But this morning we're in 1 Corinthians 15, the last section, verses 50-58 of this glorious chapter. So if you have your Bibles, please follow along. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 50. I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Father, we ask that you give us insight into your word, that you would show us the glory of your son, who He is and His perfect, finished work for us. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, for the last several weeks now, we've been slowly walking our way through this grand, climactic chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, this great chapter on the doctrine of the resurrection, of the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. And in our passage today, Paul's going to bring his argument full circle. He's going to bring his argument to a close. Now, throughout much of this chapter, the Apostle Paul has been directing our eyes forward to the last day, to that day, that great day of the coming future resurrection. And he's been directing our gaze, by means of application, upward and forward. Upward, fixing our gaze on the exalted Lord Jesus Christ, and forward to that coming day of resurrection. This truth, the truth of the resurrection of Christ and our sure and certain resurrection to come, gives us great hope. That's why the Apostle Paul can say in 1 Thessalonians that, yes, as believers, we grieve, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. But as believers, we do have a sure and certain hope, a hope that the unbeliever cannot know and a hope that this world cannot give. The question to consider as well is this, does this truth of the resurrection, of the resurrection of Christ and the connected general resurrection of the dead on the last day, does that have any impact in bearing on our lives in the here and now? And of course, the great answer is absolutely yes, it most certainly does. You see there in verse 58, that great transition word, therefore, in light of all that I've said, brothers, therefore, and then he's going to give us instruction on living in the here and now, in this present evil age. As we work our way through this last section of this chapter this morning, the argument that the Apostle Paul is going to make is this. Because we will rise with Christ in the future, we must live faithfully for Christ today. There's the main idea of this section. Because we will rise with Christ in the future, verses 50 through 57, we must faithfully live for Christ today, verse 58. And that's what we're going to unpack together this morning. So first, the Apostle Paul is going to wrap up his argument and give us some final truths concerning our resurrection, concerning our future resurrection, those three things. that he's going to teach us and tell us about our coming resurrection. And the first is this. We will all be changed at the resurrection. We will all be changed. Look at verse 50. I tell you this, brothers. flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." Now in verse 50, Paul is simply repeating what he has already said previously, and what we talked about last Sunday, that our bodies our physical bodies as presently constituted, that our bodies, your bodies and mine, our bodies that are part of this fallen world, our bodies that are part of this present evil age, our bodies that are liable to disease and to death, that are subject to decay, our bodies that are wasting away, that are growing old, that are slowly but surely returning to dust, Our bodies in their present form, as the word Paul uses there, is perishable. Our bodies that are perishable are, as one author puts, incompatible with our glorious inheritance to come. They are incompatible with our eternal home and our eternal existence with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth. Paul puts it clearly. The perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. Our perishable bodies are not fit, they're not suitable for the imperishable kingdom that awaits us. for the imperishable kingdom that Christ will consummate and will usher in when he returns. Therefore, Paul says, verse 51, behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. That is to say the present form of our bodies, the present form of your bodies and my bodies, whether in the ground, That's Paul's metaphor of sleeping. It's a wonderful New Testament metaphor of death. We're taking a little nap. We're sleeping until the Lord returns. So the present form of our bodies, whether in the ground or whether alive when Christ returns, that's what Paul's reference is here. We shall not all sleep. In other words, there'll be a generation of believers that are alive when Christ returns. And that might have been a unique struggle for the Corinthians. The Corinthians might think, well, if we don't die, how am I going to get my new body? Because Paul's been hammering home that the body is sown in dishonor and it's raised in honor. So a Corinthian might think, well, What if I'm alive when Christ returns? How am I going to get my new body then? Well, Paul says, that's OK. You're still going to be changed too. So we won't all sleep. There'll be a generation of believers alive when Christ returns. But whether sleeping in the ground or whether alive at the return of Christ, we shall all be changed. And that's his great point there in verse 51. We shall all be changed. Paul says the same thing back up in verse 42 and 43. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable, sown in dishonor, raised in glory, sown in weakness, raised in power. Notice also the repetition there in verse 51. Excuse me, up in verse 42 and 43. It says, what is sown, perishable, imperishable, sown in dishonor, raised in glory, sown in weakness, raised in power. There's going to be a continuity between the present form of our bodies and our glorified bodies. It's going to be you and it's going to be me. We're still gonna be us. We're still gonna be Randy and David and Carrie and Abby. It's still gonna be, you're still gonna be you and I'm still gonna be me, but only with glorified, glorified, exalted, changed bodies raised in power, bearing the likeness of our Lord. So the first thing Paul reminds us is we will all be changed. We will all be changed as unto the glorified body of our Savior. Secondly, Paul reminds us, yes, we'll all be changed in a moment on the last day. We shall all be changed in a moment on the last day. Look at verse 52 in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. And we shall be changed. So this change is going to take place in a moment. It's going to be an instantaneous transformation on that last day. But the question Paul is really getting at is this. When is this day? What day is Paul talking about? Well, he's talking about what the New Testament refers to as the last day. the last day, the day of Christ returning. Look there at the language of trumpet. I want to zero in on this idea of the last trumpet just for a moment. You see there verse 52, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, for this last trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall all be changed. Now this trumpet that Paul's referring to is not the last in a series of trumpets. Some folks take it that way, but that's not what Paul's getting at here. It's not like the last in a numerical series of trumpet. It is the trumpet blast that marks the last day. In fact, the original word here is eschatological. It's the eschatological trumpet marking the final last day. The last trumpet marking the last final day, the day of Christ's return. In fact, Paul is building on rich Old Testament imagery. Throughout the Old Testament, we read of trumpets signaling the coming day of the Lord and the gathering together of the elect. And let's look at just a few examples. Turn over to the Old Testament to Joel chapter 2, verse 1. Joel chapter 2, verse 1. Joel chapter 2 verse 1 and here Joel's talking about that last day. Look at what he says. Blow a trumpet in Zion. Sound an alarm on my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. It is near. I turn over to Zechariah. Just a few pages to the right from Joel. Zechariah towards the end of the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 9 verse 14. Zechariah 9 14 then the Lord will appear over them and his error will go forth like lightning the Lord God will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of The South and then one more Isaiah chapter 27 verse 13 Isaiah 27 verse 13 And in that day, again reference to the last day, and in that day a great trumpet will be blown and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem. We could have selected hundreds more references to this trumpet that marks the final day of the Lord, the gathering together of the church and the final destruction of God's enemies. And so that is the reference that Paul's making, that last trumpet signaling the final coming of our Lord and summoning the dead to be raised to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the New Testament elsewhere picks up on this idea of the trumpet blast. A couple more examples. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. And then one more example, Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24, verse 31. I'll pick it up in verse 30. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in heaven with power and great glory and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet. with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to another." So this trumpet is the trumpet of the last day. It's the last trumpet signaling the last day, summoning the dead to rise and stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, that we will all be changed in a moment on the last day. And then the third thing that Paul teaches us about the resurrection in this passage is this, is that this resurrection that we're talking about signals the final, ultimate, climactic defeat of death. This resurrection, this final resurrection, signaled by this final trumpet, brings about the final, ultimate, and climactic defeat of death. And you see this in verses 54 through verse 57. 54 through 57. Look back at verse 54. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, in other words, on this day of resurrection, and when the mortal puts on immortality, that's describing the resurrection, then shall come to pass The saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? So what does Paul mean? Paul's saying that on this day of resurrection, when our mortal bodies are changed and we put on immortality, when our perishable bodies are changed and we're given that imperishable body fitted for our imperishable kingdom, Then will come to pass this saying, death is swallowed up in victory. What is Paul getting at? Well, Paul's quoting from the Old Testament, as he often all the time does. He's quoting from Isaiah chapter 25. So turn back just for a moment to Isaiah chapter 25 and let's look at what Paul is quoting from. Isaiah 25 verse 8. I'm actually going to read a few more verses, but the specific verse is verse 8. I'm going to pick it up in verse 6. Isaiah 25, verse 6, I'm going to read through verse 12. On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow. He there is God. He will swallow up death forever. So on that day, God will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will do what? Will wipe away tears from all of their faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, the day that Isaiah is talking about. It will be said on that day. Behold, this is our God. We have waited for him that he might save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain and Moab shall be trampled down in his place. Moab, their reference to the enemies of God, will be trampled down in his place. as straw is trampled down in a dunghill. And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it, as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim. But the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands. In the high fortification of his walls, he will bring down, lay low, and cast to the ground to the dust." And what is Paul saying? Paul is saying that what Isaiah is talking about, that glorious day that Isaiah is talking about when the Lord will spread out His feast on the mountain for His people and He will destroy His enemies, that day will be finally consummated and will finally be here when Christ returns. But Paul is also saying something else. Paul is also saying that that day is already here because of the resurrection of Christ. In other words, Paul is saying that in the first and second comings of our Savior, Isaiah chapter 25 is here. Isaiah chapter 25, that glorious passage we just read, has been fulfilled. Paul is saying that with the resurrection of Christ, death has been defeated. Death is swallowed up in victory. That with the resurrection of Christ, death has been dealt a death blow. Death has been dealt a mortal wound. And then with the second coming of Christ, and with our resurrection when Christ returns, death will be once and for all, finally and fully swallowed up and defeated once and for all. Look back up in verses 25 and 26. Again, Paul's simply wrapping up loose ends. He's just repeating ideas that he's already said. Look up in verse 25 and 26. For he that is for Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death. So again, with the resurrection of Christ, death has been dealt that death blow. But death, death is dying a slow death. And until the final believer is raised, death still has its dying tentacles almost like wrapped around our feet. And on that final day of resurrection, death will be once and for all swallowed up in victory. Again, just to repeat, just to drive this home, Paul's saying that in the first and second coming of Christ, death has been defeated. The beginning of the end, as one author puts it, the beginning of the end has been set in motion. Death's, the writing is on the wall, so to speak, for the last enemy, death. The resurrection of Christ guarantees that ultimate defeat and final defeat of death. Paul goes on, look at what he says in verse 55. This is glorious. Paul is not, in verse 55, Paul is not advancing his theological argument. Paul is taunting death. Verse 55 doesn't really add anything to the argument, but it's a taunt. Paul is mocking death. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? He's taunting, he's mocking death. But note this, note the tense of the verb in verse 56, O death, where is your victory? Where is your sting? Verse 55, death is swallowed up in victory. And this is fascinating. This is wonderful. Because of the resurrection of Christ, Paul has absolute certainty. of the final resurrection and glorification of every one of those who belong to Christ. And so Paul can already say, even before the final resurrection happens, Paul can mock death. See what Paul's doing there. The resurrection of Christ has set in motion the final defeat of death, such that Paul can say, death, you're done. Where is your victory. O death, where is your sting? You have already been swallowed up. He has such certainty because of the resurrection of Christ that he can mock and sing a song of victory over the last enemy, death. But then Paul has one more thing to say about this in verses 56 and 57. It's not just death itself, but it is specifically death as a result of sin. The wages of sin is death. Christ has not only dealt with death, but Christ has dealt with all of those enemies that brought death about. Specifically, sin and the law. Verse 56, the sting of death is sin. That which gives death its sting is sin. Death as a result of sin, and this power of sin is the law. We could put it this way, that Christ has ripped the stinger out of death. He's ripped the stinger. He's taken the sting out of death. Why? Because He satisfied the law. He died in our place. He died as our substitute. He suffered the wrath of hell for you and for me, and He rose in victory. That's why Paul can sing and can taunt and can mock, O death, where is thy steam? Because the Lord Jesus ripped the stinger out of death, so to speak. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He has satisfied the righteous requirements of the law. And again, that's why Paul can sing again, verse 57. Paul is singing all over the place in this chapter. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1, verse 10, that Christ has abolished death. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 6. Romans chapter 6, verse 9. He says, we know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. Death no longer has dominion over him. He will never die again. And dear friends, we are in union with Christ. Thus, our final resurrection is absolutely certain. and absolutely guaranteed. Death, where is thy sting? O death, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. In Christ, we have that victory. Dear friends, this is the true victorious Christian life, not the dribble that you hear on late night television. Victorious Christian life is not about building bigger houses or getting more cars or accumulating more wealth and power in this world. This is victory. Victory over death. That is true victory. Victory over death and victory over sin and over Satan and over the grave. That is true victory. That is the victory that Christ has won for us and that we have in Him. This is the true victorious Christian life, we might say. But then Paul goes on. Because we will rise with Christ in the future, and Paul's been finalizing this, he's been wrapping up his argument on the resurrection, that the second half of that main idea is this, we must live faithfully for Christ today. Because we will rise, certain, absolutely certain, we must, it must impact our lives in the here and now. And so Paul has something, one final thing to teach us in verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brothers. You see, you see the pastoral heart of Paul. He was a pastor's pastor. He's been hard on the Corinthians throughout this chapter. He hasn't held back, but they're still his beloved brothers. That's wonderful. What a pastor, what a great model for all of us. Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, we might say. And then what does he say? Be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. And C.S. Lewis once said that if you read history, you will find that the Christians that he did most for this present world were precisely the ones who thought most of the next. That's exactly what Paul's getting at here. Paul's been directing our eyes forward again and again and again, upward and forward. But that doesn't mean that we just kind of sit back and do nothing in the present. No, Paul's saying that as our eyes are directed forward and upward, it impacts us, you and me, in the here and now. And so a couple brief things just to draw out of this last verse, verse 58. First, Paul tells us something negative. He says that we are not to be moved from our hope in the gospel. He says be steadfast, be immovable. We are to stand on the gospel and not be moved this way and that way. We are to stand on the gospel of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. As Brother Carl prayed, we are to stand firm as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And just as the world was seeking to move the Corinthians, again, every chapter we've noted the idea that one of the main problems with the Corinthian church was the ways and the values and the norms of the world were seeping into and affecting the church. And they were being swayed this way and that way with worldly thinking coming into the church. Well, dear friends, the world is no different today than it was back then. And the world is trying to do the very same thing to you and to me. The world preaches at us 24-7 a gospel, a message completely antithetical to the gospel that is revealed in Scripture. In fact, this morning in Sunday School, we talked about what's called the postmodern movement that seeks to reject any notion of overarching and absolute truth. And we need to stand firm that there is one truth, and that is what is revealed in the Word of God. So first, Paul gives us something negative. We are to be steadfast and immovable. Paul is balanced, as always. He doesn't just leave us with a negative, but he gives us a positive. We are to be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Serving the Lord is not a part-time job. It's not just a summer job. It's a full-time responsibility. It's a full-time job. And as I was praying and working on my sermon this week, this language of always. always abounding the kind, gentle, wise, yet firm voice of my 88-year-old grandfather kept ringing in my ear as he would always say, who told you you could drop out of the Lord's army? 88 years old, serving faithfully. And that was his kind of standard response when he had, you know, he had trouble recruiting folks to help in his ministry. He told you, you could drop out of the Lord's army. Of course, we are to serve the Lord every moment of every day until he takes us home. How do we serve him? We spend time with him in prayer and in his word. We encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. We encourage one another. Look to your left and look to your right. We are to encourage one another. We are to pray for one another. We are to fight against sin in our own hearts and lives. We are to be salt and light. We are to share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ with those who so desperately need to hear. And we were to actively serve in the local church. And on and on we could go. And then finally, we do this abounding, always abounding, with a wonderful assurance, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. This is simply stunning. The sovereign, perfect creator of the universe, wonder of wonders, that he, in his wisdom, and in his kindness has seen it fit to use our feeble efforts to advance the gospel, our stuttering efforts to advance the gospel. Even the smallest work for the Lord is not in vain. Even the smallest work for the Lord is not empty, but it's pleasing in His eyes, and He uses it for His purposes. The faithful prayer of a grandmother is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. The simple faith of a seven-year-old boy is pleasing in the eyes of our Father. The Bible reading of a tired single mother pleasing in the eyes of our Lord. The leading and family worship of a busy father pulled this direction and that direction is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Faithful testimony of the young professional, pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Dear friends, our believing is not in vain. In light manner, our labor for the Lord is not in vain. Notice how Paul's come first full circle. Look back at verse two, chapter 15, verse two. and by which the gospel you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain." And then he, the master theologian pastor comes, this whole argument, he brings it full circle back in verse 58, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Friends, we have not believed in vain. Christ died and rose in history, and our labor for the Lord is not in vain. So dear friends, may we have the sure confidence of our glorious resurrection to come, and may we stand firm, may we stand firm, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor for him is not in vain, but is well-pleasing in his sight. Praise God for his word. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this wonderful word that you have given to us. We thank you for this glorious grand chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, Father, the chapter of which we have only begun to scratch the surface. Father, may the glorious truths here in this word that we've looked at for just a moment together, may they seep deep into our hearts. May we rejoice that death has been swallowed up, that death has been dealt a death blow in the resurrection of Christ. And may we sing with Paul, O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.