Resurrection 1 Cor 15

[0:00] Good morning. Glad to have you all here this morning. Special welcome to my stepson, Brent Weinbrenner, here from Santa Barbara, California.

[0:15] Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah. He doesn't have two heads. Remember, remember Brendan in prayer. Yeah.

[0:25] And he and Lisa are here just for the week. So we welcome them to our warm, sunny climb here.

[0:36] Yeah. They left California for this. Amazing. And you're a Californian, too, if you still admit it. Yeah, but I don't admit it.

[0:48] My sister went to New Zealand. Oh, okay. And she got thoroughly indoctrinated. And I don't even know her anymore. But you got out in time, huh?

[1:03] Okay. By the way, did you see that beautiful full moon this morning? Wasn't that something? Every time I look at that, I still find it hard to believe that people have been up on that thing walking around.

[1:16] That is just still so mind-blowing, I tell you. And then there are those who say, well, you realize, of course, that nobody ever did, really. That the whole thing is a grand conspiracy.

[1:29] Yeah. So, oh, well. Crazy. Crazy. All right. Let's have a word of prayer. Is there something special you'd like to mention?

[1:40] Yeah. My preacher, you know, at Northridge United Methodist Church, collapsed in his backyard. I think he had a heart attack.

[1:51] But he's in the hospital. Really? Uh-huh. When did this happen? Yesterday. Oh, my. How old is he, you know?

[2:02] Somebody said about 63, 62, something like that. He was out trying to weed in his backyard. Of course, his wife was there. That was a good thing. If she hadn't been there, he probably died.

[2:13] But she was there, so she got 911 there. I just picked it up on the telephone. One of my people called him. What's your pastor's name? Woody. Woody.

[2:24] W-O-O-D-E. Ken Woody. Ken Woody. Okay. What else? Bill, Jill, you got it. Yes. Stephen? My father, Phil, he asked for prayer.

[2:37] He's not feeling well. He's had a fever here about the last week. They put him on antibiotics and stuff, but it doesn't seem to be really helping.

[2:48] He's not sleeping well, so he asked for prayer. This isn't a COVID thing, is it? They haven't tested him again for that. He had already tested positive back in early January.

[3:02] Okay. Hmm. Okay. Okay. He had 19. So it may be results from that. I don't know. Okay.

[3:16] Biopsy. That's what I know. I'm wondering if it could be from his biopsy, but I don't know. Well. If there could be an infection. Okay. Let us look to the Lord.

[3:29] We're grateful, Father, for this new day that you've given us, and the best way we can show our appreciation is to offer it back to you and ask you to be pleased to use us each in any way that you see fit this day.

[3:42] We want to be men who are at your disposal. And for those who've been mentioned for prayer, we think of Pastor Ken and also Phil and the situation that each of them are facing.

[3:55] We ask that as Ken undergoes treatment, diagnosis, and as they attempt to rally him from the effects of this heart attack, that you will give that special wisdom that only you can provide to the doctors and nurses who are attending him, that they may understand precisely what's taking place with the heart and how best to address it.

[4:20] And we pray this morning for Phil as well. And we recognize that these bodies are so complex, fearfully and wonderfully made, that you put together. And we ask that as he undergoes diagnosis and treatment for the situation he's now facing, that you will provide the remedy that is needed and allow his body to respond to it.

[4:42] Most of all, how grateful we are for the fact that our immaterial part, our human spirit, is something that cannot be touched with the diseases of this world.

[4:53] And how grateful we are to know that you've already cared for that, so that when we exit this body, we are absent from the body and present with the Lord. We still fail to understand all of the dimensions involved in that, but we are so grateful for the truth of it and for the comfort that it provides us.

[5:12] So we ask for these two men especially, that you will apportion your grace and your mercy to them in accordance with their need as you know it. Thank you for the truth that is before us, for the taking in of the truth and the living it out.

[5:28] We give our day to you with thanksgiving, for the meal we'll receive as well in Christ's name. Amen. Well, my original intention was to continue on with James chapter 3, and there's some wonderful material there about the power of the tongue.

[5:44] But in light of the fact that we are coming up on Resurrection Sunday, and I know it's generally called Easter, but actually I suspect you realize that's actually a pagan name, pagan designation that's given to it.

[6:00] And I prefer to think of it in terms of Resurrection Sunday. In fact, the Bible only uses the word Easter one time in the book of Acts, and there it's a mistranslation.

[6:14] It should be the word Passover, because it was a Jewish thing. And yet, somehow or another, in the King James, Easter got in there, and I don't know how, but it is actually a pagan name after a pagan deity.

[6:30] So, we are looking at the Resurrection Sunday, and from now, from different times, we still call it Easter, because that's how it's designated, and everybody knows it as Easter. But biblically, it's not really correct.

[6:42] It's a Resurrection Sunday. And because of that fact, we are going to look at probably the most familiar, extensive passage that deals with that subject, and that's, of course, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

[6:57] I don't know that there is any place that is more definitive and more filled with explanations as to what was involved in the Resurrection of Christ than 1 Corinthians 15.

[7:11] And we also need to keep in mind that this doctrine is the linchpin of Christianity. Without the Resurrection, there is no viable Christianity at all.

[7:27] But everything hinges upon the truth, the validity of whether or not Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. And the Apostle Paul addresses that like perhaps no one else can.

[7:41] And he says in chapter 15 and verse 1, Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel, that good news which I preach to you, which also you receive, in which also you stand.

[7:59] And that's an indication that it is that good news that provides the stability of your very being, that enables you to stand, by which also you are saved or delivered.

[8:17] This is a wonderful word that the Bible uses repeatedly, and yet it's a word that is really not understood by the general public.

[8:29] And when you talk about being saved, people, I remember and I probably recounted this story before because it's one of my favorites, but it bears repetition.

[8:40] Marv Rosenthal, who was involved, still is involved in Jewish evangelism as a Jew, was a 17, 18-year-old kid working in his father's Jewish restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[8:59] This was probably back in the 1940s. And there was a little lady that came in there for lunch every day, and she was what was called a home missionary.

[9:12] And she took the gospel to people in the community there however she could. A little old spinster lady, had never married, but had a love for the Lord, and was always distributing tracts, etc.

[9:23] And she ate at this little Jewish restaurant there in Philadelphia, almost on a weekly basis.

[9:34] And Marv Rosenthal had the responsibility of receiving people's checks and taking the money, making the change, just like they do here. And this little lady stopped one lunchtime, and she said, Marv Rosenthal, I just want you to know that I'm praying for you.

[9:53] And he said, you're praying? You're praying for me? What are you talking about? Why are you praying for me? And she said, I'm praying that you might be saved.

[10:05] And he said, saved? Lady, the only thing I want to be saved from is nuts like you. Well, she was able to take it in good stride, and long story short, Marv Rosenthal did get saved.

[10:27] And he pulled a stint in the Marine Corps, and when he came out, he was a believer, and went on for a very successful and fruitful ministry, particularly in Jewish evangelism, but just evangelism in general.

[10:42] So the word saved causes a different reaction to a lot of people. They have no idea what you're talking about. And it's a good biblical word, and it's found so many times.

[10:56] We are told that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. And it's a very good term, and it's one that Christians use with great familiarity, but it's almost like a foreign language to the unregenerate.

[11:12] And you talk about being saved. So Paul's talking about this, and you hold fast, the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. And what is that all about?

[11:23] Well, he's posing a hypothetical here. He's saying that you are saved on the basis of believing this gospel that I preached unto you, unless, of course, there's nothing to it.

[11:41] If you have just believed in vain, and the word in vain means to no good end or to no point, or that the idea is the concept is one of emptiness. There's just nothing to it.

[11:53] It's just futility. And, of course, that's the way many people see it. But for those who are saved, it is a wonderful, comforting, encouraging truth.

[12:07] And not only does he pose the hypothetical, the what if, but then he goes on to explain what this is all about. And if you have believed in vain, and he's going to explain it, he says, For I delivered to you, as of first importance, and that's a term to be noted.

[12:31] Because if he were making a list, and he is, in a way, making a list, this would be at the top of the list. This is the number one item. This is of first importance.

[12:42] Everything else is secondary to this. Because if the resurrection is not a reality, then neither is your faith.

[12:52] You have believed in vain. I delivered to you of first importance. What I also received. What I also received. Which is another way of saying, Folks, I'm not asking you to believe anything that I haven't believed.

[13:08] He had embraced that truth, and it had become part of his very fiber of his being. And he wants them to know that it is out of his own personal conviction and personal belief that he is sharing it with others.

[13:21] And we need to be able to do that, of course, because when we try to communicate the gospel to someone, we need to do it as one who has been there and experienced that. So we can say with authority, I know what I'm talking about, because I realize this change that has come into my life as a result of my believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[13:43] That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Someone has said that this is probably the neatest, most concise expression of the gospel in all of the Bible.

[13:55] And it's there in just that one sentence. And it is so pregnant and so filled with everything. I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.

[14:07] That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried. And that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

[14:21] How critical that is cannot be put into words. The expression that Job gave goes back to a contemporary of Abraham. A couple thousand years before Paul ever wrote this.

[14:34] If a man dies, shall he live again? Rhetorical question that Job is asking. And then he goes on to answer it. And he says, I know that though worms, though worms devour this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.

[14:55] So he had some concept of a glorified resurrected body even though he was admitting that physically speaking the worms were going to take care of his body. Yet there is another body that God has prepared for us and that's what Job's talking about.

[15:11] And Christ and his resurrection here is, as I mentioned, the linchpin of Christianity. Without this resurrection there is no Christianity.

[15:21] Christianity is dead in the water. And everything is hinging upon this. Someone said all that the authorities had to do to put an end to the resurrection before it ever really got underway was produce the dead body of Jesus Christ.

[15:39] And of course there was no way they could do that. And because he lives, we too shall live. And I think it's one of the most fascinating things in the account that's given in the Gospels. I just love this truth.

[15:51] It gives real credibility to the whole concept that the very first people to deny that Christ had risen from the dead were the same ones who had the most to gain from it.

[16:09] And yet they were the ones who were first to deny it. Remember when the women saw the Lord alive and they came back and all excited telling the men we have seen the Lord!

[16:20] He's alive! And the text, I think it's Dr. Luke says, And their words seem to them as idle tales. Well, these women, you know, they get really emotional and excited and they think they see things that aren't really there and they just want something to be true so badly that they just kind of believe it themselves.

[16:43] But of course, we males, we have our things all together and we're not emotional and we don't get excited about that. We're very objective and we're very scientific and you can't blame these poor women, you know.

[16:56] They're just women. So femininity has the last word and the last laugh on that, don't they? It kind of makes us look bad. First ones to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ were the disciples.

[17:11] That is amazing. That is absolutely amazing. He was buried, they've raised on the third day according to the scriptures and he appeared to Cephas, which of course is another name for Peter.

[17:23] And I've been struggling with this passage in Matthew 16, 18 where Peter's confession is given there at Caesarea Philippi. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God and Jesus said, and I say unto thee that thou art Peter.

[17:38] And I think that is probably the very first time that he uses that word Peter and it means Petros, it means a stone and Peter's name, the name that he was going by of course, was Cephas.

[17:58] And that's also used, well it's used right here and it's used in Galatians also. But it's as if Jesus is renaming him and he's calling him Peter, Petros, which means a stone or a small rock.

[18:17] And it's almost like, it's almost like Jesus is renaming him. And yet as you read the gospels, you'll find the name Peter that is mentioned before Jesus used that.

[18:31] But you've got to keep in mind that the gospel writers, all of them, wrote their gospels years after the fact. They didn't go around with a pen like a steno and take notes as Jesus was speaking.

[18:47] They wrote by inspiration years after the fact. So they referred to Peter early on and used that name but I think the very first time that it was probably used by our Lord was there in Matthew 16.

[19:01] And he's kind of indicating something special is taking place there because God does that in the Old Testament too a number of times where he changed the name of Abram to Abraham.

[19:15] And that's significant. And he changed the name Sarai to Sarah. And he even changed the name Jacob to Israel.

[19:27] And there was an indication there that there was some kind of an interaction with deity that resulted in the name change. And that was common back in that day and the pagans even picked up on it because you remember when the three Hebrew children in fact I can't even think of their names now in Hebrew because all I can think of them is in Babylonian Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

[19:51] But all their names were changed. When they were young boys brought as captives from Jerusalem into Babylon Nebuchadnezzar changed their names and he did that because it involved a psychology and an emotional thing because that to which you give a name means you have complete dominance and control over it.

[20:16] So it was a psychological ploy there too that they went by different names. You know this goes back all the way to Eden and Adam naming the animals.

[20:29] And along with naming them Adam was given dominion over all the animals. And well let's go on here. Okay. He appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve and after that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time most of whom remain until now but some have fallen asleep.

[20:52] And this is a word that the Bible uses frequently and it's a it's a word for death and we know that he's talking about death and he says they've fallen asleep.

[21:05] They've died and he appeared to James and that's kind of neat because James was one of his brethren that was originally an unbeliever.

[21:18] Think of that. Mark makes that quite clear I think in chapter 3 of his gospel when he talks about the brothers and sisters if there were sisters too of Jesus none of whom believed him to be who he really was the Messiah.

[21:37] This is James the half brother of our Lord. He's the one that will preside over the conference in Acts 15 the big issue of circumcision and this James is a half brother of our Lord and we are told here specifically that he appeared to James and this is not James brother of John who's later executed this is James the other James this is James the half brother of our Lord and it's kind of neat that he appeared to him because there would be a special connection there with being his half brother and then to all the apostles and last of all as it were to one untimely born or born prematurely if you will he appeared to me also and fellas there is no way that I can stress the importance of that because this ties in with the fact that the apostle Paul exclusively received what amounted to an updated revelation from the ascended

[22:49] Christ that was radically different from the earlier information that the twelve received when Jesus was here on earth when he called his disciples and designated them as apostles back in Matthew 10 and he gave them authority over unclean spirits to preach the gospel raise the dead heal the sick and all the rest of it and all of that all of that together constituted a revelation and a commission that he gave them then and it was to go preach the gospel of the kingdom limit yourself to the lost sheep of the house of Israel don't go to the Gentiles but here years later after Christ is ascended he appears to Paul on this road to Damascus he gives him an updated commission that is radically different from that which was given to the twelve so that

[23:54] Paul is not going to be preaching the gospel of the kingdom he's going to be preaching the gospel of the grace of God and that was something that was brand new and partly due to its newness wasn't going to go over all that well especially with the Jewish element who could not countenance the idea of justification before God being accepted by God solely on the basis of believing and believing alone we talked a little bit about that from James and we'll get back to that later so he says they appeared to me also for I am the least of the apostles who am not fit to be called an apostle actually from a human standpoint Paul is saying I would be totally disqualified there's no way that I would be a candidate for a job like that apart from the grace of God that saved him and he says because I persecuted the church of

[24:56] God and you know I wonder how many times how many times through his ministry he recalled the stoning of Stephen and how he saw of Tarsus witnessed that stoning and agreed to it and even held the garments of those who were casting those stones because they were wearing these heavy outer garments and heavy robes and it makes it difficult to pick up big stones like you want to throw a stone you might take two hands to throw and the idea of it is to crush somebody's body or to crush their head with the stone you throw and you need freedom of movement so all of these guys are taking off their robes and they've got their tunics on under and saw volunteers I'll hold your coats I'll elite they were the intelligentsia they these men were members of the

[26:05] Sanhedrin they they were the deep state of Israel at the time thoroughly corrupt and they had they had conned some men well it's got some men to con they went out to the marketplace and hired some ne'er do wells to say that they heard Stephen blaspheme and of course the penalty for blasphemy under Jewish law was death so they were going to stone him to death and they did and Saul of Tarsus witnessed that and relished each stone that was thrown as the life ebbed out of Stephen and he thought in fulfillment of what Jesus had said earlier to his apostles fellas the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing and that's exactly the position of Saul of Tarsus he was being an observant Jew loyal to

[27:07] God by demanding and being complicit in the stoning of this innocent man of course he didn't consider him to be innocent he probably believed the lie he says I persecuted the church of God you wonder how many times Paul relived that incident and how regretful he was about it and how he would like to have had that to do over but by the grace of God I am what I am and he recognized that and you know when somebody recognizes understands the grace of God it is absolutely impossible for that person to have a sense of pride when you come to grips with grace any pride that you might have needs to go right out the window because you recognize like Paul you are what you are by the grace of God you have nothing for which to be proud absolutely nothing it's one of the most contrary things it's a contradiction of term a proud

[28:17] Christian is a contradiction of terms humble Christian is the only way to go and if you really understand who you are and what God has done for you in Christ humility is an automatic result and you keep that in mind and it will keep your humility in check by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me did not prove empty or fruitless vain but I labored even more than all of them yet not I but the grace of God with me so whether then it was I or they so we preach and so you believe now here he's going to deal with that hypothetical if if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead obviously this is something that have been bandied about by these people in there are believers and unbelievers and different levels of belief and unbelief and so on and the apostle is addressing that with the idea

[29:28] I think of bringing some perhaps out of that sphere and then he says in verse 14 you need to understand the implications of this verse 13 if there is no resurrection of the dead then there is no way that we can justify saying that Christ has been raised from the dead the resurrection of the dead is an impossibility then that has to extend to Christ too and we've got a Christ who is still in the grave if Christ has not been raised our preaching is worthless and not only that but your faith is also worthless it isn't worth anything it's empty everything hinges upon the reality and the validity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead because you can be sure of this if he was unable to raise himself what makes you think you're going to be raised your resurrection is tied to his resurrection if he didn't make it out of the grave you have no reason to believe that you're going to and yet this is this is our eternal hope someone has said that that the human being because we are made in the image and likeness of God that fact alone makes us too noble possessing the image and likeness of God that fact alone makes us too noble to stay in the grave life has to come out of there and indeed it does moreover verse 15 we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against

[31:20] God that he raised Christ whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised you can see the argument that he's developing all along here and it's very logical very consequential for if the dead are not raised not even Christ has been raised and if Christ has not been raised what does that do to your faith your faith is worthless you are still in your sins what's more then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished permanently and that's the end we could say if we have only hope in Christ in this life we are of all men most to be pitied we need sympathy and that's exactly the argument that he's laying here and then he comes across with these two wonderful words two of the most delicious words that

[32:21] Paul ever uses but now but now and that conjunction of contrast but means everything's changed but but there's an opposite to it but now Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who are asleep and he uses an analogy there that every Jew in that generation of course was very familiar with the concept of first fruits the first fruits is simply the fruit that comes first from whatever is planted whether it's wheat or barley or some other grain or fruit trees or whatever the first fruits is always that which ripens first and is picked first and the first fruits is a harbinger of the harvest that's to come because in almost every crop there's just a small representation of the first fruits these are the things that ripen the first day that they ripen and the rest of it is largely unripened yet not ready but when you see that little bit of ripened fruit whether it's green or whatever it is that's an indication that a major harvest is going to follow and this is why

[33:45] Christ is referred to as the first fruits of them that slept and that means he as the first fruits is simply the beginning of a much larger harvest and that's going to include you and me what Joe those that came out of the grave at the time of the resurrection of Christ would they then be kind of a witness to that first fruits to the point that's being made here would they be part of that first fruit here are some that could well be involved I certainly wouldn't disagree with that Steve and I mentioned that we were talking a little bit about that before we start that is that remains in my estimation one of the more perplexing passages Matthew is the only one that mentions it and it's in connection with the death of our

[34:49] Lord and it's when the sun was darkened and didn't receive didn't give its light there was a mighty earthquake and some of the rocks were run into and the graves some of the graves of the saints that had been buried were open and these people came out of the grave and appeared to many in Jerusalem and that remains one of the more puzzling things in my mind I've not found any good commentary explanation of that and I've probably got over a hundred commentaries on the gospels and different ones like that and nobody has adequately treated that it's just we know that it's got something to do with the resurrection and it's got something to do with the death of Christ and it's all tied together in the same package I wish I had a better handle on it but I don't so maybe that's one of the first questions we'll ask when we get the glory so Paul is continuing this article about the first fruits of those who are asleep for since by a man came death

[35:58] Adam by a man also came the resurrection of the dead and he's going to go on here and refer to Christ as the last Adam and he will succeed in undoing what the first Adam did in a negative way as in Adam all die so also in Christ all shall be made alive and this is a powerful powerful verse because it is talking about the scoop the efficacy or efficiency or extent of accomplishment in the death of Christ and the parallel that is used with Adam is that as in Adam all die in the sense that every single human being that ever lived has suffered the results of Adam's sin and we all died in Adam and in Christ all are made alive and some simply can't take that other than assigning some kind of universalism to it and I just of course repudiate that altogether but I think what he is saying here is that the extent and the efficacy of the death of Christ was identical to the extent and efficacy of death brought upon humanity through Adam and there's a parallel there that I don't think can be denied and we see it again in 2nd

[37:47] Corinthians when he says God God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and that means every single human being that was ever born had their sins paid for and they were reconciled to God in a reversed kind of way as in Adam everyone come under condemnation in Christ everyone comes under redemption so we are born redeemed and this is confused sometimes because some interpret that as universalism so everybody is going to be saved and by and by that's not what he's saying at all and we won't take time to go to that passage but I would refer to it in 2nd Corinthians 5 where Paul is making the case and he says God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and then he goes on in the next verse and says we beg you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God but in the verse before he said the whole world is reconciled and then in the verse that follows he says as individuals be reconciled and all he is saying there

[39:07] I believe is that in the death of Christ he flung wide open the gates of salvation and whoever will may come and the way is open to everyone so that Christ paid your penalty and you are free to come to God through him so what is required of you then is to appropriate the death that Christ died for humanity and make it your own personally and this is why we say we receive Christ as our personal savior and this doesn't mean that and I make a distinction very careful distinction this doesn't mean that in the death of Christ everyone is saved and everyone is going to heaven but it does mean in the death of Christ everyone every human being becomes savable savable big difference and if that is not true then there was something

[40:16] Jesus left undone in his death there was someone and some sin and someone's sin that was too great for Christ to cover so too bad for them that's unthinkable the death that Christ died on that cross was an infinite payment that registered in heaven because of the one making it you can't die for my sin because you've got sin of your own so it took someone who had no sin of his own to be eligible in Christ as the sinless lamb of God and being deity as he was he was able to pay an infinite price this is why he had to be the God man he couldn't be just human even a sinless human he had to have an element of deity about him and in his deity he represented the offended father and in his humanity he represented us as humans and he was alone able to pay that price that made the difference and as

[41:29] I've often said Jesus Christ balanced the moral scales of the universe and allowed God to open his arms wide to whosoever will may come and it's the most glorious thing that ever happened to the human race God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself I pray you in Christ's stead be ye individually reconciled to God and that's the gospel that we preach that's the good news that we preach and it's just the most glorious thing ever each in his own order Christ the first fruits after that those who are Christ at his coming then comes the end when he delivers up the kingdom to God and the father when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet the last enemy that will be abolished is death isn't that something last enemy so when this when this corruptible puts on incorruption and this mortal puts on immortality then not before but then shall the saying be brought to pass death is swallowed up in victory the

[42:59] Puritan classic John Owen back in the 1600s wrote a wonderful sermon called the death of death in the death of Christ beautiful concept the death of death in the death of Christ and the last enemy is going to be destroyed and you know death remains our enemy and and the rhetorical question is asked there by Paul later in this chapter oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your victory now Christ has gotten the victory and it's the most glorious thing that we could ever imagine or ever hope for but right now death swallows us up death isn't swallowed up death is alive and well death swallows us up it takes its toll on us but the time is coming when death will be put to death and

[44:05] John talks about that in Revelation 20 and it's a glorious glorious concept so we've got wonderful truth here to look at with resurrection Sunday and have you comments or questions you'd like to make ask anybody chapter goes on it's a very long chapter it's one of the most wonderful chapters in all of the Bible but the conclusion and we've used this a lot haven't we had at gravesides the conclusion of it in verse 58 is the therefore and you've heard me say this and you've heard every preacher say it forever but every time you see the word therefore in the Bible you ought to stop and see what it's there for it's a concluding word and when he uses the word therefore what he means is in light of everything I've said to you up to this point then this is my conclusion therefore as a result my beloved brethren be you steadfast hang in there unmovable always abounding in the work of the

[45:15] Lord knowing not suspecting not having a hunch not thinking not even praying but knowing of a certainty knowing that your toil your labor is not in vain in the Lord and when Paul uses the word labor night and day and the word labor in the Greek means to spend yourself to the point of exhaustion where you just don't have anything left spent and that's the way Paul conducted his ministry everywhere he went everything he did he was spending and be spent for the gospel yeah don well I think this is one of the more classic references to what's referred to as the rapture the catching away of the body of

[46:25] Christ and every time I see this verse 51 I think I can't get out of my mind I remember preaching somewhere I don't remember where it was years ago and our kids were little at the time in the nursery I was a much younger man and I went back to the nursery to pick up one of our kids and Barbara was talking to somebody and he had a sign posted in the nursery and the sign said we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed now there there's a new application of that verse I don't think that's what the Holy Spirit had in mind when he wrote this but I've never been able to forget that we shall all sleep but we shall all be changed and this mystery by the way this mystery is secret is one of several things that

[47:25] God made known to the apostle Paul as the ascended Christ this is one of the items of updated information that no one had previously until the ascended Christ revealed the rapture truth to Paul and what he's talking about here is that we shall not all die a physical death this is the word that is often used to symbolize death and he says we shall not all die but we shall all be changed and that change involves a radical change from these physical mortal corruptible bodies into an incorruptible body and we are told that our bodies will be fashioned like unto the body of Jesus Christ when he came out of that grave and it is a precious truth and it goes on to explain in verse 52 in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and I'm not sure what the difference between a twinkle and a blink is but a twinkle is even shorter in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable well they're not they're not imperishable now we are perishable but we've raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable must put on the imperishable this mortal must put on immortality this is our future this is where we're going but when this perishable will have put on the imperishable this mortal will put on immortality then then will come about the saying death is swallowed up in victory and he's taunting death here he's taunting he's saying oh death where is your victory now grave where is your sting the sting of death is sin the power of sin is the law but thanks be to

[49:40] God Joe the verses you kind of skipped over tells us what the resurrected body is going to be like if you go to verse 35 down through there it tells us what it's going to be like it really spells it out it goes into detail that's right it does it does talks about there's a flesh of animals and there's a flesh of humans and so on yeah it's all great hey guys well thank you for your kind attention and y'all have a blessed week and remember remember good Friday and what it is that makes good Friday good it was it was in one respect the darkest day in all of human history and it was also at the same time the brightest day for all of humanity when he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him enjoy your breakfast and the day head thank you all