Well, good morning again, and welcome to Christ Church at Tucson. Good to have everyone of you here with us this morning. We are in Romans chapter 8, during our study of God's Word, so I encourage you to take your Bibles, and if you do not have a Bible with you, you should be able to find one under one of the seats in front of you. Usually there's a couple there. turn to Romans chapter 8 and we are looking at verses 18 through 25. So I'm going to read all of those verses this morning while you're turning there. I sent the title of the message to Janine several weeks ago in your bulletin. The title of the message is Paradise Regained, A Case for Christ's Earthly Millennial Reign. We are actually several passages, several messages behind that. That is not going to be the title of the message this morning, but we'll be looking at that in a couple weeks. But for today, we're continuing to look at the assurance number four that Christians have of God's promise inherited glory. So follow along with me in your Bibles as I read Romans 8, verses 18 through 25. Romans 8, now verse 18, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself would be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but we also ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our great God in heaven, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you, Lord, for all the promises that we have within your word. We thank you, Lord, for the promise of salvation. through faith in Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, for the promise that we can be justified before you through faith in Jesus Christ. We can be right with you through faith in Jesus Christ. We thank you this morning, Lord, for these assurances that we are gaining from Romans 8, that if we have trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, and that if we have trusted alone in his righteousness to be made right with you, we can be absolutely assured that we are justified. We thank you, Lord, for these assurances that we see in this chapter that gives us the assurance that we are justified, not because we have performed mighty deeds of righteousness, but we are justified simply because we have trusted in Jesus Christ. trusted in his death on the cross for the payment of our sins, trusted in his righteousness to be made right with you. We praise you, Lord, for all your goodness. We praise you, Lord, for your word this morning. In Christ's most holy name, amen. as I just mentioned in our prayer to the Lord, we are looking at assurances that we can have that we stand justified before God. And we went in quite detail last week or two weeks ago what it means to stand justified before God, but just a real short summary. To be justified before God is to stand before God, not just forgiven, but to stand before God as not guilty. That is an absolutely amazing reality. that we who are guilty sinners can stand before God and be declared righteous in His sight, to be declared not just forgiven, but not guilty. And the reason we have that standing is because we are trusting alone in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, and we are trusting alone in the righteousness of Christ to be made right with God. And Paul here in Romans chapter 8 has been giving us some assurances that we can have that we actually do stand forgiven before God, we stand justified before Him. The first assurance that we looked at is there is never any condemnation for those who trust in Jesus Christ. If we never have any condemnation, then certainly we must stand justified before Him. The second assurance that we looked at is that those who have trusted in Jesus Christ can be assured that the Holy Spirit is producing righteous deeds in them. The Holy Spirit produces through us righteous deeds. Now if the Holy Spirit is producing through me righteous deeds, then I must be standing justified before God. The third assurance was the Holy Spirit guaranteed adoption. The Holy Spirit guarantees that I am an adopted child of God. I am an adopted child of God. If I am an adopted child of God, then I must stand justified before Him. And now we are looking at this fourth assurance. This fourth assurance of the promise of inherited glory. as one who is trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins, as one who is trusted in the righteousness of Christ to stand right before God, to be justified before God, I have a promise of inherited glory. If I have a promise of inherited glory, then I must be justified. God is not going to give glory to those who are not justified before Him. If God is promising me that I have an inherited glory, a promise of inherited glory, then I must stand justified before Him. Now, understanding that assurance that I am going to receive an inherited glory, that has an effect on my life. And the first effect that it has on my life is it affects the way that I look at suffering. Look again with me in Romans 8, verse 18. Romans 8, verse 18. for I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us that is the first effect of knowing that I am going to receive a promise inherited glory my understanding of that causes me to look at all the sufferings in this world All the sufferings that a Christian goes through, he looks at all those sufferings, he considers it. It's a lagizimai, it's a considering. He looks at those sufferings, he weighs out those sufferings, then he turns and he looks at the promise of inherited glory, and as he looks at the promise of inherited glory, he realizes that those sufferings are not even worthy to be compared. They don't even matter. Those sufferings don't matter at all. And what Paul does now is he continues to look at this promise of inherited glory. And the next two aspects of the promise of inherited glory, they actually serve as the means to give us that ability to look at suffering and say, no, they don't matter. One of the reasons that we know that suffering does not matter is because when we look at creation, we see how creation is suffering and how creation is longing for redemption. If creation can long for redemption, why can't I long for redemption? I must be able to long for redemption. And we understand that connection between my dealing with suffering and creation's dealing with suffering when we look at that first word there in verse 19. The first word is for. And that word for, we would naturally use the word because. Kathy and I got in from Michigan yesterday at noon, 3 o'clock Michigan time. We got up at 6 o'clock Michigan time. We had no coffee. We had nothing to eat. We had one little tiny cup of coffee on the plane and a couple little biscuit-like cookies. So we get off the plane and I tell Kathy, we need to get something to eat because I'm hungry. Well, the Greek would use the word for. We need to get something to eat, for I am hungry. We'd love to go to In-N-Out, but we're not going to go to In-N-Out, we're going to stop at Panda Express because it'll be faster. We're going to stop at Panda Express for it will be faster. When you understand that word for as because, let me read verse 18 and 19 again for you. Verse 18 and 19 again. for i consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that has been revealed to us for or because the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of god as we understand how creation is longing for the revealing of the sons of God so that it can be set free from its slavery to corruption. As we understand how creation is longing for that day of great revelation, we can increase in our ability to look at our suffering and say, no, our suffering is not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed. Now you come to verse 23, and verse 23 is a continuation of this thought that we're looking at something, we're trying to understand a truth that will enable us to truly be able to look at our suffering and say, no, it's not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed. As we begin to look at this section this way, we realize that verse number 18 is the primary thought. The primary thought is when I really understand the inheritance that I'm going to receive, when I really understand my inherited glory, I'm able to look at suffering in a totally different way. I'm able to look at suffering and say, it does not even matter. I can look at the suffering of creation and that helps you understand my suffering does not even matter and now what the Apostle Paul is doing in verses 23 to 25 is he's showing us how we groan in our suffering and there's a contrast there in verse 23 we don't naturally see it but there's four words, five words there that speak of a contrast and The word end there, the word end there is not like the word end that we would use, I need to go to Fry's, and then I need to go to Target, and then Walmart. It's not just like a consecutive end this, end that, and end this. It is a contrasting word that is translated as end, and it's very hard to emulate what that means, but it's a powerful end, end. And not only that, not only is creation suffering, we are groaning in our suffering. And not only this, but also, and the but there's the strongest word that can be used in contrast, but also, we ourselves. So there's a contrast with how we groan in our suffering, That is being contrasted with how creation groans in their suffering. The contrast is not one of reality. It's not as if creation is not groaning and we are groaning. It's not as if creation is groaning and we're not groaning. It's not a contrast of reality. It's a contrast of intensity. And what we need to realize is that our groaning is an intense groaning. And when we have this groaning that is an intense groaning that's going to enable us to help us have a proper view of our suffering. And as we look at this intense groaning, one of the things we understand is that the reason that it is so intense is because we have experienced the first fruits of the Holy Spirit. Look there with me in verse 23 again. And not only this, but we ourselves having the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves. It's not a groaning of despair. It's a groaning, it's an anticipatory groan. We're anticipating something. We've received the firstfruits. And the firstfruits speak of something more to come. Our groaning is an anticipatory groaning. Our groaning is an inner groaning. And part of the reason is because we've received the firstfruits. We have already received the firstfruits. We've received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We've received the illuminating and the comforting and encouraging aspect of the Holy Spirit. We've been sealed by this Holy Spirit. And because we're sealed by the Holy Spirit, we know we're secure in our salvation. We know we are authentic children of God. We know that we belong to God. We know we have the privilege to come into God's access because we have this sealing. With this sealing, it tells us that we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. With this sealing, with the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit, we've experienced forgiveness. And with the firstfruits we've had a taste of heaven. See, this is why it's so different than creation. Creation doesn't know what it's like to have the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit. Creation doesn't know what it's like to be made new in Christ Jesus. Creation doesn't know what it's like to feel forgiveness and to sense forgiveness? So if creation can groan longing for the day that it's going to be set free from its corruption, how much more should we be able to groan and long to be set free from our corruption because we've received the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit? We've tasted heaven. And if you've tasted heaven, you have just a taste of what this inherited glory is going to be like, and the sufferings of this world does not matter. If you want to go through the difficulties of life, and make it through the difficulties of life, you must understand the taste of heaven that you've already experienced. And so Paul has told us that one of the reasons that our groaning is so intense and so anticipatory is because we've received the first fruits of the Spirit. And this morning what we want to look at is another reason that our groaning is so intense And so anticipatory is because we know we are going to receive our full adoption as children of God. We understand that we are awaiting our full adoption. What Paul is gonna give us here is five realities. We're gonna draw five realities out of our future adoption. Five realities that will help us to have an intense anticipatory longing for our inherited glory that will enable us to say, suffering doesn't even compare. It doesn't matter what I've suffered. It doesn't matter what I'm going through. It doesn't matter that I'm going through worse difficulties and more difficulties than maybe the rest of my family, than maybe everybody else in the church. It doesn't matter because I have this anticipatory longing and intense groaning within me. And these five realities, the first one is the reality of an already not yet experience. a reality of an already but not yet experience that every child of God experiences. Notice what we read here back in Romans chapter 8 verse 14 and 7. Go back there with me. Romans chapter 8 verse 14 and 7. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Abba Father, the Spirit Himself. testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and if children heirs also, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. You notice here how the Holy Spirit is guaranteeing us that we are the adopted children of God. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Holy Spirit, that because I'm a child of God I can cry out, Abba Father I am a child of God I'm an adopted child of God but what is Paul saying back here in Romans chapter 8 in Romans chapter 8 verse 23 he says and not only this but we ourselves also having the firstfruits of the Spirit even we ourselves grow within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoption of sons now wait a minute I thought I was an adopted son I am an adopted son, but it has not yet been revealed what that really means. And so there's this already not yet experience that we as Christians are experiencing. We are adopted children of God, and we can cry out to God, Abba Father, but the full privilege and the full blessing of being an adopted child of God has not yet been revealed to us. And so the main point with this reality, and again, the reality is the reality of the already not yet experienced. The main point is just simply this, the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. Get it in our minds, get it in our heads. The best is yet to come. The second reality is the reality of the veiling and prevailing power of the human body. The human body has a veiling and a prevailing power. Our present body has a veiling power and it has a prevailing power. How do we know it has a veiling power? Go back up to verse 19. Romans chapter 8 verse 19. For the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Wait a minute, I thought I was a child of God. I thought I am a child of God. But creation is waiting for the revealing of the children of God. There's something about me being a child of God that is not yet revealed. And the reason that it is hidden is because this human body that I live in, This human body that I live in veils the glory of God within me. It veils the glory of God that I am to receive. It veils what it really means to be a child of God. People can't see what it really means to be a child of God because of this human body. And when you think about it, even the human body of Jesus Christ veiled His glory during His earthly ministry. His human body veiled the glory that He held or that he had received. Remember in Matthew chapter 17 verse number 1. Matthew writes, six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. For just a moment, these three apostles, Peter and James and John, they had the opportunity to see the glory of Christ. When his body was transfigured, that human body was veiling that glory that Christ held. John writes about this experience in John 1, verse 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. What is John talking about? He's talking about that experience that he had at the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. When the body of Jesus Christ was transfigurated, John was able to see His glory. The glory is of an only begotten child of God, only begotten son of God. Peter writes about this in 2 Peter 1, verse 16. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance was this made to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Peter is talking about that experience where he saw the body of Christ glorified, that body of Christ that was veiling the glory that Jesus Christ possessed. It was transfigured and he was able to see the full glory of Jesus Christ. Our bodies are veiling our glory. We know this when we look at 1 John 3, verse 2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared as what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. It has not yet fully appeared what it means to be a child of God because of this body. It is a veiling body. And it's not just a veiling body, it is a pre-veiling body. This body prevails us from doing what we truly want to do. Our bodies prevail us, keep us from doing what we truly want to do. Look again back at Romans 7, verse 21. Romans 7, verse 21. I find then that the principle that evil is present within me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in my inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Paul recognizes that there's this principle of evil within him. In verse 22, he says, for I joyfully concur with the law of God. When he talks about the word law there, he's talking about the requirements of God. I joyfully concur with the law of God in my inner man. And now in verse 23, he uses the term law in a different way. He uses the term law to refer to a principle of operation, like the law of gravity. The law of gravity. What is the law of gravity? It is a principle of operation that when gravity exists, if I drop something, it falls. Principle of operation. Drop it, it falls. That's the law of gravity. And he's using the word law here in verse 23 in that sense. I see a different law in the members of my body. I see a different principle of operation in the members of my body. I see a different principle of operation in my body. Waging war against the law of my mind. Waging war against the principle of operation of my mind. Paul is talking about one who is regenerated. And as one who is regenerated, the principle operation of his law is it wants to please God. The principle operation of every child of God is they want to please God. They want to please God. They want to please God. But there's another principle of operation working within the body that just wants to fight against that desire to please God. This principle of operation in the body doesn't want to please God. This principle operation in the body, this factor in our body wants to do everything it can to work with the law of sin. What is the law of sin? What is the principle operation of sin? It is to do everything it can to oppose God. That's the battle. That's the conflict. With my mind, realize it or not Christian, with your mind, your mind only wants to please God. That's all your mind wants to do. Why is it that you don't please God? Because your body All it wants to do is follow the law of sin, which wants to do everything it can against God. Do you see the prevailing power of your body? And for those that understand that, they just can't wait to get rid of this body. They live with the fear of giving in to temptation and sinning again, and then going through the grief of sinning. They wanna get rid of this body. And when you understand that the future glory is to get rid of this body, it intensifies your longing. The main point here is don't confound your present with your future. Do not expect the future blessedness of a life totally free from physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. Such blessedness is not God's plan for your present life in this body. That's the main point here. While you're in this body, and again, we're setting it up for an intensified anticipatory day when we won't have this body. Realize that in this body, it is never going to be your best life. You're never going to have your best life here. You're always going to struggle physically. You're always going to struggle emotionally. You're always going to struggle spiritually. There will always be that battle. Why? Because you're entrapped in this body. This body prevails over your mind. And this body wins out over your mind every time you don't give in to the Word of God and follow the Word of God. There's this war going on within you. We realize that the best is yet to come. And we realize that this present life is going to be a life of suffering because this body is prevailing over my mind's ability, my mind's desire to be pleasing to God. The third reality that I'd like us to consider tonight, or this morning, the reality of the revealing power of the resurrected body. This body has a veiling power, has a prevailing power. The resurrected body, the body that we are to receive when we receive our ultimate inherited glory, that body has a revealing power. It's not a veiling power, it's a revealing power. And Paul talks about this in Philippians 3, verse 20. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion, the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. One day God is going to transform the body of this humble state into the glory of Jesus Christ. When we receive that glorified body, it is going to reveal what it truly means to be a son of God. It's going to reveal what we truly are in God's eyes. It's going to reveal us as those who are righteous in God's eyes. in first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 50 Paul writes now I say this brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable behold I tell you a mystery we will not all sleep but we 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 will be changed, for this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on the immortality." The main point here is longing to just be free from this body is not the ultimate goal. longing to be free from this body so that you don't give in to sin longing to be free from this body so that you don't suffer physical pain longing to be free from this body so that you don't suffer emotional pain and you don't struggle spiritual spiritual struggles that is not the ultimate goal The ultimate goal is to receive the resurrected body. It is not just to be rid of this body. The ultimate goal is to receive the resurrected body. After considering the veiling and prevailing power of our current bodies, you would think that just getting rid of this body would be our main goal, but it's not. The main goal is to be clothed with the glorified body, for it is only then that we will be able to fully manifest what it means to be a child of God. When we receive that glorified body, that's what it means to truly manifest what it means to be a child of God. And that is our inherited glory. When we understand these realities, when we understand that the best is yet to come, when we understand that our present is always gonna have suffering, when we understand that the ultimate goal is to receive that glorified body, understanding those things will help us to have the intensity and are groaning in an anticipatory intensity that enables us to look at suffering and say, you know, this suffering is just not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed. The third, or the fourth reality, is the reality of full redemption. The reality of full redemption. Look here again with me in Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, verse 23. He says, even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting eagerly, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Why doesn't he say, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the resurrection of our body? Why does he say the redemption of our body? Why doesn't he say the resurrection of our body? The resurrection speaks of the power, the power of God to resurrect the body, the power of God to resurrect the body and to conform it into a glorified body. Why doesn't he refer to the resurrection focusing on the power of God? Because he's focusing on the payment. He's focusing on redemption. He's focusing on the payment that had to be made in order that you might receive this resurrected, glorified body. We understand that a payment had to be made so that we could have our sins forgiven. We understand that a payment had to be made so that our immaterial part might be made right with God. But a payment had to be made so that our material part could also be made right with God. Mankind is made up of the immaterial, and mankind is made up of the material, and all of it needs to be redeemed. Not just part of it, all of it needs to be redeemed. All of it needs to be paid for. A price must be paid, not just so that we can have our sins forgiven, but so that we could receive this glorified body. This glorified body, this ultimate inheritance that we are waiting for, is costly. It, too, costs the blood of Jesus Christ. In Acts 20, verse 28, Paul writes, he's quoted as saying, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. He didn't just purchase our souls, he purchased our redeemed bodies. He purchased it with his own blood. John writes of this in John 5, verse 9 and 10. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the book and break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you have made them to be a kingdom and priesthood of God, and they will reign on the earth. John here is talking about Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who was slain. Worthy is He to be worshipped and worthy is He to be praised because He purchased with His own blood a people from every tribe, tongue, and people and nation. Not just the immaterial part, not just the soul, but also the resurrected glorified body. And the main point here is to realize the costly nature of our glorified body. We review these main points and we begin to understand why we can have an intensity in our groaning that is anticipatory, longing, looking forward, not in anguish and despair, but anticipating, a groaning that is anticipating because we know the best is yet to come. because we know our best life is never gonna be found on this earth. We're trapped in this body. We are never going to have our best life on this earth because we're trapped in this body, realizing that the ultimate goal is not to just get rid of the body. You would think that'd be the ultimate goal, get rid of the body and go to heaven, get rid of the body. The ultimate goal is to get that redeemed body and understand the costly nature of that redeemed body. When we begin to really understand these realities, They will help us to look at our suffering, and that suffering is just not worthy. All the suffering I'm going through, all the persecution, all the difficulties, everything I've gone through in my life, it's not worthy to be compared with what is coming. There's one other reality that I would like us to consider. It doesn't come straight out of this passage, but it's a reality that we need to consider. We need to consider the reality of two resurrections to come. There's not just the resurrection unto life. There's not just the redemption of our body that Jesus Christ died. That is not the only resurrection to come. There's another resurrection to come. There are two resurrections to come. Look with me in John 5, verse 25. John 5, verse 25. Perhaps this reality itself should cause us to long with anticipation more than any other reality. John 5, verse 25. John is quoting Jesus Christ here. Jesus Christ says, live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also life in Himself. And He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming, an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth, those who did good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." Two resurrections. A resurrection unto life and a resurrection unto judgment. If you want to receive the resurrection unto life, it says here those who did good deeds. What are the good deeds that Jesus is talking about? Let's look in this context here to John chapter 6 verse 26. John chapter 6 verse 26. Jesus has just fed the 5,000. He's taking a boat trip across the water. And people are marveled. John 6, verse 26, Jesus answered them, They saw the miracle, but they didn't understand that it was the point to the reality that Jesus is the Son of God. All they saw was the miracle. They didn't see the sign, the sign that the miracle was to point them to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. They saw the multiplication of the food. They want more of that. That's why they follow Jesus across the water, because they want to see more of that. They want to see more of these miracles. That's all they want is the miracles. Jesus says in verse 27, Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him the Father God has set his seal. Therefore they said to him, What shall we do so that we may work the works of God? What are the deeds that we must do? What are the works we must do to do the works of God? And in this context, these would be the deeds that must be done in order to receive a resurrected body unto life. What are the deeds to be done to receive a resurrected body unto life? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. You wanna receive a resurrected body unto life? You believe in Jesus Christ. You repent of your sins. You believe in Jesus Christ. You confess Him as Lord. You believe that He is the Son of God. You believe He's the Son of God that became the Son of Man. You believe in Jesus Christ, that He went to the cross, that He bore your sins, that He satisfied the wrath that you deserved for your sins. You trust in Jesus Christ. You trust in his work on the cross, his burial and resurrection as the only means to have your sins forgiven. You trust in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You don't believe in your own goodness. You believe solely in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and you will be standing before God justified and you will have the absolute assurance that one day you will receive a resurrected body unto life. You will have the ultimate promise of the ultimate inheritance, the resurrected body unto life. But if you do not believe, if you do not trust in Jesus Christ, if you do not put your faith in His death, burial, and resurrection for the only forgiveness of sins, you will not receive a resurrected body unto life. If you are trusting in your own goodness, even just a little bit, if you're trusting in yourself just a little bit, not fully in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, you will not receive a resurrected body unto life. You will receive a resurrected body unto judgment. And you do not want to receive. a resurrected body unto judgment. Let me show you the default destination of all of those who receive a resurrected body unto judgment. If you have your Bibles there you can turn with me to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. Verse number 9. Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in his image, then he receives the mark on his forehead or on his hand." Just real quickly, the beast there is a metaphorical language. It represents a person, a person who's beast-like in his character. If you worship this person, for those of us who understand a little more about the book of Revelation, we realize this is the Antichrist. if anyone worships the Antichrist if anyone worships this last great pagan world ruler and receives his image that mark on his forehead around his hand he also will drink the wrath he also drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever they have no rest day and night for they worship the beast in his image who receives the mark of his name this is the ultimate destination this is the default destination of those who receive a resurrected body unto judgment. It is a body fitted for judgment. And this is a picture of the judgment. Torment with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night. Those who worship the beast and his image who receives the mark of his name. How can you go on and be tormented forever and ever? How can you be tormented with fire and brimstone forever and ever? You must receive a special resurrected body fit for everlasting, non-ending, conscious torment. Look with me in Revelation chapter 19, verse 19. I saw the beast again, this last great world pagan ruler. Metaphorical language referring to this last great world ruler. He's a beast-like character. I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. This beast, this Antichrist, this last great world pagan ruler and his prophet were thrown into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Now look with me in Revelation chapter 20 verse 7. When a thousand years were completed, Satan will be released from his prison. So a thousand years ago, this last great pagan world ruler and his false prophet, they were thrown into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. A thousand years later, we see in verse 10, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. They were thrown in there a thousand years ago and they're still being tormented day and night forever and ever. It just emphasizes again this body unto a resurrection of judgment is a judgment that does not end. It is a conscious torment that does not end. Everlasting torment in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. look in verse 11 revelation chapter 20 verse 11 then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it from whose presence the heaven and earth fled away and no place was found for them I saw the dead the great and the small standing before the throne and the books were open and another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which are written in the books according to their deeds now wait a minute Verse 12 says, I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. How can you see someone standing before the throne unless they have a body? These are people that have been fitted with that resurrected body unto judgment. John is seeing them. He's looking into the future. He sees them standing before the great white throne of judgment. Jesus Christ is sitting on the throne and he's about ready to make a judgment on people who have received a resurrected body. These are people who have received a resurrected body unto judgment. How is the judgment going to be made? There is a book of life which is open. The dead were judged from these things which are written in the books according to their deeds. In verse 12 we see, I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life. So we have all these open books on one side and you have another book open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged for the things which are written in the books according to the deeds. These dead are being judged by what is written in these books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, the death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown in the lake of fire. This is how the judgment goes down. You have the book of life. You look in the book of life. You're standing there before Jesus Christ, the judge. You're standing there with a body fitted for eternity. He looks in the book of life. Your name is not written in the book of life. He turns to the book of your deeds that justifies him condemning you to the lake of fire forever and ever. You are fitted with a body under judgment. How do you get your name in the book of life? How does your name remain in the book of life? You must believe in Jesus Christ. What are the deeds that must be done to receive a resurrected body unto life? You must believe in Jesus Christ. This is a reality. It is a reality. It's not a metaphor. It's not a myth. It's a reality. There's going to come a day of resurrection. Resurrection unto life. Resurrection unto judgment. The main point is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be assured of receiving the resurrected body unto life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and realize that the best is yet to come, not the worst. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and realize that in this life you're not going to have a good life. It's not going to be your best life. In this life, as long as you're trapped in this body that wages war against your mind, in this life you're going to suffer. Realize that. But also realize that there's coming a day when this body will be done away with and you will receive a resurrected body unto life. Realize the costly nature of that body start to think of these realities And that will give you a proper perspective on the suffering that you're going through in this life And you'll be just like the Apostle Paul Yeah, I'm suffering. I'm being persecuted. Yeah, I'm suffering. I have been abused. Yeah, I'm suffering I'm being cheated at work. Yeah, I'm suffering. I'm all this I'm going through all this pain all this suffering I'm going through but hey I got a promised inheritance that's coming that far exceeds any suffering I could ever go through. And I'm not going to receive a resurrected body under judgment. I'm going to receive a resurrected body unto life. Why? Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. He spilled his blood for me. And you trust in that reality to the extent where the sufferings of this life aren't even worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed. Let's pray. Father, we give you all praise, glory, and honor for all who you are. Father, but at this time in our service, I am most grateful that you are a revelatory God. I am most grateful that you have renewed the spirit of our minds that we might receive this revelation. I thank you for your Holy Spirit, Lord, that inspired men to write the Word of God down. And I thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit that illumines our minds to understand these truths. And I thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit that empowers us to live by them. Father, help us to be Christians that are making a difference in this world because our eyes are not fixed on this world, but our eyes are fixed on eternity. We pray, Father, that we would have a positive impact on the furthering of your kingdom as we live out our lives with our eyes fixed on that kingdom. We pray these things in your Son's most holy and precious name. Amen.