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All right. Amen. 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. We'll do just a little quick review of the first half of the chapter. So basically what we talked about last week, verses one through four, giving us the definition of the gospel. Okay. Remember, gospel means good news. Gospel does not mean temporary news. It does not mean anything of the sort. It does not mean bad news. It does not mean the best news that, you know, meaning not best news. It basically, what I'm trying to say here is that you have what I always talk about these two schools out there. Okay. You have the world's religion, which teaches probation, meaning that you have to do something. And as long as you're actively on this path of doing good and doing well, then at the end of your life, you check in with your parole officer, checks all the boxes. Yes, you get into heaven, you're good to go. And then you have what the Bible actually teaches, which is salvation, meaning we cannot save ourselves. Jesus did the work that we could not do. He paid the price. He did it all for us. Okay. Therefore gospel means good news that you don't have to work for your salvation because that is impossible. Okay. So we have that in the first four verses and we'll kind of take a look at that again here in a second. And then what Paul does is he gives proof explaining the fact that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead. People saw him. He was seen over, um, of 500 brethren. And then he moves into talking about people in the churches there that were questioning or saying that there's no resurrection of the dead, basically saying and implying that once a person dies, that's literally it. It's just basically game over. And so Paul tears that completely apart and gives logical reasons for it, gives complete proof that there is going to be a resurrection. And what we're going to talk about today are some common errors that people believe regarding our resurrected bodies. So real quick, beginning of the chapter here, let's just look at this one more time. Okay. Remember gospel means good news. Verse number one, the Bible says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand. So he's reminding these guys that, Hey, remember, I preached the gospel. I preached the good news. And this is where you stand. If verse two, he says, by which also ye are saved. If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. And we talked about this last week. There are times when you go and you preach the gospel to somebody and they're so nice of a person that they sit there and they agree with you and they understand. They'll even say, you know, they'll even go through the prayer with you, but in their heart they haven't really received it. They haven't believed it truthfully. And you maybe meet them later on in life, you know, maybe a year later. And this has happened before to people. It's not totally uncommon. And you run into this person. You're like, Hey, remember me? I talked to you last year. And they're like, Oh yeah. And you ask them, Hey, if you were to die today, do you know a hundred percent for sure if you'd go to heaven? And they're like, I sure hope so. And your heart sinks. And you're just like, Oh boy, what did I do wrong? Well, you know what? Sometimes it's not anything that you did wrong. It's just the simple fact that they believed in vain. They understood what you were saying. They repeated what you were saying, but they just didn't take it in heart. They just didn't believe it. And so that's what Paul's saying here. He's saying, Hey, if you really believe the gospel, if you're saved, then amen. That's where you stand unless you believed in vain. You were just being empty about it. You were just copying. Okay. You were just going along, going with the flow. Now look at verse three. He says, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. Okay. And so he constantly brings this up that Christ died for our sins. What's the common school today? What do most people say today? Most people say today, well, you have to repent of your sins. You have to turn from your sins. You have to give them up or you have to do something. Okay. And that is false. That is human achievement. That is not the gospel of salvation. That is not what the Bible teaches. Now should we, on a daily basis, try to get better and get sent out of our life? Of course, that's obvious. Everybody knows that. Okay. Everybody understands that. However, if you think you're going to turn from all your sins to get to heaven, that is not going to happen. The Bible says that a foolish thought is sin. And you know, you bring this up to people and they're like, yep, you know, I've been made perfect. I don't sin anymore. You know, I'll just go ahead and say this, that the Nazarene sect are very common for preaching this. They have this doctrine called, what's it called? Holy sanctification. And basically this doctrine that says that you on this earth right now, once you get born again, or you make a profession of faith or whatever it is they like to say, they teach that you can actually reach a state where you no longer sin. You're not sinning in your mind. You're not sinning with your body. You're not sinning at all. Paul would highly disagree with you. Remember what Paul said. He said, chief sinner that I am. Okay. And what he's trying to do here is he's trying to remind people how this all works. Because the question is, how can I be saved? How can I, you know, be righteous and God look at me and say, Hey, there's a person with no guile. There's a person that is born again. You know, first John's very clear and says, if you're born again, you don't sin anymore. Okay. So how do we reconcile all these things? And what you're going to learn about this process is that basically this old man, you know, when you get saved, you have two natures. You have the old man and then you have the new man, which God gave you, which God imputed unto you. That man never sins. That man is preserved. That man is perfect. However, this old man and this body has to die and it has to go into the ground. It cannot go to heaven, but we get new bodies and he's going to get into that here. So verse four, he says, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And then of course he goes on and to proof text. Now fast forward here and jump over to verse number 12. So now he goes on and says this verse 12, it says, now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead. So he's like, if you guys are preaching that Christ rose from the dead, why are people running around saying that the dead are not going to rise? That doesn't make sense. As sure as Christ rose from the dead is as sure as you who are in him will also rise from the dead one day. Verse 13, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. Verse 14, and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. And then he just goes on for several verses to basically say, look if there's no resurrection of the dead, if Christ didn't raise from the dead, why are you in church? Why are you listening to sermons? Why are you reading the Bible? Why are you doing anything that is religious? It's for naught. It means absolutely nothing. And then of course he brings us back and lets us know that of course there is a resurrection of the dead. And then he goes on and mentions this very difficult phrase talking about the baptism for the dead. I don't want to rehash that tonight. We broke that down last week. And then where we left off last Sunday was verse 34 where he says, Awake to righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. And so Paul was rebuking them because they had people in their congregation that did not understand they weren't learning and didn't understand these things. And so of course he's going to rebuke them and he wants them to make sure that they get the gospel, that they're saved and that they understand these things because if not you're just going to completely derail and just be all over the place, blown around with every wind of doctrine. And of course it's not good. Now let's look down here where we're going to start today at verse 35. He goes on to say this. He says, but some men, I'm sorry, but some man will say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come? So there's two questions right off the bat that Paul is proposing that they're going to be challenged with and that's how does this whole resurrection of the dead thing happen? Like what does it look like? How does, who's responsible for this? How does it happen? And what body, what kind of body are they going to have? Are they going to turn into angels? Are they going to have, you know, look like this or that way? You know, how does all of this look? And Paul, what he does is he dispels two common errors that you'll often hear about the resurrection of the dead and number one, and you'll often hear this and that is that we're going to get the same body, but it's just reconstituted. Okay? So the same body will come up. It's just going to be reconstituted. And number two, another error is that the new body is completely unrelated to the old one. So in other words, you might hear people say, well, okay, we get new bodies, but we're not even going to look like how humans look. Like you're going to like grow literal wings and you're going to have all these different features and you're going to look more like a Marvel superhero. There are people out there that teach that and Paul again would disagree. So before we start here, I want to just kind of give you three quick things about resurrected bodies and then we'll go through these verses again. Okay? So number one, one thing that you want to see here is that the body that we get, the resurrected body, it's chosen by God. Okay? Remember, like we always talk about, talked about this morning, I'm going to beat this to death. We go from the known to the unknown. That is how you study anything. Okay? So if we don't know what a resurrected bodies are, before we just go repeat something that we may have heard or seen on TV, we want to see what the Bible says. And the first thing that I want you to see is that it's chosen by God. So look over at verse 38. It says, but God giveth it a body as it has pleased him and to every seed his own bodies. Number one, God chooses and has chosen this resurrected body. Okay? Now, number two, you're going to see that it's related to the former. Look at verse 36. So he goes on and says, thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. Okay? And really think about that there. This body dies, but it's still you, right? Remember, we're a trichotomy. We have body, soul, and spirit. When a person gets saved, Hebrews chapter four, verse 12, okay, what happens? The word of God comes through you and divides you, right? It cuts you asunder. It divides the joints and the marrow from the soul and the spirit. And so God quickens that soul and spirit together into that new man and preserves him until the day of redemption where we get that new body. So verse 36, it's related to the former, but yet different. So look at verse 36. It but yet different. So look at verse 39. Okay? So he says, all flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. Okay? So that should kind of help us understand at least what kind of body we're going to get. We're not going to look like a bird. We're not going to be like some hybrid whores, you know, like if you did really good down here on earth, you're going to be like a whores and then have like a ram's head and a lion's face. Okay? Let that stuff go, man. One flesh, look what he says, verse 39 again, all flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. Verse 40, there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial. Okay? What are celestial bodies? Well, those are the celestial pertains to the sky and the heavens and things of that nature. And he's going to break that down like the stars and sun and the moon. And of course, you know, terrestrial, which is what you're going to see here is earthy or worldly. Okay? Verse 41, he says, there is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differth from another star in glory. So he's basically saying like, look, the sun's not the moon and the moon's not the sun and the stars are different. They all have a different glory. Okay? But they're all different bodies, but yet in one category. Okay. Hopefully that makes sense. They're in one category. They're celestial. So like things on earth here. Okay. Mountains are different than the sun and, and Hills are different than mountains and Plains are different than deserts and oceans and things of that nature. Now skip ahead to verse 49. Paul says and as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. So the new body, again, it's chosen by God. It's related to the former meaning. We're still going to be like, we're, we're, we're redeemed. Like, like men, you're not going to get like this crazy, you know, armored tank back and you know, just this weird combination of things. It's still going to be a new body pertaining to men or the human race, if you will, yet different. Okay. It's going to be somehow a combination of your old self, but uh, but heavenly. Okay. And it's going to be non corruptible. There will be no way for you to sin or anything of that nature. And of course we don't have time tonight, but we could always go back to Daniel and go back and talk about the judgment seat of Christ, talk about rewards and how that's going to work or pertain to this. I don't have time to get into that tonight because we have to finish this chapter. So let's back up and go through these verses here. Again, starting at verse 35. So after rebuking them for having people and tolerating this doctrine and saying, Hey, you know, this is your shame that people don't even have the knowledge of God in your church. He says, but some man will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? And so of course that's something that we just have to be, you know, ready for as Christians, ready for in the church that people will challenge. People will challenge the basic things that were taught, the basic doctrines that we have, and we have to be ready to give them a right answer. Okay. But look at Paul's attitude here. Paul does not take too kindly to this and look at his language here in verse 36 thou fool. Okay. So people always get on me, Oh, you're really aggressive and you don't act like a pastor. Look, I'm a human being. Okay. Paul and human being, you know, and I'm not, he's definitely not sitting here. I'm not saying that at all, but he's getting angry here. Paul was a person who loved truth. That's why God used him the way that he did because he loved truth. He loved that line in the sand. Okay. I mean, when before he got saved, when he was a Pharisee, guess what? He was probably the most zealous of Pharisees. When he got saved and all of that knowledge came together into one place and he got it and everything clicked. Guess what? He was the most zealous out of all the apostles. God loves that. God uses that. But yet today people are like, Oh, you should have a kind and soft heart for anything. You know, someone's trying to kill you. Just bless them. Someone slaps you in the face. You know, make sure you turn the other cheek. If they're trying to punch you down and knock you out, just let them do, you know, just try to talk you into it. Look, that is foolishness. Okay. There is a time and a place for warfare. There is a time and a place to rebuke people and there was a time and a place to get angry. And when the truth is under attack, that could be one of those times. And so he just says, thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it died. Now, another thing to consider is that Paul's constantly starting churches, teaching milk, and he's getting feedback all the time from the Corinthians, Galatians, and people just aren't getting, you got the Judaizers coming in and just really wreaking havoc on the doctrine and he's getting sick of it, you know, and he's just like, look, you're a fool. How many times do I have to explain this to you to get it through your thick head? So he drops a truth bomb on them and says, thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened or made alive except it died. Think about planting seeds. Okay. What has to happen? Well, you have to take that seed and plant it in the ground. You have to bury it before it can grow into something and flourish before it can be quickened or come alive. And he's rebuking them for not even understanding the most basic things that happen every single day on this earth. Verse 37, and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. It may chance of wheat or of some other grain. So again, he's using an illustration of growing crops here or growing wheat to kind of get us in the mind frame to be able to see like what this resurrection is like. And obviously the seed is sown in our bodies. The seed is the word of God. Okay. The word of God goes into you. You receive it, you accept it. What instantly happens? You're saved. You're placed into the body of Christ. And from that moment on, the Holy Spirit resides in you and you have the ability, the glorious ability to be able to fully understand and study the word of God and to go from the milk of the doctrines, which this is one of those doctrines, all the way to meet where you're able to digest the harder things in the word of God. Okay. Verse 38, it says, but God giveth it a body as it has pleased him and to every seed, his own body. Okay. So again, remember what he's doing here. He's trying to dispel this, what this problem he knows is going to happen. He's like, I already know someone's going to come in there. What body are they going to have and how does this happen? He's like, guess what? It's a body that God chose. It happens by the power of God, not by you. And it's different, but yet the same. And of course we don't have an exact picture of what it looks like. Okay. So it is what it is. You'll see when you get it there. Verse 40, or I'm sorry, verse 39, all flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes and another of birds. I mean, could you imagine having to go to this level to explain doctrine to somebody? I mean, you'd be kind of frustrated as well. But again, Paul apt to teach, right? He wants to help these guys out and make sure they are staying on the right track in doctrine. So look at verse 40 says, there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. Very obvious you walk outside during the daytime or even at night. Okay. You can tell there is a difference between the things that are on this earth versus things that are up in the sky. It's a very simple concept to understand. I have to bring that up because the way this is written, it's kind of some of these things can be very confusing and it can be like, hold on, like, what is he talking about here? I heard that this was something else and whatnot. Just follow it and you'll get it. Okay. Look at verse 41. He says, there is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differth from another star in glory. And of course this all goes back to who made those, who spoke those things into existence. Well, we know that God did. You go back and read that account in Genesis. Okay. So it's kind of funny how people will acknowledge this. Okay. All kinds of people, oh yeah, I believe that. I believe that God made the sun, the moon and the stars and in the earth. I believe he spoke life into existence, but when it comes to preserving the Bible or the word of God, they're like, well, I don't really believe that. I still think we have to, you know, go to man to figure out what it actually says. And I think that if something news dug up tomorrow, uh, that we ought to believe that over what's been preserved. Okay. It's not the way that God operates. Verse 42. So also, okay. So also, so remember the picture you just painted. So you've got the heavens, you've got the earth and how those things differ from one another. He says, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. Very important to understand. What does that mean? Sown in corruption? Well, perfect example. When we go out soul winning, knock on somebody's door, they decide they want to hear the word of God. Guess what? That person is a walking dead person. Okay. Before you're saved, you're dead. Before you're made alive, you're dead. The word of God, if they receive it goes in, it quickens them. It makes them alive and they will be alive forever. What did Jesus say in John chapter 11? Said, um, that hold on. Sorry. I got a dry, it gets a little cold out. That's very difficult on my vocal cords. So said, whosoever believeth in me shall never die. That is what Jesus said. Whosoever believeth in me shall never die. Okay. But the world comes by and says, Oh, that's, that's, that's kind of true. That's kind of true. Okay. If you can do all the commandments and you can follow everything and you give up every single sin, impossible. The more of the Bible that you read, the more of the Bible that you study, the more you realize how sinful we are. Okay. The trail for that goes very, very deep, which is the whole reason why we need a savior because we can't save ourselves. And so that's his point here. He's saying verse 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. So if someone tells you as you're giving them the word of God, well, I'm not corrupt. Guess what? That seed is bouncing right off their forehead and right back into your Bible. Just bouncing off that or you know, you can use the picture of the, uh, the devil basically just plucking that word out of his heart. Just, just rapid fire. Just picking that seed right out of his heart. Okay. A person needs to understand that they are corrupt, that we are sinners. All of us for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So again, he says, so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in end corruption. So again, proving that it's not the same physical body that died that comes back up. Okay. And he's going to prove that even further here in a little bit. Verse 43, it is sown in dishonor. So not only are we corrupt as the old man, but we're dishonorable. Remember for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. As it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. Again, verse 44, it is sown. I'm sorry. Verse 43, it is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. So again, he's answering this question that he knows they're going to get. How does the resurrection happen? It's raised in power. Where does that power come from? Well, it comes from God. It comes from the fact that Jesus lived a perfect life, died and defeated death. Okay. Walked out of the tomb. That's the gospel that he mentioned in the beginning of the chapter. Okay. Verse 44, it is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. Okay. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. So your new body, it is spiritual. Okay. And I know how our minds work. I just want to see what it looks like to like, like a more picture ball. Like give us a little bit more like spirit. Can I walk through walls? Can I jump over buildings? Okay. You have to wait and see. That's that's big. He's not going to get that deep into it. Hey, verse 45. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Remember, Jesus is the word of God. It is the word of God that saves people. The word of God is what makes us alive. Verse 46, how be it that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural and afterward that which is spiritual. That's a mouthful right there. Okay. That is, it's like, whoa, hold on. That which was first was spiritual, but that which is natural and after that which is spiritual, what in the world is going on here? Okay. Well again, what is he talking about? He's talking about the resurrection of the dead. He's talking about the process. Okay. A person is born physically one time and a person grows up. If that person comes of age where they can understand truth, receive the gospel, become born again. Well then guess what? That person is going to get that spiritual body. That person is going to one day be raised up with the brethren and meet Christ in the air. That's basically what he's talking about there. Verse 47 he says, the first man is of the earth, earthy. Now we need to bring that word back. Earthy. You know, some of your friends are acting kind of worldly. Be like, you know, why are you so earthy? What in the world's going on here? He says, the second man is the Lord from heaven. Verse 48 as is the earthy, such are they that are earthy and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. So again, he's making distinctions here. Okay. He's doing the same thing that he did just a few verses ago, talking about the celestial bodies and the terrestrial bodies. You have the natural man and then you have what is coming, which is the spiritual man. Now we don't have time to talk about this because we've already kind of covered that. I think we talked about this Wednesday. Okay. There's another kind of resurrection that is going to happen. That's the resurrection of the dead dead. I guess you could call it that. The resurrection of the people that rejected Christ. Those people will be resurrected and placed before what is called the great white throne judgment. Those people will be judged according to the things that are written in the books. Remember, these are the people that said, Hey, I'm a, I'm a burger King Christian, right? I'm going to have it my way. I'll have a little bit of Jesus, a little bit of Buddha, a little bit of Allah, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Okay. These cafeteria type Christians and those people are going to what, what is going to happen to them? They're going to go to a place called hell where they will burn forever. Chapter nine, Jesus says several times in that chapter, they are going to go to a place where the fire is never quenched and their worm and meaning their bodies will burn forever, but never be consumed. Okay. And so now we get to talk about the good one now. So I just wanted to kind of bring that up for context purposes here, but this is all talking about resurrection of the dead, meaning the saved Christians. Okay. People that trusted in Christ look at verse 49. So he says, and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. We shall meaning eventually we will get the image of the heavenly. However that looks, verse 50, he says, now this I say, brethren. Okay. So again, another clue for us, another keyword brethren, he's talking to the safe. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit in corruption. Okay. Let's talk about this for a second. Now this I say, brethren. So basically all of that, everything we just read from verse 35 up to now is really to support this verse right here. Verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood. Okay. Do you have flesh and blood? Yes. You're living, breathing, walking on this earth. You have flesh and blood. What is it about this flesh and blood that we need to be aware of? Well, look what he says, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So will this flesh and blood be taken up to heaven untranslated? And the answer is no. Okay. It is going to be different. So that is his point here. Okay. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So when people tell you, well, I can earn my own way into heaven, you need to really be reminded of this verse and what Paul saying here, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. There is no way that man by and of himself could ever enter into heaven. Again, the whole reason why we need a savior because man could not do it on his own. Okay. That is the entire point. So then he says this, neither does corruption inherit in corruption. Okay. So we don't inherit this in corruption. It is given to us by God freely because we believe on him and his word. Big difference there. Now verse 51 says this, behold, I show you a mystery. Okay. I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. And he tells you how look at verse 52 in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised in corruptible and we shall be changed. Now real quickly, just go forward in your Bibles there to first Thessalonians chapter number four, first Thessalonians chapter number four. I'm not going to repreach a prophecy sermon about the rapture. We did that in the summertime, but I do want to cover this because it's definitely more of what Paul is talking about. Okay. So Paul's telling the Corinthians, he's giving them some good news, like something to look forward to. Hey, there's coming a day where we're all going to be changed. Okay. That body is going to be done away with the aches and pains. You know, you don't like your nose. You don't like this, that. You don't like some blemish that you have. Guess what? That's all going to be gone someday. You're not even going to have to worry about it. Okay. But look at how he explains it to the Thessalonians. Here in verse 14, he says, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Again, key phrase here for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, what is that? That's the gospel that he had to explain to the Corinthians in chapter 15. Notice what he doesn't say. If we believe and don't make any more mistakes and turn from every single sin, then then you can go because you're so special and you're such a good person. No, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them, them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Okay. Verse 15. He says, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. Now, the Thessalonians here had some questions and they were wondering, well, what about our brothers and sisters and all of our friends in Christ that have passed on before us? Like we miss them. And so they were a little bit distraught and Paul is going to comfort them and saying, hey, don't worry. You're all going to meet together again in the same place at the same time. Look at verse 16. And notice how he's starting to use this word now, sleep. You mentioned that in 1 Corinthians 15 and using it here. And it's because again, like Jesus said, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Okay. Now your body will stop working at some point and go into the ground, but you yourself do not die because you're redeemed. You're born again. You're saved. So verse 16, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Okay. And so what about everybody else who's alive at that time? Do they have to die real quick and then, you know, get rid of like, how does that work? Verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Okay. These words, we are supposed to understand this process. Remember, this is a milk doctrine here. According to Hebrews chapter five and six milk doctrine that we are to understand because again, what is the mission of the church? You already know it's to evangelize the lost and to edify the brethren. And you know, the better equipped that you're, uh, that you are at both of those categories, the more useful you are in the kingdom of God. And you can be that type of person that's leader that can go around and comfort your brother and sister in Christ when they have questions and take care of them and put their fears and their doubts at ease because you understand what this is saying. Now go over to chapter five real quick because he continues with this thought here. Okay. He continues on and he says, but verse one of chapter five, but of the times and he says, but of the times and of the seasons brethren, you have no need that I write unto you for you or for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Okay. And so when do these things happen? What happens on the day of the Lord? And of course, I'm really going to try to not get into the timing and stuff of this because it takes a lot to go through that. It's a lot of information. So if you have questions about that, just see me afterwards. Verse three says for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. Verse four he says, but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. And of course, some more comfort here in verse five, he says ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Okay. Of course, you keep on reading down there. He talks about how we're not appointed unto wrath and things of that nature. Now go back to first Corinthians chapter 15. I just wanted to kind of show you that here before we move on because it's very important for us to understand this doctrine and what it looks like. Why? So that we can put to bed, put to rest these challenges that may come in at us. Okay. So again, verse 51 he says, behold, I show you a mystery shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, changed into the new body that God has chosen, which is related to the old meaning men, right? Remember there's a body for, or there's a flesh for men, birds, and all these other things. Okay. It's going to be similar, but yet different. Okay. And then of course, verses 39 through 41 and verse 49 confirm that. Verse 52 he says, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised in corruptible and we shall be changed. Okay. How are we changed? Because we were so good and we did such a great job. No, because God's mercy that is how. Okay. Verse 53 for this corruptible, this corruptible meaning this old man, this flesh and blood for this corruptible verse 53 must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. Okay. So that new body will be incorruptible. It will not get disease. It will not be subject to sin. You will not lose it. You will not expire. You will not perish. Okay. Very simple to understand that is what he wants us to get through that it is immortality. It is forever. Okay. It's a done deal. And these things must happen. The reason why he's using that language is because again, people were in there saying, well, you know, this resurrection of the dead thing. I don't really believe that. And you know, we don't think that's happening. And Paul's like that's foolishness and even calls them fools for it. Verse 54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Okay. Again, last couple chapters of the book of revelation gives you a great picture of the new heavens, the new Jerusalem that comes down where there's no more night, which is obviously a picture of no more death, no more anything like that. Okay. All of that is going to fade away. And again, this is all meant to comfort. This is all meant to comfort us that there will be a day. There's no more death. You don't have to experience that anymore forever. Okay. Verse 55. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? And of course you can go to Hosea and read that. I think it's chapter 12. Look at verse 56. He says, the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. Okay. And the strength of sin is the law. And we've talked about this recently. Okay. The law. The only thing that the law can do is condemn you. Remember a police officer is not going to pull you over and be like, Hey, you know, I ran your plates at the stoplight. Notice you haven't had a ticket in three years. I'm going to give you a gift card to the cheesecake factory. Okay. The law doesn't do that. Hey, the law is the law can only condemn. Okay. In fact, the law is so, I mean, vast and deep that we don't even fully understand it. Like when we first get saved, like we have to study this out and again, like I said earlier, the more you study the law, the more you realize that we're breaking law and we don't even know it. Okay. And so again, the law is what condemns us. Okay. But who is it that saves us? Well, it's Jesus. It's Jesus Christ and what he did, his sacrifice. Very simple. Verse 57. He says, but thanks be to God. Now here it is. Okay. But thanks be to God. So because of the strength of the law, because the strength of sin rather is the law. He says, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So how is it that we get this victory? Is it because of our own willpower to turn from sin? No, it's because God gives us this victory through Jesus Christ. Now real quickly, go to Ephesians chapter two. And let's look at that same kind of language there because he says it's through our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. Ephesians chapter two. You already know where we're going. Look at verse eight. It says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Okay. It is the gift of God. Notice he says you have to go through faith. It's by faith. It's not by you working. It's not by you willing your way into heaven or anything like that. It is a gift and you have to go through faith and it's because of God's grace. Grace means mercy. What we don't deserve. Verse nine. Not of works lest any man should boast. Not of works. I mean how many times does he have to say it? It's all throughout the entire Bible. Old Testament, New Testament. Your works cannot, will not, never save you. Okay. It is only through Jesus Christ. It is a gift. Now obviously in verse 10 we learned that God has chosen us, meaning the Israel of God, and appointed us unto good works. But those good works only start after you're saved. Okay. Only start after you're saved. And of course I don't have time to get into that. Now go back to 1st Corinthians chapter number 15. It says, verse 57, but thanks be to God which giveth. Remember the gift. A gift is something given. A gift is something that you pay for and give to another person. If you receive a gift and you have to pay for it or do something for it or do something to maintain it, then it's not a gift. It might be a good deal, but it's not a gift. Guess what? Probation's a good deal, but guess what? It's not salvation. It's not freedom. And the Bible says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Okay. There is true freedom and we're in Christ, therefore we have freedom. Verse 58 he says, therefore, so for that reason, so because God has given us the victory, it's a gift through faith, through Jesus Christ. It says, 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. So we're talking about this after soul winning today. I know it seems like in this world right now, especially in this country, like it's just not that receptive anymore. You know, you go and you talk to people and, you know, it's just like, man, we've got to knock a hundred doors to, you know, talk to somebody. It's not quite that bad necessarily, believe it or not. It's not that bad, but it's definitely worse than it was when I first moved here. Okay. Definitely worse. And I think a lot of people are experiencing that and it's just a sign of the times. Okay. People have all of this stuff. The nation is divided right now. The media has just done a wonderful job at deceiving people. We talked about this this morning. Okay. What did I say? I said that oppression comes in the form of deception and that is at an all time high, I believe right now. And so you have this divide in this country and people, you know, knock on doors and they're just getting mad. Like, like for example, yesterday, I don't know who it was at this point, but some of us, two of us guys had knocked on a door at some point and this guy leaves us a review this long on Google, you know, and I don't care. I'm proud of our Google reviews, you know, cause that just tells you, Hey, it's like Jesus said, you know, he wants you to either be hot or cold and we're definitely not cold. We're just hot. We're just hot on the other side. Okay. We're not about, you know, preaching things that are in season in the world. Okay. We're about saying, Hey, this is what the word of God says and you don't like it. You can lump it. I don't care. But this guy leaves us a review that's like this long. He's just like, they knocked on my door. And he said, Oh, they were banging on my door. It's like, nobody, nobody bangs on the door. He banging on doors, like bottom fist, just back like SWAT team, just bam, bam, bam. No knocked on your door. Okay. Think about this. Who in here would get super offended? Hopefully nobody and please forgive me if you would, but you know, who in here is really going to get offended because someone knocked on your door and invited you somewhere. Seriously. Think about that. Knuckles. Here's some wood. This simple action here. Hey, how are you doing? My name is pastor Jones. I'd like to invite you to church. No soliciting. Bang. And then they're stewing on this for hours, like eight hours later. That's how people are today, man, to get on that keyboard. And Oh boy, they become a super warrior, don't they? I'll show him. He's a big, you're a bigot. You're this, you're that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, wow. That's the society we're living in today where people are triggered by simply knocking on their door and asking them if they want to come to church. Well, I had a no soliciting sign. Guess what? I'm also here to teach you a new definition. We're not soliciting. We are visiting. And guess what? There is no law that against us visiting anywhere. Show me. You can't. It is not illegal in this country to go and visit people and to be nice to people and to try to help people and to try to pull them out of the fire. But you have so many people today just all can't believe that knock on my door. I'm going to teach them. I'm going to show them something. I'm going to give them a lesson. I'm going to give them a piece of my mind, like save that energy for real threats for things that are really an issue. It's like, look, I don't get that mad when Mormons come and knock on my door. I don't get that man when the J-dubs come and knock on my door or the apostolics or sore people. I'm just like, I'm not interested, man. Take care. Bye. You know, it is what it is. I don't go in the living room. I'm like, whoa, boy, can you believe that? Can you believe they knocked on our door? We got to do something about this. We got to take action here. You know, there must be something we can do. I told you guys, this place around here sometimes can really seem like the Karen capital of the world. But, you know, other people are dealing with the same mentality, the same issue. Like we said this morning, Paul warned us and said, hey, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. That's what we're having to deal with today. But look, at the end of the day, look at what he says there one more time at the last part of that verse, that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Okay. We're doing what we are supposed to do. We're taking these truths. We're internalizing them. And we're trying to share them with as many people as possible that will allow us, whether they reject us. Let's say you knock a million doors from this day to the end of your life. And no one, no one answers door. No one gets saved. That labor is not in vain. That labor is not empty. Okay. That labor counts for something. And so, which is kind of why I'm like, man, we need to change soul winning to like soul warning. We're not going to do that. We still call it soul winning. It is what it is. We're preaching the gospel. You know, it is what it is. Okay. But at the end of the day, even in the toughest areas, even when I lived North, you know, in Northern Washington on the peninsula, there were still, even though it would take months, sometimes there would still be those days where you got two people saved, three people saved, one person saved and all was well. Okay. God will use us. If we're ready, remember success follows preparation. We're preparing. Okay. And therefore God's going to give us the victory. He's going to give us that success because we are prepared. We're ready. And he wants to use us and our labor's not in vain. So no matter what, you know, anybody tells you, Oh, you're sitting there copying down the word of God. What good is that to you? Hey, that's labor. That's working for God. And God loves that. He's looking for people to go out and work people to take truth and stand up for the truth and be zealous for the truth. Right? We've got a lot of people today that are zealous, but not according to knowledge. Like Paul had said, his fellow brethren Israelites were. So we're going to stop there. We'll do chapter 16 and then a conclusion next week. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for this church and for everything that you do for us. And I just pray that you'd bless our week. Lord, bring us back safely on Wednesday and in Jesus name. I pray. Amen. All right. We're going to have one more song and then we'll be dismissed.