Phoenix Conference: 1994
Table of Contents
Deuteronomy 12
Practical Exhortations
Address—C. Hendricks
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All right, back to Deuteronomy 12.
I'll read again verse 13. Take heed to thyself that thou offer, not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest.
But in the place which the Lord shall choose, in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee, the unclean and the clean may eat thereof as of the Roebuck, and as of the heart.
Only shall not eat the blood, shall pour it upon the earth as water.
Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the first things of thy herds, or of the flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy free will offerings, or heave offerings of thine hand. But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose thou and thy Son.
And thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates.
And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, and all that thou puttest thine hands unto.
They had no choice of their own.
It was only as the Lord directed them. There's believe six times in this chapter we read of a place which the Lord chooses.
And there was only one.
Zion. Jerusalem. Now let's turn over to the 16th chapter.
16th of Deuteronomy.
There were three feasts.
In this chapter in which all the males of Israel had to go to Jerusalem.
Three times a year.
Observe the month of a bib.
And keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God, for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt.
By night.
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord, thy God of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there.
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction. For thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, thou that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast 7 days.
Neither shall there anything of the flesh which thou sacrifices. The first day had even remained all night until the morning.
Thou must not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at, even at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou chemist forth.
Out of Egypt now shall roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt turn in the morning and go on to thy tents. 6 days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and on the 7th day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt do no work therein.
Of these seven of these three feasts.
Are these three feasts and these three times that the males were to come down to Jerusalem?
The first one was the Passover.
I had to do this every year.
And the Passover.
We had something similar to it. We had that this morning that we that answers to it, or you might say the Christian answer to it, the Lord's Supper, the death of Christ. The Passover was the celebration of the death of the Lamb, pointing to the Lord Jesus in his death. And it was at the last Passover that he instituted the Supper.
And it's the foundation of all our blessings, the death of the Lord Jesus. It was the beginning of Israel's history. It was the first month of the year for them when they were to sacrifice the Passover. And it's the beginning of our history, too, when we come to know, to know the Lord Jesus as the one who died for us.
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The Passover occurred, the great foundation of all. There are two ordinances in Christianity. The one is the Lord's Supper and the other is baptism. They both speak of his death.
The initiatory right to get into the Christian company is baptism and were baptized to his death.
And then the ongoing celebration of his death is in the Lord's Supper every first day of the week.
And as it was with Israel, where they had to go to that place that the Lord chose for them to celebrate the Passover, so those that remember the Lord in His death at His table must do it as His table. There was only one altar in in the Old Testament. There's only one table in the New.
There was only one place in the old, and there's only one in the new. It's the place where he's placed his name.
We will see that principle carried all through Scripture. It has to be that he hasn't left the choice with man.
The very principle of choosing for oneself is heresy.
In fact, the word hires is heresy in the original means to choose.
And that's what a heresy is, is to choose for oneself when God is marked out clearly.
In his word, given us guidelines, given us instruction.
We'll look at the New Testament passages that answer to what we have here, but let's read on.
That was the first feast. That was the Passover. Then verse 9.
Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee.
Begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou bringest to put the sickle to the corn.
Well, in this 7 feasts in Leviticus 23, the first was the Passover, the second was the.
A feast of unleavened bread immediately connected with the Passover, where all leaven had to be put away from their houses. The third feast was the Feast of First Fruits. They go out into the field and they gather the first fruits in it speaks of the resurrection of Christ. That's not what's referred to here. The 4th feast is the Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks. Seven weeks after the gathering of the first fruits and one day beyond.
Brings us to another large day.
And that was what we have right here. Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee.
Begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou bringest to put the sickle to the corn, which speaks of Christ's resurrection, and then seven weeks later, 49 days plus one.
50 days Pentecost. So here we have the Feast of Pentecost. It's also called the Feast of Weeks.
Or of ingathering.
Verse 10 Now thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God, with a tribute of a free will offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there. And thou shalt remember that thou was the bondsman in Egypt. And thou shalt observe and do these statutes. We had that very theme before us this morning.
At the table.
Remember that ye were Gentiles in the flesh, and so on.
Of the uncircumcision remember what we were, we remembered what he had brought us out of. And so Israel was to remember that they had been slaves in Egypt and they had been brought to God.
Well, this second feast, the Feast of Weeks, the feast of Pentecost, that you might say the.
Crowning feast for the Assembly. That's when the assembly was formed on the day of Pentecost.
So you have you have these three feasts, you have the Passover, which is the death of Christ. And it applies both to those that were brought into the blessings of the day of Pentecost, the Church. And it applies also to the coming day when the Jews will be brought into their blessings. And that's what we have in the first third feast. Let's read that now, verse 13.
Thou shalt observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.
That's the 7th feast in Leviticus 23, the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrating the Kingdom, celebrating the millennial reign of Christ, when Israel will be the head and no longer the tail.
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And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast. Verse 14 Thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are within thy gates, seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord shall choose.
Because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely.
Rejoice.
Three times in a year.
Shall all thy mails appear before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose?
In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that's the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the Passover correct are connected, and in the Feast of Weeks, that's the Day of Pentecost and in the Feast of Tabernacles.
Pentecost was the might say, the birthday of the church. Pentecost is when Israel will be brought into their millennial blessings.
The Tabernacles I mean.
And they shall not appear before the Lord empty. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee. Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes, and they shall judge thy people.
With just judgment.
Thou shalt not rest judgment, thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift for a gift of blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
So there was judgment to be executed in that place.
And we read about that in the next chapter, and we'll look at it in a moment. Let me finish this chapter. Thou shalt not plant thee a Grove of any trees.
Near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Neither shalt thou set thee up any image which the Lord thy God hated.
These Groves were the places where the false gods were worshipped, where idolatry was carried out, and there wasn't to be anything that that even looked like a rival center. Thou shalt not plant a Grove of any trees near the altar.
Of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee the altar. 1 altar, not 2-3 or more, but just one.
Now let's go on in chapter 17. Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God. Any Bullock or sheep were in his blemish.
Or any ill favoredness, for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God. He's to receive the best the choices of our lives, and of all that we have. If there be found among you within any, any, any, If there be found among you within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth, the man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone.
Other gods, and worship them, either the sun or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded. And if it be told thee, and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and behold it be true and the things certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman which hath committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman.
And shall stone them with stones till they die.
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death.
But at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
These false gods were a denial of the living true God.
These false places and altars were a denial that God had chosen but one place.
Now we come to verse 8.
Very instructive passage.
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment.
Between blood and blood.
That would be family problems.
Blood and blood.
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Between plea and plea.
That might be something like, I think of the passage that says remove, not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.
And that's that's a passage that's connected with the widow.
Someone might come to a poor widow who was defenseless and unable to defend herself before the judges or whatever and move the landmark and take some of her land.
And encroach upon her land, and she's just a poor, feeble thing.
While that might be an example of plea and plea, poor widow may come and plead before the judge that someone has encroached upon her property.
And between stroke and stroke there may have been a fight. Someone may have knocked out another persons tooth, or broken their arm, or knocked their eye out or whatever it might be injured them.
And the judges had to decide. So we have again, if there arise a matter too hard for the in judgment between blood and blood family things between plea and plea.
And between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment.
And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee. And thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee, according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee. And according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, shall thou shalt do. Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand, nor to the left.
Then the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God.
Or unto the judge, even that man shall die.
And thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously. They were to bring their sacrifices to the place. They were to bring the Passover to the place.
Where the Lord had placed His name, they were to abide by.
Now, is there anything that answers to that in the New Testament? Most assuredly there is. We'll turn to Matthew 18, very well known passage.
And.
Read this portion.
Matthew, 1815.
Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee.
Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.
If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Notice this this passage that deals with the assembly gathered to the Lords name dealing with a matter that arose between two brothers.
It is set right in this.
Passage right in the midst of a chapter that speaks of.
Well, let's look at quickly who's the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?
And Jesus calls a little child, you know, the desire of our hearts to be great, to be something, to be recognized. And he calls a little child and sets him in the midst. And he says, except he be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. They wanted to know who was the greatest. And he said, you can't even get into the Kingdom of heaven, but as a little child to be converted.
And then he answers their question directly. Verse four. He says, Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same as the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, so the place of lowliness and nothingness is the place that he is commending.
In this passage. And then he says, Whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
One of little account.
To receive such is to receive him.
And then he issues a very solemn warning in verse 6 to offend one of these little ones which believe in me. He says it were better for him. At a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea.
Drowned in the sea wall unto the world because of offenses.
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It must be the defense has come. Woe to that man by whom it become. But what if the offense comes through one of his own?
And so he says, if thy hand offend thee, or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, cast them from thee.
Deals severely with thyself in self judgment.
So that we do not offend. If thine eye offend thee, cause thee to offend, cause thee to stumble someone.
Pluck it out, cast it from thee.
It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into Hellfire.
Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones to look down upon someone that is not as well taught or instructed as you are.
The Lord is not pleased with that. Don't despise a little one, whether it be a little child or one that is little as far as understanding and spiritual stature in the assembly.
And then he talks about the 100 sheep. The man have 100 sheep verse 12 and one of them be gone astray, that he not leave the 90 and 9 and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which has gone astray. In Luke 15 we have the parable of the lost sheep, the sheep that was lost, and he goes into the wilderness to find it. That's a picture of a Sinner that's lost. Likewise there shall be joy in heaven over 1 Sinner that repenteth.
More than over 99 just persons that need no repentance. But this isn't the picture of a lost Sinner. This is a picture of a strange St.
But man, having 100 sheep and one of them be gone astray doesn't say he's lost, it says he's gone astray.
Does he not leave the 90 and 9 and goeth into the mountains? He's not going to the wilderness as in Luke night 15, but he goes to the mountains and seeketh that which has gone astray.
If so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, He rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the 99 which went not astray.
Even so, it is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
If they're left out there in the world, they'll perish. The need of grace restoring grace to go out after them and to bring them back into the assembly where they can. They can be nourished and cared for and built up and established, not to leave them out there. It's the activity of grace and restoration. And then we come to that 15th verse. Moreover, if thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault. Between thee and him alone this is.
Private thing. It's not broadcast to others, it's not made public. You go to the one that's offended you and you tell him and you have the purpose of your heart is to gain him. If he hears thee, thou hast gained thy brother. You want to gain them. You don't want to thrash them, you don't want to give them a tongue lashing, but you want to gain them. You want to have the the difference that has come in between you and him.
Satisfied and put away and dealt with.
So it ends right there. If you gain him, if he hears thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Nothing more has to be said. The matter is left, is dropped.
But.
What if he doesn't hear verse 16? If he will not hear thee?
Then take with thee one or two more.
That in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Now who are these? One or two more, Or they're from the local assembly there where you reside. How do I know that? Well, the next verse tells me.
And we'll go on to that. Take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. But what if that fails? What if you've taken one or two more brothers, and you go to this one that's offended, and he will not hear?
If he shall neglect to hear them. Verse 17. Tell it unto the Church.
There we have the local assembly, the assembly in a place.
It's not the church universal as it was in Matthew 16. When the Lord says, upon this rock I will build my church, that's the church universal. But here it's the church in a place. But if you neglect to hear the church.
Let him be unto thee as a heathen man in a publican. The man that started out as thy brother, you now consider him as a heathen man and a publican.
You did regard him as your brother, as one who was the Lord's, but now you regard him as a heathen man and a publican, just like the unsaved around about.
Because why? Why? Because he has rejected the final Court of Appeal, the church, the local assembly.
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Where two or three are gathered together in Christ's name. Now notice that up till this point.
It's been all singular.
Verse 15. If thy brother trespass against thee.
I might just make this comment. I may have made it here before, but I found it very helpful.
All second person pronouns that are singular.
Start with AT.
Thee, thou, thee, thy thine, they all start with AT.
That's singular every time you see it in a King James Bible. Any of second person pronouns that start with a T, they're singular.
All second person pronouns that start with the Y are plural. That's how you can tell the difference.
And that's why a modern translation that has all you and your in it, and you don't have any thee and thy and thine you don't.
You don't know whether it's singular or plural, and sometimes that's very important to understand the passage. If I was expounding this passage from a modern translation that only used you, I would have difficulty here because now he changes from the singular to the plural, and that's a big difference. Notice in verse 16. If he will not hear thee.
Then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he neglect to hear them, that's thee. And the one or two more. Tell it to the church, the local assembly. But if you neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee still singular as an heathen man and a publican.
Now that's.
So far it's it's been instruction with regard to the individual that has been trespassed against.
Now the Church has come in.
Your overtures of grace to the man have been rejected, though one or two more that have gone with you from the local assembly that has fallen short.
Not gain the man, and now the whole assembly of responsible brothers have come in and.
They their voice has been refused.
Then it says, Let him be to thee.
As an heathen man in a public inn. Why is that so serious? Because the Lord is there, the Lord is there. We get that in verse 20, Where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them. So to reject the voice of the local assembly is to reject the voice of the one who resides there.
Notice how in verse 18 we have a change now to the plural.
Verily, I say unto you, he's not now talking any longer to the individual that has been sinned against, but to the whole assembly.
Whatsoever ye, the whole assembly, shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye, plural shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. That's a disciplinary act that only the assembly has authority to carry out. The individual does not.
Again I say unto you, still speaking to the collective company of Saints locally there, that if 2 of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, that they shall ask.
It shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven. So verse 18, we have the discipline of the assembly, the binding and losing.
The man in First Corinthians 5, his sins were bound upon him. Put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
But in 2nd Corinthians 2, he was to be received back. His sins were to be loosed, he was to be forgiven. He had repented.
And they were to extend grace to him, to show their love to him. So the Assembly has that authority.
But verse 19 between verses 18 and 20, I think is very instructive because it speaks of prayer.
And it says and it brings before us the fact that the assembly before they take action.
Are before the Lord in prayer about the matter.
And there must be agreement.
If there's not agreement if.
It's a group of brothers that are praying at cross purposes, not of one mind.
Then then we don't have the the assurance that it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. I remember the story of brothers that were praying over a certain matter that was troubling them locally.
It it would have to become a matter of discipline, and they were praying earnestly about it, but they were of one mind, so much so that when they rose from their knees, one brother said to another, he said, We will receive shortly an answer from the Lord on this matter, because there was oneness of mine. That word agree, if 2 of you shall agree, is to sympathize.
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To be a.
Of the same burden before the Lord, not because we say to one another now we're going to agree to pray for this. That's not the agreement that's mentioned here. That's meant here. It's it's you have the same burden. You have the same burden. I have the same burden we get before the Lord and we earnestly beseech the Lords face and seek his guidance and direction. Now that's real agreement.
It's not a human arrangement of things at all. It's agreement that has been produced in your soul and mine and yours by the Holy Spirit.
And then we have the promise, If 2 of you shall agree on Earth, why 2?
And in verse 20, it's two or three.
I think 2 being the number of competent testimony. We saw there in the Old Testament that in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 2 speaks of competent testimony, 3 speaks of abundant testimony.
And if there was just a competent witness, if there was a competent testimony in an assembly to agree together, because the Spirit of God has LED them to that agreement, we have the promise it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven.
I don't believe that suggests necessarily unanimity. Rarely do we get that in an assembly action where everyone is in agreement. But if it's of God and the Spirit of God lays it upon hearts of responsible, mature spiritual brethren and they are in agreement on it.
We have the we can claim this promise. It shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven.
For where two or three?
Are gathered together in my name, or unto My name. There am I in the midst of them. Notice the where.
It's where it's not whenever.
Or wherever, but it's where.
It's where two or three are gathered together unto my name. That's what answers in the New Testament to the one place.
In the Old Testament, it was Jerusalem, it was Zion. There was one place geographically, and they actually had to go down to that place. The males, 3 times in a year. We saw in Leviticus 60, in Deuteronomy 16 had to go to Jerusalem.
The Passover, the Feast of Weeks, The Feast of Tabernacles.
Feast of Weeks speaks of the birthday of the Church, the day of Pentecost. The Feast of Tabernacles speaks of that crowning day of glory for Israel, when they will be the head and not the tail any longer, when Christ will reign 1000 years down here.
And so we have the two feasts that speak of the blessings of the heavenly people and the blessings of the earthly people, all founded upon the death of Christ, the Passover.
Beautiful picture.
And here we have that heavenly company on earth.
With the responsibility committed to them to carry out in the name of the Lord, discipline where it would be necessary, when it would be necessary, and it's where.
Just like the Old Testament, there was a where there was the place. Here we have it again where two or three are gathered together in my name. It's not one geographical location as it was in the Old Testament, but the principle of the place is still here.
Every local assembly is the where in that locality. It's where two or three are gathered together in His name. There am I in the midst of them.
Now let's turn over to 1St Corinthians chapter.
6 I believe it is. Well, I might touch before we do that, I might touch on chapter 5, which is the case of immorality.
And we'll pick that. We'll pick it up. We know the story, we know the account. We'll pick it up at verse.
9 I wrote unto you in an epistle.
Not to company with fornicators.
Yet not all together with fornicators of this world are with the covetous or extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must ye needs go out of the world.
We're not called upon to.
Exercise judgment upon the world.
The Lord's going to do that.
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But we are to exercise judgment upon those who are within the sphere of profession.
Those who name the name of Christ.
So he goes on to say in verse 11, But now I have written unto you, not to keep company. If any man that is called a brother, notice it doesn't say that he is a brother.
He might be the man of this chapter that was to be put away. It turns out that he was a brother and he was to be received back in the second epistle. But he wasn't put away as a brother. He was put away as a wicked person.
And here he says, Now I have written unto you not to keep company. If any man that is called a brother, that's profession.
Be a fornicator, our covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. With such an one, know not to eat.
Now, if one was a mere worldling and he was doing these things, that's what the people of the world do. That's the kind of life they live. We're not called upon as Christians to refuse to, to eat with such, or to have anything to do with them. If we were, we'd have to leave the world.
We'd have to go out of it all together because that's the way the people of this world live. But if one takes the name of Christ upon him and he's a professing Christian.
And he lives this way, then we have to refuse fellowship with such.
Now notice verse 12. What have I to do to judge them also that are without?
We don't judge them with our with those without. The apostle Paul didn't judge those who were without. Who are they? The world they're without. They're outside of the profession of Christianity. We were noticing in our Sunday school this morning we were reading about the great house. That's the sphere of profession. When one is put away from the Lord's table. He's not put away out of the great house. He's not put out of the great house. He's still a professing Christian, but he's under discipline. He's just put in a place where he's isolated.
Local assembly. Until he's restored and recovered, the only way you can get out of the great house is to renounce Christ. Become an apostate.
Then you can leave the great House, but as long as you still profess to be a Christian, you are in the great House.
But Paul didn't judge those who were without, who were outside of the great house, who were not professing Christians. That wasn't his business. He had it. He had authority as an apostle. The assembly has authority to deal with those who are within, and the apostle Paul had authority to deal with those who were within, but not those who were without.
He says in verse 12, What have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within?
But them that are without God judgeth.
God takes care of the world. People seem to be getting away with things and we wonder why, but they're not getting away with anything. No one gets away with anything. God will deal with that in a coming day.
God judges those without. We judge those who are within. We are responsible towards those that profess to be Christians. Suppose there was someone at work and you got to talking to them and you found out that they were a believer and then you found out that say it's a young man that he was living with a woman in his home and they weren't married.
You'd have to say I'm sorry.
I can't eat with you.
Because you're going on in a sinful life.
You're acting just like the world acts.
Your responsibility is to marry her. Then you can live with her, but not outside of the bonds of marriage. Well, that's just an example.
Of how this principle would be carried out even today in a day of ruin.
When we're dealing with Christians, we have to judge them according to Christian principles. That's our responsibility. In Christendom, things are just reversed.
The church has washed its hands of its responsibility to receive or to refuse to receive to the table. I know in one assembly it's not not amongst us. Thankfully our brother will announce at the beginning of the meeting and say if you are a Christian and you would like to remember the Lord with us, that your responsibility.
And it leaves it entirely up to the individual. A complete stranger may walk in and announce that he's a believer, and they'll say, well, would you like to break bread with us? And he'd say yes. And they would allow him to because he wants to. And they would wash their hands of the responsibility of receiving such an 1 remitting that person's sins or retaining them.
And that, of course, is.
Altogether contrary to Scripture.
And then on the other hand.
Those that are doing that and.
Releasing themselves from the responsibility that is theirs.
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To receive or to refuse to receive to the table.
They are trying to set the world right.
They're trying to get involved in all the affairs of this world and to judge those that are without.
And to impose upon them Christian principles. For this passage teaches this the opposite. It says Paul even says, I don't judge those who are without. I don't judge the world.
Does that.
We could only set ourselves right if we could only set those that are under the umbrella of the House of God, right? That's our responsibility.
Man has turned things just upside down and inside out.
Them that are without God judgeth therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. He wasn't put out as a brother. He was called a brother, but he was put out as a wicked person, just as in Matthew 18. If thy brother sin against thee, he starts out as thy brother. But if he refuses to hear your entreaties, and one or two more from the assembly and the church itself locally, then let him be unto thee as an heathen man in the public, and no longer a brother you treat him just as.
An unsafe person.
And so this man was put away as a wicked person and we're coming back here. But I just want to refer to 2nd Corinthians since I'm on this point. Chapter 2 Second Corinthians chapter 2, verse 6. This man had repented at this time. He had he was grieved over his sin. And Paul says sufficient to such a man as this punishment which was inflicted of many. They had put him out as Paul enjoined them to do, and now he's.
And he's feeling it very keenly, and Paul says sufficient to such a man as this punishment which was inflicted of many, so that contrary wise, you ought rather to forgive him.
And to comfort him, lest perhaps such in one should be swallowed up with over much sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you, that you would confirm your love to him. The Corinthians failed in two ways. They failed in holiness in the First Epistle to deal with the evil and to put it away.
In the second epistle they failed in grace to receive him back, and to show their love to him, and to forgive him after he had repented.
The assembly is the pillar and support of the truth were to uphold the holiness of God and also the grace of God. We're to be the expression of God's grace in this world.
They failed in both holiness and grace. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ and that ought to be expressed and exemplified in the assembly. Grace and truth. The Corinthians failed in both of these areas. Now going back to First Corinthians chapter 6.
Dare any of you having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust?
Notice that's quite a striking expression, he says later on, unbelievers. But here he says unjust. Now you you take your case to law and you want a just settlement and he says you're going to get it before the unjust.
You're going to get a justice from the unjust, from those who are characteristics characterized by that expression, the unjust. What folly to think that we're going to get righteous judgment from the world which is composed of those who are unjust.
So he rebukes them. He says, go, ye go to law before the unjust. You have a matter against another.
Matthew 8 says that when we have a matter against another, we go to that person alone. And if he hears thee, thou has gained thy brother. If he won't hear thee, you take one or two more. If he won't hear them, the assembly goes. But it's the assembly is the one that is resorted to. They're the ones that we appeal to, not the world, the unjust. But here they were doing that. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust, and not before the Saints?
Do you not know that the Saints shall judge the world in the Millennium? The Saints will judge the world.
And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
The Assembly will have a place of authority in the millennial reign of Christ, and it will be the administration administrator of God's government.
In this world they will judge the world. We will judge the world.
He says are you unworthy? Are you are not able to judge the smallest matters?
Know you not that we shall judge angels.
Angels will be at our disposal in that day.
How much more things that pertain to this life.
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If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the in the assembly, the church. Not the most spiritual, but the least esteemed. This is just a mundane matter, a matter of right and wrong. Anyone ought to be able to judge rightly of that.
I speak to your shame.
He says.
Is it so that there's not a wise man among you?
Know not one that you'll be able to judge between his brethren.
Brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong?
Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
Nay, ye do wrong and defraud.
And that your brethren.
What a shame that the Saints could be in such a state that they could carry this kind of thing out and not have their problems resolved within the family.
Within the assembly, within the sphere where Christ is owned.
Instead going to the unjust to the unbelievers. What a shame. But that was their state at current.
It wasn't a good one.
And yet we have all these failures given to us in the First Epistle to the Corinthians so that we would know how to conduct ourselves in our own local assemblies. We have corrective ministry that is given for all of these different kinds of failures that could come up and would come up and have come up in the Christian testimony.
I didn't call your attention to it, but I want to back up for a moment to chapter 5 and this verse.
Verse 3 for I verily as absent in body.
But present in spirit.
Have judged already as though I were present concerning him that had so done this deed, this fornicator.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together.
And my spirit, he was in spirit gathered with them. And he says, I want you to judge in that name that you're gathered to.
With the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver, he says, I've judged to deliver such an 1 unto Satan. The assembly can't do that. The assembly can't deliver to Satan. But Paul had that authority and he said that he had judged to do so.
That the Spirit, or the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. All the assembly can do is to put away from among themselves that wicked person. We cannot deliver to Satan, but Paul could, and we read in Timothy that he did do that.
And here he he had judged that he would do it.
That's a serious thing to deliver to Satan, so that under the under the affliction that Satan will bring upon it, a sinning one, they might be delivered from the flesh.
I've often thought it says that to just for the destruction of the flesh to deliver to Satan. I've often thought of Job as an example to deliver to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.
God allowed Satan to afflict Job with boils from the head to the foot.
He was covered with loathsome boils, sores.
The Power of His Resurrection
Address—C. Hendricks
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Was the Lord. It was the Lord, and he met him.
So here he says last of all he was seen of Maine also.
As of one born out of due time.
For I am the least of the apostles.
Let him not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted.
The Church of God, the apostle Paul who authored this epistle, he says I'm not me to be called an apostle. I'm the least.
I persecuted the Christians, I persecuted the Church of God. And he says by the grace of God, I am what I am. He had everything going for him.
He was the leader of the Jewish movement to stamp out this new movement of the Nazarene.
He was their chief.
He was the one that they had such regard for that if anyone could do it, Saul of Tarsus could do it. He had sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He had been instructed by their their greatest Rabbi, and he knew the law and he knew the the the religion of Judaism better than any. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
And he was their man.
And he had everything going for him.
Until in this world.
Until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
And something happened.
First he became blind for three days.
And as he was going through that darkness.
And he was mulling over in his mind. He had heard that voice from heaven. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
And he had realized in his soul a revolution was taking place in his soul, as he had realized that all my religious enemy energies had been spent to kill the Christians, to persecute them.
Even unto strange lands he says he hated them.
And he says.
I was fighting against the Lord from heaven.
The true Messiah.
And she had come to know him.
He was changed.
And when he took a stand for Christ, for the Lord Jesus Christ, when he came out and witnessed to him, when he ceased to persecute, when he became the greatest follower.
All those doors of opportunity that had been opened to him closed.
And he became hated by the very nation that had promoted him, that had sponsored him, had championed him as the one to snuff out this new religion.
Now he becomes the greatest exponent of it.
It cost him.
Everything.
It cost him everything.
Costing his family.
Cost him his relatives. It cost him his esteem in the Jewish community. He was cast out.
He was hated, maligned. It is not fit that such in. One should live, they said.
And they would have torn him to shreds at Jerusalem had the Romans not come and rescued him.
This was their champion once.
Now he becomes the champion of Christianity.
And all that would have been to his advantage, he says. What things were gained to me?
These I counted loss for Christ, Jay. Doubtless I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but dung.
That I may win Christ.
That man was changed Thoroughly, completely, absolutely changed.
From darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that was the message that he preached and proclaimed.
Would he do that?
For what he knew was a lie.
Would any of these apostles, everyone of them were martyred except John?
He's the only one that died in natural life, as far as we know from history. All the rest were martyred, persecuted, and martyred.
And we know that Paul was martyred. Would he, Would they have gone through all that?
For what they knew was a lie.
Was a fabricated myth that wasn't true.
They hadn't really seen Christ in resurrection.
That they had.
Would they have done what they did?
No, no.
Absolutely impossible.
The testimony in favor of the resurrection is overwhelming and compelling.
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To anyone that has eyes to see.
He is risen.
He was seen of James. James was his brother after the flesh, and we read in John 7. Neither did his brethren believe in him.
They had said show yourself to the world. They had given him some worldly advice.
But James came to faith after the resurrection.
The Lord appeared to James, he had to work for James to do, and now he realizes that his half brother was the Lord of glory.
The Lord of glory.
And he was changed.
But the most dramatic change was in.
The Apostle Paul Saul of Tarsus.
He says by the grace of God, I am what I am.
And His grace which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. He had just said to the believers, Unless ye have believed in vain.
If they went on with what they were being.
Erroneously exposed to the error they were being exposed to. If they believed that, then their faith would have been in vain. And we'll come to that in just a moment.
But he says it wasn't in vain.
But I labored more abundantly than they all, all the other apostles, all that accompanied with the Lord when He was here, man on earth, He labored more than they all of them.
Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. He doesn't take any credit to himself. He doesn't puff himself up. He doesn't build himself up.
He states the truth, but then he gives the credit to God. He says it was the grace of God that was with me, that was laboring.
Therefore, whether it were I or they.
So we preach, I or the other apostles, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Now now he comes to the error that was being.
That was being.
Promoted among them. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Now that was a subtle thing, but he shows that if that doctrine were true, then Christ didn't rise from the dead. Notice how he reasons.
He says, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead, but if there be no resurrection of the dead.
Then is Christ not written? He was dead.
And if there's no resurrection of the dead, then he didn't rise because he was one of the dead. He actually died. He went into death.
If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen?
Then is our preaching vain, And your faith is also vain, And that's why he says.
In verse.
Verse 2 Unless ye have believed in vain.
If they imbibe this false teaching that there's no resurrection of the dead, it amounts to the fact that Christ didn't rise. And if Christ didn't rise, Pauls preaching was vain and their faith was vain, worthless, useless.
If Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain. Yeah, 8 verse 15 And we are found false witnesses of God.
Because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up.
If so, be that the dead rise, not he says we have testified of God that he raised up Christ. Go let's go back to verse 3.
I delivered unto you.
First of all, that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried.
And that he rose again the third day. According to the scriptures, that's what he had preached to them.
That's what they had received. They stood in the faith of that. They were saved by that.
And now he says if you believe the new doctrine that the resurrection there is no resurrection of the dead, then that's all wrong. The gospel I preached to you is wrong.
There is no salvation. You are lost.
See how serious a little error can be when it's carried to its logical conclusion?
Verse 14 Again, if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain? And your faith is also vain, worthless. Yeah. And we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom he raised not up. If so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. Ye are yet.
In your sins.
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Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished your loved ones, whom you have expected to meet again.
In a better land, in resurrection, they've perished if there's no resurrection of the dead.
If the dead don't rise, they've perished.
Your faith is vain. Everything is lost. You see, the resurrection is what we call a fundamental truth of the Gospel.
A fundamental truth.
His death is a fundamental truth. You can't be saved if you don't believe in his death. You can't be saved if you don't believe in his resurrection.
That's an impossibility. Those are fundamentals that we do not give an inch in.
There are other truths of scripture that we can bear with someone that holds error as to them, but not this.
This is fundamental.
It misrepresents God. It says that God didn't raise him when he did raise him.
And Paul says we're liars, we're false witnesses of God if it's so.
You are yet in your sins, your faith is vain. Verse 18 says Then they that have fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
You'll never see them again.
The whole, the whole truth that we've been proclaiming to you, founded upon his death and resurrection, it's all gone.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
I've heard Christians today quote that verse and apply it to themselves. I can't apply that to myself.
I'm not the most miserable of all men if.
I If this is true, in this life only we have hope in Christ.
We are, of all men, most miserable. I have a pretty nice life. So do all of you in this room.
You have the very nice down here.
You're not persecuted.
We're not persecuted.
Paul could say this.
He was persecuted.
He didn't have it Nice.
He didn't know where his next meal was coming from.
He was.
Fasting often.
He was in constant danger.
He was persecuted mercilessly, especially by his Jewish.
Friends. Enemies.
Yes, he could say, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all miserable men, most miserable.
That was true of him.
It was true of the early apostles.
Because they they received martyrdom.
They were heated and abused.
Mistreated.
Mercilessly by those that didn't want the gospel.
Now. Now he draws his conclusion. But now?
Is Christ risen from the dead?
And become the first fruits of them that slept. That's a beautiful word. The first fruits, the first fruits of them that slept. Those that have died in faith are also going to be raised. He's the first fruits. A farmer goes out in his field in the fall. The field is ripe and he picks out a shock of corn or whatever it is the crop is, brings it home and shows it to his wife and says this is a sample of the crop that we're going to have this year. That's the first fruits. Christ is the first fruits afterward they that are Christ that.
We're going to partake in that same resurrection. If he didn't rise, we won't.
We don't have any hope.
And he didn't rise. All is lost.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept, those that have died in faith. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam, all died.
Even so in Christ.
Shall all be made alive. That verse is sometimes not not properly understood.
As in Adam all died.
The wages of sin is death.
By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned as an Adam all die.
Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. In the power of Christ's person all will be raised, some to the resurrection of life, some to the resurrection of judgment.
The resurrection of the justice. The resurrection of the unjust.
But Christ is going to raise all.
None will escape the resurrection. But there are two resurrections. There's the resurrection to life and the resurrection to judgment.
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But every man in his own order.
Christ the firstfruits afterward, they that are Christs at his coming. These are those that belong to Him. This is the resurrection of the just, the resurrection to life, those that are Christ at his coming.
Are you his this afternoon? Are you going to take part in this resurrection? This is the only time I believe in this chapter his coming is mentions specifically.
The truth of it and what will take place when He does come is in this chapter. That's the resurrection, but the coming itself is mentioned here. Christ at his coming.
And then he passes over the tribulation period, and he passes over the Millennium.
1000 year reign of Christ and he goes to the end of the Millennium.
And he says in verse 24 Christ did his coming. The end of verse 23 is the rapture.
And then?
Verse 24 starts at the end of the Millennium. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed.
Is death.
When will that be?
His coming will be the resurrection of the Justice.
And at the end of the tribulation, the first resurrection, the those that have been martyred during that tribulation that had faith, they'll be raised and they'll join us.
But this is a resurrection, when death will be destroyed at the end, after the Millennium is over.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Let's look at that in Revelation 20.
Revelation 20.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed.
Is death verse 11 and I saw a great white throne.
And him that sat on it, that's Christ.
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away?
And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
And the books were opened.
And another book was opened. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. That's resurrection.
That's the resurrection of the unsaved dead.
They're going to stand the resurrection of the unjust, the resurrection to judgment.
They stand before God now in resurrection bodies.
And the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. That's resurrection. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. That's resurrection.
And they were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell are Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
Death applies is a term that applies to the body. The body dies, not the soul.
The soul and the spirit don't die. The soul and the spirit are spoken of as being in Hades, That means in the condition of separation from their bodies.
That's what 80s means, the condition of being separate from your body. Death. In Hades, that separate condition of things were cast into the lake of fire. That will be over.
This is the second death.
The lake of fire Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. I remember the story. Go back to First Corinthians 15. I remember the story A man had a dream.
And he dreamed about hell, and he was taken down, and he stood at the portal, the gateway to hell.
And he could hear the screams and the agonies and the moans and the cries of those who were suffering in that awful place.
And he said to the one that was there, he said this was just in his dream. And he said give them some relief.
Just a just a drop of water upon their tongue. And the answer came back. There's no water in hell.
Give them some reason.
There's no alleviation of their sufferings. The most horrible thing conceivable.
And the last enemy, going back to First Corinthians 1526, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
After that, none will be found in the disembodied state where the body is in the grave and the soul and spirit are in hates. But they'll be joined. Now resurrection will have joined them, and man, spirit, soul and body will either spend eternity in heaven with Christ or in hell in the darkness of the pit.
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Which will it be for you? You have to answer that question yourself. I believe everyone here is saved, but I don't know.
God does.
God knows everyone that's here, and I trust each one is the Lord's.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is accepted which did put all things under Him, That's the Father.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, that's Christ, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be All in all. That verse used to puzzle me. Couldn't understand with the meaning. And it simply means that the Lord Jesus the Son will remain a man forever.
And so he'll always be in subjection to his Father in manhood as man, always in subjection, because it's man's place to be subject. He'll always be man, as he'll always be God.
But we'll be there, and we'll be able to gaze upon that blessed man with the marks of Calvary still in his body, his hands and his feet and his side. And we will see.
We will see a man.
In Glory.
Will be like him.
In bodies of glory, just like his.
Never to be separated from him.
And it says in Colossians 29, All the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily.
And we'll realize the power of that verse as we gaze upon that man, and we'll say all the fullness of Godhead is in that man.
He is all He is, very God and very man. I can't understand that. You can't understand that. It's beyond our intellect.
But I like the poet who says just darkness to my intellect is sunshine to my heart.
But I cannot understand. I can believe and enjoy in all my soul.
Then shall the Son also be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be All in all, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And yet one of those persons is still a man, and so he's still subject in that capacity, in that.
In that way.
And yet he's God over all, blessed forever. You can't understand that, I can't either. God was manifest in the flesh, that God and man were in one person when He was here on earth. Could you understand that? I can't understand that either.
That God and man is in Him in glory today. Can you understand that? No, it's beyond us that it'll be so for all eternity. Can you understand that? No, but it's declared to us in the Scriptures.
I'm going to Passover a few verses. The first part of First Corinthians 15 is proving that He is risen. It's his resurrection. The last part of First Corinthians 15 is our resurrection.
Verse 35.
But some men will say, how are the dead raised up?
And with what body do they come?
Someone is raising quibbles about the resurrection. Paul is anticipating these objections to the resurrection. You remember when he preached the resurrection? They said, what will this babbler say?
He preaches strange gods.
And he speaks about a resurrection. They hadn't heard this before.
And some mocked when they heard of the resurrection. Others believed it's the way it always is when the gospel is preached. Some mock.
Some believe.
So some will say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come?
Thou fool.
That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.
Take a grain of wheat.
You sow that, that's lifeless thing. You sow it. You could put it on the table, it would never do a thing.
Put it in the ground, it dies, and then there's fruit and what comes up doesn't look anything like what went in.
What thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be.
That little grain, that little body of grain that you sow that doesn't look anything like the body that's going to come up but there, but there, wheat, 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 justice as that grain of wheat.
Has that stock of wheat or corn and that stock of corn come up looking so much more grand and glorious than that? So the resurrection body is in comparison with this body. This body is like the grain of wheat that has to fall into the ground and die. I remember brother preaching at a funeral and he pointed to the body and he said that body, this body shall rise again. And that's the truth of Scripture.
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This body shall rise again. He's going to quicken this mortal body.
He's going to.
Infuse it.
With life and he's going to raise the incorruptible, and the incorruptible she'll put on incorruptibility.
God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
All flesh is not the same flesh.
Here is a verse that disproves evolution.
Shows the utter stupidity of evolution. There's one kind of flesh of men.
Another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. They're all different.
One didn't evolve into the other. Their distinct kinds of flesh.
There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is 1 and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There's a great difference between the heavenly bodies and the earthly bodies.
The one has heavenly glory, the other has earthly glory. The difference is compared. The comparison is between our glorified body, our resurrection body, and what we're in now, this body of clay, this earthly body.
So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor.
It is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness.
Raised in power, we're going to be in a body of incorruption, a body of glory, a body of power.
Now we're in a corruptible body. Now we're in a body of dishonor and weakness.
Now we're in a natural body. It is so in a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body.
And there is a spiritual body we have not yet put on our house, which is from heaven.
Our spiritual body we will. It might be before I'm through speaking.
Will be closed upon with our house, which is from heaven. It's that near. And so it is written. The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam, Christ was made or became a quickening spirit.
You remember in John 20 when He appeared to his disciples and he breathed into them the breath of His resurrection life. Here He was there as a quickening spirit, and they were infused with His own resurrection life.
That's going to happen as to these bodies one day.
This mortal, if he would come right now, this mortal would put on immortality.
Mortality would be swallowed up of life, it says.
The life that has reached our souls would reach our bodies, resurrection, life and power.
And we would rise to meet the Lord in the air. It's going to be someday.
Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the Earth, or thief. That's what Adam means, made of Earth.
The meaning of the word.
2nd man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy. Such are they also that are earthy? We're just like Adam. We're in that kind of a body right now.
And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
We're going to have that kind of a body shortly. But we are heavenly now, even though we're still in earthly bodies. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we bear it now.
We shall also bear the image of the heavenly, even as to our bodies.
Now this I say, brethren.
That flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. We can't get to glory in these bodies.
Neither doth corruption inheriting corruption.
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.
Well, 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. When he talks about this corruptible, he's talking about one who's died.
And one whose body has gone into corruption in the grave, when he talks about this mortal, he talks about you and me that is still living.
We're living in a mortal body, a body that is capable of dying.
But the bodies of the dead Saints.
I described as corruptible.
They've gone into corruption, they're going to put on bodies that are incapable of corrupting, and the living are going to put on bodies that are incapable of dying.
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It's the same resurrection body, but just described in two different terms. The one describing the dead in Christ, the other is the living.
In a moment.
Verse 52 In the twinkling of an eye at the last Trump.
For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we the living shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on in corruption.
And this mortal must put on immortality.
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.
O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Death will have to give up its prey.
Death will be destroyed.
There will be no more death. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
The sting of death is sin.
What makes dying so horrible is sin. That's what leads to it, and that's what makes it so terrible.
The strength of sin is the law.
The law was never given to promote holiness. To produce holiness it only.
Makes man sin more. You tell man not to do something, and he wants to do the very thing.
That he's forbidden doing. Remember this story? You probably heard it. Children were playing.
Around the table.
And mother says I'm going next door, I'll only be gone 5 minutes.
But while I'm gone, there was an inverted bowl in the center of the table.
It was placed upon a little bit of an elevation raised dish and it was inverted.
And she said don't lift that bone, don't look in, don't see what's underneath.
The only thing you have to do is you can play but don't look.
Under the dish that inverted bowl.
Well, what was under there? There was a fan going in the room, something like these, and there was a bunch of feathers under there.
And when she came back from the visit next door, she found feathers all over the room.
Because what she had told him not to do, they had done. Of course they wanted to see what was there, and as soon as they lifted the bowl, the feathers went everywhere.
And it was that law, that prohibition, that telling them don't do it, that brought that to their attention. And so the law is the strength of sin. Has she not mentioned that they would maybe not have even noticed it.
But when God says, don't you know what that's like? You children, your parents say, don't right away. There's something in you that says, Huh?
Like that?
I want to do what I'm told not to do.
That's the sin nature that we have within.
And we all have it, and so we all know what I'm talking about.
Because we've all experienced it. Before a child can say a word, it can arch its back in rebellion against its mother.
And it does.
That's the sin nature that's in it.
They often say when a child is born that lovely innocent little thing. It would be more scriptural to say that sinful little thing.
Because that's what it is. Born in sin, shaping in iniquity. Innocence has passed. There's no innocence today.
You're either sinful or you're holy in Christ. One of the two. That's all there is today, Sinfulness. If you're outside of Christ. And if you're in Christ, you have a holy nature.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, in this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
What's the power of holiness? Law isn't Man thinks you have to put someone under law in order to produce obedience. It doesn't produce obedience it.
Simply stirs him up to be disobedient. What does produce obedience? Grace.
Grace taught us.
How to live Grace taught us how to live a holy life. That's the power of holiness, not law.
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That victory will be fully displayed at the Resurrection Morn.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, here's the grand conclusion to all that he set before them in this chapter. The steadfast, unmovable.
Always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain.
In the Lord not in vain.
Yes, Christ is risen first part of 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to join him. He's just the first fruits afterward. They that are Christ at his coming, and he's coming very soon to take us home. We're going to join him. We're going to be around him and be just like him in glory. Praise his name.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-7
1 Thessalonians 1:8-
Sitting
The Present Testimony