1. Begin your message with the phrase, "You know what's wrong with you people..."
2. Place the student Sunday school space near the "Ruth class" for ladies 70 and above.
3. Move business meetings to Sunday morning and open up the floor by asking, "So does anybody have a beef?"
4. Begin that year-long sermon series on the 40 weeks of Daniel.
5. Place a polygraph machine on the front pew to be used during the invitation time.
6. Place tire puncture strips in the parking lot for cars going the wrong way before Sunday school.
7. Pick a NASCAR driver as your favorite and complain about all the other drivers (this works best in Alabama).
8. Place the roller coaster "You must be this tall" sign at the entrance of the worship center. (And make it stand about 5' 8 1/2")
9. Keep the Christmas pageant livestock in the church choir room year 'round.
10. Announce that on high attendance Sunday, if the goal is met, everyone will kiss the pig!
11. If your auditorium slopes downward to the platform, give every kid under 12 a handful of marbles before the service.
12. Give deacons the ability to "gong" the special music.
13. Place the outdoor welcome center tent a few feet from the septic tank.
14. Replace the pictures of former pastors with pictures of Larry, Moe, and Curly.
15. Start arranging marriages in the singles department.
16. Put a blank for "weight" on the membership information forms.
17. Invite the "cops" crew along during hospital visits.
18. Demand mandatory drug tests for all senior adult excursions.
19. In order to feel relevant, say "Dude" 15 times from the pulpit each Sunday.
20. Have the organist play hockey cheers at pivotal moments of the sermon.
21. Place armed guards in front of the Sunday school supply closet.
22. Before the offertory hymn, have the worship leader scream, "Show me the money!"
23. Charge tolls for the use of restrooms.
24. Illustrate all sermons or Sunday school lessons with scenes from "Walker, Texas Ranger."
25. Use the "American Idol" format for staff hirings.
Written by Matt Tullos.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
SERMON: HEAVENLY MINDED
Preached by Gregory W. Lee
18 May 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5
1. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
3. because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
7. We live by faith, not by sight.
8. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
-- Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, has recently written a children's book called, "What's Heaven?" -- this book is the story of Kate, a little girl whose great-grandmother has just died -- she's trying to understand what happens after you die, so her mother tells her all about heaven
-- in the book, Shriver wrote, "heaven is a beautiful place -- a place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him."
-- as we talked about last week, that is the view of heaven that most Americans hold -- the view that heaven consists of living in the clouds with God and attending a 24-7 worship service -- and that's why a lot of people don't want to go to heaven -- to them heaven sounds anything but exciting -- in fact, heaven sounds boring
-- have you ever wondered why people have so many wrong views about heaven? -- why there are so many false teachings about heaven?
-- the answer is simple -- because they have been led astray by Satan -- in Revelation 13:6, John writes that the Beast -- the Antichrist -- is empowered by Satan to "blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven" -- this is what Satan does -- he attacks God by slandering God's name, God's people, and God's dwelling place -- heaven
-- by slandering heaven, Satan has been able to take God's most wonderful promise to us -- His promise of the kingdom to come -- of life everlasting filled with wonders and excitement and rest -- and turn it into a parody of disembodied saints floating on clouds and sitting in church all day
-- so, this morning, I want to finish our discussion of the life everlasting by looking at what heaven is all about
II. What happens when you die?
-- Sara Groves has a song called, "What do I know?" where she talks of trying to comfort an 88-year old friend of hers who is dying -- this friend was saved by Jesus and was strong in her faith when she was 34 -- but now she is old and is afraid of facing death and is seeking a word of hope and encouragement from her friend
-- Sara sings about trying to answer her friend's fears -- "And what do I know? What do I know? -- I don't know that there are harps in heaven, -- Or the process for earning your wings. -- I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels, -- Or any of those things. -- But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, -- and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good."
-- Sara can't answer her friend's questions directly, because she has never experienced life after death -- but the author of this passage -- the Apostle Paul -- has
-- as we learned last week, Paul was caught up to the third heaven -- to Paradise -- where he experienced a glimpse of life after death -- of what happens when we die
-- so in this passage from 2 Corinthians 5, Paul talks about how our souls groan for our heavenly home -- how our spirits long to be clothed with immortality because we wish to be freed from our burdens and from life in this fallen world
-- Paul, speaking from experience, says that as long as we are in our mortal bodies, we are away from Christ -- but the moment we die -- the moment we are absent from our bodies -- we are with the Lord
-- he said the same thing in Philippians 1:21-23 -- ""to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain -- I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far"
-- this is what we long for -- this is what we are groaning for -- this is what we are made for
-- the Bible makes it perfectly clear -- for everyone who believes in Christ, the moment you die, you will be transported to Paradise -- to heaven -- to be in the presence of the Lord
-- all New Testament believers who die before the second coming of Christ will be translated to heaven -- to Paradise -- when they die
-- which begs the questions, "What about those people who die who don't believe in Jesus? -- and what about the people who lived in the Old Testament days before Jesus came?"
-- if you would, let's turn over to Luke 16 and look for our answers there -- verses 19-31 are a parable that Jesus told about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus
19. "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
20. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
21. and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
24. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
25. "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
26. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
27. "He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,
28. for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
29. "Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
30. "`No, father Abraham,' he said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
31. "He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
-- as best as I can understand from my study of life after death, before Christ came, everyone who died went to a temporary holding place -- not purgatory, as the Catholics teach -- but a holding place -- this place was called "Sheol" in the Old Testament and "Hades" in the New Testament -- and everyone who died before Christ went to this place
-- apparently, "Sheol" or "Hades" is divided into two parts -- one a place of torment -- the other a place of pleasure
-- now, because we don't have a word in our English language for these two areas, most Bible translations render "Hades" as "Hell" when it is apparent the Bible is referring to the part of Hades that is the place of torment -- like in this passage
-- in verse 23, the original Greek says, "In Hades, where he was in torment" -- not, "In Hell," which is the Greek word "Gehanna"
-- this is important and I want to make sure you get it -- Hell is the final place of torment -- also known as the Lake of Fire -- while the part of Hades that is a place of torment is temporary
-- so understand this, "Sheol" or "Hades" is a temporary place of residence after death -- everyone who died in the Old Testament and who died before Christ was crucified are in this place
-- apparently, when these people died, they stood before a judgment throne -- if they believed in God and the Promise of the Messiah -- even if they did not know the name of Jesus -- they are in the side of pleasure -- also known as "Abraham's bosom"
-- if they did not believe in God or if they rejected God and His Messiah -- they are in the place of torment
-- now, what about people who have died since the crucifixion of Christ -- including those in our day? -- apparently, we face a judgment throne as well that decides our destination in the after-life
-- because Jesus has opened the way to God through His own sacrifice on the cross -- because the veil was rent and believers were allowed access to the very presence of God -- believers in Jesus -- those who trust in His atoning death on the cross and ask Him to forgive them of their sins -- are immediately caught up to Paradise with Jesus when they die -- they do not go to Hades -- not even the place of pleasure in Hades
-- that's what we learned in 2 Corinthians 5 -- to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord -- and, as Jesus told the thief on the cross -- "Today you will be with me in Paradise"
-- for the others, for all of those who don't believe in Jesus or who have rejected Him, I believe they go to the place of torment in Hades until the end of the age
-- now, here's what I want to make sure you understand -- and this is going to be a revelation to some of you -- when someone dies -- whether that is before the crucifixion of Christ or after the crucifixion of Christ -- they go to a temporary abode
-- for those before the crucifixion of Christ and for those who die without accepting Jesus, they go to Hades
-- for those of us who have accepted Christ and die, we go to heaven or Paradise to be with Jesus -- but this is not our permanent dwelling -- this is only our temporary home -- as Randy Alcorn puts it, we enter into this "intermediate state, a transitional period between our past lives on earth and our future resurrection to life on the new earth"
III. Our Eternal Home
-- a lot of people have a problem believing in a temporary place after death -- of this intermediate state that Alcorn and other theologians have talked about -- but think about it like this -- "Only God is eternal and self-existent" [Alcorn] -- everything else -- whether we're talking about this world or the universe or heaven -- all of it was created by God and for God -- heaven is simply the place where God chooses to live
-- as believers, we will always be in the presence of God after death -- but the heaven or Paradise that we go to immediately after death is just a temporary lodging -- it is the place where we wait for the return of Christ and our bodily resurrection
-- our eternal home will be the new earth
-- if you would, flip over to Revelation 20
10. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
-- let me catch you up with the context here -- Revelation 20 opens after the Battle of Armageddon -- the seven-year tribulation period has ended -- and the Antichrist and his prophet have been defeated by Jesus and His armies at Armageddon and they were thrown into the Lake of Fire
-- this ushers in a 1,000 year period known as the Millennium -- at this time, all of the believers of Christ who dwelt with Him in Paradise are resurrected -- their spirits are joined with a new body -- an imperishable body -- and they reign with Christ for 1,000 years here on earth
-- look at verse 5
5. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
-- John calls this, "the first resurrection" -- but notice what else he says -- the rest of the dead do not come to life until the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ
-- that brings us to the passage that we just read -- at the end of the 1,000 years, Satan is released from the Abyss and deceives a lot of the people and they rebel against Jesus -- but fire comes down from heaven and destroys them
-- in verse 10, Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire to join the Antichrist and his prophet -- and they are tormented forever
-- in verse 11, we read of the Great White Throne judgment -- at this time, everyone who is in Hades -- whether in the place of torment or the place of pleasure -- everyone appears before the Great White Throne to be judged
-- all of those who did not believe in the Messiah and who rejected God will be thrown into Hell or the Lake of Fire -- in verse 6, John calls this "the second death" -- this is the permanent place of torment for those people
-- but what about the rest? -- look at Revelation 21
1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
-- this is why I said that heaven or Paradise was a temporary dwelling place -- after the second coming of Christ -- after our bodily resurrection, both heaven and earth will be made new -- they will be re-created and we will reside on the new earth
-- God tells us here that He will send to earth His holy city -- the new Jerusalem -- which will be His residence on earth -- the throne of God will be in this city -- and we will live with God on earth forever
-- heaven is wherever God chooses to live -- and so we will experience heaven on earth for eternity
-- I'm going to close now -- and next week, we'll try to finish up our discussion of heaven by talking about what heaven is really going to be like -- it's not going to be like Maria Shriver paints it in her book, "What's Heaven?" -- it's not going to be clouds and harps and Sunday morning worship all the time
-- it's going to be life in a new earth -- a perfect earth -- an earth freed of the curse and able to be enjoyed by us as God intended -- so, that's what we'll talk about next week
-- as I close, I want to once again invite you to consider your relationship with Christ -- as we have seen, if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior -- if you have asked Him to forgive you of your sins, then you will be caught up to Paradise when you die -- and you will be looking forward to living life in your new resurrection body in a new earth
-- but, if you haven't accepted Jesus -- if you've just been coming to church and going through the motions -- if you've never personally made the decision to trust in Jesus and to ask Him to forgive your sins, then your destination is not Paradise -- it's a place of torment -- either temporary in Hades or permanent in the Lake of Fire
-- I don't want you to go there -- I want you to join me in heaven -- and I invite you right now, as we play the last hymn, to make sure that you turn to Christ in faith so that you avoid this terrible place -- the altar is open -- and I'd be happy to pray with you if you want
-- let us pray
18 May 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5
1. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
3. because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
7. We live by faith, not by sight.
8. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
-- Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, has recently written a children's book called, "What's Heaven?" -- this book is the story of Kate, a little girl whose great-grandmother has just died -- she's trying to understand what happens after you die, so her mother tells her all about heaven
-- in the book, Shriver wrote, "heaven is a beautiful place -- a place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him."
-- as we talked about last week, that is the view of heaven that most Americans hold -- the view that heaven consists of living in the clouds with God and attending a 24-7 worship service -- and that's why a lot of people don't want to go to heaven -- to them heaven sounds anything but exciting -- in fact, heaven sounds boring
-- have you ever wondered why people have so many wrong views about heaven? -- why there are so many false teachings about heaven?
-- the answer is simple -- because they have been led astray by Satan -- in Revelation 13:6, John writes that the Beast -- the Antichrist -- is empowered by Satan to "blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven" -- this is what Satan does -- he attacks God by slandering God's name, God's people, and God's dwelling place -- heaven
-- by slandering heaven, Satan has been able to take God's most wonderful promise to us -- His promise of the kingdom to come -- of life everlasting filled with wonders and excitement and rest -- and turn it into a parody of disembodied saints floating on clouds and sitting in church all day
-- so, this morning, I want to finish our discussion of the life everlasting by looking at what heaven is all about
II. What happens when you die?
-- Sara Groves has a song called, "What do I know?" where she talks of trying to comfort an 88-year old friend of hers who is dying -- this friend was saved by Jesus and was strong in her faith when she was 34 -- but now she is old and is afraid of facing death and is seeking a word of hope and encouragement from her friend
-- Sara sings about trying to answer her friend's fears -- "And what do I know? What do I know? -- I don't know that there are harps in heaven, -- Or the process for earning your wings. -- I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels, -- Or any of those things. -- But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord, -- and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good."
-- Sara can't answer her friend's questions directly, because she has never experienced life after death -- but the author of this passage -- the Apostle Paul -- has
-- as we learned last week, Paul was caught up to the third heaven -- to Paradise -- where he experienced a glimpse of life after death -- of what happens when we die
-- so in this passage from 2 Corinthians 5, Paul talks about how our souls groan for our heavenly home -- how our spirits long to be clothed with immortality because we wish to be freed from our burdens and from life in this fallen world
-- Paul, speaking from experience, says that as long as we are in our mortal bodies, we are away from Christ -- but the moment we die -- the moment we are absent from our bodies -- we are with the Lord
-- he said the same thing in Philippians 1:21-23 -- ""to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain -- I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far"
-- this is what we long for -- this is what we are groaning for -- this is what we are made for
-- the Bible makes it perfectly clear -- for everyone who believes in Christ, the moment you die, you will be transported to Paradise -- to heaven -- to be in the presence of the Lord
-- all New Testament believers who die before the second coming of Christ will be translated to heaven -- to Paradise -- when they die
-- which begs the questions, "What about those people who die who don't believe in Jesus? -- and what about the people who lived in the Old Testament days before Jesus came?"
-- if you would, let's turn over to Luke 16 and look for our answers there -- verses 19-31 are a parable that Jesus told about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus
19. "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
20. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
21. and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
24. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
25. "But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
26. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
27. "He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house,
28. for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
29. "Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
30. "`No, father Abraham,' he said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
31. "He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
-- as best as I can understand from my study of life after death, before Christ came, everyone who died went to a temporary holding place -- not purgatory, as the Catholics teach -- but a holding place -- this place was called "Sheol" in the Old Testament and "Hades" in the New Testament -- and everyone who died before Christ went to this place
-- apparently, "Sheol" or "Hades" is divided into two parts -- one a place of torment -- the other a place of pleasure
-- now, because we don't have a word in our English language for these two areas, most Bible translations render "Hades" as "Hell" when it is apparent the Bible is referring to the part of Hades that is the place of torment -- like in this passage
-- in verse 23, the original Greek says, "In Hades, where he was in torment" -- not, "In Hell," which is the Greek word "Gehanna"
-- this is important and I want to make sure you get it -- Hell is the final place of torment -- also known as the Lake of Fire -- while the part of Hades that is a place of torment is temporary
-- so understand this, "Sheol" or "Hades" is a temporary place of residence after death -- everyone who died in the Old Testament and who died before Christ was crucified are in this place
-- apparently, when these people died, they stood before a judgment throne -- if they believed in God and the Promise of the Messiah -- even if they did not know the name of Jesus -- they are in the side of pleasure -- also known as "Abraham's bosom"
-- if they did not believe in God or if they rejected God and His Messiah -- they are in the place of torment
-- now, what about people who have died since the crucifixion of Christ -- including those in our day? -- apparently, we face a judgment throne as well that decides our destination in the after-life
-- because Jesus has opened the way to God through His own sacrifice on the cross -- because the veil was rent and believers were allowed access to the very presence of God -- believers in Jesus -- those who trust in His atoning death on the cross and ask Him to forgive them of their sins -- are immediately caught up to Paradise with Jesus when they die -- they do not go to Hades -- not even the place of pleasure in Hades
-- that's what we learned in 2 Corinthians 5 -- to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord -- and, as Jesus told the thief on the cross -- "Today you will be with me in Paradise"
-- for the others, for all of those who don't believe in Jesus or who have rejected Him, I believe they go to the place of torment in Hades until the end of the age
-- now, here's what I want to make sure you understand -- and this is going to be a revelation to some of you -- when someone dies -- whether that is before the crucifixion of Christ or after the crucifixion of Christ -- they go to a temporary abode
-- for those before the crucifixion of Christ and for those who die without accepting Jesus, they go to Hades
-- for those of us who have accepted Christ and die, we go to heaven or Paradise to be with Jesus -- but this is not our permanent dwelling -- this is only our temporary home -- as Randy Alcorn puts it, we enter into this "intermediate state, a transitional period between our past lives on earth and our future resurrection to life on the new earth"
III. Our Eternal Home
-- a lot of people have a problem believing in a temporary place after death -- of this intermediate state that Alcorn and other theologians have talked about -- but think about it like this -- "Only God is eternal and self-existent" [Alcorn] -- everything else -- whether we're talking about this world or the universe or heaven -- all of it was created by God and for God -- heaven is simply the place where God chooses to live
-- as believers, we will always be in the presence of God after death -- but the heaven or Paradise that we go to immediately after death is just a temporary lodging -- it is the place where we wait for the return of Christ and our bodily resurrection
-- our eternal home will be the new earth
-- if you would, flip over to Revelation 20
10. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
-- let me catch you up with the context here -- Revelation 20 opens after the Battle of Armageddon -- the seven-year tribulation period has ended -- and the Antichrist and his prophet have been defeated by Jesus and His armies at Armageddon and they were thrown into the Lake of Fire
-- this ushers in a 1,000 year period known as the Millennium -- at this time, all of the believers of Christ who dwelt with Him in Paradise are resurrected -- their spirits are joined with a new body -- an imperishable body -- and they reign with Christ for 1,000 years here on earth
-- look at verse 5
5. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
-- John calls this, "the first resurrection" -- but notice what else he says -- the rest of the dead do not come to life until the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ
-- that brings us to the passage that we just read -- at the end of the 1,000 years, Satan is released from the Abyss and deceives a lot of the people and they rebel against Jesus -- but fire comes down from heaven and destroys them
-- in verse 10, Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire to join the Antichrist and his prophet -- and they are tormented forever
-- in verse 11, we read of the Great White Throne judgment -- at this time, everyone who is in Hades -- whether in the place of torment or the place of pleasure -- everyone appears before the Great White Throne to be judged
-- all of those who did not believe in the Messiah and who rejected God will be thrown into Hell or the Lake of Fire -- in verse 6, John calls this "the second death" -- this is the permanent place of torment for those people
-- but what about the rest? -- look at Revelation 21
1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
-- this is why I said that heaven or Paradise was a temporary dwelling place -- after the second coming of Christ -- after our bodily resurrection, both heaven and earth will be made new -- they will be re-created and we will reside on the new earth
-- God tells us here that He will send to earth His holy city -- the new Jerusalem -- which will be His residence on earth -- the throne of God will be in this city -- and we will live with God on earth forever
-- heaven is wherever God chooses to live -- and so we will experience heaven on earth for eternity
-- I'm going to close now -- and next week, we'll try to finish up our discussion of heaven by talking about what heaven is really going to be like -- it's not going to be like Maria Shriver paints it in her book, "What's Heaven?" -- it's not going to be clouds and harps and Sunday morning worship all the time
-- it's going to be life in a new earth -- a perfect earth -- an earth freed of the curse and able to be enjoyed by us as God intended -- so, that's what we'll talk about next week
-- as I close, I want to once again invite you to consider your relationship with Christ -- as we have seen, if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior -- if you have asked Him to forgive you of your sins, then you will be caught up to Paradise when you die -- and you will be looking forward to living life in your new resurrection body in a new earth
-- but, if you haven't accepted Jesus -- if you've just been coming to church and going through the motions -- if you've never personally made the decision to trust in Jesus and to ask Him to forgive your sins, then your destination is not Paradise -- it's a place of torment -- either temporary in Hades or permanent in the Lake of Fire
-- I don't want you to go there -- I want you to join me in heaven -- and I invite you right now, as we play the last hymn, to make sure that you turn to Christ in faith so that you avoid this terrible place -- the altar is open -- and I'd be happy to pray with you if you want
-- let us pray
Saturday, May 17, 2008
SERMON: I BELIEVE IN THE LIFE EVERLASTING
11 MAY 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Rev 21
1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
-- once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the womb -- seconds, minutes, hours passed as these little embryos developed -- the spark of life grew and each tiny brain began to take shape and form -- within the development of their brain came feeling, and with feeling, perception -- a perception of their surroundings, of each other, and their own lives -- they discovered that life was good and they laughed and rejoiced in their hearts
-- one twin said to the other -- "we are sure lucky to have been conceived and to have this wonderful world to live in"
-- the other replied, "yes, blessed be our mother who gave us life and each other"
-- each of the twins continued to grow and soon their arms and fingers, legs and toes began to take shape -- they moved about in their little world -- exploring it and learning more about it -- they discovered the life cord which gave them life from their mother's blood -- they were grateful for this discovery and sand, "How great is the love of our mother -- that she shares all she has with us"
-- weeks passed into months -- and every day, they noticed a change in each other and in themselves -- "what does this mean" -- "it means," said the other twin, "that we are drawing near to birth"
-- an unsettling chill crept over the two boys -- they were afraid of birth, for they knew that it meant leaving their wonderful world behind
-- the first one said, "If it were up to me, I'd live here forever"
-- the second one replied, "But we have to be born -- it happened to the others who came before -- remember, we found evidence that other children were here before us? -- I believe there is life after birth, don't you?"
-- "How can there be life after birth?" -- the first twin cried -- "Won't we lose our life cord and the blood tissue when we are born? -- have you ever talked to anyone who has been born? -- has anyone ever re-entered the womb after birth to describe what birth is like? -- NO!"
-- as he spoke, the first twin fell into despair -- "if the purpose of conception and our life in this womb is to end in birth, then truly our life is senseless -- and if this is so, then there really can be no mother"
-- "But there is a mother," the other twin protested -- "Who gave us nourishment? -- who else created this world for us?"
-- the first twin responded, "We get our nourishment from this cord -- and this world has always been here -- and if there is a mother, then where is she? -- have you ever seen her? -- does she ever talk to you? -- NO -- we invented the mother when we were young because it satisfied a need in us -- it made us feel secure and happy"
-- thus, one twin raged and despaired while the other one resigned himself to birth and placed his trust in the hands of his mother -- hours turned into days -- days into weeks -- and soon it was time -- they both knew their birth was at hand, and they both feared what they did not know
-- the twins cried as they were born into the light -- they coughed out fluid and gasped the dry air -- and when they had been born, they opened their eyes -- seeing life after birth for the very first time -- what they saw was the beautiful eyes of their mother as she cradled them lovingly in her arms -- birth was not an end after all -- instead, it was a homecoming
-- this morning, we are going to finish our series on the Apostle's Creed as we look at the final line in the creed, "I believe in the life everlasting"
-- I hope that as we've gone through this series that you've noticed how each line of the creed builds upon the other -- for instance, we proclaim that we believe in the Holy Spirit -- who, in turn, creates the holy catholic church through His indwelling presence
-- the holy catholic church, the church universal, comprised of all believers -- joins together in the communion of saints as one body and one people under the Lordship of Christ Jesus
-- as Christ's body, the church proclaims the forgiveness of sins and introduces people to the gospel of Christ through the Great Commission and the Great Commandment
-- through the forgiveness of sins, we look forward to the resurrection of the body -- the time when we will be given new, perfect bodies that are imperishable
-- which brings us to todays topic -- perhaps since last week you have been asking, "Why are we resurrected with bodies? -- why are we not just spiritually resurrected? -- what is so important about having a body? -- could it be that there is a place prepared for us -- not a spiritual realm -- but a physical realm where we will spend eternity?"
-- I'm glad you asked -- so let's spend some time talking about our future destination -- our life everlasting
II. Common Thoughts About Heaven
-- of course, when we talk about the life everlasting -- about life after death -- we are talking about heaven
-- I want you to do me a favor -- I want you to close your eyes for just a moment and picture in your mind what heaven looks like -- keep your eyes closed -- picture yourself there -- look around -- what do you see? -- who is there with you?
-- o.k. -- now open your eyes
-- what did heaven look like to you? -- for most of us, when we picture heaven, we imagine a city in the clouds -- everything is white and billowy and very bright -- everyone up there is wearing white robes -- and they're just sort of floating around on clouds all day -- playing harps and singing hymns -- and God is there, seated on His throne
-- generally, when we think of heaven, we think of it as one big, never-ending, church service -- and, truth be told, it just doesn't sound like that fun of a place
-- this is exactly the way Gary Larson, the creator of the Far Side cartoons, envisioned heaven -- there's a couple memorable cartoons about heaven that he drew -- in one, it shows two lines of people -- one line is going to heaven and the other is going to hell -- the caption for the top says, "Welcome to heaven, here's your harp" -- and the caption for the other one says, "Welcome to hell, here's your accordion"
-- but I think my favorite -- I think the one that really sums up the way we truly feel about heaven is the one that shows this guy in heaven -- sitting on a cloud with his legs hanging over and his head in his hands -- the caption says, "I wish I'd brought along a magazine"
-- honestly, when we hear about heaven, it really sounds boring -- it doesn't sound like the kind of place where we want to spend eternity
-- in his story, "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven," Mark Twain wrote, "Singing hymns and waving palm branches through all eternity is pretty when you hear about it in the pulpit, but it's as poor a way to put in valuable time as a body could contrive"
-- I think Twain spoke for the common man when he wrote that statement -- people think heaven is going to be nothing more than an eternal Sunday worship service -- and for that reason, a lot of people just don't want to go
-- I've even had people tell me that they want to go to Hell, because it'll be more fun and a lot more exciting -- kind of like the old quote, "heaven for climate, hell for society"
-- but, is that what heaven is really going to be all about? -- is that what the Bible teaches?
-- what really happens when we die? -- where do we go?
III. Paradise
-- if you would, turn over to 2 Corinthians 12
1. I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
2. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows.
3. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows--
4. was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
-- in this passage, the Apostle Paul tells us about a time when he went to heaven -- now, he calls it the "third" heaven, but don't get hung up on that -- the Jews recognized three distinct heavens -- the first heaven was the atmosphere -- the air that we breathe -- the second heaven was where the stars were -- where the sun and the moon were located -- the universe -- the third heaven was the home of God -- it is the place that we typically think of when we talk about heaven
-- so, Paul tells us here about a time when he was caught up and carried to the third heaven -- to the home of God
-- when Paul and Barnabus had been in Lystra, the Jews had surrounded him and stoned him -- they thought they had killed him and they dragged his body outside the city and left it there to rot -- several scholars agree that this may be the moment when Paul was carried to heaven -- it could be that he actually died and went to heaven, but God raised him from the dead -- all we know for sure is that Luke tells us in Acts 14:20 that all the disciples gathered around the body of Paul and that he got up and went back into the city
-- regardless of when and how it happened -- Paul tells us in this passage that he went to heaven -- now there are a couple of important things that I want you to see about heaven from this passage
-- first, notice in verse 4 what Paul calls the place where he went -- he calls it "Paradise"
-- do you remember what Jesus told the thief who repented of his sins on the cross? -- in Luke 23:43, Jesus told him, "Today, you will be with me in paradise"
-- paradise is the name of the place where you go when you die if you believe in Christ -- if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior
-- and this brings up the next important fact -- Jesus told the thief, "Today, you will be with me in paradise" -- not, "after a long time of sleep" -- not, "after the world ends and I come back" -- Jesus said, "today, you will be with me in paradise"
-- when you die, you are immediately transported to another realm -- believers go to paradise -- the rest go to a place of torment that we typically call hell
-- Paul makes this point earlier in this letter to the Corinthians -- in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul wrote that to be absent from the body is to be with Christ -- and that he would prefer to be away from the body and to be at home with the Lord
-- in Philippians 1:21-23, Paul also wrote -- "to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain -- I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far"
-- the Bible teaches that when you die, if you believe in Christ, you go straight to the third heaven -- you go straight to paradise
-- we see the same thing in the experiences of all of those here who have died and then have been revived and have written about it -- I remember reading a book when I was a kid about after-death experiences, and it was always the same -- immediately when a person died, they were carried to either heaven or hell
-- and, of course, there is the current best-seller by Don Piper called, "90 minutes in heaven" -- where he tells about his death experience and being immediately caught up into heaven when he died
-- finally, notice that Paul says that he was aware of his presence in Paradise -- he wasn't sure if he had a physical body or not -- but he had a body of some type -- Paul says that he heard "inexpressible things" -- he obviously was able to hear and to speak -- he was able to learn new things -- things that he didn't know before
-- so, Paradise is going to be a place where our senses are engaged -- where we can hear and speak and feel and touch -- where we will be growing and learning
-- the bottom-line that I wanted you to get from this passage this morning is that when you die, you don't quit living -- you simply change addresses -- and, if you believe in Jesus -- if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior -- the Bible tells us that immediately -- the very instant that you die -- you will be with Jesus in Paradise
-- now, I have absolutely run out of time -- this is a topic that we could spend years discussing -- so, I'm going to leave you with a couple more thoughts on the general topic of heaven and then we're going to pick up right here again next week and continue our thoughts about heaven
IV. Closing
-- there's a cemetery in Indiana that has a tombstone, more than one hundred year old, with the following epitaph:
-- "Pause, stranger, when you pass my by -- as you are now, so once was I -- as I am now, so you will be -- so prepare for death and follow me"
-- an unknown passerby scratched these additional words on the tombstone -- "To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went"
-- when we say "I believe in the life everlasting" we proclaim our belief in life after death -- in an eternity that exists outside of our world and our time -- usually, we mean heaven when we proclaim our belief in the life everlasting, but we should never forget the fact that there are two eternal destinations to which you can go when you leave earth -- heaven and hell
-- heaven is eternal life with God -- while hell is eternal separation from God and from all that God is -- God is love, so love doesn't exist in hell -- God is good and holy and pure -- so nothing good or holy or pure can be in hell -- God exists in community and invites us into community with Him -- so community will not exist in hell
-- hell will be a place of isolation, loneliness, and eternal separation from God
-- but, hell does not have to be our destination
-- although we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God -- although we are all condemned to death and to hell because of our sins, there is a way out
-- God Himself came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and paid the penalty for our sins -- He went to the cross in our place and gave His own body and blood to atone for our sins -- and He offers us forgiveness and salvation if we only believe in His name and trust in Him with all our heart and mind and soul and strength
-- Jesus punched our ticket to heaven with the cross -- but we have to pick up our ticket in order to go -- we have to ask Him to forgive us for our sins -- to cover us with His blood -- and to save us from sin and death and from hell itself
-- if we do that, we can have the assurance that we are saved and are going to heaven to live with God -- as John tells us in 1 John 5:11-13 -- "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. -- He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. -- I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
-- as I close, I want to invite you to examine your heart -- to really think about what you believe and what you know about your relationship with God -- do you know without a doubt that you are going to heaven? -- do you know without a doubt that you have personally asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your life as Lord and Savior?
-- if not, then I want you to get that assurance before you leave here -- I want to invite you to respond to God's word -- to call on the name of His Son -- and to receive Him as your Lord and Savior
-- you can do so at your seat or you can come to the altar -- the important thing is that you come
-- let us pray
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Rev 21
1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
-- once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the womb -- seconds, minutes, hours passed as these little embryos developed -- the spark of life grew and each tiny brain began to take shape and form -- within the development of their brain came feeling, and with feeling, perception -- a perception of their surroundings, of each other, and their own lives -- they discovered that life was good and they laughed and rejoiced in their hearts
-- one twin said to the other -- "we are sure lucky to have been conceived and to have this wonderful world to live in"
-- the other replied, "yes, blessed be our mother who gave us life and each other"
-- each of the twins continued to grow and soon their arms and fingers, legs and toes began to take shape -- they moved about in their little world -- exploring it and learning more about it -- they discovered the life cord which gave them life from their mother's blood -- they were grateful for this discovery and sand, "How great is the love of our mother -- that she shares all she has with us"
-- weeks passed into months -- and every day, they noticed a change in each other and in themselves -- "what does this mean" -- "it means," said the other twin, "that we are drawing near to birth"
-- an unsettling chill crept over the two boys -- they were afraid of birth, for they knew that it meant leaving their wonderful world behind
-- the first one said, "If it were up to me, I'd live here forever"
-- the second one replied, "But we have to be born -- it happened to the others who came before -- remember, we found evidence that other children were here before us? -- I believe there is life after birth, don't you?"
-- "How can there be life after birth?" -- the first twin cried -- "Won't we lose our life cord and the blood tissue when we are born? -- have you ever talked to anyone who has been born? -- has anyone ever re-entered the womb after birth to describe what birth is like? -- NO!"
-- as he spoke, the first twin fell into despair -- "if the purpose of conception and our life in this womb is to end in birth, then truly our life is senseless -- and if this is so, then there really can be no mother"
-- "But there is a mother," the other twin protested -- "Who gave us nourishment? -- who else created this world for us?"
-- the first twin responded, "We get our nourishment from this cord -- and this world has always been here -- and if there is a mother, then where is she? -- have you ever seen her? -- does she ever talk to you? -- NO -- we invented the mother when we were young because it satisfied a need in us -- it made us feel secure and happy"
-- thus, one twin raged and despaired while the other one resigned himself to birth and placed his trust in the hands of his mother -- hours turned into days -- days into weeks -- and soon it was time -- they both knew their birth was at hand, and they both feared what they did not know
-- the twins cried as they were born into the light -- they coughed out fluid and gasped the dry air -- and when they had been born, they opened their eyes -- seeing life after birth for the very first time -- what they saw was the beautiful eyes of their mother as she cradled them lovingly in her arms -- birth was not an end after all -- instead, it was a homecoming
-- this morning, we are going to finish our series on the Apostle's Creed as we look at the final line in the creed, "I believe in the life everlasting"
-- I hope that as we've gone through this series that you've noticed how each line of the creed builds upon the other -- for instance, we proclaim that we believe in the Holy Spirit -- who, in turn, creates the holy catholic church through His indwelling presence
-- the holy catholic church, the church universal, comprised of all believers -- joins together in the communion of saints as one body and one people under the Lordship of Christ Jesus
-- as Christ's body, the church proclaims the forgiveness of sins and introduces people to the gospel of Christ through the Great Commission and the Great Commandment
-- through the forgiveness of sins, we look forward to the resurrection of the body -- the time when we will be given new, perfect bodies that are imperishable
-- which brings us to todays topic -- perhaps since last week you have been asking, "Why are we resurrected with bodies? -- why are we not just spiritually resurrected? -- what is so important about having a body? -- could it be that there is a place prepared for us -- not a spiritual realm -- but a physical realm where we will spend eternity?"
-- I'm glad you asked -- so let's spend some time talking about our future destination -- our life everlasting
II. Common Thoughts About Heaven
-- of course, when we talk about the life everlasting -- about life after death -- we are talking about heaven
-- I want you to do me a favor -- I want you to close your eyes for just a moment and picture in your mind what heaven looks like -- keep your eyes closed -- picture yourself there -- look around -- what do you see? -- who is there with you?
-- o.k. -- now open your eyes
-- what did heaven look like to you? -- for most of us, when we picture heaven, we imagine a city in the clouds -- everything is white and billowy and very bright -- everyone up there is wearing white robes -- and they're just sort of floating around on clouds all day -- playing harps and singing hymns -- and God is there, seated on His throne
-- generally, when we think of heaven, we think of it as one big, never-ending, church service -- and, truth be told, it just doesn't sound like that fun of a place
-- this is exactly the way Gary Larson, the creator of the Far Side cartoons, envisioned heaven -- there's a couple memorable cartoons about heaven that he drew -- in one, it shows two lines of people -- one line is going to heaven and the other is going to hell -- the caption for the top says, "Welcome to heaven, here's your harp" -- and the caption for the other one says, "Welcome to hell, here's your accordion"
-- but I think my favorite -- I think the one that really sums up the way we truly feel about heaven is the one that shows this guy in heaven -- sitting on a cloud with his legs hanging over and his head in his hands -- the caption says, "I wish I'd brought along a magazine"
-- honestly, when we hear about heaven, it really sounds boring -- it doesn't sound like the kind of place where we want to spend eternity
-- in his story, "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven," Mark Twain wrote, "Singing hymns and waving palm branches through all eternity is pretty when you hear about it in the pulpit, but it's as poor a way to put in valuable time as a body could contrive"
-- I think Twain spoke for the common man when he wrote that statement -- people think heaven is going to be nothing more than an eternal Sunday worship service -- and for that reason, a lot of people just don't want to go
-- I've even had people tell me that they want to go to Hell, because it'll be more fun and a lot more exciting -- kind of like the old quote, "heaven for climate, hell for society"
-- but, is that what heaven is really going to be all about? -- is that what the Bible teaches?
-- what really happens when we die? -- where do we go?
III. Paradise
-- if you would, turn over to 2 Corinthians 12
1. I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
2. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows.
3. And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows--
4. was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
-- in this passage, the Apostle Paul tells us about a time when he went to heaven -- now, he calls it the "third" heaven, but don't get hung up on that -- the Jews recognized three distinct heavens -- the first heaven was the atmosphere -- the air that we breathe -- the second heaven was where the stars were -- where the sun and the moon were located -- the universe -- the third heaven was the home of God -- it is the place that we typically think of when we talk about heaven
-- so, Paul tells us here about a time when he was caught up and carried to the third heaven -- to the home of God
-- when Paul and Barnabus had been in Lystra, the Jews had surrounded him and stoned him -- they thought they had killed him and they dragged his body outside the city and left it there to rot -- several scholars agree that this may be the moment when Paul was carried to heaven -- it could be that he actually died and went to heaven, but God raised him from the dead -- all we know for sure is that Luke tells us in Acts 14:20 that all the disciples gathered around the body of Paul and that he got up and went back into the city
-- regardless of when and how it happened -- Paul tells us in this passage that he went to heaven -- now there are a couple of important things that I want you to see about heaven from this passage
-- first, notice in verse 4 what Paul calls the place where he went -- he calls it "Paradise"
-- do you remember what Jesus told the thief who repented of his sins on the cross? -- in Luke 23:43, Jesus told him, "Today, you will be with me in paradise"
-- paradise is the name of the place where you go when you die if you believe in Christ -- if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior
-- and this brings up the next important fact -- Jesus told the thief, "Today, you will be with me in paradise" -- not, "after a long time of sleep" -- not, "after the world ends and I come back" -- Jesus said, "today, you will be with me in paradise"
-- when you die, you are immediately transported to another realm -- believers go to paradise -- the rest go to a place of torment that we typically call hell
-- Paul makes this point earlier in this letter to the Corinthians -- in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul wrote that to be absent from the body is to be with Christ -- and that he would prefer to be away from the body and to be at home with the Lord
-- in Philippians 1:21-23, Paul also wrote -- "to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain -- I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far"
-- the Bible teaches that when you die, if you believe in Christ, you go straight to the third heaven -- you go straight to paradise
-- we see the same thing in the experiences of all of those here who have died and then have been revived and have written about it -- I remember reading a book when I was a kid about after-death experiences, and it was always the same -- immediately when a person died, they were carried to either heaven or hell
-- and, of course, there is the current best-seller by Don Piper called, "90 minutes in heaven" -- where he tells about his death experience and being immediately caught up into heaven when he died
-- finally, notice that Paul says that he was aware of his presence in Paradise -- he wasn't sure if he had a physical body or not -- but he had a body of some type -- Paul says that he heard "inexpressible things" -- he obviously was able to hear and to speak -- he was able to learn new things -- things that he didn't know before
-- so, Paradise is going to be a place where our senses are engaged -- where we can hear and speak and feel and touch -- where we will be growing and learning
-- the bottom-line that I wanted you to get from this passage this morning is that when you die, you don't quit living -- you simply change addresses -- and, if you believe in Jesus -- if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior -- the Bible tells us that immediately -- the very instant that you die -- you will be with Jesus in Paradise
-- now, I have absolutely run out of time -- this is a topic that we could spend years discussing -- so, I'm going to leave you with a couple more thoughts on the general topic of heaven and then we're going to pick up right here again next week and continue our thoughts about heaven
IV. Closing
-- there's a cemetery in Indiana that has a tombstone, more than one hundred year old, with the following epitaph:
-- "Pause, stranger, when you pass my by -- as you are now, so once was I -- as I am now, so you will be -- so prepare for death and follow me"
-- an unknown passerby scratched these additional words on the tombstone -- "To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went"
-- when we say "I believe in the life everlasting" we proclaim our belief in life after death -- in an eternity that exists outside of our world and our time -- usually, we mean heaven when we proclaim our belief in the life everlasting, but we should never forget the fact that there are two eternal destinations to which you can go when you leave earth -- heaven and hell
-- heaven is eternal life with God -- while hell is eternal separation from God and from all that God is -- God is love, so love doesn't exist in hell -- God is good and holy and pure -- so nothing good or holy or pure can be in hell -- God exists in community and invites us into community with Him -- so community will not exist in hell
-- hell will be a place of isolation, loneliness, and eternal separation from God
-- but, hell does not have to be our destination
-- although we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God -- although we are all condemned to death and to hell because of our sins, there is a way out
-- God Himself came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and paid the penalty for our sins -- He went to the cross in our place and gave His own body and blood to atone for our sins -- and He offers us forgiveness and salvation if we only believe in His name and trust in Him with all our heart and mind and soul and strength
-- Jesus punched our ticket to heaven with the cross -- but we have to pick up our ticket in order to go -- we have to ask Him to forgive us for our sins -- to cover us with His blood -- and to save us from sin and death and from hell itself
-- if we do that, we can have the assurance that we are saved and are going to heaven to live with God -- as John tells us in 1 John 5:11-13 -- "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. -- He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. -- I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
-- as I close, I want to invite you to examine your heart -- to really think about what you believe and what you know about your relationship with God -- do you know without a doubt that you are going to heaven? -- do you know without a doubt that you have personally asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your life as Lord and Savior?
-- if not, then I want you to get that assurance before you leave here -- I want to invite you to respond to God's word -- to call on the name of His Son -- and to receive Him as your Lord and Savior
-- you can do so at your seat or you can come to the altar -- the important thing is that you come
-- let us pray
SERMON: I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
Preached by Gregory W. Lee
4 May 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15
12. 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?
13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15. 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.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
-- the story is told about this man and his wife who were visiting the Holy Land with the wife's mother -- while they were over there, her mother got extremely sick -- and despite all the doctor's best efforts, she eventually died
-- the man's wife was understandably distraught, so the husband went to the funeral home to see what could be done for his mother-in-law's body
-- the funeral home director told him that it was very expensive to ship a body back to the United States -- and that it would cost at least $5,000 -- but, if the man wished, he could bury her in a special graveyard there in the Holy Land for just $150
-- the man thought about it for only a second and said, "No, I don't care how much it costs -- we want her shipped home" -- the funeral home director said, "You must have loved your mother-in-law very much, considering that you would want to spend all that extra money to ship her home when you could just have buried her here"
-- "No," the man said, "it's not that. You see, I know of a case many years ago when you buried a dead man here in Jerusalem, and He came back to life on the third day. I just can't run the risk."
-- now I have a good relationship with my mother-in-law, so I can get away with telling jokes like that -- but it does bring us to mind the next topic in our series on the Apostle's Creed
-- this morning we are going to be looking at the next line in the creed, which states, "I believe in the resurrection of the body"
-- the doctrine of the resurrection is foundational to our Christian faith -- our religion hinges on this doctrinal truth -- without the resurrection, we have no religion -- without the resurrection, our faith is in vain -- without the resurrection we have no hope and we are wasting a perfectly good Sunday morning because we are here for no reason at all
-- Gerald O'Collins put it this way: "Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all."
-- we believe that Jesus died on the cross at Calvary for our sins -- we believe that God raised Him from the dead three days later -- and, because of this, we believe that we will all be raised as well
-- so, this morning, let's spend a few minutes discussing the doctrine of the resurrection
II. Scripture Lesson
-- as we turn to this passage again in 1 Corinthians 15, let me remind you of a truth that you may have forgotten -- the idea of the resurrection did not originate with Jesus -- it wasn't an invention of the early Christians
-- many, many Jews, especially those belonging to the Pharisees, believed in the resurrection long before Jesus began preaching and teaching in Israel -- orthodox Jews still believe in the resurrection today, although they do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah
-- and, of course, many pagan religions teach something similar to a resurrection -- they teach the immortality of the soul
-- so, what makes the teaching of the resurrection by the Christian church so distinct?
-- if you would, look at verse 1 in this passage
1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5. and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8. and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
-- here's the difference -- the resurrection that the Pharisees and the others believed in was a spiritual resurrection -- not a physical resurrection -- they believed in the immortality of the soul -- that at some point in the future, there would be a resurrection of the spirit and that all those who died would be resurrected -- some to eternal life and others to eternal punishment
-- all the way back in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 12:2, we see an indication of this belief -- "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."
-- no one seemed to have believed in the physical resurrection of the body
-- but for Peter and James and all the other disciples and apostles, the resurrection ceased to be theory and became a fact -- their faith had been given sight
-- in other words, they believed in the resurrection of the body because they had seen a dead man raised -- they knew, without a doubt, that Jesus was dead -- they had witnessed His crucifixion -- they had seen His body taken down from the cross -- they knew He was a dead as dead could be -- and the thought that He might physically come back to life again never even crossed their mind
-- but Jesus had risen from the dead -- not as a disembodied spirit -- but as a living, breathing person who spoke with them, ate with them, and let them touch Him
-- as Peter said in Acts 2:31, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. "
-- the early Christians believed in the resurrection, not because they had been taught about it from a book, but because they had witnessed it with their very own eyes
-- but questions naturally arose, "What does Jesus' resurrection mean to me? -- Just because He rose from the dead, does it mean I will, too? -- And if I'm resurrected, will it be a physical or a spiritual resurrection?"
-- these are the questions that Paul is addressing in this passage -- evidently, there were some in the church of Corinth who were teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead and others who were teaching that the resurrection was not bodily
-- look at verse 12
12. 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?
13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
-- Paul's point here in these verses is that Jesus' death and resurrection are proof that the dead will be resurrected at the last days -- if we preach and believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, how can you say that there is no resurrection? -- if you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then you have to believe in the resurrection of all -- because, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus was not raised, either -- no where in the Bible does it say that only the Messiah will be raised from the dead -- it's either all or none
-- in John 11, Jesus is talking to Martha after the death of her brother, Lazarus -- in verse 23, Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." -- Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
-- Jesus tells us that the resurrection is for all -- Paul tells us that Jesus' resurrection is proof that it will happen
-- now Paul addresses the question of why the resurrection is important -- look at verse 14
14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15. 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.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
-- Paul is saying that if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then we have no chance at being raised -- if the resurrection didn't happen, then those who die, even if they believe that Christ was the Son of God -- even if they believe He paid the penalty on the cross for them -- even if they trust Him for eternal life -- it doesn't matter -- it all ends at death -- and there is no future in heaven for any of us
-- the resurrection of Jesus proved the truth of His claims -- it confirmed that He was Lord and Savior -- that He was Messiah -- and if the resurrection didn't take place, then our faith is built on lies -- all that we believe about Christ is not the truth -- it is wishful thinking
-- our faith becomes futile -- we believe in nothing -- and our sins are not forgiven -- if the resurrection didn't take place, we are not saved by grace, we are still condemned by the law
-- Do you see why I said that the resurrection of Christ is the most important aspect of Christianity? -- Do you see why the early Christians didn't preach about the cross but emphasized the fact that Jesus rose from the dead?
-- As Lee Strobel wrote, "The resurrection is the supreme vindication of Jesus' divine identity and his inspired teaching. It's the proof of his triumph over sin and death. It's the foreshadowing of Christian hope. It's the miracle of all miracles."
-- The resurrection of Christ confirms His deity. It proves that He bore the price of our sins on calvary. It proves that He has conquered satan and death. It proves that there is an eternal life after physical death. It proves that believers will one day be physically resurrected as well.
III. The Resurrected Body
-- now, if you notice, in the Apostle's Creed, we do not say, "I believe in the resurrection" -- but we say, "I believe in the resurrection of the body"
-- those three words -- "of the body" -- make up an important part of what we believe -- for they tell us how we will be resurrected
-- when the Apostle's Creed was prepared in 125 A.D., there were still a lot of non-Christian groups who believed in a resurrection -- however, as I mentioned before, they believed only in a spiritual resurrection
-- one such group who was very active in the early days of the church were the Gnostics -- this group believed that the material world was inherently evil -- and that we were nothing more than spirits trapped in a physical body
-- they taught that the reason Jesus had come was to free us from our physical body by making possible the resurrection of the spirit -- and they were steadfast in their beliefs that Jesus did not have a physical body when He was no earth and was not physically resurrected but that He only had the appearance of a physical body
-- this is the main reason why the Apostle's Creed and the other creeds we have were written -- they were prepared as an apologetic -- a defense of the true faith and beliefs of the church
-- these creeds were a means to counter false teachings about the various aspects of Christianity -- that's the same thing that Paul has been doing in this letter to the Corinthians -- he has been trying to defend the faith against false teachers who were coming and spreading their lies throughout the church
-- so in this chapter, Paul has proclaimed the teaching of the church regarding the doctrine of the resurrection -- he has made it clear that since Jesus was resurrected from the dead, that proves that Jesus was the Son of God and that He conquered sin and death and it proves that we will be resurrected as well
-- the question that still remained, then, was "How will we be resurrected? -- what form would it take?"
-- look down at verse 42
42. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
43. it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44. it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
-- Paul makes it clear here in these verses -- our resurrection is not a spiritual resurrection -- Jesus didn't die and be raised on the third day so that our spirits could be released from our physical bodies -- Jesus died that we might be resurrected to new life
-- and this new life includes a new body
-- Paul spends these verses comparing our old body with our new, resurrected body -- which he calls a 'spiritual' body -- now don't get confused with the term "spiritual" here -- Paul is clear that we are not going to be bodiless spirits -- we are going to have a body -- he is using the term "spiritual" here to distinguish it from our current, natural body
-- Paul says that our natural body is perishable -- that it is weak -- that it is corrupt and dishonored -- but when we are resurrected, we will be given a new body that will be imperishable -- it will be filled with the power of God and it will be perfected through the grace of God
-- our new body will be similar to the resurrected body of Jesus -- in 1 John 3:2, John wrote that "we shall be like Him"
-- Jesus did not come back after death as a spirit -- but He came back with a physical body -- a new, perfect and imperishable body -- the disciples were able to touch Him and He was able to eat, so it had substance
-- when we are resurrected, we will be like Jesus -- we will not be resurrected as spirits -- but we will have a new body
IV. Closing
Gilbert Haven was a Methodist Episcopalian Bishop known as an able writer, a zealous reformer, an earnest preacher, and an indefatigable laborer. He died on Saturday morning, January 3, 1880, in Maiden, Massachusetts.
In his last few hours of life, Bishop Haven's allowed many of his friends to see him one more time in this life. Many were near at hand. Others were summoned by telegram and by messenger, until groups gathered around that couch, touched with the light of immortal glory, to muse over the transition from death unto life.
A physician who was present said: "I never saw a person die so before." A clergyman remarks: "To me it did not seem that I was in the presence of death. The whole atmosphere of the chamber was that of a joyous and festive hour. Only the tears of kindred and friends were suggestive of death. I felt that I was summoned to see a conquering hero crowned."
His last words were: "Oh, but it is so beautiful, so pleasant, so delightful! I see no river of death. God lifts me up in His arms. There is no darkness; it is all light and brightness. I am gliding away into God, floating up into heaven." With a final breath he proclaimed: "I believe in the resurrection of the body!"
-- when we stand and say together, "I believe in the resurrection of the body" -- we are proclaiming our belief in Jesus -- we are proclaiming that we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- we are proclaiming that we believe that God raised Him from the dead on the third day -- and we are proclaiming that we will be physically raised from the dead just as He was raised from the dead
-- as I close in prayer, I want to invite you to look at your own heart and see if you can make this same statement of belief in your life -- and, if not, to respond to God's word as you feel led
-- let us pray
4 May 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15
12. 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?
13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15. 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.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
-- the story is told about this man and his wife who were visiting the Holy Land with the wife's mother -- while they were over there, her mother got extremely sick -- and despite all the doctor's best efforts, she eventually died
-- the man's wife was understandably distraught, so the husband went to the funeral home to see what could be done for his mother-in-law's body
-- the funeral home director told him that it was very expensive to ship a body back to the United States -- and that it would cost at least $5,000 -- but, if the man wished, he could bury her in a special graveyard there in the Holy Land for just $150
-- the man thought about it for only a second and said, "No, I don't care how much it costs -- we want her shipped home" -- the funeral home director said, "You must have loved your mother-in-law very much, considering that you would want to spend all that extra money to ship her home when you could just have buried her here"
-- "No," the man said, "it's not that. You see, I know of a case many years ago when you buried a dead man here in Jerusalem, and He came back to life on the third day. I just can't run the risk."
-- now I have a good relationship with my mother-in-law, so I can get away with telling jokes like that -- but it does bring us to mind the next topic in our series on the Apostle's Creed
-- this morning we are going to be looking at the next line in the creed, which states, "I believe in the resurrection of the body"
-- the doctrine of the resurrection is foundational to our Christian faith -- our religion hinges on this doctrinal truth -- without the resurrection, we have no religion -- without the resurrection, our faith is in vain -- without the resurrection we have no hope and we are wasting a perfectly good Sunday morning because we are here for no reason at all
-- Gerald O'Collins put it this way: "Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without its final chapter. It is not Christianity at all."
-- we believe that Jesus died on the cross at Calvary for our sins -- we believe that God raised Him from the dead three days later -- and, because of this, we believe that we will all be raised as well
-- so, this morning, let's spend a few minutes discussing the doctrine of the resurrection
II. Scripture Lesson
-- as we turn to this passage again in 1 Corinthians 15, let me remind you of a truth that you may have forgotten -- the idea of the resurrection did not originate with Jesus -- it wasn't an invention of the early Christians
-- many, many Jews, especially those belonging to the Pharisees, believed in the resurrection long before Jesus began preaching and teaching in Israel -- orthodox Jews still believe in the resurrection today, although they do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah
-- and, of course, many pagan religions teach something similar to a resurrection -- they teach the immortality of the soul
-- so, what makes the teaching of the resurrection by the Christian church so distinct?
-- if you would, look at verse 1 in this passage
1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5. and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8. and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
-- here's the difference -- the resurrection that the Pharisees and the others believed in was a spiritual resurrection -- not a physical resurrection -- they believed in the immortality of the soul -- that at some point in the future, there would be a resurrection of the spirit and that all those who died would be resurrected -- some to eternal life and others to eternal punishment
-- all the way back in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 12:2, we see an indication of this belief -- "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."
-- no one seemed to have believed in the physical resurrection of the body
-- but for Peter and James and all the other disciples and apostles, the resurrection ceased to be theory and became a fact -- their faith had been given sight
-- in other words, they believed in the resurrection of the body because they had seen a dead man raised -- they knew, without a doubt, that Jesus was dead -- they had witnessed His crucifixion -- they had seen His body taken down from the cross -- they knew He was a dead as dead could be -- and the thought that He might physically come back to life again never even crossed their mind
-- but Jesus had risen from the dead -- not as a disembodied spirit -- but as a living, breathing person who spoke with them, ate with them, and let them touch Him
-- as Peter said in Acts 2:31, "God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. "
-- the early Christians believed in the resurrection, not because they had been taught about it from a book, but because they had witnessed it with their very own eyes
-- but questions naturally arose, "What does Jesus' resurrection mean to me? -- Just because He rose from the dead, does it mean I will, too? -- And if I'm resurrected, will it be a physical or a spiritual resurrection?"
-- these are the questions that Paul is addressing in this passage -- evidently, there were some in the church of Corinth who were teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead and others who were teaching that the resurrection was not bodily
-- look at verse 12
12. 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?
13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
-- Paul's point here in these verses is that Jesus' death and resurrection are proof that the dead will be resurrected at the last days -- if we preach and believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, how can you say that there is no resurrection? -- if you believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then you have to believe in the resurrection of all -- because, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus was not raised, either -- no where in the Bible does it say that only the Messiah will be raised from the dead -- it's either all or none
-- in John 11, Jesus is talking to Martha after the death of her brother, Lazarus -- in verse 23, Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." -- Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." -- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
-- Jesus tells us that the resurrection is for all -- Paul tells us that Jesus' resurrection is proof that it will happen
-- now Paul addresses the question of why the resurrection is important -- look at verse 14
14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15. 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.
16. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
-- Paul is saying that if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then we have no chance at being raised -- if the resurrection didn't happen, then those who die, even if they believe that Christ was the Son of God -- even if they believe He paid the penalty on the cross for them -- even if they trust Him for eternal life -- it doesn't matter -- it all ends at death -- and there is no future in heaven for any of us
-- the resurrection of Jesus proved the truth of His claims -- it confirmed that He was Lord and Savior -- that He was Messiah -- and if the resurrection didn't take place, then our faith is built on lies -- all that we believe about Christ is not the truth -- it is wishful thinking
-- our faith becomes futile -- we believe in nothing -- and our sins are not forgiven -- if the resurrection didn't take place, we are not saved by grace, we are still condemned by the law
-- Do you see why I said that the resurrection of Christ is the most important aspect of Christianity? -- Do you see why the early Christians didn't preach about the cross but emphasized the fact that Jesus rose from the dead?
-- As Lee Strobel wrote, "The resurrection is the supreme vindication of Jesus' divine identity and his inspired teaching. It's the proof of his triumph over sin and death. It's the foreshadowing of Christian hope. It's the miracle of all miracles."
-- The resurrection of Christ confirms His deity. It proves that He bore the price of our sins on calvary. It proves that He has conquered satan and death. It proves that there is an eternal life after physical death. It proves that believers will one day be physically resurrected as well.
III. The Resurrected Body
-- now, if you notice, in the Apostle's Creed, we do not say, "I believe in the resurrection" -- but we say, "I believe in the resurrection of the body"
-- those three words -- "of the body" -- make up an important part of what we believe -- for they tell us how we will be resurrected
-- when the Apostle's Creed was prepared in 125 A.D., there were still a lot of non-Christian groups who believed in a resurrection -- however, as I mentioned before, they believed only in a spiritual resurrection
-- one such group who was very active in the early days of the church were the Gnostics -- this group believed that the material world was inherently evil -- and that we were nothing more than spirits trapped in a physical body
-- they taught that the reason Jesus had come was to free us from our physical body by making possible the resurrection of the spirit -- and they were steadfast in their beliefs that Jesus did not have a physical body when He was no earth and was not physically resurrected but that He only had the appearance of a physical body
-- this is the main reason why the Apostle's Creed and the other creeds we have were written -- they were prepared as an apologetic -- a defense of the true faith and beliefs of the church
-- these creeds were a means to counter false teachings about the various aspects of Christianity -- that's the same thing that Paul has been doing in this letter to the Corinthians -- he has been trying to defend the faith against false teachers who were coming and spreading their lies throughout the church
-- so in this chapter, Paul has proclaimed the teaching of the church regarding the doctrine of the resurrection -- he has made it clear that since Jesus was resurrected from the dead, that proves that Jesus was the Son of God and that He conquered sin and death and it proves that we will be resurrected as well
-- the question that still remained, then, was "How will we be resurrected? -- what form would it take?"
-- look down at verse 42
42. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
43. it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44. it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
-- Paul makes it clear here in these verses -- our resurrection is not a spiritual resurrection -- Jesus didn't die and be raised on the third day so that our spirits could be released from our physical bodies -- Jesus died that we might be resurrected to new life
-- and this new life includes a new body
-- Paul spends these verses comparing our old body with our new, resurrected body -- which he calls a 'spiritual' body -- now don't get confused with the term "spiritual" here -- Paul is clear that we are not going to be bodiless spirits -- we are going to have a body -- he is using the term "spiritual" here to distinguish it from our current, natural body
-- Paul says that our natural body is perishable -- that it is weak -- that it is corrupt and dishonored -- but when we are resurrected, we will be given a new body that will be imperishable -- it will be filled with the power of God and it will be perfected through the grace of God
-- our new body will be similar to the resurrected body of Jesus -- in 1 John 3:2, John wrote that "we shall be like Him"
-- Jesus did not come back after death as a spirit -- but He came back with a physical body -- a new, perfect and imperishable body -- the disciples were able to touch Him and He was able to eat, so it had substance
-- when we are resurrected, we will be like Jesus -- we will not be resurrected as spirits -- but we will have a new body
IV. Closing
Gilbert Haven was a Methodist Episcopalian Bishop known as an able writer, a zealous reformer, an earnest preacher, and an indefatigable laborer. He died on Saturday morning, January 3, 1880, in Maiden, Massachusetts.
In his last few hours of life, Bishop Haven's allowed many of his friends to see him one more time in this life. Many were near at hand. Others were summoned by telegram and by messenger, until groups gathered around that couch, touched with the light of immortal glory, to muse over the transition from death unto life.
A physician who was present said: "I never saw a person die so before." A clergyman remarks: "To me it did not seem that I was in the presence of death. The whole atmosphere of the chamber was that of a joyous and festive hour. Only the tears of kindred and friends were suggestive of death. I felt that I was summoned to see a conquering hero crowned."
His last words were: "Oh, but it is so beautiful, so pleasant, so delightful! I see no river of death. God lifts me up in His arms. There is no darkness; it is all light and brightness. I am gliding away into God, floating up into heaven." With a final breath he proclaimed: "I believe in the resurrection of the body!"
-- when we stand and say together, "I believe in the resurrection of the body" -- we are proclaiming our belief in Jesus -- we are proclaiming that we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- we are proclaiming that we believe that God raised Him from the dead on the third day -- and we are proclaiming that we will be physically raised from the dead just as He was raised from the dead
-- as I close in prayer, I want to invite you to look at your own heart and see if you can make this same statement of belief in your life -- and, if not, to respond to God's word as you feel led
-- let us pray
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