Aren't you thankful for a risen Savior? I'm so grateful that I came to know that Jesus died for Vincent Sawyer, that he was buried and he rose again the third day, according to the scripture. And my friend, we rejoice in that reality today, that we serve not a dead Savior, but a living Savior. Jesus is alive. You know, the Corinthians had a problem. Many in Corinth were rejecting the notion of the resurrection. Not only did they deny that Christ had risen, but they were denying that there's such a thing as a resurrection itself. They said there's no such thing as a resurrection. And so Paul, in this chapter, this is known as the great resurrection chapter in the Bible, Here, Paul gives a defense of Christ's resurrection in the context, and he shows that even though in Corinth, the Hellenistic people, the Grecian philosophy pervaded society, that Jesus did rise again. And you know, God doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. But God does show by authenticating witnesses to the reality of Christ's resurrection. In the law, it is established that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. But in our text, in chapter 15, God gives many references to witnesses who saw the Lord Jesus after he had risen. Notice what the Bible says in verse four. It says, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, which is Peter. Peter saw him. Then of the 12, the 12 being the 12 disciples. Now Judas had already committed suicide, but Matthias, who would replace him, was also an eyewitness of the resurrected Savior. And then the Bible says in verse seven, Well, actually, verse six, after that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once. Can you imagine that? Over 500 people saw him at one time. of whom the greater part remain unto this present, from the standpoint of Paul writing the first Corinthians letter. But some are fallen asleep. Some of those eyewitnesses went on to be with the Lord. After that, he was seen of James. Who is James? James was the half-brother of Jesus. He was actually not a believer fully in Jesus being Messiah and Lord and God until after his resurrection, the Bible says in John 7 and verse 5. So James saw him. Then all of the apostles saw him. And last of all, he was seen of me also. So Paul says, last of all. By the way, anybody who claims to have seen with their own eyes the risen Savior after Paul, I believe is a liar. Because last of all, he appeared to Paul as one born out of due time. By the way, we walk by faith and not by sight. Whom having not seen, you love. And even though I've not seen Jesus in his resurrected form, I see from the pages of scripture that Jesus is alive and I live by faith and not by sight, as do you. And so, last of all, he appeared to Paul. Paul was an apostle several years after Jesus had ordained the twelve and commissioned them. And you know, before he was called Paul, he was known as Saul of Tarsus. And Saul was one who persecuted believers. He opposed Christianity. He denied the faith. And he did terrible things against believers. He even traveled to foreign cities to see if there'd be any who believed in this way. And he would drag them off to prison and have them incarcerated for their faith and even put to death. But you know one of the greatest conversions in history was that of Saul of Tarsus. In Acts 9 he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. and he would be a believer, and he would serve the Lord so diligently all the rest of his days. And I think one of the biggest proofs of Christ's resurrection was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, a former enemy of Christ, who was forced to believe the undeniable evidence that he saw with his eyes and heard with his ears. He says that he was not suitable to be called an apostle because he said, I persecuted the church of God, the same church that he would become part of. He said, I persecuted God's church. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And by the way, If you're saved, it's by the grace of God, the unmerited kindness and favor of God. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. In other words, it was a good investment. Paul was not a wasted investment. He brought forth good dividends for the Lord. He says, but I labored more abundantly than they all. And he's not bragging here. He's speaking the truth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul worked harder than any other apostle. You will not find any apostle that labored more abundantly than Paul. And the reason is, is he saw the risen Savior and God gave him a great task to spread the message worldwide. He says, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. In other words, he doesn't take credit for laboring for Jesus. He says it was God's grace in me. Therefore, whether present whether it were I or they, so we preach and so you believed. And so Jesus appeared to this man. Now, this isn't the only occurrence. As a matter of fact, he appeared to Mary Magdalene and Mark 16, 9. He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, and he ate in their home. He appeared before Thomas, doubting Thomas, who said, unless I see the nail prints in his hand, I will not believe. And Jesus enters the room, shows his nail-pierced hands and his side, and he says, Thomas, don't be faithless, but believe. Thomas falls down and says, My Lord and my God. Jesus responds, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they that have not seen me and yet have believed. And so you are blessed if you believe that Jesus is alive. He appeared to the seven disciples up in Galilee, John 21. He appeared before Stephen in Acts 7 as Stephen was being stoned to death for his faith. And then he appeared to the Apostle John in Revelation 1 in glorified form as John sees the one whose face shone as the noonday sun, whose voice was as powerful as Niagara Falls, and he saw him in all of his glory. Christ's resurrection is an irrefutable fact of history. As a matter of fact, the fact that he was buried, that his tomb was guarded, that he made physical appearances, and then the Jewish people paid large sums of money so that the soldiers who were guarding his tomb would tell the lie that his disciples came at night and stole his body away while they were sleeping. Now, that story contradicts itself. If you're sleeping, how would you know it was his disciples? If you're sleeping, how would you know his body got stole away? But, you know, sin is always illogical, isn't it? And so they were paid large sums of money, those guards who were guarding his tomb, that if anybody asks about his resurrection, just say that the disciples came at night and stole his body away while we were sleeping. By the way, they should have been killed if they were guarding something and something like this took place. But you know something? Jesus rose, and when he did rise, he left his burial clothing behind, As a matter of fact, his grave clothes were left behind. If his body had been stolen, they wouldn't have wasted time to unwrap him and lay the burial clothes there. And the cowardly disciples would be transformed into the most mighty of servants of Jesus. They would be willing to die for their faith. Listen, nobody dies for that which they know is a hoax. Nobody dies as a martyr if they really don't believe the truth of the message that Jesus is alive. Even Saul of Tarsus, the enemy of Christ, was compelled to believe in him when he saw the risen Savior. And you know something? Jesus is transforming people today. For the last 2,000 plus years, he has been transforming people. And if you ask me how I know he lives, the answer is he lives within my heart, right? And Jesus is alive today. He's the creator of all things, who left heaven's glory, came down to this sin-cursed earth, is the only one born of a virgin, the only one to live a perfect life, the only one to do the miracles that he did, but he came here to die on a cross, to pay your sin debt, so that you and I would not perish, but have everlasting life, but then he rose again. and He came alive. And I'll tell you that this reality of His resurrection has practical significance to you and me. First of all, a living Savior is essential for our justification. A dead Savior cannot justify anybody. But the Bible says that Jesus was delivered for our offenses. That speaks of His death, how He was handed over Because of our offenses, for our sins, he died and was raised again for our justification. Listen, my friend, if Jesus didn't rise again, you would not be justified. You would not be declared righteous in the courtroom of God's heaven unless Jesus was alive. But I tell you, He has clothed you with His righteousness and God has declared you as being just as if you hadn't sinned because of Jesus being in your life, that we have been justified. Not only that, but a living Savior guarantees the security of our salvation. Romans 5.10, for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Do you see that? He's alive today. And Paul's point is this. If the death of Christ could bring us into relationship with God, then the life of Christ can keep us in that relationship. You get the point? that if the death of Christ can give you salvation, the life of Christ can guarantee that salvation. So if you ask me, do you know where you're going when you die? The answer is, I know I'm going to heaven. Why? Based on Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. because he died for my offenses, he rose again for my justification, he has given me life, and do you know what? He's given you life as well. But do you know something? There's a truth I want us to see today out of this text in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and it's this. Because Jesus is alive, you and I will live and we will be transformed one day. This is a truth that I preach at every funeral of a believer. And I announce that even though our brother, our sister is not with us, one day we're gonna see him again. because there is a resurrection of the just. And I tell you that the Bible says, Jesus said, because I live, you shall live also. And he said, when Christ who is our life shall appear, that's his second coming, when he returns, then shall you also appear with him in glory. My dad has been gone from us now for 14 years. but I'm so glad I'm gonna see him again in heaven, and that one day he's gonna have a brand new body, and so will all of us who are in Christ. It is a wonderful blessing. Listen, my friend, think about it. One day we're gonna die, unless the Lord comes back first in our lifetime, and even then we're gonna undergo a transformation and a change at the rapture, But you know something? All of us are one day gonna die. And we don't know when that day will be, but I am so thankful that God promises me and you a resurrection, that we will live because Christ lives. And so today, I'd like us to see the practical benefits of Christ Resurrection from the dead. We have our baby picture taken, and before you know it, it's time for our burial. Doesn't life go by fast? Some of you older people, you young people think, I got a lot of time ahead. Listen, yesterday I was 16. Last night I was 30. Now I'm 54. I mean, time goes by, doesn't it? It flies by. But I'll tell you what, I'm thankful that I have confidence regarding life after death. This brings hope. This brings confidence. This allows us to live with a smile. This allows us to face death with cheerfulness, that we know that there is life beyond the grave. And it's because Jesus is alive, He is my savior that I will rise in his resurrection And you know what's going to happen. I'm going to be changed transformed and You know if you don't like how things are now with your body wait a while. It's going to get better My mother always says if you don't like the weather way to wait a while it'll get worse Well if you don't like your body Wait a while, it's gonna get better. Now, some of the senior saints in here feeling the pains of arthritis and suffering maybe with hearing loss and some visual impairment and back aches and all kinds of heart and lung conditions and man, it's no fun getting old. But I want you to know that there is a day coming when we'll have a brand new body. You know, after softball yesterday, Chris, I'm feeling a couple aches and pains. The old body is not what it used to be. But we'll keep doing it as long as I can move around a little bit. But I'm thankful that there's a day coming when we will rise. And I wanna show you today that if you're in Christ, a new body awaits you on Resurrection Day. On Resurrection Day, what will we be like? That's what the Corinthians were asking. What will we be like? Well, I want you to see, first of all, on Resurrection Day, we're gonna have a different body. Not the same version as our earthly body, but we will have a brand new one, and it will be as different as seeds look from crops. And they look quite a bit different, don't they? Just recently, I was planting new grass seed in my front lawn. My front lawn is probably smaller than this platform. It is. That's New York, right? You're lucky if you have any grass in this city. And so I toiled with that soil, and I lifted up the dirt of the front yard, then planted down these little grass seeds, and then covered it over with dirt. Otherwise, the birds come and eat them all. And then we water that, and you know what? Little tiny grass is shooting up. And it's really neat to see God's handiwork. Some of you young people have done this, where you got some seeds or beans or something, and you've put it in soil, and you've watered it, and you see it grow, and it's just amazing. Remember that when you were young? But you know what Paul's gonna show us here in this text? Is that what you sow in the ground looks vastly different than what comes up out of the ground. And so when we rise again, things are gonna be different than the way they were. Notice verse 35. But some man will say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come? You see the heretics at Corinth who denied the resurrection were mockingly asking the question, how can a dead, decayed corpse rise from the grave? And if he did arise, what would he look like? Would he look like some zombie, they're probably thinking? Would he look like some, you know, just horrific horror film type scene? And the answer is absolutely not. That's ridiculous. That's men's thinking. But when people come out of the grave, they're gonna be vastly different than when they went into that grave. Notice Paul's response in verse 36. Thou fool. He says you are foolish because you're ignorant of something. That which thou sowest or that which you plant is not quickened or made alive except it die. And that which thou sowest, that which you plant, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but you plant bare grain. It may chance of wheat or of some other grain, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. And so Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses analogy from farming. and for a seed to germinate and produce a living plant or crop, it must first die. You know what I find? That God has built a lot of illustrations within the natural realm of creation that picture spiritual realities. Proverbs, for example, cites a lot of things from the natural realm that teach us spiritual truth, right? And here's one example. is that if you look around at farming and you see that a plant must go into the ground and it must die before it comes up differently, you'll get a little picture of what God is talking about with the resurrection from the dead. You see, a seed needs to be planted in the earth. It must undergo decay, it must die. The formerly hard shell breaks off and new life sprouts upward. With moisture and with the right temperature, this miracle of life takes place because God created it to work this way, where that ugly seed sprouts life. and will produce beautiful flowers. You know, I mean, that's just the way God is. He gives us an illustration from a seed producing something so wonderful and beautiful as that to illustrate the transformation that we will undergo when this earthly body, subject to pain and problems and death is gonna be transformed. By the way, if you don't like how you look, first of all, be content. That's the way God made you, and that's for a reason. But if you don't like how you look, realize there's coming a day when you're gonna turn from a seed into something beautiful. And what a great day is coming. You know, the seed that you plant bears no resemblance to the crop that it produces. It's different in size, in shape, and in color. Therefore, in the same way, the body which is resurrected is totally different than the seed which goes into the ground and dies and germinates. Even Jesus spoke of his life as being like a kernel of wheat, which would have to be put into the ground and die, and then sprout and produce much fruit. Listen to John 12, 24. Jesus said, verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn or kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Isn't it amazing, friends, that one apple seed that goes into the ground can produce a tree that produces all kinds of apples, right? Isn't it interesting that one grain of wheat that goes into the ground can germinate and produce a harvest of wheat? And so it is with Christ's resurrection. He went into the grave. But on the third day he rose again and with him we will rise and he will produce a whole harvest of people by means of his resurrection. Notice verse 38. He says, but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. Just as God has determined the appearance of each species, he has determined what we will look like in the future. And all of us will have a unique appearance. We went into the grave as an ugly seed. We'll come up as a beautiful individual. And by the way, I think we'll still be recognizable. So if you're wondering, will I recognize my deceased parent? Will I recognize my loved ones who have gone on before me? The answer is yes. But you'll have a brand new look. You are gonna be a new you one day. As different as a seed is from the crop it produces. And then your new body will be as different as one creation is from another. Notice verse 39. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. In other words, God created all species distinct or different. Each produces after its kind, Genesis 124. So all of the species are distinctly different. By the way, this truth that God created everything distinctly different debunks the theory of evolution. It denies the evolutionary circle of life theory which hypothesized that people and animals and relatives come from common ancestors down the evolutionary scale and that in the past we were a lower life form that through the survival of the fittest we eventually became a man. And here I am today, and my ancestors, many years ago, they tell us in that fairy tale that we used to be an ape, and we used to be in that family, going all the way back to a single-cell amoeba. And you know something? I think you've got to have serious problems to believe a story like that. Let me give you one example. If people came from apes, where is the half-ape, half-person? You'd expect to find a link, but you don't, because there are no links. Now, they can dig up a bone and tell you this is the missing link all they want. I want to see living links, not missing links. but they'll try to tell you that you evolved over time and that you're just an improved animal. By the way, the DNA differences in each species disproves evolution and prevents a species from blending with another. In other words, you could try all you want to mix people and dogs, but they'll always remain distinct. You won't find a half dog, half person If they were to mate, they are not going to reproduce a half-dog, half-person. It's just not taking place. By the way, that works with Photoshop, but that doesn't work in the real world, okay? That'll work for movies, but that doesn't work in the real world. You cannot take a rat and mix it with a man and come up with Ratman. Now they have you believing in Batman and Spider-Man and all of these other silly things, but there's no such thing as one species evolving or blending with another. God created everything in its kind and he made them all different. And so what's his point here? His point is, just as God has created every species to be distinct and different, so you will be different when you come up from the grave on resurrection day from what you were in this life. Different in the sense of transformed, glorified, made brand new. Notice verse 40. He says, there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. In other words, the creations that existed in the first and second heavens, sky and space, are different than the earthly terrain on this planet. There are vast differences between what God made in outer space and what he has created on Earth. The Earth's gravity, water cycle, rotation and orbit, the Earth's size and shape and temperature, and the features that are upon the Earth are distinctly different from all other planets. And you can travel to Mars if you want, but you're not going to find life forms there. I think if they ever discover a life form on another planet, it's an imposter, a demon, giving an appearance of life to deceive people who want to believe in those things. If scientists are looking for life in outer space like that on Earth, they might as well give up because they're not going to find it. Because there is a difference between this Earth and all the other planets out there, just as there will be a difference between what you are now and what you're going to look like in the future. and we're gonna be different. He says there in verse 41, there is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. What does that mean? It means they're all distinct. Now think now, how would Paul know this before the telescope was invented? If you look up there and you look up in the sky and you see the various stars out there, some may shine a little brighter than others, but you have no way of knowing that. You have no way of knowing that the planets in outer space are all distinctly different from each other. You'd have no way of knowing that one star differs from another in glory. You'd have no way of knowing that unless God wrote that information. Because they didn't have telescopes. They didn't have the Hubble spacecraft going into outer space and taking pictures. This was written 2,000 years ago. But you know, because God authored this book, God knows all about what's in outer space. And the sky and the earth and the sun and the moon and the stars each radiate a distinct glory and each uniquely manifest the power and wisdom and glory of God who created them. But all stars differ from each other. And this truth, which was stated two millennia ago, is substantiated by astronomical science and recent space shuttle discoveries. But now notice the application, verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown corruptible, it is raised incorruptible. Now you know that's true of all seeds and plants. The plant is more beautiful than the seed. We have some daffodils in the front of our house and they come up every spring. And they come up a little differently because that's a bulb we put down in the ground. So it's perennial, it comes up every year. That's really cool. Every year they come up. Don't have to replant seeds with perennials. Just get yourself some bulbs, plant them in the ground, and unless the squirrels come and eat them, they'll keep coming up every year. But you know, most of the plant life comes from seeds, and those seeds go in the ground, and the seed produces a plant or a tree, and then seeds come off of that and produce other plants and trees. But you know, the tulip bulb is ugly compared to the tulip it produces. No matter how nice the mortician cosmetically dresses up the body, and no matter how well they embalm or mummify a body, it will eventually decompose and decay. Right? Eventually. People can go to a funeral and say how nice he looks, how nice she looks, or whatever. But you know what? We're all going to decay. That's not too nice looking. But God is showing us here that that which comes out is gonna be totally different than that which went into the ground. He says, notice the contrast here in verse 42 and 43. The contrast, our body will undergo a change in character. He says, it is sown in dishonor, excuse me, it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. In other words, it is planted It'll rot, it's subject to ruin, but it'll raise, not subject to decay. He says here, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. In other words, our bodies will undergo a change in value or dignity. The body is worthless at death, but it's gonna be beaming with value on resurrection day. Verse 43, he says, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. We will have a difference in strength. Sown in weakness, you know a corpse has no strength. but it's raised in power. Hey, if you're losing your strength, don't be too discouraged. One day you're gonna get it all back and more, way more than you had. Verse 44, it is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. Our bodies will undergo a change in nature or essence. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body because of its spiritual source, the Lord Jesus, which leads me to my next point. Oh, you missed that, didn't you? Our new body will be as different as the Earth is from the heavens and the stars and everything in outer space. And then on resurrection day, we will have a Christ-like body. Notice the middle of verse 44, there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. So it is written, the first Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. What does that mean? Well, remember when God formed Adam, how did he form him? out of the dust of the ground, right? And then God breathed into his nostrils and man became a living soul. That's what the Bible says in Genesis 2-7. Well, the last Adam is Jesus Christ. And he is a life-giving spirit, as the Bible says. And there is a contrast between soul and spirit. I won't get into that today, other than to say that your soul is that invisible, immaterial part of you that relates to life. Whereas your spirit is that invisible, immaterial part of you that can relate to God and to spiritual things. And you have a soul. That's your life principle. You have a spirit. If you are unregenerate, that spirit is dead in its relationship to God. But if you're alive in Christ, your spirit is alive. And listen, just as Jesus has quickened your spirit, he's gonna quicken your body. He's giving you a new, brand new future. Verse 46, how be it that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. Scripture teaches that man goes from natural to spiritual, not as some pagan beliefs teach, that man goes from spiritual to natural. In other words, in paganism, they believe that pre-existing spirits are kind of floating around and they eventually become trapped in mankind. They become trapped in a body. That is not true. We did not start spiritual and become natural. Instead, we started natural and in Christ become spiritual. And so it's interesting that we become spiritual by the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus. Notice verse 47. The first man is of the earth. That's Adam. By the way, anyone know what Adam means? You do, if you've been here for a while? His name means from the ground or from the earth. So if you name your child Adam, his name means from the dirt. Dirt man. Hey, they ought to have a movie called Dirt Man, right? Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh, dirt man. Well, that's what Adam is. Adam was dirt man. And his name, any Adams in the room? Your name means from the ground. And if you study the body and you study the elements in the soil, you'll find that the same elements that are in your physical body are in the dirt. Matter of fact, if you look at a cereal box, it'll show you the various nutritional elements that you need to sustain your body. Those same elements are in the ground. Things like potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and other elements. are found in the soil, and they're found in your body. That's why the Bible says that we are dust, we were made from dust, and upon death we return to dust. That's what we got from Adam. Adam's name means from the ground, and so we came from the ground, we return to the ground. And so the first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven, not from the ground. He's the Lord from heaven. That means he's from above. Don't think of Jesus as being a mere man. Don't think of him as being a mere mortal. Don't look at Jesus as if he was just like us, he's just a prophet, that he eventually came like the other prophets. No, my friend, he is the Lord from heaven. And all of us, we're in Adam. Naturally, we're in Adam. We are born in Adam. We're connected to him genetically. But the second man is the Lord from heaven. Verse 48, as is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. In other words, Because I'm in Adam, I take after Adam, being natural, earthly creature, fitted for the earth. But in Christ, we will take after Him, being made with a supernatural quality that we live forever because of Jesus. Heavenly creatures, fitted for heaven. Because of my first birth, I am earthy. But because of my second birth, I am heavenly and heaven-bound, and so are you. if you're in Christ. We inherit the spiritual through the Lord Jesus. So just as we took after or resembled Adam, so we will take after or resemble Jesus. As a matter of fact, verse 49 says, and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. You say, what does that mean? It means just this, that just as we resembled Adam, made from the earth, One day we're gonna resemble Jesus when we're with him. You know the Bible teaches that? As a matter of fact, 1 John 3, 2 says, 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. Romans 8, 28, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. that he, Jesus, might be the firstborn among many brethren. And so God will take the Adamic dust into which the dead have decayed. He will transform it and change it, just as he will do to the living saints at his return. And you say, that's impossible. With God, all things are possible. Listen, if God could take dust from the ground and form the first man, he can take your dust, no matter where it has gone, whether it's in a vase somewhere, as someone's cremated, or whether that dust is scattered in a river somewhere, God is able to recollect a few trace elements of your body and take those elements and do a miracle, and he says, I'm gonna do that. With God, nothing's impossible. All he has to do is speak. Jesus said, the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live. So in his resurrected body, Jesus was different. He was transformed. He was able to move quickly from place to place. He was even able to walk through locked doors. He was able to eat food. He was able to allow people to touch him and see that he was real. It wasn't a phantom. He wasn't a ghost. And so when we are raised, we're gonna be raised like him. We're gonna be like him. And so, on Resurrection Day, we're going to have a Christ-like body, not made from earthly Adamic dust. Thirdly, on Resurrection Day, we will have an incorruptible body. Now here's Photoshop over here. You take a young lady, half of this image here is a young lady, maybe in her 20s or 30s. And then over here is maybe somebody in her 70s or 80s. And isn't it something how life goes by? And we get old. I never thought I'd be gray at 54. Salt and pepper. But you know what? We get old, don't we? But you know, in the future, we will have an incorruptible body not capable of decay or the effects of sin, effects like aging and illness, injury, or eventual death. None of these things will be possible. Notice verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. What does that mean? That means we're not suited for heaven like we are in this mortal body. Just like you could not go deep sea diving as you are. You'd die. You wouldn't be able to live down there. You're not made for those elements of being underwater. You need the mask and you need the oxygen tank, right? Or you're not suited for that environment. You could not go into outer space without a space suit on, right? Again, because of the temperature, because of the lack of gravity, because of the lack of absence of oxygen, we could not survive in that environment. Well, listen, you could not survive in heaven unless you underwent a transformation first, and that's why the resurrection is essential. Now, your spirit goes to be with the Lord in heaven upon death, and so there are souls up in heaven under the altar, as it were, but your body goes in a grave, and your body's gonna stay in the grave until one day Jesus returns and calls those people out of the grave to meet their spirit, which has already been with the Lord, there will be a reunion of soul and body one day, only transformed body at that point. And what a day is coming when we have an incorruptible body. But you know what, just as you couldn't go into the ocean depths without the proper gear, and just as you couldn't go into outer space unless suited for that environment, you cannot go into heaven. You cannot inherit the kingdom of God in your corruptible state. There must be a transformation first. human flesh and blood would be incinerated in the presence of a holy God. Nobody could stand in the immediate unveiled presence of the glory of God and live. The Father said to Moses, he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. That's why John had to be transported in spirit, not in the flesh, into the presence of the Lord, Revelation 1.10. And Paul, still living in a body, was out of the body when he was caught up into the third heaven, unless he had seen a vision or a dream. He would have to be out of the body to see what he saw, because our body's not suited for heaven. And by the way, if you want to enter that kingdom of God, you must be born again. Jesus said in John 3, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The new birth is essential to entering the kingdom of heaven. Without that birth, you don't have the Holy Spirit. And without him, you will not experience the resurrection of the just. Romans 8.11, but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken or make alive your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. My friend, corruption cannot inherit incorruption. To do so would be like saying a mobster or a crime boss can work as the church treasurer. Or that would be like, say, for corruption to inherit incorruption would be like a pimp working for the child welfare department. Or working in our church nursery. That's not happening. Or that would be like saying a drug addict can be hired at the local pharmacy. You know, these things are contradictory. No one with corrupt flesh can inherit an incorrupt heaven. Corruption cannot inherit incorruption. You can't go there unless there's a transformation. That's why he says in verse 51, behold, I show you a mystery. A mystery is something that was hidden, but now has been revealed. And by the way, the mystery that he's speaking about here is not the resurrection, because that was a truth taught in the Old Testament. In several scriptures, like Isaiah 26, 19, it says, thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Job 19.26, and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Daniel 12.2, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. In other words, there's a resurrection of the just and the unjust, and this was taught in the Old Testament. But a mystery is something new. What is new? It's this. that not only are the dead rising, that was a truth revealed already, but the mystery is that the living, at his return, are going up when the dead rise, and that's the mystery, that the living will be transformed. He says, we shall not all sleep. Sleep is a euphemism for death, a softer term for the believer's departure. We will not all sleep. In other words, we won't all die. but we shall all be changed." Meaning, whether you're alive at his return, or whether you're dead at his return, all of us will undergo a transformation. 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. And you know, when Jesus appears in a moment, quicker than a blink, We're gonna be transformed. The dead saints are gonna be raised, and we which are alive and remain will be caught up together to meet them with the Lord in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. But we will be changed in a flash of time. The twinkling of an eye, I remember Doug Lowry teaching that the twinkling of an eye is the time difference between the light in front of you turning green and the car behind you honking in New York City. That's how fast it is. But I think the twinkling of an eye is just the time it takes for a light, a ray of light, which hits the outer part of the eye and reaches to the retina. It's that fast. Just boom, quicker than a blink, a twinkle of an eye. God's people will be transformed. When will this occur? When Jesus appears at the last trump, when God blows his trumpet to summon his people together to break camp from the earth and to then announce his judgment upon the earth. But first he comes for his people. Verse 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption. It must take place. And this mortal must put on immortality. And I end with this point. On resurrection day, we will have an immortal body. When you hear the word mortal, you hear the word mortician, mortality. That means subject to death. The word mortal means subject to death. When we are raised, we will no longer be subject to death. You won't have to worry about getting old. You won't have to worry about using hair coloring, ladies. You won't have to worry about getting facial surgery to hide the wrinkles. You won't have to worry about any of these things because you're not getting older. because you're not going to die. Death will be gone. And so he says in verse 54, so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Victory will swallow up death. Death will be no more. The scripture in Isaiah 25.8 will be fulfilled, which says, he shall swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. That's coming. And verse 55 says, oh death, where is thy sting? You see, death has a sting. A sting being like a venomous creature, a scorpion or a hornet. It's rendered harmless. Any of you ever been stung by a creature like that? Like any bee stings in here? Certainly, you must have some bee stings, right? Well, the Bible here says God's taken the stinger out of death. Death will be rendered stingless and powerless to those who are resurrected. That grim reaper will no longer be feared. He says, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? There's no victory anymore for the grave. The sting of death is sin. You want to know what the stinger is? You want to know what causes death? What is that lethal injection that infects all mortals? It is sin. And because of sin, there is eventual death. And the strength of sin is the law. In other words, the law shows us our sin. It doesn't save us, but it shows us our sin. But I love verse 57, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the victory and you know, people ask my mother, and she's here today so I can talk about her, but they ask her, why did you name all of your kids with the letter V? Well, her name's Valerie. Maybe it started there. But Vincent, Vernon, Vaughn, and Vendla. You know what she'd always say? V for victory. Hey, you know what? Victor. You victors have the victory. Hey, it doesn't matter what your name begins with. The Bible says that we will experience the victory. Thanks be to God, not to a church, not to the Virgin Mary, not to a saint, not to a guru. Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. Victory over death. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, that word giveth is a present tense verb, which means we already have the victory now. It's a present reality. It is something I have now. And all the credit goes to God for the victory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what that tells me? Apart from Jesus, there's no victory for you. There's no victory outside of Jesus. You say, why? Because he's God, that's why. And there's no victory outside of God. And that's why people must have Jesus. I need to have him, you need to have him, because he's the source of victory over death. If he is not in your life and you die, you are not going into the kingdom of God. You will not inherit eternity with the Lord. You say, but will I be raised? Yes, you will be raised. At the end of the thousand-year millennial kingdom, you will be raised. You will be raised to stand in front of God, then to be thrown into a lake of fire to pay for your sin because you refused to believe that Jesus paid it for you. because you stiff-armed Jesus and His death on the cross. You will have to pay for your own sin unless you acknowledge the truth that Jesus already paid your penalty. He died for you and suffered for your sins and rose again the third day. And you know, my friend, Jesus is the one we need. Some will say, well, if I die and go to hell with a resurrected body, eventually I'll be burned out of existence. I will be annihilated. No such thing in scripture. Just as those who are raised with a body not subject to death are raised to life in heaven, those who end up in the lake of fire, which is the second death, will be there in a body not subject to going out of existence. Say, how's that possible? Well, do you remember in Exodus 3, the burning bush? It was a bush on fire, but was not consumed. So you will have a body that will be there, but it won't be consumed, but there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. There will be, according to Jesus, not according to Vincent Sawyer, according to Jesus, and the lost will be given bodies suited to their environment in the lake of fire. They will forever be in darkness and pain, but God doesn't want you to perish. God brought you here today on this Resurrection Sunday so that you could hear a message of hope, so that you could know that death doesn't have to be something you fear, but actually, you can know where you're going when you die. Jesus loves you. He died for you. He rose again. He's alive today. And if you trust Him, He will give you everlasting life. In your natural state, you will not inhabit heaven, but if Jesus saves you, he'll put his spirit within you, and you will have the same spirit that raised him from the dead, raising you from the dead, and you'll be with the Lord forever, because the spirit is in you. You know, I observed one thing, and I'm no expert. Where's Carl Roberts? He's the one to ask all these questions about plants and trees and all that type of stuff. But I was just going on Wikipedia and looking up seeds and trying to learn some information about seeds, and they're pretty amazing. you know, when you think about it. But some seed, you know, seeds have, as it were, like a male and female aspect built into it, and it has nutrients built into the seed, nutrients in the seed, so that it already has built within itself something that can germinate and produce life. It's amazing how God is created. But then there are other seeds which just lie dormant, that will go in the ground and nothing will happen, because the elements are not there. You and I are gonna go in the ground one day, but if Christ lives in you, he is your groom, you are the bride, those two elements are there in the seed, And so we're coming up unto glory. By the way, if a seed goes in the ground and it doesn't get water, it's not gonna survive. Or if it doesn't get sunlight, a temperature, proper temperature. By the way, Jesus is the living water too. And he's the light of the world. God has built within creation illustrations that show us spiritual realities. And I am grateful that if you have Jesus, you've got everything for life, both now and in your future. Trust him today. He wants to save you today.