(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good evening, welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's find our seats. Find our seats and turn to page number 23. Song number 23. We'll be singing There's Power in the Blood. Song number 23. Let's take that out on the first. Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you believe a victory win? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Song number 23 on the second. Would you be free from your passion and pride? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Come forth and sing to Calvary's blood. Power in the blood. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you be wider, much wider than snow? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Sin saves or loss in its life-giving club. There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you do service for Jesus, your King? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you do daily His praises to sing? There is power found, a wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power found, a wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Great singing. Welcome to our annual Pi Social here at Verity Baptist Church. We're glad to see everyone here tonight. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be in your house this evening. Lord, thank you for everything that you've done, Lord, throughout the week, Lord, and pray that you bless the service tonight. Pray that you would bless everything that's going to be said and done. We bring glory and honor to your name, Lord. We love you, Jesus, and we pray. Amen. Turn to page number 209. Song number 209, singing Sunshine in the Soul. Song number 209 on the first. Very sunshine in my soul today, more glorious and bright than those in any earthly skies. For Jesus is my light. Oh, the sunshine, blessed sunshine. Happy moments roll when Jesus is smiling. There is sunshine in my soul. There is music in my soul today, the carol to the King. And Jesus, listening, can hear the songs I cannot sing. Oh, the sunshine, blessed sunshine, when the peaceful happy moments roll. When Jesus shows his smiling face, there is sunshine in my soul. There is springtime in my soul today, for when the Lord is near, the dove of peace is in my heart, the flies of grace appear. Oh, the sunshine, blessed sunshine, when the peaceful happy moments roll. When Jesus shows his smiling face, there is sunshine in my soul. Sing it out on the last. There is gladness in my soul today, and hope and praise and love for blessings which he gives me now, for joy laid up above. Oh, the sunshine, blessed sunshine, when the peaceful happy moments roll. When Jesus shows his smiling face, there is sunshine in my soul. Amen. We want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this evening, and we're glad you're with us. We have a special service, of course, tonight. And let's go ahead and look at our announcements. If you need a bulletin, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up, and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, Hebrews 6-10, For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward his name, in that you have ministered to the saint, and do minister. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10 30 a.m. And we do invite you, of course, to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for Church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. And we're glad you made it out to the Wednesday evening Bible study. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Wednesdays at 11, and the address is there for you. And then on Thursdays at 2. That soul winning time is postponed for this week due to Thanksgiving, so make sure that you don't show up to that this week. But normally on Thursdays at 2 p.m. we have soul winning time. And then Sunday soul winning at 2 p.m. If you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you. As you walk out of the church building tonight, as you go through the foyer, you'll see a little table set up. Either one of our foyers, the first one or the second one back there, you'll see one of these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary called Being Baptist. It's a documentary that our church made. It's well made, very interesting. We want to give this to you as a gift, so please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing one of those. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand. One of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering, and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate, or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing at the main door after the service, but everybody's probably going to be going in that direction, so we'll talk about that here in a minute. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we started last Sunday night an introduction into the Book of Luke, and we're going to be learning about the story of Jesus Christ, the birth of Christ. We're in a series called Celebrating Christ, so we'll start into the narrative, into the story this Sunday morning, so we encourage you to be with us for that. And then, of course, on Wednesday nights, we're going through the book of 2 Corinthians. This last Sunday, we had our worker appreciation Sunday, and of course, we were able to thank all of our workers and volunteers for everything that they do. I'm not going to go through the list. If you have a bulletin, you should have a roster there of all the different names, but I just want to let you know that you're still able to sign up on the back if you'd like to sign up for one of those volunteer opportunities. And then, of course, tonight is our pie social, and we do this every year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So after the service tonight, when we're done with everything, we will dismiss, and we invite you to join us in the fellowship hall. We have pie and, you know, coffee and whatever, and we'll have a good time of fellowship with pie after the service, so please stick around for that. And then tomorrow morning is the Turkey Bowl, for those of you that have signed up or if you'd like to sign up, there's a sign-up sheet in the foyer, and of course, it's the guys playing football. That's at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, and there's a sign-up sheet back there, and then the address is there for you. We do want to invite you to a wedding for Brother Andrew and Miss Esther on Monday, December 6 at 6 p.m. So it is a potluck, so if you can bring a dish to share, that'd be great. We have a sign-up sheet in the foyer, and make sure you go by there and fill that out. And then, of course, the ladies are invited to a ladies' Christmas party on Friday, December 17 at 6 p.m., and the ladies will be playing their annual gift exchange game. There's a $15 limit, so bring a gift that's $15 or less, not more than that, and they always have a good time with that. Of course, there's a sign-up sheet in your communication card. Children's Choir, they're practicing at 515 on Sundays, and they're practicing for Christmas. Upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name there. Homeschool group, they've got P.E. class on Thursday, December 2. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for this week. On Monday was my wife's birthday, Joanne Jimenez, on November 22. And then today, the 24th, is Miss Tina Kolak's birthday. We're also remembering Titus Vincent today. And then Miss Lexi Beale has a birthday on November 26. And Joshua and Edith Castellum have an anniversary on the 26th. And Rusty Santos has a birthday on the 27th. We've got the praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at. I do have one special announcement, a birth announcement. Yesterday, Evie Grace Jackie O2 was born, weighing 5 pounds 11 ounces and 19 and a half inches long. So congratulations to the O2 family and praise the Lord for their baby. And we're going to start, my wife's going to start a meal sign up for them. But we'll wait till Miss Jackie gets released from the hospital. So just stay tuned for that. I think that's it for all of the announcements. Let's go ahead and go through or hand out the prayer list. If you did not get a prayer list on your way in, raise your hand and we'll have our ushers get one for you. We're going to skip the prayer time tonight since we've got the pie and all that. We're going to skip the prayer time, but we do want you to have a prayer list. So make sure you have one of those. Make sure you pray through it, but we won't go through that tonight. And let's go ahead and take our song books and we'll go to page number 145. Page number 145. And we'll sing it as well as we prepare to receive the offering tonight. 145. When peace like a river, sing it out on the first. When peace like a river attended my way. When sorrows like sea, bellows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say. It is well with my soul, ladies. It is well with my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul. 145. We're going to sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out with some enthusiasm, all right? Especially when you get to that chorus, sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. 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And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. And let's sing it out on the second. Come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering. We ask that you'd bless the gift and the giver. We ask that you'd meet with us as we open up your Word and City of the Bible together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And like I said I don't want to be very long tonight, but I do want you to see this. This concept of one day our body is being changed is found all throughout the scriptures. Philippians chapter 3 verse 21. The Bible says this. Who shall change our vile body? Notice what the Bible calls our body today. It's a vile body. Why? Because it's written with sin. our flesh, our body is what causes us and desires for us to sin, to fulfill the lust of the flesh. And here he says, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. So here we're told that one day God and Jesus are going to change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Now go with me if you would to the book of John. Keep your place right there in Philippians because we're going to come back to it. So make sure you keep a bookmark or a ribbon or something there. And go to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. And let me just kind of give you a quick thought and I'll just, I'll be up front and tell you. What I'm about to tell you, I can't necessarily prove 100% and if you disagree with me, you can't prove it 100% either. So it kind of lands in more of the category of opinion, but I want you to see this. I think it's interesting. When Paul talks about our bodies, our mortal flesh, he calls it a tabernacle. Now the reason he calls it a tabernacle is because a tabernacle is temporary. When you go camping, you don't set up a tent and you just plan on living in that tent. You don't set up a tent and build a little porch and build a little patio cover and get it all situated. A tent is something that you put up and you take it down. It's something that you're going to use for a short amount of time. And by the way, that's what your body is. The Bible says that our life is but a vapor. It appears for a little time and then vanishes away. It's just a tabernacle. And then he says that when this tabernacle is dissolved, that we have a building eternal in the heavens, he said, not made with hands. Now in John chapter 14, we have a very famous passage that Christians, that we like to talk about, we like to sing about, and I'm not against any of those things and I'm not against singing about it and preaching about it, but I want you to notice in John 14 and verse 1, notice what Jesus said. He says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. He says, in my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. And here we have Jesus speaking to us about the fact, he says, in my Father's house are many mansions. And we as Christians often, we like this passage, right? Because we will often talk about the fact that God is going to give us a mansion in the heaven and you're going to have this mansion and you're going to live in it and you're going to get all the great things that you didn't get in this world, you know, and it's going to, whatever, you know, have all the anti-Christ technology in it. You're going to be able to, you know, tell it to cook you dinner and tell Siri to, you know, clean up after you or whatever. And we, you know, and we like to talk about these mansions, but I would submit to you tonight that I believe when the Apostle Paul, when Jesus hears referring to the fact that in his Father's house are many mansions and he's going to go to prepare a place for you, that he's actually referring to your glorified body. He's not actually talking about, you know, a building with eight bedrooms and four bathrooms and a six-car garage. And if you think about the fact that in 2 Corinthians 5, 1, he called our mortal body a tabernacle. He said your mortal body, your body right now, it's like a tent. And in comparison, the glorified body you're going to receive in heaven one day is going to be like a mansion. He's saying that's how much better your body is going to be. Right now, you are housed in a tabernacle. In heaven, you'll have a building of God made not with hands, eternal in the heavens forever. He said in comparison to a tabernacle, it's going to be like a mansion. Now I realize that sometimes you say these things and people get offended and they're like, I want my mansion. You know, and look, I want you to have a mansion. I'm not against you having a mansion. But honestly, you know, you think about why we need houses today. Why do you even need a house? What do you need a house for? Well, and honestly, you know, in a very practical sense, why do you need a house for shelter, right? To shelter you from the weather. You need it for protection, right? Because when the sun goes down, things could get violent, right? You need it for warmth because when the sun goes down, it gets cold. Here's the thing. Here's all I'm saying to you is that the Bible says that heaven is a place where the sun never goes down. The Bible says that heaven is a place where there is no violence. The Bible says that heaven is a place where there's not going to be earthquakes, there's not going to be tornadoes, there's not going to be hail, there's not going to be weather to be protected from. In fact, and I won't get into this, but you could make the argument that weather is not even mentioned in the Bible, and the different types of seasons that we need protection from are not even mentioned in the Bible until after the flood, when God flooded this earth with a worldwide flood. And those things are going to be done away. The earth is going to return to its glorified state and its glorified body. And we will be in heaven and in earth and our glorified bodies, and all I'm telling you is that I don't know necessarily that you're going to need a physical house to live in when you live in heaven because heaven is a place where you're not going to need the protection of a physical structure. So when Jesus says, and again, if you disagree with me, that's okay. We don't have to argue about it. But I think the Bible, if you connect these different ideas, I think it's clear that Paul says look, one day this earthly tabernacle is going to dissolve. This tabernacle, this earthly tabernacle is going to dissolve. And we know that when it does, when this body fails, when the spirit is without the body that we have a building of God in heaven, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, we know that's a reference to the glorified body. So when Jesus says, in my Father's house are many mansions, then I tend to think that, you know, it's probably referring to our glorified bodies. Now that doesn't mean that we're going to stop singing mansion over the hilltop, okay? Because sometimes you teach things like this and people, you know, people just like to feel important sometimes. And some of you are already thinking like, as soon as church is over, I'm going to make a Facebook thing blasting anyone who's ever sang mansion over the hill. Just calm down, just relax, okay? We don't just, you don't have to, every time you learn some new nugget of truth, you don't have to use it as a weapon to try to make other people feel bad or look stupid or whatever. You know the Bible says, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I want you to notice number one, go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. So don't, you know, because here's what will happen, we'll sing mansion over the hilltop like three weeks from now, somebody even sent me an email saying, you hypocrite. Don't you know the Bible? I'm like, I'm the one that taught you that. Yes, I know that, 2nd Corinthians chapter 5. Number one, we see the contrast of these two bodies. We have our earthly house of this tabernacle in reference to our mortal body versus the building of God referring to our glorified body. Now some of that was opinion and we can't be dogmatic about that. So you know, if you don't agree with me, we can agree to disagree. Here's where there's no opinion. Look at verse two. The first thing we see is the contrast. In verse one, we see the contrast between the two bodies. In verses two, three and four, we see the state of our current body, the suffering of this tabernacle. Notice what he says there in verse two, he says, for in this. When he says in this, he's referring to the earthly house of this tabernacle. He says for in this earthly house of this tabernacle, for in this mortal body, he says we groan. The word groan means to have a deep, inarticulate sound of pain or despair. If you ever been around someone that has some major sort of maybe injury or has broken a bone and they're having to maybe walk on it or be on it or whatever and you kind of hear them like, ugh. You know, you're injured and you're in pain and you make this inarticulate sound of pain and despair. You know, you find yourself out in the middle of nowhere in a hike or something and you accidentally break your leg or sprain your ankle and you have to walk on it to get back to where, and you're just kind of like, ugh, ugh. You know? Now that's what happens when you're young. When you're old, you make that noise just, you know, getting up from the couch. But here's what he's saying, he says in this body, we groan, right? You know that you'll never groan in your mansion in heaven? You'll never groan in your glorified body. He says, for in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. Again, notice again, he references the fact that we desire to be clothed upon with the house which is in heaven, referring to the fact that the mansion that Jesus is referring to is probably not an actual physical mansion but it's a house, a body that you will inhabit. Verse three, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. By the way, since Adam and Eve, mankind has desired to be clothed and not be naked. Since sin entered the world and the shame that came as a result of it. Verse four, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan. Paul says, look, we live in this earthly tabernacle, this temporary housing for our soul and our spirit and he says while we are in this tabernacle, he says we do groan, we have these deep inarticulate sounds due to pain or despair or hopelessness. He says we groan. Why do we groan? Notice, being burdened. See, isn't it true that in this life, in this world, in this body, we carry burdens? We carry stress. We carry troubles and trials. And as a result, while we are in this tabernacle, Paul says we do groan, being burdened. Why don't you notice it's not the only place that Paul says, let's keep your place there in 2 Corinthians. Go to the book of Romans, if you would, go backwards into the book of Romans, Romans chapter 8. You're there in 2 Corinthians, you're going to go past the book of 1 Corinthians into the book of Romans, Romans chapter number 8. Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 18. Romans chapter 8 and verse 18, the Bible says this, for I reckon, the word reckon means to calculate or to judge. He says for I reckon, he's saying the way I see it, when I add things up, when I figure out if this is worth it, he says for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared, notice, with the glory which shall be revealed, notice these words, in us. You say the glory that we're going to get, see in heaven, the mansion that we're going to see in heaven, he says no, no, no, the sufferings of this present time, they're not worthy to be compared with the glory, yes, we're going to see some wonderful things in heaven. But he says with the glory which shall be revealed in us, and this is a reference to the body or the glorified body, I'll prove that to you here in the context. Notice verse 19. For the earnest expectation, see that term, earnest expectation, that phrase means hope. Expectation is the fact that we have a hope, we are expecting something, and we have an earnest expectation, he says for the earnest expectation of the creature, and that word creature is referring to creation, all of creation, including mankind, but animals and all of that as well, he says for the earnest expectation of the creature, notice, waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Now I want you to get this, because sometimes when the apostle Paul, when he writes these books, you know, he gets into theology and he gets kind of deep and sometimes it's easy to read these verses and not really understand what he's talking about. He says for I reckon, he says I calculate, he says when I figure it out, when I think about it, he says I come to the conclusion that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, why? For the earnest expectation, he says because of the hope of the creature, because of the hope of creation, because of the hope that you and I as creation of God and even the animal kingdom and even planet earth, he says for the hope of the creation, he says, waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. You say what is that referring to? The manifestation of the sons of God. Well you don't have to turn here, let me just read this for you. If you want to maybe jot this down, you can write it on the margin of your Bible next to Romans 819. Here's the code cross reference for you. John 3.2 says this, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. You say, what does that mean? Here's what it means. John says, hey beloved, we know that we're the sons of God. And he says, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. We don't know exactly what our glorified body is going to be like. It does not yet appear what we shall be. He says, but here's what we do know, we know that when he, Jesus, shall appear, we shall be like him. When Jesus comes back, when he comes back in his second advent, when he is seen in the clouds, and when we are raptured up together to be with him, he says, we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. You see, when he comes back, and we see him, and we're raptured, the Bible says, this mortal will put on immortality, and this corruptible will put on incorruption. And we're not really sure what that's all going to be like, and we've studied it out in the Bible. We've done it here at our church, where we've looked at some of the things of the glorified body, and I won't take the time to do that tonight. We can see some things and get some ideas, but we really don't know what it's going to be like. But here's what we do know, that when Jesus is manifest, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So we, as believers, are waiting for the manifestation of the Son of God, singular, the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, and when we shall see him, we don't know what that's going to be like exactly, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. And then connect that verse to Romans 819, for the earnest expectation of the creature. We're waiting to see all of creation. The same way that you and I are waiting to see the Son of God, because we know when we see him, we shall be like him, Romans 819 says, the earnest expectation, the hope of creation, all of creation, waiteth for the manifestation of the, notice this word, sons of God, plural. So what's going on here? We, as believers, are waiting for the manifestation of the Son of God, singular, so that we will be like him. All of creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, plural. When we are like him, when we are in our glorified bodies, they're waiting for that expectation, that hope, you say, why would they be waiting for that? Verse 20, for the creature, the creation, was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope. Do you know when Adam and Eve sinned, when Adam and Eve fell, when the curse came upon man, it not only came upon man, the Bible tells us it came upon the animal kingdom, it came upon the earth, they had nothing to do with it. Now the serpent, obviously Satan had taken the form of a serpent, but when we fell, they fell. When we were cursed, the earth was cursed. Remember, God told Adam, he says, hey, this used to be easy, now there's going to be thorns, and I don't even have to work for this thing. He says, for the creature, for creation, was made subject to vanity, not willingly, it's not something they chose, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. See, when Jesus returns in his glorified body, and we see his glorified body, and we are transformed to be like him, hey, not only will we be delivered from the bondage of corruption, but the earth at the millennial reign of Christ will be delivered, but the animal kingdom at the millennial reign of Christ will be delivered. That's why the Bible says that the wolf and the lamb will lie together, the lion and the lamb will lie together, why? Because they will be delivered from the curse and the corruption of the bondage as well. All of creation. And here's what Paul's telling us in Romans 8, he's saying, sin doesn't just cause you and I to suffer, sin has caused all of creation to suffer. My kids like to watch those videos of animal kingdoms and animals, you know, in real life, when they go and get the real footage and all that. It used to be when I was growing up that everything was just like, you know, nice and bambi, you know, and everything was good and you watched Lion King and everybody gets along and whatever. But now they're starting to make, you know, these same types of shows but they're a little more realistic where they're letting you see like the animals kill each other. And you actually, you start to realize that all these animals do out in the wild, all they do is eat, sleep, you know, do something else and then, and all they do is they wake up every day just thinking about one thing, what they can eat, right? I mean, that's all, I mean, they're not building hospitals, they're not trying to educate their children, they've got no other things going on for them, they're just like, we've got to survive. But you know, that's not how God created this world. See, even creation itself, even creation itself was made subject to vanity, to emptiness, to shallowness. Notice verse 21, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from bondage of corruption. Here's the hope, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. See, we suffer in this life, not just us, everyone. The earth suffers, the animals suffer, and look, isn't that true? This body dies, so we have funerals. This body gets sick, this body gets injured, this body gets hurt, this body has issues, it has problems. We've grown as a result of living in this earthly tabernacle, the fact that sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But Paul says, there's a hope for a glorified body, there's a hope for another body, and another life. Look at verse 22, Romans 8, verse 22, for we know, notice what he says, tell me this isn't true, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Doesn't that describe our world? I mean, animals, humans, it doesn't matter. When he says the whole creation, he's talking about everything, not just animals, he's talking about all of God's creation. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also. See, Paul says it's not just the animals, and it's not just the unsafe people, he says even ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Those of us that are safe, those that have the Spirit of God. Now I want you to remember that in verse 23, he brings up the spirit, the firstfruits of the Spirit. Remember that he says that, because I'm going to bring that up to you here in a minute later on. But notice what he says in verse 23, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit. You see that word wit there? It means to have the knowledge or the intelligence. He says to wit the redemption of our, don't miss it, body. That's the context of, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. He says, look, even us, even us who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. Even we as believers suffer. Even we as believers suffer, have trials, have troubles, weep, hurt, have pain. We have grown waiting for the adoption, waiting for the redemption of our bodies. We like to sing that song, Heaven, sounding sweeter all the time. So Paul gives us first the contrast between the two bodies. Then he talks about the status of our current body. I want you to notice, thirdly, go back to 2 Corinthians 5, if you would. He gives us the hope of our coming body. Notice verse 2. He says, for in this, remember, our earthly tabernacle. By the way, earlier in 2 Corinthians, he said our bodies, he says our body is an earthen vessel. Early tabernacle, earthen vessel, all of these are terms that he's using to refer to our flesh. In verse 2 he says, for in this we groan earnestly, notice these words, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. He says, though we groan in this body, we earnestly desire to be clothed with our house, which is in heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened. Notice, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. What is our earnest desire? What is our earnest expectation? Here it is, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Notice verse 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the self, same thing as God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Remember how Romans 8, 23 said that not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit? See he gives us the earnest of the Spirit. He gives us the indwelling of the Spirit. This is what gives us the assurance that one day, mortality might be swallowed up of life. Do you see that phrase at the end of verse 4? Mortality might be swallowed up of life. So what is that referring to? Go to 1 Corinthians 15, if you would, 1 Corinthians 15. You're there in 2 Corinthians 5, just flip back. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 51, the Bible says this, behold, remember, I think I told you this last Sunday night, 1 Corinthians 15 is known as the resurrection chapter. Often you'll find that certain chapters have certain themes. You remember the charity chapter. Here in 1 Corinthians 15, we have the resurrection chapter. It begins with the resurrection of Christ and it talks about the resurrection of us and our bodies. Verse 51, he says, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. Now when the Bible says sleep there, it's referring to what you and I would call death. The spirit without the body is dead. The Bible calls it sleep, and by the way, the Bible only ever calls death sleep for believers. You say, why does it call it sleep? Because the idea, and again, it's an analogy, the idea is that when I go to sleep tonight, we will get in bed and we will go to sleep, and the idea is that we won't wake up. Well, the hope that you and I have when we bury a believing loved one, we say they're dead but the Bible said, no, they're asleep. You say, why? Because one day they're going to wake up. One day their eyes will open and they will resurrect. Notice what he says, verse 51, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Remember, the changing of our vile body. The fact that we shall see him and we shall be like him. He says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead, this is what he was referring to in verse 51 as the ones that are asleep, the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. Notice, for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. I want you to notice this and understand this, in 2 Corinthians 5, 4, and I understand Paul sometimes gets a little deep and maybe this is a little more than what we normally talk about, but in 1 Corinthians 5, 4, when he says that mortality might be swallowed up of life, that is the same idea that he's referring to here in 1 Corinthians 15, 2, when he says this corruptible will put on incorruption, this mortal will put on immortality. Mortality is a reference to death. Being immortal means that we die. The Bible says that when you and I have the earnest of the Spirit, we have this hope that mortality will be swallowed up by life. You say, what does that mean exactly? Is that just kind of nice terms that Paul's using? No. He's being very practical here in what he's teaching. Here's what he's saying. When you and I as believers, if we have the earnest of the Spirit, if we have the first fruits of the Spirit, as Romans 8 says, when you and I as believers, when our bodies begin to die, they're in the process of dying, but one day we will actually begin the process of death. This is what the psalmist called, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, our bodies actually begin to dissolve, begin to destroy, begin to disintegrate. We begin to shut down. We're getting ready to die. What happens for those that are not safe is that as their bodies physically die, their soul and their spirit, and eventually their glorified bodies as well, experience what we refer to as the second death. Their soul, of course, goes to hell, and one day their glorified body will be thrown into the lake of fire. When they die physically, they also begin to, they will experience, they will transition from that physical death into the second death, or hell. But you and I, when our bodies, because our bodies are going to die, if we don't live till the rapture, they will die. When our bodies begin to dissolve, begin to shut down, the Spirit begins to leave the body. Mortality will be swallowed up of life. This mortal will put on immortality. This corruptible will put on incorruption. Here's what Jesus said. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. See, I'll never experience death. I may die one day. They might look at a corpse and say, man, he's dead, but I didn't die. Right as this body began to die, mortality was swallowed up of life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, whosoever liveth and believeth in me, Jesus said, shall never die. Then he asked the question of the ages, the question that must be asked of every person, believeth thou this? That's what will save you, is do you believe what the Bible says, what Jesus said of himself? Go back to 2 Corinthians 5. We see the hope of heaven. Now I want you to notice, lastly, we see the longing of heaven. Notice what Paul says, verse 6. Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, haven't we kind of, we've made a home of these bodies, right? We've gotten comfortable in these bodies, maybe a little too comfortable. Whilst we are at home in this body, he says we are absent from the Lord. The truth is this, that while we're at home in this body, we're not in heaven in the presence of God, in the presence of the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Verse 8, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He says there's this longing for heaven, and I think sometimes it's hard for us to understand that, but I do believe that the older we get, the longer you live, the more friends and family you'll have over there than you'll have over here. And that longing for heaven will become even more than the one that we may experience now. He says we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Go to Philippians real quickly. If you kept your place there, Philippians chapter 1, let me show you this idea of the longing for heaven, and then I'll make a quick application, and we'll finish out. Philippians 1.20, notice Paul talks about this several times. He said in 1 Corinthians 5, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. According to my, notice the same terminology, earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. You know that Christ can be magnified in your body by life or death? For to be, to live is Christ and to die is gain. You understand that statement? He says, if I live, he says, I'm not living for myself, remember we talked about this last Wednesday night Bible study. Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, Paul says, if I continue to live, hey, for me to live is Christ, because I'm not living, it's Christ living in me. He says, for me, here are my options, for me, the way that I live my life, the fact that I'm following the Lord Jesus Christ, the fact that I'm a follower of Christ. He says, it's not whether to live for myself or to go to heaven. He says, for me, these are the options, to live is Christ, to die is gain. He says, I either stay on this earth and continue to live for Christ or I die and I gain, because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Here's verse 20, or excuse me, verse 22, but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose, I want not. That word, what's like the same word, wit, means to know, to have knowledge. He said, honestly, if God let me choose, I don't know what I would choose. That's what he's saying. He says, because for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He says, if God said, hey, you can come to heaven now, or you can stay and help out a little bit, he says, I don't know, I mean, I long for heaven. Look at verse 23. He says, for I am in a strait, the word strait means a narrow passage. He says, for I am in a strait betwixt two options. He says, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. He says, nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. He says, I'd rather be in heaven, that would be better, that's what Paul says. But he says, if I stay here, I can help you. It's more needful for you. And then Paul kind of comes to this conclusion, what we've been talking about when we learn about prayer, right? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Not my will, but thine be done. What would Jesus want? And he says in verse 25, he says, and having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all. He says, I'm in a strait betwixt two. To be with Christ, which is far better, or to abide in the flesh and be needful for you. But he says, I think I know what Jesus wants, and what Jesus wants is that I stay here. And he says, I have this confidence, and know that I shall abide and continue with you all for the furtherance and joy of faith. Here's the application for you. Look at verse 9, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 9. Paul's been talking about this idea of our bodies, right? The contrast of the two bodies. We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He talks about the suffering of our current body, the fact that this tabernacle, while we live in it, we groan, and all of creation groans together. He talks about the hope of our coming body, the fact that we have a body, a mansion, eternal in the heavens that we desire to be clothed with the body, which is from heaven. Because to depart and to be with Christ is far better. But he says, if God chooses to keep me here, then I will do what is pleasing to God. Now, I don't want you to miss this, 2 Corinthians 5 and 9. Wherefore, you see that word, wherefore? It means for that reason, because remember, we started in verse 1, right? We've been walking through verse 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We're coming to the climax of this thought in verse 9, and we'll pick it up here next week when he transitions into something very similar. In verse 9, he says, wherefore, he says, for that reason. For what reason? For the reason that we have an earthly tabernacle, but when it dissolves, we know that we have a eternal body in heaven not made with hands. The fact that we know that this earthly body is groaning and dissolving and suffering, and we long to be in heaven because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But if God chooses to keep us here, and by the way, if you're here tonight, at least up to this point, God has chosen to keep you here. He says, if God chooses to keep us here, then here's why he kept you here. Before we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. You know the Bible says that all things were created for him, that everything was created for his pleasure? Here's what Paul says. Whether I'm in heaven or whether I'm on earth, I live to please him. I live to be accepted of him. I want you to notice this word, accepted, accepted. It's a refer to approval, that I want to live in such a way where he would accept what I'm doing. Go to Revelation chapter 3, last place we'll look at, and we'll finish up. Revelation 3 and verse 14. We live in the social media culture that shows a big problem in humanity, and it's this drive for acceptance, right? Because you post your little comment, and then you wait to see for all the likes and all the thumbs up, and everyone that doesn't thumb you up or whatever, you get offended or you get angry or you send them an angry comment or you do some vague post against them or whatever. Because we want this acceptance from our culture, our society, our tribe. Paul says, for me to live is Christ to die is gay. He says, I only live to be accepted of one. In Revelation 3, 14, I think it's put it beautifully, I've showed this to you in the past, but I just want you to see it again. Of course, Revelation 2 and 3, we have the messages to the seven churches in Asia. We have Jesus, who is sending the messages, and in every introduction, he shows himself in a different character, a different light. In Revelation 3, 14, here's what he says about himself, or the Bible says about Jesus, it says, and unto the angel of the church of the little decisions, right, is what Jesus says about himself. These things saith thee, notice this word, amen. Jesus refers himself as the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Amen is a religious term that we use. You come to a church like ours, you hear the men from time to time say, amen. What amen means, it is a term of affirmation. It literally means, so be it. What it means is, I agree, I accept it. So the pastor gets up to preach, and I say something, and the men of the church show their approval or their acceptance by saying, amen, amen. And by the way, sometimes it's good, you know, sometimes I get up here and say some controversial things, and we've got guests and visitors that are thinking to themselves, is this guy crazy? But if he hears a good group of men say, amen, you know, they start thinking like, oh, well, I guess people agree with this. I mean, I kind of liked it when he said that, but I didn't know if it was accepted, but everybody said amen, so amen. What amen means, I accept, I like it, I affirm, it's good, so be it. But you know, as much as I like a church that says amen, the greatest amen I hope to ever hear, and the greatest amen that you should ever hope to hear, is that when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, and we are no longer absent from the Lord, but we are absent from our bodies and present with the Lord, and our eternal building not made with hands in the heavens, that we would appear, and this is what Paul's going to talk about, we'll talk about it next week, the judgment seat of Christ, that we would appear before Christ, and that he would look at our lives and say, amen. I agree, I accept, it is pleasing to me. See, Paul says, if you're not in heaven, then here's what you should live for. You should live, he says, wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. In the next verse, he begins to talk about the judgment seat of Christ, we'll talk about it next week, that you and I might stand before Jesus one day, and he would say, well done, now good and faithful servant. That he would say, amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer, heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word. Lord, I know that sometimes life is hard, we get discouraged and we get depressed, we're in pain, and we know that this body groans, it groans because of physical pain, it groans because of emotional pain, it groans because of spiritual heartaches, but Lord, thank you for the hope that we have that when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, this tent that is temporary is dissolved, we'll receive an eternal body, an eternal building, not made with hands, and Lord, help us while we live in this tent, while we live in this tabernacle, to live to be accepted of you, that we might receive your approval when we're in heaven. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen. We're going to have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song, just want to give you a few reminders. First of all, of course, don't forget that we have our pie social tonight, so as soon as we're done singing, Brother, I'm going to ask Brother RJ, would you mind praying a blessing on the food over there, and then you can head over in that direction, and we have pie and coffee and fellowship and all of that, but don't forget that we've got some sign-up sheets in the foyer on this side, so if you want to be part of the turkey bowl, you can sign up still. It's tomorrow morning, 7 a.m., the address is in your bulletin, so don't forget about that. Also, we have Brother Andrew and Miss Esther's wedding, you can sign up for the potluck for that as well, and then I just want to remind you that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so there's no soul-winning at 2 p.m., but we will have, of course, soul-winning on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., that's our main soul-winning time, so we encourage you to be here for that, and I want to encourage you to bring someone with you on Sunday morning as we begin this narrative of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. We're going to be talking about John the Baptist, his parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and we're going to be learning about them and how John the Baptist was born, so I encourage you to be here for that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. Of course, I want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. If there's anything we can do, please let us know, why don't Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Now let's grab our songbooks and turn to page number 188. Song number 188, the love of God is greater far than a tongue or a pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. A guilty bear, oh now we care, our baby's son to win, his very child we reconcile and pardon from his sin. Oh, love of God, a rich and bold, a monstrous and strong. It shall forevermore enjoy the saints' and angels' song. And forty times shall pass away and earthly thorns and kingdoms fall when men who fear refuse to prey on rocks and hills and mountains tall. God's love so sure shall still endure, oh measureless and strong, redeeming grace to Adam's race, the saints' and angels' song. Oh, love of God, how rich and bold, how measureless and strong. It shall forevermore enjoy the saints' and angels' song. Sing it out, on the last. Even in the ancient tale and full disguise of parchment made, here every star on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade to write the love of God above. Oh, love of God, how rich and bold, how measureless and strong. It shall forevermore enjoy the saints' and angels' song. Great singing. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, again, we thank you for your love for us, Lord. Thank you for everything that you've done, Lord. Thank you for the people that are here, Lord. Thank you for everything that you've done, Lord, throughout the year. We pray that you would bless the food to our bodies, Lord, the fellowship, Lord, and would you dismiss us with your grace and Jesus, and I pray. Amen. Amen.