Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 - Our Resurrected Physical Body

Transcript

1 Corinthians 15:35-58 - Our Resurrected Physical Body · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

0:00
We're glad that you can be safe and we're also glad that we came
0:03
up with the idea together, collaborate, how we can have the
0:07
word of God coming out on Sunday even though we're not here.
0:10
So we're doing this on Saturday. Bill has been gracious enough to
0:14
come in to help us produce this. So to be live tomorrow morning
0:18
on the platforms of Calvary Chapel Online, YouTube,
0:24
Westmoreland County YouTube, as well as the Facebook and Grace
0:28
FM radio station 91.7. So as I was thinking about today
0:34
and tomorrow, pastures, always the most important day of the
0:39
week is Sunday because we get to proclaim the word to his people.
0:42
And when snowstorms come, obviously that circumvents that.
0:46
But because of the technology that's been developed since the
0:50
COVID issue back in the early 20s, 2020, we've been able to
0:56
have this technology to be able to still do what the Lord wants
1:00
us to do. And Jesus said man does not live
1:03
by bread alone. And sometimes you wonder if we
1:06
really believe that if you go into Giant Eagle or the
1:08
supermarket yesterday or today, it's like it's the end of the
1:12
world. The shelves are bare,
1:13
everybody's grabbing everything. Like it's like that's all we
1:16
have, that we need this and we don't have this.
1:18
What's going to happen, right? But everything will most likely
1:22
be cleared up sometime Monday afternoon and life will will go
1:25
on again. So it's amazing how these these
1:30
storms really disrupt things for a little while, but not forever.
1:34
So I wanted to share in first John chapter 3 before I get into
1:38
First Corinthians 15. One of the mysteries of of life
1:42
is what happens to the body or the soul, the spirit after
1:47
death. And the Lord has given us plenty
1:50
of verses and information in the Scriptures to be assured that
1:54
there is a plan for us after we leave our physical bodies as
1:59
believers and and head into the next World.
2:03
So that's what first Corinthians chapter 15 is all about.
2:06
But there's other verses that sort of a correlate or parallel
2:09
with what Paul's teaching about. In the book of First Corinthians
2:14
chapter 15, the apostle John and 1st John chapter 3 said, Behold,
2:19
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we
2:23
should be called the children of God.
2:26
Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know
2:29
Him. Beloved, now we are the children
2:32
of God, and it has not been yet revealed what we shall be, but
2:36
we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
2:40
for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope
2:45
in Himself purifies Himself, just as He is pure.
2:49
So it tells us. They're very clearly that we
2:53
don't know everything yet, but one thing we do know that when
2:58
He is revealed, when we come before him and that day when
3:03
we're in the Kingdom, it says we're going to be like Him, for
3:06
we shall see Him as He is. So we know Jesus received a
3:11
resurrected body of flesh and bone.
3:16
Blood wasn't necessary anymore in the body to keep the body
3:20
alive because He's eternal and will be eternal one day too.
3:24
And when he had resurrected, he was able to tell his disciples
3:28
to touch him, to feel him, to see he wasn't a spirit, but he
3:32
was actually a physical body that had risen again from the
3:36
dead. He also was able to eat.
3:39
He was able to walk through doors.
3:41
He had abilities that he didn't manifest when he was in his form
3:46
before his death is burial in his resurrection.
3:49
So that's going to be fascinating to see how things
3:53
coincide and develop when we are out of this present body.
3:57
Now we know Paul also talked about to be absent the bodies to
4:01
be present with the Lord. So we know for sure that when we
4:06
leave this life, we will be in the presence of God and some
4:10
type of spiritual body until that day of the final
4:13
resurrection when we'll be given a brand new physical body.
4:17
It won't be the same body that actually went into the grave.
4:21
It's not going to be put together again like that body.
4:24
It's going to be a body that's fit for eternity in heaven, not
4:28
a body that needs to be fit for the earth anymore.
4:31
That's only temporal. So let me say a prayer and then
4:35
we'll get into this today. Father, we thank you for your
4:38
word. We thank You for the ability to
4:40
proclaim Your word on the media and the technology.
4:44
We would never even contemplate the possibility of these kind of
4:47
things five years ago. But Lord, you use the crisis in
4:52
the world to be able to give us a whole new way of getting the
4:56
word of God out, not only on the radio or television, but now
4:59
through media and the Internet and technology and social media
5:04
platforms, Father, and having our own YouTube channel, Calvary
5:08
Chapel, Westmoreland, YouTube, or many people, hundreds every
5:13
week tune into that, that aren't even in the actual building.
5:17
And we're grateful for that. Lord, your word can go forth and
5:20
so Lord be glorified today. Please bless, encourage your
5:24
people today. I pray they're all safe and you
5:27
would bless them. We pray especially for the
5:29
Hamley family this morning where Carrie had lost her father this
5:33
past week. We pray you would comfort them
5:35
and their heartache and they're broken this and and Lord just
5:38
give them your peace and we we pray for everyone else other
5:41
needs of physical afflictions or health issues or spiritual
5:46
challenges, Lord, family issues, financial issues, whatever they
5:50
might be. Lord, we're we're learning as
5:52
we're in the word of God that you meet every need of every
5:57
human heart if we seek your face and ask for your help.
6:00
I love that verse where you tell us the trust in the Lord Lord, I
6:04
want to trust you Lord with all my heart.
6:08
I don't want to lean to my own understanding in all my ways.
6:12
Lord, I want to learn to acknowledge you because you said
6:15
you will direct my path. And so Lord, that's a promise.
6:19
Proverbs 3, five and six we can all hold on to in these days of
6:24
so many challenges. And we love you and we're so
6:27
grateful, Lord, that we know of your love for us.
6:30
And we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.
6:35
So we're going to pick up where we left off last week in First
6:38
Corinthians chapter 15, starting with verse 35.
6:43
But someone will say, how are the dead raised up and with what
6:47
body do they come? So excuse me.
6:51
Paul addressed that question with a statement, foolish one,
6:57
in verse 36. What you sow is not made alive
7:02
unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow
7:06
that body that shall be bit mere grain, perhaps wheat or some
7:10
other grain. But God gives it a body as He
7:13
pleases into each seed. Its own body.
7:16
All flesh is not of the same flesh, but there is one kind of
7:20
flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and
7:24
another of birds. There are also celestial bodies
7:28
and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial is 1 and
7:32
the glory of the terrestrial is another.
7:35
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon,
7:38
another glory of the stars, for one star differs from another
7:42
star in glory. So also is the resurrection of
7:46
the dead. The body is sown in corruption,
7:49
it is raised in incorruption, it is sown in dishonor, it is
7:53
raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, and it is raised in
7:57
power. It is sown a natural body.
8:00
It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and
8:04
there's a spiritual body. And so it is written.
8:07
The first man, Adam, became a living being.
8:10
The last Adam became a life giving spirit.
8:15
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and
8:18
afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth
8:22
made of dust. The second man is the Lord from
8:25
heaven. As was the man of dust, so also
8:29
those who are made of dust. And as is the heavenly man, so
8:33
also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
8:38
of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the
8:42
heavenly man. So we see in these verses that
8:46
Paul is giving us a real overview of the difference
8:50
between the body we have right now and the body we're going to
8:55
receive from the Lord when we leave this life and are taken up
9:00
in that resurrection eventually. Now, if you are involved with
9:04
gardening and you've planted things, I'm not much of A
9:07
gardener. My wife, my mom, they're really
9:09
into that stuff. They take these ugly bulbs that
9:13
are, they look like they're dead already and they plant them in
9:16
the ground. And then they tell me or they
9:18
say, hey, this is going to become a gladiola or this is
9:22
going to become a Tulip or whatever.
9:24
And it's even hard to imagine when you look at those bulbs are
9:27
so ugly and they and they have no evidence of any kind of life,
9:30
that whenever that bulb goes into the ground, it dies, is in
9:33
a germinate sin. And then it produces in the
9:36
spring these glorious colors and flowers.
9:39
And we know the metamorphose illustration of the Caterpillar
9:45
that turns into the beautiful butterfly something out of death
9:49
and ugly become something incredible that we all have.
9:53
Oh, and all over when we see these things.
9:56
So we know that this body of ours, when it goes into the
10:00
grave, most of the time, depending on the age, it's
10:04
pretty, pretty dead. You know, physically, the
10:07
appearance of the face and the body and the skin and everything
10:10
is deteriorated to a point prior to death that it looks like
10:15
sometimes people are walking around dead.
10:18
Of course, young people, they're vibrant, beautiful, the best of
10:21
the best at the age that they're at.
10:23
When they die, they don't have the same appearance of someone.
10:27
Maybe that's in the near end of elderly life, but nonetheless,
10:32
their bodies will also deteriorate in the ground and
10:35
then turn to dust. Ashes, the ashes, dust, the
10:38
dust. We were produced from the dust,
10:41
from the seed of Adam, and we're going to die the same way back
10:47
into that place where we were birthed out of ashes to ashes,
10:50
dust to us, dust to dust. So Paul's addressing these
10:55
questions that the Corinthian believers had, they didn't
10:57
believe in a literal resurrection of their but
11:01
physical bodies. That was a heresy to them at the
11:04
time, and that's why Paul spent so much time in this 1st
11:07
Corinthians 15, to educate them that, yeah, there is a literal
11:11
physical resurrection of you one day as a believer, as Christ had
11:17
risen from the dead and had a physical body, This is going to
11:20
happen to you too. So they're, they're asking
11:22
these, these various questions to try to understand what this
11:27
is all about. So he says that they're foolish
11:31
when they ask a question, how, how can the dead be raised up?
11:34
They already know the gospel that Christ died for our sins
11:37
according to the Scriptures, that he was buried.
11:39
And then he rose again on the third day.
11:42
And the evidence of the eyewitnesses, many who saw him,
11:45
over 500 people had the eyewitness account that, yes,
11:49
Christ truly had risen from the dead.
11:52
And so he begins to explain to them using the science of
11:58
gardening, if you may, or planning using these
12:02
illustrations, explain to them how the body has to be planted
12:06
into the earth and go back to where it was from in order to
12:09
come out something different. And so he says in verse 37, and
12:13
what you sow, you don't sow that body that shall be.
12:17
In other words, what what's being planted into the ground is
12:20
not what is actually going to be manifest at the resurrection.
12:24
It's going to be a completely different body than what was
12:28
planted into the soil. And perhaps he gives the
12:31
illustration of wheat and grain and, and God gives the
12:35
illustration that when these seeds go into the ground, they
12:39
come out completely different than what it looked like when it
12:41
was planted into the ground. And he talks about the types of
12:46
flesh you have. Human flesh is one kind of flesh
12:49
of men in verse 39, and another flesh of animals and a fish and
12:54
of another of birds. And we know for sure there is a
12:57
literal resurrection, physical resurrection plan of God for
13:02
human beings, not so much for animals and fish and birds and
13:07
all those kind of things. Whether what are those kind of
13:09
species will be in heaven one day will be interesting.
13:12
We know horses are going to be there.
13:15
How did they get there? Were they created up there?
13:17
And this is a whole new dimension of creation on the
13:21
other side of this world that we live in right now.
13:24
Anytime will tell. But he's talking about this
13:27
importance of your body and my body, and he says that there's
13:32
celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies and God planted these
13:37
things and created them for for his glory.
13:41
He said there is one glory of the sun, nothing better than a
13:46
sun shining on a day where it's bright and it's warm.
13:49
We're looking forward to that in the spring.
13:51
And God created that celestial body to manifest that to the
13:56
human race. And the glory of the moon,
13:58
nothing more beautiful than the night with a full moon where you
14:02
can see so much better when there's a full moon.
14:05
And this the beauty of it in the in the sky with the stars and
14:09
how all the stars are different and unique.
14:11
They different from one another in regard to the glory that's
14:15
being manifested, he says then in verse 42, so also is the
14:19
resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption.
14:24
So he's giving the illustration again that when my body passes
14:29
from this life, it will go into the ground in a corruptible
14:33
state. This has nothing to do with my
14:36
spiritual state. This is my physical state.
14:39
The body will deteriorate. It's it's meant to die.
14:43
And the Bible tells us the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
14:47
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
14:50
And so he says that the body is sown in corruption, but it is
14:53
raised in corruption. So whenever I come out of that
14:56
ground that day, it's not going to be in the old decrypted,
14:59
corrupted body, It's going to be in a brand new design body of
15:03
God, this fit for the eternal state, he said.
15:08
It's sown in dishonor, but it's raising glory.
15:12
And there's nothing attractive about a corpse and a Funeral
15:17
Home that's made-up to look like it's better than it really
15:20
actually is. And it's always funny when
15:23
people say, oh, she looks great or he looks good or whatever.
15:26
Well, that isn't even the person anymore.
15:28
It's this makeup and the mortuaries gifting and how to
15:32
make something that's dead look somewhat alive.
15:34
It's it's usually not that well done.
15:37
But he says that this corruptible body that's sown in
15:42
dishonor is going to be raised in glory.
15:45
It's sown in weakness, but it's raised in power in verse 43.
15:48
So when someone dies, usually it's either an accident or a
15:53
crisis of health or or this old age or whatever, but it's weak
15:58
when it goes into the ground. There's nothing that would
16:00
evidence any kind of strength or any kind of power.
16:04
There's no capacity for it to manifest any strength or life
16:07
anymore. It's totally own and a natural
16:13
body. It's my are we OK with the
16:19
sound? Is that the batteries?
16:22
You think, OK, so we just keep going on, right?
16:28
Sorry folks, sometimes we have these technical issues, but it's
16:32
going to be raised a spiritual body.
16:35
And so there's a natural body you and I have right now.
16:38
And then he said, and then there's a spiritual body.
16:42
So that's what you're going to be looking forward to, the new
16:44
body that's inclined for spiritual eternal life in a
16:49
state that will be with Christ to be like he is forever and
16:53
ever and ever to die again. And so it's written the first
16:56
man, Adam became a living being. We know how Adam was born.
17:00
He was born out of the dust. It says the last Adam became a
17:04
life giving spirit. So Christ represents the second
17:08
Adam, the the second birth of, of the human race, the new
17:13
creation of how we're going to be.
17:15
And he said in verse 46, however, the spiritual is not
17:20
first, but the natural. So we're born a natural birth
17:24
initially, it might maybe live 7080 years if we're fortunate.
17:29
And afterward there's a spiritual life.
17:33
The the first man was of the earth made of dust.
17:36
That's referring to Adam, the second man, which is referring
17:40
to Jesus is the Lord from heaven in verse 47, as was the man of
17:46
dust. So also are those who are made
17:49
of dust. And so that's why we all go
17:52
through this process of physical death.
17:55
It's explained very clearly here that we're born of Adam, of the
17:59
dust, and we're going to return to that same dust that we were
18:02
born out of. And as a heavenly man, so also
18:06
there are those who are heavenly.
18:08
Now how do we become heavenly people?
18:11
We have to have the experience of being born again.
18:16
Jesus says you must be born again to enter into the Kingdom
18:19
of heaven. The Kingdom of heaven is only
18:21
for believers, not for unbelievers.
18:23
It's for people who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
18:27
people who have repented and are constantly turning from their
18:30
sins and wanting their lives to be used by the Lord and the Holy
18:34
Spirit for all eternity for the glory of God.
18:38
And so he says in verse 49, as we have been born the image of
18:43
the man of dust, we were born like Adam.
18:45
We shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.
18:49
So the same kind of body that Jesus had when he rose again
18:53
from the dead is the image of the heavenly man that we're
18:58
going to bear as well, as it said in first John chapter 3,
19:02
when we see him and that day we shall be like him, for we shall
19:06
see him as he is. What a beautiful promise, isn't
19:11
it? And so in verse 50 it says, I
19:14
say this brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
19:18
Kingdom of heaven, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
19:24
So when it says that flesh and blood can't inherit the Kingdom
19:29
of heaven, we got to get a new body, a new body that will be
19:34
fashioned like the body of Jesus Christ, His spiritual heavenly
19:38
body. That's what our new body will be
19:41
like. This body that we're discussing
19:47
right now was not any made out of the earth, but it was made
19:52
for the earth. That's His present body I have
19:54
right now. It's earthly, so God designed
19:58
your body to exist in the environmental conditions of the
20:02
planet Earth. Your body is designed to
20:05
withstand 14 lbs of pressure per square inch.
20:09
Your body is designed to take the oxygen out of the 78.929
20:14
nitrogen oxygen atmosphere in which we live. 1% neon, Freon
20:20
and some other gases designed for the Earth.
20:23
The body wasn't designed for space.
20:25
It was wasn't designed for the stratosphere.
20:28
It wasn't designed for the Moon or Mars or Venus or Jupiter.
20:32
It was designed only for the Earth.
20:35
Now to take your body out of the Earth, you got to take the
20:38
artificial environment with you or you can't survive.
20:42
The men who went to the moon had to take artificial environment
20:45
with them. You saw the pressure suits, the
20:46
space suits to maintain the 14 lbs of pressure per square inch.
20:51
You saw the tanks of oxygen and nitrogen on their backs so that
20:55
they could have the same balance of atmosphere.
20:58
They had to take all this artificial environment to
21:01
recreate the Earth's environment in order to survive on the moon
21:04
because the body wasn't made for the moon.
21:07
Your body wasn't made for heaven.
21:10
Your body was made for earth. So God, when he brings us into
21:14
his glorious presence in the heaven, in order to do that, he
21:17
had, he's not going to be given a space suits or nitrogen or
21:21
oxygen tanks or heavy shoes to clomp around in.
21:24
It's going to give you a new body that's designed for the
21:28
environmental conditions of heaven.
21:31
So for you and me as children of God, death is called sleep,
21:35
because all you do is move out of the old body, the tent, into
21:39
the new house that God has prepared for you.
21:42
It's just that simple, as Jesus tells us in my Father's house,
21:46
so many mansions. And if it were not so, I would
21:49
have told you. And if I told you, I go to
21:51
prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be also.
21:56
So you can stake your very life on those verses, the promises of
22:01
God that the best is yet to come.
22:05
And so he says in verse 51. I tell you a mystery, We shall
22:08
not all sleep, but we should all be changed in a moment, and the
22:12
twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.
22:15
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
22:18
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
22:21
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
22:26
must put on immortality. You understand this transition
22:30
is an absolute necessity to take us out of death and bring us
22:36
into this eternal life that He's promised us in John 316.
22:40
For God so loved this world that he gave His only begotten Son,
22:44
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
22:48
everlasting life. And so this mortal must put on
22:52
immortality. This physical body I'm in,
22:55
you're in right now as believers is not capable or suitable to
23:01
put on this immortality. We have to receive the new body.
23:05
So when this corruptible, which what we have right now has put
23:08
on the incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality,
23:13
then it shall be brought to pass as saying that is written.
23:15
Death is swallowed up in victory.
23:18
Oh death, where's your sting? Oh Hades, where's your victory?
23:22
So in other words, there is no issue of the ugliness and the
23:29
fear of the consequences of physical death anymore.
23:34
Once this transformation occurs, it's completely null and void
23:41
the concept of physical death. It'll never be experienced again
23:46
once we leave this life and enter into the throne room of
23:49
God with a new body that's designed by the Lord to live
23:54
like the Lord with no more death, no more sickness, no more
23:58
sorrow, no more crying. For the former things have
24:01
passed away. As it tells us in the Book of
24:03
Revelation, the sting of death is sin.
24:07
When we get our new bodies and we're brought out of this
24:11
present fallen evil world, there will be no more sin or capacity
24:17
to sin in heaven because there's the Bible said in verse John 3.
24:21
When we see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him
24:26
as He is. And he's talks about the
24:30
strength in this current life regarding sin as the law.
24:34
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
24:38
We had evangelism training today in the fellowship hall with
24:43
eight brothers from different places, churches that wanted to
24:47
learn how to share their faith with people they're concerned
24:51
about in regard to not knowing what who we're talking about
24:55
today. People are dying and under the
25:00
influence of sin when they don't have a savior.
25:05
Once Jesus comes into your life, you're forgiven of your sins and
25:10
now you have the power and the ability through the Holy Spirit
25:13
to actually not sin anymore. Doesn't mean you're still not
25:16
going to sin. None of us are perfect yet, but
25:20
we have this ability now, this overcoming life in us by the
25:23
Holy Spirit to live a victorious life, to please God and not to
25:28
live in stupidity and sinful behaviors anymore.
25:32
But the influence of sin is a real problem because that's why
25:36
people die. The wages of sin is death.
25:39
Everyone's going to die because of sin.
25:41
And the strength of sin is the law.
25:43
The law we know, the 10 commandments tells us what God's
25:47
character is like and what he expects.
25:50
And every one of us have broken the 10 commandments.
25:53
And because of that, we need a Savior.
25:56
We can't get into the Kingdom of heaven, nor can we get into this
26:02
new body that's prepared for heaven unless we're born again
26:08
on this side of heaven. And the way we get born again is
26:11
to ask Christ into our life, recognizing that we're sinners,
26:16
there's no hope for us, there is no life beyond the grave outside
26:19
of eternal damnation in hell, that there will be a body
26:24
prepared for people to have to suffer the consequences of
26:28
eternal torment and punishment. I know that's a hard concept to
26:33
grasp and a hard thing to consider, but it's the reality.
26:37
There's there's two destinies when you leave this world.
26:40
One is either with Christ in heaven, eternal bliss and joy
26:46
and excitement and meaning and everything you ever longed for,
26:52
or this place called hell that God didn't create for us.
26:57
It was created for the devil and his angels.
26:59
But whoever follows the ways of the devil and is influenced by
27:03
the demonic activity on this side of heaven, it doesn't come
27:06
to Christ. They will also be resurrected,
27:09
but it'll be the resurrection unto damnation for all eternity.
27:14
And so that is a serious issue and why we need to understand
27:18
the word of God and the gospel and to share it and to pray for
27:22
people and to love them enough that we tell them what Christ
27:26
has done for us so that they can go to be with us in heaven one
27:30
day. And so he says then in verse 57,
27:35
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord
27:39
Jesus Christ. That is where the answer is for
27:44
victory over sin and death. It's in Jesus Christ.
27:48
Jesus said in John 14, six, I am the way, I am the truth.
27:54
I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
27:57
through me. And so if you're listening today
28:01
or you never heard these things before, it's not too late today.
28:05
Jesus is telling you I'm the way to find life.
28:10
I am the truth regarding what life's about and I'm the only
28:15
one that has the power to give you this eternal resurrected
28:21
life and a new body that will never fail you and that will
28:25
live at its best age and best state forever and ever.
28:30
No more aging, no more sin, no more death, no more cancers, no
28:33
more bad diagnosis is once you're in the Kingdom of heaven
28:37
with God. And that's what we're working
28:40
toward. That's what we're doing, why
28:43
we're doing what we're doing. Why was it important to come in
28:45
today and bring this word to you today?
28:48
Well, this is an important chapter and we didn't feel that
28:52
it was OK. Just ignore it this week and
28:54
catch up later or whatever. Some for some of us are feeding
28:59
on the truth of the Scriptures comes probably primarily from
29:03
what we hear on Sunday morning. And if you're in a church where
29:08
the words being taught, the whole council of God, you're
29:12
you're prepared, you're equipped to know how to handle the death
29:16
of loved ones who know Jesus. And you also know how to despair
29:21
regarding the deaths of loved ones that don't know Jesus.
29:24
That's why again, the church has been established by Jesus so
29:28
that people can find him and know the way and become
29:34
believers and have that assurance of eternal life.
29:40
He says in conclusion, verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
29:45
and in light of everything we've studied in this wonderful
29:48
chapter of First Corinthians 15 on the resurrection, therefore,
29:53
my beloved brethren, because of all these things, be steadfast,
29:58
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
30:04
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
30:07
So the appeal to you and to me as followers of Jesus Christ,
30:12
don't give up. Don't walk away from what you
30:16
know to be true. Be steady day in and day out in
30:22
regard to your faith and your trust and your love for Jesus
30:27
and for the Word of God. Immovable, meaning nothing's
30:30
going to shift your gears from being totally committed to
30:36
serving Him and loving Him so that others might know Him.
30:42
And it says not sometimes. It says always abounding in the
30:47
work of the Lord. That's what we're doing here
30:50
this morning, Bill and I. We're abounding in the work of
30:54
the Lord, not for our glory, not for our benefit, but for His
31:02
glory and for the benefit of people that will come to know
31:07
Him, perhaps as a result of hearing the Word of God like
31:10
we're teaching it today. And then I love this promise.
31:14
This is actually one of my favorite verses.
31:16
I have to preach this to myself often when I get discouraged.
31:19
I think, wow, nothing's really happening in the ministry.
31:22
Or, you know, what's up with without all of us as people, Why
31:26
can we be so committed and passionate and then all of a
31:29
sudden like not care anymore, be complacent or a pathetic.
31:33
And I'm not saying that's the case with any of you, but
31:37
sometimes as a pastor, you, you just wonder, is any of this
31:41
making a difference in anybody's lives?
31:43
But it is, he says, knowing that your labor, your work is not in
31:49
vain in the Lord. So we can be totally confident
31:53
that what it is we're doing every day in regards to our own
31:58
ministries, sharing our faith, sharing the gospel, praying for
32:03
people, witnessing of our faith, starting ministries that the
32:10
Lord might give you a heart to Start learning more how to
32:16
effectively share your faith. That's the purpose of our
32:20
meetings that we have here periodically, conversational
32:24
evangelism, how to get this conversation going, to begin to
32:28
tell people about Jesus, The purpose of Grace FM.
32:34
But the word of God is rolling 24/7, 7 days a week, independent
32:38
of weather patterns or anything else at stations on there.
32:42
There'll be pastors just like myself and Lewis that are just
32:46
teaching the Word simply so people can learn how to follow
32:51
the Lord, so that they can have hope.
32:54
They don't have to despair no matter what's happening in the
32:56
world. They don't have to to be
32:58
depressed or be negative, but to know and read this book of First
33:02
Corinthians, excuse me, chapter 15.
33:06
Read it over and over and over again and be reminded of death.
33:11
Where's our sting of death? Where's your victory?
33:15
Jesus has given us the victory over sin and death and all
33:19
praise and all glory to his name.
33:22
So now we're going to take the Lord's Supper together and you
33:27
can enjoy the rest of your Sunday safely in your home.
33:30
Go out and build a snowman or something with your kids.
33:33
Watch out. It's super cold, so make sure
33:34
you got the right clothing on. You don't want to get frostbite.
33:38
Thank you for tuning in today. Spread this message to others.
33:43
Send it to friends on Facebook. Let it go viral.
33:48
I think it's one of the most important sections of Scripture
33:52
because it answers the biggest question that people have.
33:55
What happens after death? Let's prepare our hearts for the
34:00
Lord's Supper. We take the Lord's Supper every
34:10
week. As Jesus said, this is a
34:12
blessing to Him. He gave it to us to strengthen
34:15
us and remind us of what life's about and what life's, What kind
34:21
of life do you have that's worth living for?
34:24
It's about following Him right and endeavoring to know Him
34:28
better every day. So may this supper bless you.
34:32
Take this as a believer. If you're not a believer, it's
34:35
not really going to impact you at all.
34:38
If you're a believer and you're not serious about where you're
34:40
at right now with the Lord, this is an opportunity again, just to
34:43
say, Lord, I want to get back on track with you and I want to
34:47
have you first in my life. I want to live for you and that
34:50
you would you would do that. And he'll, he'll honor that
34:53
prayer. He doesn't condemn us.
34:54
He's always just like, come on back, get back in the race, get
34:59
back into living in a way. So you're steadfast and movable,
35:02
always abounding in your work for the Lord, for as much as you
35:06
know your labor is not in vain in him.
35:09
On the night that Jesus betrayed, he took the bread in
35:11
his hands and he broke it, and he gave thanks and he said,
35:14
take, eat, this is my body which is given for you.
35:18
Eat this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, that night
35:32
he took the cup, and he said, this cup is a new covenant in my
35:36
blood, which is shed for the forgiveness, the sins of many.
35:40
Drink this remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this
35:48
bread and you drink this cup, you show forth the Lord's death
35:52
till he comes again. God bless you guys.
35:54
Thanks for tuning in. Love you.