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