeemer. We will be redeemed
from sin and its consequence, which is physical
and spiritual death. He talks about the contents
in verse 55. He says, Oh Death, where is your
victory? Oh Death! Where is your sting? It is
the content of his exclamation. And again Paul
is quoting from the Old Testament, here in Hosea
13 verse 14. He speaks of it as a taunt to death.
Here he is insulting death, as one might insult
a killer beast that has been broken. He says
to death here, personified, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting? You see, ever since
Adam, death has reigned. Unwillingly, it has
claimed everyone who has ever lived, except for
three people. Death has worked to claim everyone
who has ever lived, whatever the age. but there
is a day coming when the exclamation will be
fulfilled that will say, oh, death, where now
is your sting? Where is your victory? What does
this mean? Paul tells us in verse 56. He says,
the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin
is the law. Here we have three. concepts that
are brought together. Death, sin, and the law.
Sin provides death with its power to mortally
wound us. That's what he means when he says that
the sting of death is sin. It is sin that empowers
death to claim us, that gives death the authority
to take us away. It is sin. It's the law of God,
good and holy in itself, that stirs up the sin
that is in us. Because the law says thou shalt
not, and sin says, oh yeah? Just watch and see.
And so we rebel and we challenge the law of God,
and when we do that, it only brings death to
us. But Christ has paid sin's debt. Christ has
broken death's way. Christ has fulfilled the
righteous demands of God's law, delivering us
from all three of them. Ours is the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. He keeps on giving it
day after day after day. Thanks be to God, says
Paul, who keeps on giving us the victory. Through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Victory over the claims
of the law. Victory over the consequences of
sin. Victory over deaths plain upon our bodies
and our souls. He, hell in hell, laid low. Made
sin he sinned o 'er through. Bowed to grave.
destroyed it so, and death by dying slew. Thanks
be to God for the victory through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Which brings us then to the last verse
of our text, verse 58, that the exhortation of
our hope. I want you to notice that this exhortation
at the end of this long chapter about the resurrection
first of all strikes the right balance. It is
a balance between one's spirit and one's service,
between one's attitude and one's actions. He
says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord. Be steadfast. The idea is, brothers, And
sisters, please stand fast. If you live in Sudan
and you're under the pressure of that kind of
persecution, where your children are being sold
into slavery, be subtle and be firm in your faith.
Let nothing move you away from it. Be immovable.
If you live in China, where you're forced to
worship at a house church, always under the fear
of arrest and being beaten. Be steadfast and
immovable to them. If you live in Egypt where
your sister has been kidnapped and raped and
forced to live as a wife of a man that she does
not love and never allowed to see you again,
be steadfast and immovable in your faith. If
you live in the United States where persecution
is more subtle. or it can be more economic, or
it is more ridicule and mocking than it is arrest
and beating at this point. Nevertheless, he says,
be steadfast and immovable, always abound me
in the work of the Lord, wherever you are, whether
be it a place of limitation or persecution or
a country of some political freedom. He says
that our responsibility is to be always abounding
in the work of the Lord. Always give yourself
fully to the work of the Lord. As I strike you
as a little strange, that there are some who
are in lands of persecution who are more fervent
about their service for the Lord than some of
us who have a lot of liberty. who have really
given themselves wholeheartedly to the service
of Jesus Christ. Well, for all of us this exhortation
comes, whatever our outward circumstances, that
we are to be immovable in our spirit, steadfast
in our attitude, and in our actions, we're to
be abounding in the work of the Lord. Not merely
involved, but abounding in the work of the Lord.
Not in some peripheral way, abounding. in the
work of the Lord, the work that counts for eternity.
Our vocation may not allow us to spend 40 or
50 hours a week doing that, but even in the midst
of our vocation and then beyond that, there are
ways that we can abound in the work that Jesus
Christ has called all of us to be part of. Abound
in the work of the Lord strikes the right balance,
it seems to me, this exhortation. But it also
provides the right assurance because he tells
us, knowing this, that your toil is not in vain
in the Lord. Your work in the Lord may seem hard.
Your labor on his behalf may seem at times fruitless.
But it's never so, says Paul. The work that is
done for ourselves may indeed be fruitless. It
may be rain. It may be wood, hay, and stubble,
as he writes back in chapter 3. But our work
that is in the Lord, because the tomb is empty,
is never in vain. Because he has risen from the
dead. Because one day we will stand with him.
in the resurrection or the transformation. Because
one day we will be gathered together at the sound
of the trumpet to be with Him and like Him forever.
Whatever we do in this world matters. He takes
note of it, even if others may not. The exhortation
of the Hope. No matter where we live in this
world or what our circumstances, We are the people
of the hope. And in light of that, there are
three ideas that I think we can just take out
of this text before we go in our way. First of
all, we can be as the people of the hope and
expectant people. Christ is coming. Yours is
the victory. Mine is the victory in Jesus Christ.
Because of our identity with Him when we trust
Him. Because of our union with Him when we believe
in Him, because we are joined together with Him,
His victory is our victory. And so we can be
an expectant people as we wait for Him to appear
in victory. We can be an expectant people as
we look for His appearing. A racist bonar, a
preacher, and a man of God of another generation
said, I feel that when I can say the coming of
the Lord draws near, I have a weapon in my hand
with no uncommon edge in temper. I can go to
the scumbling saint against whom the battle seems
to go badly and say, Saint Knott, the Lord is
at hand, and he will bring a Satan under your
feet shortly. To the Christian weary with the
vexing world. Frag with his manatees and cheer,
and trouble with the thickening darkness of his
midnight river. I can say, be of good cheer.
The Lord is at hand. But a little while, and
the world will cease to vex you. Sooner than
you think, the morning will break. To the suffering
Saint, I can say, Weep not, the Lord is at hand.
The torn heart shall be bound up with the bitterness
of bereavement forgotten in the joy of reunion
forever. My friend, the Lord is at hand. The
Lord is at hand. The Lord is at hand. Therefore
we must be an expected people, realizing that
He may descend, and we will hear that voice as
the voice of an archangel and the trumpet, and
in that instant be changed and caught up to be
with him. We expected for his coming. One hour
practice when he preached. It is said that every
night before he went to bed, he would go up to
this window and pull back his curtain, look into
the starry heavens and exclaim, Perhaps tonight,
Lord, A day in the morning as he would awake
and he would again go to his window and gaze
out upon the dawn and remark, Perhaps today,
Lord, perhaps today. What a great way for you
and me to begin every day, is that perhaps today,
Lord, you will appear. Be an expectant person
as one of the people of the Hope. Secondly, be
engaged. Always abounding in the work of the
Lord. Be engaged in serving Him. Ask the Lord
at the beginning of every day, Jesus said, you
come today, hope you want me to be good. Who
do I need to talk to? What need would you have
me do in your name? Be engaged. and serving the
Lord as one of the people of the open third.
Be encouraged, knowing that whatever you do for
Him, even if it be repulsed, even if the door
be slammed in your face, whatever you do for
Him is not in vain. It is not an empty being.
So do not measure the results of what happens
on that day. perform the deed. But remember that
on that day, when the Lord examines your deed,
you will receive a reward from Him. That concludes
this chapter by reminding us that we are the
people of the hope. That whether we are alive
or dead when Christ come, we will share in the
glory. about the transformation and the resurrection.
And may that serve as a motivation to our lives,
a motivation to Godly living and Godly service.
May we be an expected people, an engaged people,
an encouraged people, because we're the people.
If you've come to church today discouraged, disheartened,
and you feel like your life is not counting for
much, will you allow these verses to encourage
you? If you've come today ready to give up and
to move away, will you listen to what Paul says?
Oh friend, be immovable. Be encouraged. be strengthened
and established in Him. Your service for Him
is not in vain. And if you feel that it's not
producing what it ought to now, be encouraged.
The Lord is working through your life. And determine
as you go from here to live this week with that
thought in mind, perhaps. that you'll lift up
the spirits of those who are weary and discarded.
I pray that you will help me to focus fresh on
the hope that we share in Jesus Christ. May we
live in life without hope as we've been exhorted.
And this week, hold before us that thought that
it may be And friend, if you're here without
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you
have no relationship with God, you can trust
Him today. Come to know Him personally. I'm inviting
you in your life. I hope that you will do that
even right now. Receive Him in your heart as
an act of faith. Trusting Him as your Lord and
Savior. Now Father, I pray for your blessing
upon us as we are dismissed from here. To go
to our Sunday school classes and to our small
churches. May our fellowship be rich and our
hearts exhorted as we spend time together in
prayer and studying the Word of God. In Jesus'
name, Amen. As before you go, may I say that
through visiting today, I'm ready to get back
to the table here. for receiving table, and I
hope you'll come by and shake my hand. And I'd
like to meet you personally, if this is your
first time either. God bless you.