01-20-2019 – Chuck Northrup – First Corinthians 15:50-58 (PM Sermon)

Dreary, but he had his is a good day in so many different ways. I mean, after all, if we lived a Oh a couple of hundred years ago, we’d have to deal with the cold inside the building. And so we have a nice place to come and to that’s warm and a place out of the, out of the shelter. I remember one of the trips that we made to Ukraine that,

that particular Sunday morning, it was well in Ukraine. It was customary and only wear a suit even when it was a super, super cold. And so I don’t remember how cold it was, but I know that it was ice all over the outside and, and snow piled up. Great big piles of size of houses and no heat in the auditorium where we were.

And so everybody was all bundled up, but it was my turn to preach and got up in the suit. Just what I’m wearing right now and preached just did whatever was necessary, but it was cold. I’ll tell you for sure. So we, we don’t have that and we can be really thankful that we don’t have to deal with those kinds of things.

And there are other places in the world, I think about Costa Rica, that they have metal buildings that they meet in the summertime. And you can imagine a hot, it was, I remember one time though it rained and you couldn’t hear the speaker. I mean, I tried to talk as loud as I could, but I couldn’t hardly hear myself. So,

so I’m sure most people couldn’t hear me, but anyway, we are blessed in so many different ways. I feel like I’m blessed or Jody and I are blessed because of our fellowship that we’ve had over the years in the preaching of the gospel. And we appreciate your support. So very much, we’re kind of picky about who supports us really, quite frankly.

And I know that not everybody thinks that way, but I know that when you look at the word fellowship and you go through the new Testament, you’re in fellowship with those that support you and that are involved in your work. And so I don’t want to be in fellowship with people that are not in fellowship with God. I want to be in fellowship with people that are in fellowship with God.

And I appreciate you so very much that we can have that fellowship together in the work of the gospel and the work of taking the gospel into all the world. But that’s not our lesson for this evening. Let’s get to our lesson. We’ll be looking at first Corinthians chapter 15, beginning with verse 50 to 58 in this particular passage, there are things that I think about.

And I think most of you will recognize the passages of it is a passage I’ve often used in sermons for, at funerals or something of that nature. And there are things most of us realize that will take place. We realize that judgment day is coming. There’s no doubt in our mind that one day we’re going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

And we’ll all give an account of the things done in the body. According to that, which is, has been done, whether it be good or bad, second Corinthians chapter five and verse 10, we understand that we will stand before that judgment seat, but do we also understand that change must happen? And I think that’s really what this passage is about.

Most of us don’t handle change very well. Most of us really have little bit difficulty with change. We were talking about in the foyer about all the old men that used to stand back there and talk. And now we are the old men that were standing back there and talking. So, so you know that that’s one of those things that we have to admit.

I mean, you know, either if we’re going to live long enough, like I think Nick brother, Tim Nick said, if we live long enough, well, we’re going to be old. That’s all there is to it. Well, I thought that was pretty good. And so, you know, but we, haven’t a little bit difficulty with that change,

but the reality is one day we are going to go through death. And if, unless the Lord happened to come before we face that time, we’ll be facing death ourself, and we’ll be lied late in a coffin and people will come by and view us just like we have done countless ones before us. And so we have to deal with those things.

But as Christians, we have a tremendous hope. And that’s really what this verse is about. Or these verses is about now in this text, Paul wrote, now this, I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither death corruption, inheriting corruption, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep,

but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed for this crackable must put on incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality. So when this cross, the bull shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality,

then shall be brought to pass. The same, that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory, Oh, death, where is thy staying on grave? Whereas dive victory, the sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast.

Unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And looking at this particular passage, I really broke it down into five different parts. The first is the, is the impossibility and that’s verse 50. He said, now this, I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Now that’s an impossibility. It cannot take place. As far as this old flesh and blood is concerned, it’s just simply will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now that the kingdom of God has to be used in a couple of different ways here in the, in the 50th or 15th chapter of first Corinthians, because in this passage is flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

It has to be the consummate state of the kingdom because we are flesh and blood presently, are we not a part of the kingdom presently or earlier in the chapter? Paul made mention of that very thing that the kingdom of God will be delivered up to God or the kingdom of Christ will be delivered up to God. And if that be the case, then that’s verse 24.

Then the kingdom has to exist. Presently, as far as this world is concerned in order for it to be delivered up. So it has to be talking about the kingdom. As far as the consummate state is concerned. The fact is one of these days, we’re going to cross that Jordan river and we’re crossed that Jordan river of death. And there’s going to have to be a change that will take place.

And it’s an impossibility that as far as this whole flushing blood is concerned that we will have a part in the eternal kingdom of our Lord. That is an absolute impossibility. So there has to be then a change that took that takes place. So we come to the reality. Now he said, now this, I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,

neither death corruption, inherit incorruption, behold, I show you a mystery. Now, as far as, as far as we are concerned is as far as this life is concerned, there is no way that we can know about death without being, without it being revealed to us, by someone or something, or in this case by God. Now I know that people claim to go to death and they’ll imagine something or they’ll dream something and they’ll come out of it.

But reality is, is that when we cross that line, when the spirit separates itself from the body, death comes and there’s no return from that. Now there’s only been a few exceptions of that. And those of the various ones that have been raised from the dead. But you, you think about this for a second. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,

was it to Lazarus advantage? I mean, Lazaruth was a good man. Lazaruth would have been in the eternal glory when Jesus raised him from the dead. It was not to his advantage, but what did Jesus have to do? He had to put his spirit back with his body because it is impossible for the, the physical body to inherit the kingdom of God.

And so there’s a reality that’s going to take place and death appears to be a sleep, but in reality, it is a departure and in reality is something different Christ is going to come and he will come one day and we will all be changed. That’s the reality, every single one of us. And we’ll talk more about that change. Now, also,

we find the event. That’s going to take place that on that day now that’s verses 52 and 53. He said in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So the,

the event of that day will take place in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Now, how long does that take what? We’re not even talking about a second, but think about all the different things that will take place in that second. Well, you know, we’re going to appear before the judge, well, there’s gotta be a resurrection and all men will,

will be resurrected that have ever lived upon this face of this old globe. And we all be resurrected to stand before God in judgment. And we’ll then all that will take place in a moment. But also you take second, Peter chapter three, and you add to that versus eight all the way down to verse 13, that in that moment, in the twinkling of an eye that this physical world will be consumed.

He said that a heaven and earth would pass away. And all the things that are there in will be gone, all of that will take place in that moment. In that, that, that time it will not be an event that’s hidden. Unlike what some in the religious world, talk about the talk about the rapture. And you’ve seen the bumper sticker that said this vehicle,

if Raptor happens as vehicle abandoned, well, that’s not going to happen. Every eye will see him every eye and every person will have a part in it. It’s not something hidden and it’s not something that will take place in secret. But notice in context, there are seven changes that take place. Now go back to verse 40 and we’ll pick up several different verses there in verse 40.

There’s the chains from the terrestrial to the celestial. Now the terrestrial has to do with the human. That is the present human before that’s the earthly and is going to be changed to a Celeste deal. And so this body’s gonna take place and there is change that will take place from the earthly to the heavenly. Then he said, the corruptible will put on incorruption.

Well, this body that we have presently is crushable. So, you know, here we are talking about these things in the back there that, you know, we are the old men now, and that we can remember back when there other old men that were here. Well, what happens to the old body? I remember being 25 years old. I remember when I could do various things that I cannot do now.

You know, even though sometimes I think I can do that. But then reality hits and says, look, you blooming idiot, quit. You can’t do that. Like you did once upon a time. So the corruptible that’s what we have now is going to put on incorruption. Then he said that the dishonor would put on glory, look in verse 43.

There, the dishonors, the present body, the glory is the future. Then the weakness will be turned to power. Also verse 43, the present body is the weakness. The power will be the celestial body in the eternal land. Then you have the natural body verses 44 and 46 will be changed to the spiritual body. Will no longer have this natural body.

We’ll have a spiritual body of some type. Then the earthly will be changed to the heavenly verses 48 and 49. And finally, as he said, here in this particular text, the mortal would put on in mortality. You realize what the word mortal means. The word mortal may has to do with death. We die in this world. The immortal is the absence of death.

There is no death in the future world. And so it is then that this event and all these things are going to take place. And those seven changes will take place. Now I know that there are different ones that we’ll talk about the resurrection body and all that kind of thing. I know that because of this verse, it’s going to be a spiritual body.

I also know because of first John chapter three, that we cannot know everything about it, but we do know some things about it. And just because we can’t know everything about it, and it’s not been revealed everything about that, we do know that it’s going to be a change. I’m quite confident that I will not have flesh and blood in the turtle in that it will be a spiritual body of some type.

Now I was talking to a man not too long, well say not too long ago, it’s probably in 20 years, but it just seemed like it wasn’t very long ago, I guess. But anyway, he said, well, we won’t have flesh and blood. We’ll have flesh and bones. And I said, really, are you really thinking about what you’re saying?

There? Is it going to be a physical body? Clearly it’s not going to be a physical body ease he’s already described. It’s going to be a celestial body. It’s going to be an incorruptible body. It’s going to be a glorious body. It’s going to be a powerful body. It’s going to be a spiritual body is going to be a heavenly body.

And it’s going to be an immortal body. It doesn’t sound like what we have today. It’s completely changed. And it’s all going to take place in the eternal end. But then in verses 54 and 50 through 57, he gave us then the, the victory and death is swallowed up in victory. He said, look at verse 54. So when this crux bull shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality,

then shall be brought to pass. The same. That is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death. Where is thy stain? Oh, grave or old death where? Yeah. Where is nice sting Oh, grave. Where is dive victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. So there’s going to be a change.

And that change will be to the victory. And we’ll have that victory. Death is swallowed up, is swallowed up is it’s swallowed down and it’s gone. It’s like consuming it all together. And the result then of sin is death. Romans six in verse 23, but it’s all gone. And we will abound then in the work of the Lord abounding in the work Lord.

Now notice that he asked the question, Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave. Where is dive victory? Well, with that question, he answered the question, Oh, death, where is thy sting? He said, the sting of death is sin. And the strength of sin is the law. Now it’s not that the law attributes to a sin or gives sin or produce a sin within us,

but it reveals sin within us, the law, as we read it. And as we study, it opens up for us to examine ourselves. So thus, we look into a mirror as James would talk about in James chapter one. And we really see ourselves just exactly how we are. And we see exactly the end result of what it’s going to be.

So death then the sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is law. But then the second question is old grave. Where is thy victory? Well, we put that person and we’ve seen numerous others. We put them into the ground and we asked, where is the victory? Oh, grave? Where is the victory? Well, Paul said,

but thanks be to God, which given us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Where’s the victory. It’s in Jesus Christ. That’s where the victory is. And that’s where our hope is because of Jesus. And the final thing that he produced for us or wrote for us is the exportation of verse 58. Notice the expectation. Therefore, my beloved brethren be ye steadfast unmovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now the first thing he exhorted us to be his steadfast, don’t be wishy washy. You be steadfast. You know, one of the, I believe it’s probably one of the greatest tragedies I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And it was a lady that was a member of the Lord’s church.

Her parents were members of the Lord’s church. So she was raised in a home and her parents were Christians that she was raised right in that home. She ultimately married a man. They had kids together. They taught their children to be faithful. Christians. Many of them were faithful. Christians. Her husband ultimately became an elder of the church and something happened and she was in her eighties and she quit the Lord’s church.

How sad is that? Would you say that she was steadfast? No, not hardly brother. And we have to be steadfast. There are people out there that want to drag us down. There are people out there that want us to quit. There are people out there and events that happened in life, and it may be nothing more than a test of our faith,

but we have to be steadfast and keep on going. And then he said, unmovable, I think about Maxim, yolk, some over in Lafayette. And he would talk about being steadfast and unmovable. And he said, I’m not going to give up. Once he heard the gospel, he was faithful until his death. And he did, he did die in the Lord as a faithful servant of the Lord.

He was unmovable and then always abounding in the work of the Lord, always making the work of the Lord where it overflows within your life. That’s what that’s actually referring to the overflowing and a bounding of the work of the Lord. And though we might have to slow down in some ways, because of age, but yet at the same time, we can still abound in the work and we can encourage others to,

to do what we ought to be doing. I remember this has happened to me actually, a couple of different times. And this fellow was talking to me who was a gospel? Preacher says, well, I’m going to retire and just going to move down somewhere. And he said, I’m just going to quit preaching and quit doing all those kinds of things.

And I said, I didn’t know, faithful gospel preachers quit. I said, that simply tells me that is there are no more souls to be saved or there are no more Christians to be encouraged or the no more people to be visited. Well, brethren wouldn’t that really apply more to Christians than it would be to gospel preachers. We always have work.

And so we ought to be abounding in the work of the Lord. And then he said, for as much as you know, that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. In other words, the labor that you do and the labor that we do and the labor that we can shoulder together in doing, it’s not in vain, it’s not empty.

And that might be, it might seem to be empty at different times. And it might seem to be a waste of our time and different events that take place in our lives, but it’s not an empty work. It will be rewarded one day and there’ll be rewarded with that great change that took, that will take place brethren. We have a great victory that lies ahead of us.

And let us remember that. Let us do as Paul exhorted us in this particular text. Well, this evening we do want to offer the invitation. There may be someone that have not named the name of Christ that are with us this evening and that need to obey the gospel, but more than likely. And I think everybody that I know that our members of the church,

and more than likely, or maybe someone that might need the prayers of the church, if we can help you in any way, if we can help you in obeying the gospel or to continue in your obedience or to encourage you, we ask you to come as together, we stand and sing to encourage you.