Live from Buffalo Creek. John gave an excellent devotion on 1 Corinthians 15 and that's a lot of what I'm going to be talking about today. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15. We are studying the doctrine of the rapture. Today we're going to look at the change that is experienced in the rapture. Perhaps one of the brightest hopes of the believer is the prospective change that will occur in the rapture of God's people. When our Lord comes back for us, He will usher us into a state of glorification. And those who undergo this great change produced in the rapture will be completely conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and enabled to worship the Lord of glory in the beauty of holiness forevermore. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 51 through 53 describes the remarkable change. Behold, I show 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 trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. The change that our bodies will undergo in the rapture is instantaneous. It will happen in the twinkling of an eye, a time frame that you can't even measure. I find this fascinating because you think about our lives since we've been saved. From the time of our new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have been progressively changed by the power of the Holy Spirit in the process known as sanctification. Regeneration for the believer is a one-time event. It is something we actually experience where spiritual life, the new birth is given unto us. From that moment on, the spirit of God dwells in us. We have a spiritual nature that corresponds with God's nature and the Word of God and the Spirit of God work together to conform us to the image of Christ. It's a lifelong process. In this process, we are weaned from the world and its influence to fellowship with the Lord. And there's a constant back and forth between the flesh and the spirit. And Paul described the battle that believers have in Romans 7 and then again in Romans 5. The flesh lusts against the spirit. So during our lives, our Christian life, we never cease to fight and struggle against sin. We never are completely conformed to the image of Jesus in this life. Our old nature is not completely eradicated. We still have the flesh. Now there are people who believe that there is a second work of grace where your old nature is completely eradicated and they believe in their mind that they'll never sin again. And I've met people that actually believe that they have had a second work of grace and haven't sinned in 20 years. Well, they've deluded themselves. According to 1 John chapter 1, they've deceived themselves. But the fact is Our flesh is still present to hinder this sanctification process. It's a reality. I wrestle with it every day. However, when Jesus comes in the rapture, we will be translated from a state of corruption and indwelling sin to one of incorruption. in a fraction of a second. It fascinates me that all of this is going to take place in a time frame that we can't even begin to measure. Whoever heard of measuring time by the twinkling of an eye? Not the blinking of an eye, the twinkling of an eye. That's the power of God. That is so wonderful to think that the God that we serve is able and will do a marvelous miracle. And we are never ever going to have a thought of sin ever again when we are conformed to His image. shall put on in corruption. We will be completely and forever conformed to the glorious image of Jesus Christ. You know, I find that talking about what the eternal state is going to be like, it's hard to find the words in our present understanding of things. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around what it's like to be completely without sin, other than what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus. He always pleased the Father. So I find it interesting that in this resurrection chapter, you find the Spirit of God inspiring Paul And I think it's an attempt to describe the glorified body of the saint. And he uses five different adjectives in verses 42 from starting there on to 53. We're not going to read them all, but here's what he describes the glorified body as in verse 42, incorruptible. In verse 43, glorious and powerful. In verse 44, spiritual. And in verse 53, immortal. Incorruptible, glorious, powerful, spiritual, immortal. The body which we shall receive in glorification is far different from the body we live in right now. Romans chapter 7 verse 24 says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I mean, we're, we're experiencing this every day. Our bodies are dying. You really experience it after a church work day. Our bodies died a lot yesterday. And today, Rick and Morris said in some places, and you had to work it out a little bit, we have a body of death because of sin. And he says, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. How wonderful it will be when we are forever done with our present body of death and clothed with our house from heaven which will be all glorious and without sin. No wonder Paul longed to be delivered from the flesh. to enter into the glorified state of perpetual and everlasting victory over sin. Now the change brought about in the rapture can be attributed, why are we going to be changed? It's because of our union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because we are sons of God, by the eternal decree of adoption, God has sent that spirit of adoption into our hearts. He did that in time, in the regeneration, in dwelling, and sanctification of the believer. Ephesians chapter 1, you see, or Galatians 4, 6 says, and because you are sons, Now get this, you were sons of God by adoption before the Spirit ever came into your hearts. Because it goes all the way back to the eternal decree of God. And because ye are sons, that is, the legal process of adoption had already transpired in the covenant of grace. marked as a son or a daughter of God, legally. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. This same Spirit, the Holy Spirit, seals the believer until the day of the body's redemption when our complete and full deliverance of sin from sin will occur. We are sealed until the day of redemption. That means absolute, complete preservation by the work of the Holy Spirit in us. How glorious is that? That shoots blows out of the water the idea that a genuine believer can somehow lose his salvation. You would have to overpower the sealing process of the Holy Spirit, which is impossible. He's God! Ephesians 1, 13 and 14 says, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. The indwelling Spirit of promise thus acts as an earnest to ensure that all the purchased possessions of Christ will enjoy this eternal inheritance that has been willed to them in the covenant of grace and that was purchased for them by the finished work of Christ on the cross. This inheritance is far greater than the most elaborate and expensive earthly inheritance because it contains the promise of eternal glorification and complete conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. Romans 8 really describes it in pretty striking detail, Romans chapter 8 and verse Well, we'll start with verse 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God. Now, somebody said, well, what if you're an heir of Bill Gates? All right. You're going to get a lot of worldly things, aren't you? But I've got a whole lot more than the heirs of Bill Gates ever thought about having. I am an heir of God. And a joint heir with Jesus Christ. And let me tell you something about what He has. It's an inexhaustible treasure of grace and riches that cannot be compared. because it is of eternal value. The things that people leave their heirs in this life are just the same things that they already have that are terminal. They end. They might get that inheritance and spend it all up. It'll all be gone. You can't spend up an eternal inheritance. It just goes on and on and on. So again, I may not look like much right now, but I'm an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I am an owner of an inheritance that I can't even fully fathom right now. But it's all going to be revealed in time. And if children then heirs, heirs of God and join heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings... By the way, reckon is a biblical word. It's an accounting word. It's not just a hill jack word. This is a real biblical word. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Remember that eternal decree of adoption that made you sons of God? For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope. because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body, which is glorification. There is coming a grand and glorious day when all the heirs of God, now think about how many heirs God has. He's got them all over the world. He's got heirs in every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. How amazing is this? All the elect, all that God chose before the world began, that Christ redeemed, that the Spirit regenerated, all heirs of God. They're all over the world. There's some out there that are heirs of God, they don't know it yet. That's why we preach the gospel to every creature. That's the means by which these heirs are brought to a knowledge that they're a son of God, a child of God. We go out and preach that Jesus died, was buried, He rose again, He's alive forevermore, He'll save you from your sins. And when that truth is brought home to them, then they experience these great truths of salvation. It's so amazing how God puts it all together. We're going to be completely conformed to the image of Jesus, the fullness of our inheritance, all the heirs of God. Nobody is going to be shortchanged. Nobody is going to be mad. When the will of God is brought forth, everybody's going to be saying, oh, praise God. Thank you, Lord, for including me in this. Thank you for all these blessings that I am unworthy of, that I do not deserve even a bit. And you included me. You allowed me to be part of this. That's why we're going to be singing throughout the eternal ages, glory to His name, worshiping the Lamb because He bought all this inheritance with the blood of the everlasting covenant. We're going to be changed. How I long for this day of the manifestation of the sons of God when we will be arrayed in Christ's glory and be delivered from the shackles of corruption to be set free in glorious liberty. The whole creation groans for this great day of change. And so should we as we anticipate the coming of our Lord. Now there is another passage that describes in pretty good detail, great detail, In the rapture our bodies are going to be conformed to the image of Jesus. What does that mean? Philippians 3.20 and 21. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 1 John 3.2 describes the same change that will occur when we get our first glimpse of the glorified Christ. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now I've heard people ask questions. What does that mean? Are we going to be 33 and a half years? Are we going to have a body that looks just like his? Is the designation of male and female going to be completely done away? Will we know each other? I believe we will know each other, but we'll know each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, as part of this great family, the family of God. and in our present state, and when people ask me those questions, here's my usual answer. I'm not sure, but I'll tell you when I get there. I can tell you when I get there, because I think we're going to know things. Fully revealed to us, like he knows us right now fully, we're going to know him. I think that's what that means in 1 Corinthians 13. We shall know even as we are known. He knows us completely fully. We're going to know Him better than we ever have. It's pretty amazing. When Jesus revealed Himself to John the Beloved, in our present state, we can't really behold all the majesty of Christ. when Jesus revealed Himself to John the Beloved on the Isle of Patmos in Revelation chapter 1, the disciple who had walked with the Lord, communed with Christ, the one who laid on the chest of Jesus, heard His literal heart beating. When he saw Him in the glorified state, He fell at His feet as dead, like He was dead. John could not bear the glory and majesty of Christ while He still was in His fleshly domain. However, when Jesus comes again for His own, we are going to be conformed to His image and we shall see Him as He is. And the radiance of His glory will shine on us throughout all eternity. as we worship Him as our great King. While our glorified bodies will be, we will be in those glorified bodies capable of worshiping the Lord for the first time without any hindrances, without any distractions. We will enjoy and worship Him in the fullest possible way. And that day will be completely satisfied. Have you ever been completely satisfied? Oh, I know you like to think you have. David said this, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. That's complete satisfaction. I'm going to stop there. Next week I want to dwell just a little bit more on this subject matter of the change experienced in the rapture, but I don't want to hurry through the fact that all of our moral faculties, we think about our bodies being changed, but what about our mind, our will, our heart, our affections, our desires? That's all going to be changed too. So I want to at least talk about that a little bit. We're dismissed.