Ben O'Grady - Do All for the Glory of God (1 Corinthians) - Class 6 - Thanks Be To God

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   I’ll ask a brother, Luke Crouch, to come forward and read the introductory reading from First Corinthians 15 verses 45 to 58, Rather Luke the First Corinthians chapter 15, starting at verse 45. And so it is written, the first man, Adam. Adam was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

2. 0:25

   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 earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven, as is the earthy. Such are they also that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

3. 0:43

   And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. 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.

4. 1:04

   For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 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.

5. 1:25

   O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

6. 1:50

   Thanks, Brother Luke. I know I’ll now invite our brother Ben to come forward and give us his final study to the title. Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory. Thanks brother Colin. It would have given me a little bit more time, wouldn’t it, which which could be helpful. But thanks anyway that that is a a very helpful introduction. So good morning everyone and and welcome to our last study together.

7. 2:18

   So the book of of Corinthians has a startling relevant relevance for us living as the generation upon whom the ends of the world are come. Another year has come and gone and we are one year closer to his return. We have found that Paul has transcended the particular issues of the Corinthian ecclesia to show us that every generation faces the same struggles, the same temptation that is common to men. Our wisdom is nothing.

8. 2:53

   No flesh can glory in His presence. We become slaves. We are not our own. We are brought with a price. But then God is able to elevate us up to Co labour with us and to transform us so that we become builders of His glory, the reflection of His character, His Majesty and His power, and to shine that glory forth to others. And we found that even transcending that work with us as individuals is the work of gathering us as individuals together into the powerful unity of an ecclesial body that is united in the same mind, that thinks the same way, but that somehow does so with the power of diversity as each of us brings our selfless capability to the working of the ecclesial body.

9. 3:41

   It’s a body where every member is willing to edify, to bear up, and to build up in true agape love because every action is taken in selfless care for that ecclesial body continually. Through this book, Paul tells us that the key to the issues the Corinthians are struggling with is a change in perspective that says it’s it’s not about me and what I can justify for myself, but it’s a transformation to a life that is lived for the sake of the Father that is there to show forth the glory of the Father. And now in our final study together, we are drawn to an accelerating chapter that elevates us to the power of the resurrection.

10. 4:26

    But we shall find that so many of the ideas and so many of the principles that Paul has established are now pulled together in this beautiful concept of the power of resurrection. It is remarkable that once again Paul is having to deal here with an issue. The Corinthian brethren, or some of them were saying there was no resurrection of the dead. So he has to prove that there is. But then having done this, he takes their mind and he transforms them with the real power of life through resurrection, the real power of the principles that are underlying this, and transforms their understanding. So what is First Corinthians 15 all about then? If I was to ask you what is this chapter, we’d say it’s the well known chapter on resurrection, isn’t it? It’s the chapter of resurrection. Well, yes, it is, but not quite.

11. 5:20

    It’s actually a little bit more. The concepts of resurrection and of being raised, of life come up 15 or 16 times in the chapter. But you may be surprised to find that to the same extent the concepts of death and of dying come up. So it is actually not just a chapter of resurrection, but it is more correctly a chapter of death and then resurrection.

12. 5:46

    And we will find why Paul gives this focus. Well, it’s obvious really, isn’t it? You cannot have a resurrection unless death has occurred first. It’s fairly simple. You can’t be raised from the dead unless you are dead. And Paul shows us, however, that the principle of a resurrection is that life comes from death, that there must be the process of a death first that leads to the elevation of life. And this principle pours through this chapter and leads us finally to the joy of the resurrection and some of the most invigorating and triumphant shouts of all of Scripture, the shouts of triumph by the end of the chapter. And so we pick up the story in First Corinthians 15 and in verse three.

13. 6:36

    I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. So there’s the point, isn’t it? He’s telling us that the resurrection of Christ could only occur because he had first been crucified.

14. 6:57

    It’s putting to death the flesh, isn’t it? Before the new man could live in Christ. Is is the point here. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried and rose again the third day. It’s interesting to note here the connection that Paul does in taking us back to the first chapter in his commencement. If you take your minds back to our first talk that we had together and we found that right at the commencement of the book, before he did anything else, he focused our attention upon the work and the the requirement that we have for the Lord Jesus Christ.

15. 7:33

    The fact that Christ is the beginning and end of all of our life in the truth. And so here at the end of the book, he returns to these very same concepts he commenced with. This is about God’s work in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation, our hope, our resurrection is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And can you see that emphasis that just comes out of these verses?

16. 8:00

    It’s his death 1st and then his resurrection. There’s an interesting quote here in in Romans 5 and verse 10, which picks up this concept and I think explains beautifully the the two elements that Paul is talking about here. Romans 5 and verse 10. 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.

17. 8:28

    And and Paul shows in Romans that there are two distinct phases to the to the work of Christ in his death and resurrection. In his death we were reconciled to God. In his death our sins are forgiven. In his death the flesh is overthrown. So death has occurred, the flesh has died and our sins are forgiven.

18. 8:51

    We are reconciled to God, but much more being reconciled. We are saved by his life. And it’s the power of the resurrection that then gives us the hope of life. He says in in Romans 5 here, and it’s exactly this concept that the apostle is talking about here in First Corinthians as well. We die with Christ, our flesh is destroyed, the old man is put to death, but we are, we are saved, we gain the hope of salvation and of immortal life through the resurrection of Christ. So then in verse 5 through to verse 9 in a section that is perhaps a little sad, Paul needs to go back and to re emphasize to the brethren in Corinth that there were many eyewitnesses who were evident who had evidence of the resurrection of Christ. Verse 5.

19. 9:46

    So verse 4IN context, he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, that he was seen of Cephas. Then of the 12 After that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of due time.

20. 10:06

    So here were all these eyewitnesses who had personally seen the risen Lord themselves. They had seen the power of the risen Lord. Now for us, some 2000 years later, it has a little bit of power, doesn’t it? Yes, there were some eyewitnesses who had actually seen the risen Lord. But you imagine the power of that for the brethren of that time.

21. 10:28

    If he could actually say, look here is a brother here who has actually seen the risen Lord. To say Brother Colin here has actually seen the risen Lord and that he could testify to the fact that he has seen the risen Lord would be a far more powerful thing, wouldn’t it? In Paul’s time they knew the eyewitnesses or they knew people who knew the eyewitnesses.

22. 10:50

    And it wasn’t just that they saw him. There was the surety that over 500 faithful brethren had seen the risen Lord and were convinced of his life. There was absolute, irrefutable proof amongst the ecclesia of that time that the man, the Lord Jesus Christ, had died and risen the third day according to the Scriptures.

23. 11:11

    It beggars belief, doesn’t it, that even in the face of that evidence, there were people who said the resurrection could not occur. There were people alive who had seen him. And then Paul says and, and not just them, but me also. The last one he says as one born out of due time. He says the Lord had had appeared to all the people that he had intended to see.

24. 11:38

    He’d he’d come to those who were going to be eyewitnesses of his resurrection. Then he waited for Paul and he waited for Paul and he waited for Paul. He says as as one born out of due time. He’s, he’s like one of those little kids, isn’t he, that just hold on. They’re quite comfy in mum’s tummy and they’re going to stay there quite comfy.

25. 11:59

    And the poor mum’s sitting there waiting and waiting and it’s two weeks overdue and and three weeks overdue. And then finally he says the the apostle Paul came forth. And so Paul’s a personal witness, but what a witness he is, because that witness, the fact that he was a witness and eyewitness of the risen Lord, had transformed his life.

26. 12:23

    His life had transformed from one who was persecuting the ecclesia to one who was focused only and ever upon his Lord. It it If there is any person who has a complete transformation of his life, it’s the apostle, isn’t it? Who goes from that man who was just full of fire to persecute the ecclesia and who became of anyone who would completely devote his life to the truth? That is the power of a conviction of the resurrected Lord.

27. 12:53

    Verse 10. By the grace of God, I am what I am. In other words, he’s saying I am here as the apostle and an eyewitness of his resurrection and his grace which was bestowed upon me, which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me.

28. 13:13

    And it’s as if the apostle here is is making up for lost time, isn’t it his? He’s now got this focus that is just only upon the resurrected Lord. And he’s saying I’m I’m labouring more abundantly than they all, but it’s not for me. He says it’s not me out there for my own glory. He says I’m doing this because the grace of God is working in me.

29. 13:32

    It’s the power of of my understanding of the work of Christ and the resurrection of Christ that is now motivating my entire devotion to the things of the truth.

30. 13:45

    And then he in answering this particular issue, he shows us the power of the resurrection as a foundation of our hope. Verse 11 and 12. Therefore, whether it were whether it were I or they so we preach and so ye believed he’s saying there that they had preached the gospel to these people on the basis of the resurrection and that they had accepted. But now it’s mind boggling, isn’t he that instead they had turned away from the resurrection as it had been preached to them.

31. 14:16

    Verse 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead he, he’s it’s almost unbelievable, isn’t it? How can you do this and say there is no resurrection of the dead? OK, he says, let’s just understand the consequences of your argument.

32. 14:37

    Remember you’ve you’ve created this technical little argument here that says that there is no resurrection. Let’s just understand the consequence of of that verse 12. If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, 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 risen? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ couldn’t have been raised from the dead.

33. 15:01

    It’s fairly logical, isn’t it? Verse 14? And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain? Yeah. And we have found false witnesses of God, and he’s showing that this little argument they had here had far reaching moral and doctrinal consequences for the entire ecclesia. If you take away the resurrection of the dead, then Christ’s work is gone.

34. 15:21

    He can’t have raised and therefore his work is gone. And if Christ’s work is gone, then there’s no point us preaching because the truth isn’t real. The gospel is not real and our faith is in vain and and he says actually we’re out there is false witnesses. We’re lying every time we go out and preach.

35. 15:36

    We’re lying because it wasn’t actually God’s work to raise Christ because he says verse 15. We have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if the dead don’t rise, He couldn’t have raised if the dead don’t rise. If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised?

36. 15:54

    And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. Ye are yet in your sins. If Christ is not raised, we have no forgiveness, because it is his death that provides forgiveness, but is life that gives us the hope of new life. It’s a bizarre argument, wasn’t it? From the clever academic Greek minds that had managed to convince himself there was no resurrection.

37. 16:24

    But Paul answers it emphatically. What I want to do is just focus here on on one of his responses he gives here in verse 19, because I think it gives us just a a remarkable little insight into the power of the resurrection for the apostle Paul and the power of its motivational, the moral power that it bore for his life.

38. 16:45

    Let’s have a look here in verse 19. If in this life only we have hope, in Christ we are of all men most miserable. It’s a remarkable statement. Just stop and contemplate what he’s saying here. He’s saying if we take away the concept of the resurrection of our hope, if we say that this life now is all that we have is a hope, it’s not about the future.

39. 17:18

    He says we are of all men, most miserable of anyone out there upon the earth. He says we are the most miserable if we have just this life and no future life. I find that a remarkable statement, brothers and sisters and young people, because he is saying that it that our life in this life is so strongly not focused on ourself.

40. 17:48

    It is so much focused not upon our own achievements and our own enjoyment on what we want to accomplish and our own ambition, but instead is so focused on the future and the hope of the future and what we are doing to contribute towards the growth of the future that if the future does not exist, we are utterly miserable in this life. And it’s an incredibly strong insight into the life and the motivation of the apostle Paul who’s saying this life is nothing to me.

41. 18:17

    Remember his phrase, I count all things but dung that I might win Christ. He says this life is nothing to me. There’s there’s no focus on himself at all. The future is all that he has. The future hope is Paul’s life. Every part of meaning in this life was due to the fact he was focused on the future.

42. 18:42

    It’s, it’s such a little phrase almost hidden in, in all of the other beautiful phrases in this chapter, but it gives us this incredible insight into the depth of Paul’s focus on the future. And, and I just have to say that from my perspective, when I contemplate that, I find it difficult to comprehend the extent to which the apostle had given up on this life. Now it’s easy for us to to enjoy this life, isn’t it? To look at the blessings we have in this life and to think, actually, I’m, I’m enjoying this life. It’s easy for us even to look at the incredible blessings we have in the ecclesial community and to rejoice in those and to focus on those.

43. 19:26

    And absolutely that is not a wrong thing in itself, because the Lord himself says there is no man that doesn’t give up father or mothers or sisters or lands for my sake, and receive in this life 1 hundredfold and in the Kingdom life everlasting. So there are blessings which come from this life, but what Paul is showing us is that the blessings of this life are not our focus. That if this life was all we had, then the fact that all of our energy and all our effort and all our life is devoted to building the building of God, to edifying our brothers and sisters and likewise them to us, so that we are building towards the future.

44. 20:05

    And if that is gone, then all our focus and all our purpose, all our desire in life is gone and is nothing. Paul had had transformed his focus to such an extent that all he cared about was the future life. Everything he accomplished was to lead from this life of mortality to the glory of immortality in the future, to transfer from this life to the next.

45. 20:33

    Verse 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that sleep. And here is Paul’s uttest sense of conviction. Christ is risen from the dead. I’m convinced of that. He says I’m an eyewitness of of it as one born out of due time. And it’s caused me to transform my life so that this life is nothing and my focus is on the future. He is risen and not just that he has risen, but he’s become the first fruits of them, that sleep. He’s the first of many, the forerunner who has entered into the holy place, the first fruits that promise a future harvest, the certainty for us as it was for him that as Christ was raised from the dead, so we can be raised also. There is a a real sense of triumph in those words from Paul, isn’t it?

46. 21:21

    Now Christ? Now is Christ risen and become the first fruits from the dead. Verse 21 this the sense of triumph. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. By man came death.

47. 21:47

    All in Adam die, but in Christ would all be made alive. Let’s just note in passing in verse 21, the fact that in Adam all would die. It can be a difficult concept for for I know as a young person I used to struggle with this concept of well, Adam and Eve have sinned.

48. 22:08

    So to what extent does that impact me? And it’s clear, isn’t it? They are our father and our mother. We are born in them. We have become like them. We bear the same body that they had after sin. And so when we are born, we die also. It’s a fundamental principle that an Adam all die and and it’s been challenged today, isn’t it, as we’ve seen so often through this school.

49. 22:36

    So in verse 22, just see the contrast here as an Adam all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. There’s one who begets death. It’s life that can only end in death. And on the other hand, there’s the anointed one who’s able to bigot us unto life itself. And so here again is this theme of of life and of death or death and of life that becomes this theme that just flows through this chapter. What about this concept that all are made alive as an atom all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The chapter talks quite emphatically of of all the all who are being made alive.

50. 23:24

    And if read at a cursory level, it can suggest, can’t it, this idea of a, of a universal salvation. But remember that this chapter is focused upon the salvation of the Saints. This chapter is focused on the inevitable and and coming triumph of those who are God’s people. It’s the salvation, the resurrection to eternal life of those who are God’s people.

51. 23:48

    And so when he says that all in Christ shall be made in Christ shall all be made alive, he’s talking of those who are in Christ who have put on Christ, who have become part of Christ and who have become the true body of Christ who are made alive. Verse 23 Every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits afterward they that are his Christ at his coming, and then cometh the end, when she he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father.

52. 24:22

    So he’s telling us here that there is an order of resurrection, isn’t there? Clearly the first is, is Christ. I’ve said here there are there are three resurrections. What are they? Well, the first is Christ as the first fruits. You probably can’t see the detail of it. The point of that is just as first fruits, what’s what’s the point of the first fruits?

53. 24:42

    The point of the first fruits is that there is a promise of more harvest to come that the first fruits are risen as it were, or the earnest of of the whole harvest that was to come. And so in that very real way, Christ is there as the first fruits. He’s the first fruits provided, but it’s the evidence of the fact that there were more fruit to come. There was more fruit to come, a greater harvest that would inevitably flow through the process of time. So what are these three resurrections? Well, the first is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, Christ as the firstfruits.

54. 25:16

    He’s the evidence of the of the resurrection and the fact that we have the hope of resurrection ourself afterward. They that are Christ’s at his coming. So that’s turning talking about the return of Christ back to the earth. And that’s the hope that we have, isn’t it? That’s the hope of resurrection that we long for, when Christ will return to the earth and having returned will raise us from the dead and following judgment will make us immortal. That’s the resurrection for us and our hope. So what’s this third one that I talk about? Well, I believe it’s actually this one in verse 24. Then cometh the end or you can see the word cometh in italics there.

55. 25:57

    Then the end. So the resurrections he talk about he talks about is Christ the firstfruits afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming and then the end as he says, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father. And in that third resurrection is talking about the end of the thousand year period of the millennial reign. It’s the end of the thousand years when we know there is the what is called the second resurrection in in in Revelation, second death.

56. 26:30

    So so then cometh the end is talking of the of the work of resurrection at the end of the thousand year period. So there are three resurrections. This Christ who becomes the absolute assurance and evidence to us of the of our resurrection. There was our resurrection who are who have lived and died before his coming, and then there is the final resurrection at the end of the thousand year period.

57. 27:06

    So let’s just read verse 24 through to verse 26 again. With this in mind, let’s just see what the focus of the apostle here is. Then cometh the end. This is the end of the thousand year reign, the end of the Millennium, 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. It highlights a very important component of God’s work. Christ died for our sins.

58. 27:44

    He was raised for our salvation. That opens the salvation for the Saints who are resurrected, judged and made immortal. And those Saints then assist in the explosion of God’s knowledge to the entire earth in the 1000 years of the Kingdom, who go through their own process of probation, death, resurrection, judgement, and immortality. Can you see this concept here that’s coming out? Even in this idea of the resurrection is the concept of the building of God’s glory.

59. 28:19

    It’s a work that’s begun in Christ, has been worked in the Saints down through time until he returns back to the earth. And He will take us and reflect in US the fullness of His glory in immortality, and then use us to transform the earth in the 1000 years of the Kingdom, until the entire earth itself has come to know and love the Father. All that is left upon the earth are people who have gone through the process of death, who are now immortal, who understand the Father completely, and in whom the Father’s glory shines and His work is completed.

60. 29:03

    The interesting thing is that this focus here in Corinthians is quite a different focus often to what we bring to the process of resurrection. Here’s a a little section out of Christian demonstrate from Brother Roberts. It will thus be seen that the Kingdom of the 1000 years is but a transitional period between the purely animal and purely spiritual ages. It will blend the elements of both. It will exhibit the perfection of the eternal ages in the Lord Jesus and the Saints who will be immortal and incorruptible, and the imperfection of the human age and the mortal population who will constitute the subjects of their rule. So what he’s saying is the 1000 year period is actually a process of transition, that the Kingdom that we so often focus upon is actually a transitional period which transitions the earth between the purely animal period and the spiritual ages in which there is only immortality and spirit beings. And therefore, he says, as part of that transition, it blends elements of both.

61. 30:06

    It has both those who are immortal Saints with the Lord Jesus and are incorruptible, and it has imperfect humans as we are today who are the subjects of our rule. He continues, both will coexist for 1000 years and will constitute a state of things as superior to the present dispensation as it will be inferior to the glory ages beyond the Kingdom of God will lead us by a bridge of 1000 years from the age of sin and death defection to the age of restoration in the bosom of the deity in righteousness and life eternal. What he’s saying is that the thousand year period of the Kingdom will be so immensely superior to what we know now. And that’s what we focus on, isn’t it, that we, we look at the vision of the Kingdom and, and rightly so. And we see the, the beauty and the power of the Kingdom and we long for the Kingdom to be here.

62. 31:01

    But he says the superiority of the Kingdom to this life actually is mirrored, he says, by the superiority of the time beyond the 1000 years to the Kingdom itself. Can you see that, that, that this transition time of 1000 years will be overwhelmed by the superiority of what will happen beyond that time? It’s one that’s difficult to get our mind around, isn’t it? So much of the vision of immortality is given to us in a picture of the 1000 years.

63. 31:32

    And in fact, Paul says that when he was taken up into that time beyond the beyond the Millennium, that there were things almost that he the too wonderful to add, things which, which were almost too difficult for us to get our mortal heads around the power and the wonder of what that time post the Millennium will be like. But I think it’s important for us to understand that from God’s perspective, his focus is not just on the return of Christ, but that that ushers in a transition period which leads us or leads the entire earth in a process which is not completed until its transformation has been finished at the end of the thousand years.

64. 32:10

    God’s focus is not just on the establishment of his Kingdom. Now, of course, that is a fundamental focus for us, isn’t it? Because the question of whether we are accepted and made immortal without sin at that time will be answered at the return of Christ, isn’t it? For us, the return of Christ becomes the focal point because essentially that’s the time of probation which is ended and and we are either in or out of the Kingdom at that stage.

65. 32:37

    And therefore our focus says that’s our hope and we desire to be in the Kingdom. But from the Father’s perspective and the sons work with Him, the focus is not primarily upon His coming, but upon the way He transitions His plan to fill the earth with people who understand Him. His work is not completed until He is all and in all.

66. 33:01

    And upon the earth every being is a glorious immortal without sin, who understands and loves and follows their Father with all their spirit being. The time beyond the Millennium will transcend the glory of the Kingdom as much as the Kingdom will transcend Thee these days now.

67. 33:26

    So let’s just come back and have a wee read of this section again, because I think there’s also a little bit more that the apostle has for us in this section.

68. 33:35

    From verse 24, I’m going to read through to verse 28. 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, 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 to put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be All in all.

69. 34:07

    OK, is that clear? We’ve got that all all nicely sorted. It’s quite a tongue to us. There isn’t. It’s quite hard to get the head around in terms of what the Apostle is saying here, So let’s just take a moment to actually understand the power of what the apostle’s talking about here. It’s talking about the role working together in tandem of the Father and the Son in the transition period of the 1000 years of the Millennium.

70. 34:31

    The way the Father and the Son work together in the transition period to finally accomplish his purpose at the end of the 1000 years, it becomes complex to understand because the he and him and his actually mixes up between the work of God and the work of Christ. So if you’ve got two different colour pencils, let’s just take a moment to go through this verse 24 then cometh the end when he that is the Son or Jesus. So obviously one colour for for the Son and one colour for God, when he the Son shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when God shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

71. 35:15

    So I’ll I’ll be able to you, you’ll see the sense of that and why I say that as we go through. So when the Son shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when God has put down all rule and all authority and power for the Son, verse 25 must reign till God hath put all enemies under the sun’s feet. I’ll, I’ll give you evidence of that shortly, Just trust me in the meantime.

72. 35:43

    For the sun must reign till God hath put all enemies under the sun’s feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For God hath put all things under the sun’s feet. But when God saith all things are put under him, you’ll see that’s in in italics. But nevertheless that is the sun, when when God saith all things are put under the sun, it is manifest that God is accepted which did put all things under the sun.

73. 36:15

    And when all things shall be subdued unto the sun, then shall the sun also himself, as the sun, be subject unto God that put all things under the sun, that God may be all and in all. Hopefully, hopefully you got that. I’ll just take you through that. Now let’s just read through and see if we can really understand the sense of what’s coming out to you. Then cometh the end, when the sun shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when God has completed His work of putting down all rule and authority and power. Because the sun’s role is to reign until God has put all enemies under the sun’s feet.

74. 36:57

    The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for God hath put all things under his Son’s feet. But of course, when God says all things are put under the sun, it’s obvious that God is accepted who was the very one who put all things under the sun. And when all things shall be subdued unto the sun, then the sun himself becomes subject to God, who put all things under the sun in the first place, so that God can be all and in all.

75. 37:35

    Can you see the concept that pours out of this, that even as Christ reigns upon the earth for the 1000 years of the transition process, it is still all God’s work? Even when the sun is reigning as the King upon the earth, it is God who’s subduing the enemies under the feet of Christ.

76. 37:59

    So now the evidence. How can I say that? Well, let’s come back to Psalm 110, Psalm 110. Now I am cheating slightly because I don’t believe Psalm 110 is actually quoting directly from or as where Paul is quoting directly from. However, I believe that Psalm 110 is quoting directly from the source that Paul himself is directly quoting from. It’s the same source and the same ideas behind it. And, and you’ll see that those these ideas just come right through the Psalm.

77. 38:29

    And there are other connections as well. Psalm 110 and verse one. Yahweh said unto my Lord, sit there at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. So that’s the concept, isn’t it? I’m putting all of the enemies under His feet. Yahweh shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. So Psalm 110 clearly tells us, doesn’t it, that this is God’s work?

78. 38:58

    It is God’s work. He says to the Son, Sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Yahweh shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. He’s saying the Father is saying that He’s doing the work, although the sun is reigning.

79. 39:14

    It’s the Father who brings things in subjection under his feet. But notice he says in Psalm 110 that he is to the sun is to sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foot still. And according to one Corinthians 15, that doesn’t happen until the end of the millennial reign, does it? Until the end of the thousand years, because the last enemy that is destroyed is death itself. So the Son is to remain at the right hand of God until the end of the the thousand year reign when the last enemy itself was destroyed being death.

80. 39:46

    How can that be? He’s in heaven now, isn’t he? But shortly he’s going to arise from the right hand of the Father and come back to the earth. He’s going to leave his sight. Well, the answer to the puzzle is that even when he has left his side to physically return to the earth, he has not left the right hand of the Father.

81. 40:06

    The concept of the right hand of the Father is one of sitting in authority with the Father, of sitting to rule with the authority of the King. So when the Lord Jesus Christ leaves the physical presence of his Father and returns to the earth, he is still sitting at the right hand of his Father in power and great glory. He’s there with his Father’s authority and power until he has finally finished the work, the Father’s work of bringing all enemies in subjection underneath them. It’s that beautiful sense of the Lord Jesus Christ returning as the arm of his Father to together accomplish this, the subjugation of all things of all enemies, including sin and death itself.

82. 40:53

    Now this stay here in Psalm 110, but I’ll just remind you of of the phrase here out of First Corinthians 15. He says then cometh the end when the son has delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when God has put down all rule and all authority and all power. So the work of that thousand year reign is to put down all rule and all authority and all power. It’s interesting just to note briefly the the use of of these these words here.

83. 41:23

    The idea of rule is the word arke. It’s the idea of commencement of of the first or of a chief. The idea of authority is is the idea of privilege or force or capacity. And the idea of power is is also this idea of force or a strength, but specifically or often used in relation to miraculous power.

84. 41:47

    Now have a look in Psalm 110 and verse 5. The Lord at thy right hand. So the Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth, but still sitting at God’s right hand, shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen. He shall fill the places with the dead bodies.

85. 42:11

    He shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall, he shall drink of the brook in the way, and therefore shall he lift up the head. That’s exactly what the Lord’s doing, isn’t it? He’s putting down all rule and all authority and all power. He’s the Lord at the right hand who’s striking through kings in the day of his wrath.

86. 42:28

    It’s interesting actually to note verse 6. He judges among the nations, He fills the places with the dead bodies. He shall wound the Roche over many countries. It’s this idea of the head, isn’t it, of the chief over many countries. And so here he is. He’s putting down all rule, all the archae, the Roche, the chief of the nations, and he’s taking away the authority and power of the nations.

87. 42:55

    Now it’s just interesting to note in passing the connection with authority with a sense of strength and perhaps the military capacity and power with that of a miraculous or or potentially spiritual component to it. I’ll leave you to to expand on those concepts. So Psalm 110 here is a perfect context, not just of the work of Christ, but of the work of the Saints with Him in immortality.

88. 43:25

    It talks. Verse 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning there hast the Jew of thy youth. Yahweh hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So this is talking not just of the Melchizedek and high priest, but it’s talking of those who are after His order, who are also after the power of an endless life, who are kings and priests going forth to work His work of striking through kings, of overthrowing all rule and authority and power. It’s the picture of God working through his Son to accomplish the subjection and subjugation of all authority and power against him and his rule.

89. 44:13

    And we are there, brothers and sisters, as part of that work, working with the Lord to do the Father’s work. It’s interesting to note that the use if we come back to First Corinthians 15, it’s interesting to note the use of this phrase to put down all rule and all authority and and all power.

90. 44:48

    Clearly we’re told in verse 25 and 26, he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. But this concept of of the power and also the concept of authority are also key themes that flow throughout the book of Corinthians. We’re just going to focus just briefly on this concept of the power, that phrase, the Greek word phrase there comes up 15 times in the book of Corinthians.

91. 45:16

    I’ll give you 3 chapter 1 verse 18 unto us, which are saved. It is the power of God, chapter one, verse 24, Christ, the power of God, chapter 2, verse five, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. And so this theme of power in the particular Greek word there for power becomes a key theme throughout the book.

92. 45:40

    And it is nearly always, not exclusively, but nearly always used in the context of God’s power to save. But what’s happening here in one Corinthians 15 is that Christ as the ruler on behalf of God is having to put put down another power. It’s another power that is challenging God and his authority and his power.

93. 46:02

    So here is Christ, here is God’s power to save through his Son, but there is another power that challenges God’s ability to do so. And so the thousand year transition becomes this contest in its in its fullness. The 1000 years is actually this contest against the power of God versus the power of sin and of death.

94. 46:26

    It’s the power that is challenging God and His authority and His power. Hosea 3 and verse 1413 and verse 14. Excuse me, I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. Interestingly, you may just note this what is a a echo into one Corinthians 15 later on which we won’t have time to look at. O death, I will be thy plagues, a grave I will be thy destruction.

95. 46:58

    But the interesting thing there is, he says, I will ransom them from the power of the grave. So the grave is the thing that has power, isn’t it? Or Hebrews 2 and verse 14. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

96. 47:28

    So the work of Christ was to come and to destroy him that had the power of death. And that power is that because of death in our mortality and our fear of mortality, we, we end up spending all of our life subject to bondage under the power of death. And so you can see the importance in, of this, of this concept.

97. 47:52

    He’s put down all rule and all authority and power. And it’s the sense, isn’t it, from the beginning of the 1000 years that he commences this work of systematically working through and putting down rule and authority and power. All those who challenge God, all those who set themselves up as another form of, of authority or rule or power are put down 1 by 1. And the easy ones, in a way, are done first, aren’t they? The military power of Armageddon, the overthrow of the Catholic system and the whole sense of of its antagonism against God, but as he works through the millennial period, becomes the most difficult power, the most difficult enemy that has to be faced and overcome, because it is the power of sin and death in the mortal population. It’s the power of the grave, the power of death. And so there is this beautiful sense here, isn’t there in verse 25.

98. 48:53

    He must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet. And so the work of the Father and the Son together throughout that thousand year period is brought together in the end in this beautiful way where death itself is destroyed. The power that is challenging God is destroyed and put under him.

99. 49:24

    So verse 25, when he says he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, as I’ve said, Psalm 110 is a reference to that, but the quotation itself actually comes from Psalm 8. So let’s come back to Psalm 8.

100. 49:57

     And we read in Psalm 18 and in verse 6, Thou maidest him to have dominion. That’s the Lord over the works of thy hands. There has put all things under his feet. There has put all under his feet. So this is the exact quotation that the apostle is quoting here. He’s put all things under his feet.

101. 50:16

     But the interesting thing is that the apostle Paul uses this reference in connection with the final overthrow of the enemy and of death itself. And yet so often we use Psalm 8 to say or within the context of the crucifixion and the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ himself over sin. So Psalm 8 and in verse one, O Yahweh our Lord, how excellent is Thy name, and all the earth, who has set Thy glory above the heavens. Verse 4, what is man?

102. 50:46

     That thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man that thou visitest him? And we say that’s the Lord Jesus Christ, Thou madest him to be a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honour, and made his Tim to have dominion over the works of thy hands.

103. 50:58

     And we rightly say, and we can do so with evidence because it’s picked up by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews to say so and in other places to say that that references the overthrow of the dominion of sin by the Lord Jesus Christ in his body, in himself in the process of crucifixion, That he was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.

104. 51:19

     And having overthrown death is now crowned with glory and honour, sitting at the right hand of the Father himself. And we rightly relate that to the work of Christ. But Paul in Corinthians has picked that up and expanded it and, and said that Psalm is not just talking about the overthrow of death by the Lord Jesus Christ in himself in his crucifixion, but is actually talking in its entirety of the work of subduing all enemies. The the anything that that that would set itself up and rule or authority or power against against God and that God would have dominion over them until the end of the thousand years until the time when the last enemy itself being death was put to death in victory.

105. 52:08

     So let’s have a look at the Psalm in this light, reading the Psalm in the context of it being at the end of the thousand year time when God has finished His work and there is no more sin and death upon the earth. Oh Yahweh our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth.

106. 52:29

     So Yahweh’s name, he, he’s saying He is going to be manifest in a whole group of people, has now been accomplished in its entirety in all the earth. Can you, can you see the power of, of this, of the Psalm there as it, as it talks of the final glory of, of God himself as all the earth becomes full of his glory.

107. 52:49

     Who has set thy glory above the heavens? The fullness of his glory and of his work that has been built through his Son and has become that we become part of, as we have seen through Corinthians, the extension and growth of his glory as that glory grows and grows and grows is now a position where it’s set above the heavens as it, as it were, that Yahweh’s name is excellent and all the earth and his glory is magnificent above the heavens.

108. 53:17

     Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings has thou ordained strength, because of fine enemies, that thou mightestil the enemy and the avenger. And there it is. Death, the worst and great enemy of all time, has been stilled and brought to nothing. When I consider thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man? That Thou art mindful of Him, and the Son of Man that Thou visitest Him?

109. 53:53

     You can look at the broad expanse of all of the Father’s creative work across the heavens, the work of His fingers, as it were, to pull out the moon and the stars which had God had ordained. But he says the greatest work has been in man, and particularly the Son of Man, that He should visit Him, that He made Him for a while just a little lower than the angels, and had now crowned Him with glory and honour, and finally had given Him in verse 6, to have dominion over the works of Thy hands, and put all things under His feet, including subduing death itself.

110. 54:32

     All sheep and oxen. Yeah, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea, every component of the Father’s creative work has come under the dominion of the sun. And the Father’s work of putting down all rule and all authority and power against Him is completed, and upon the earth is just those who show forth His glory in their fullness. Verse 9.

111. 55:03

     O Yahweh our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. God’s work is accomplished and all the earth is full of His glory. All of a sudden we can understand why Paul uses this beautiful phrase back in First Corinthians 15, that God may be All in all because finally at the end of that thousand year period, His work has been accomplished and everything and anything left upon the earth is a magnificent reflection of and part of God himself.

112. 55:55

     Because finally, His name is excellent in all the earth. You know, God gave that promise. God gave that surety of that work from the from the very beginning of creation. Genesis 1 and verse 28 on the screen here, God’s foundation statement, the first statement that He made to man be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

113. 56:35

     The psalmist tells us in Psalm 8 that that is a prophecy, that that is a foundation of hope that was given to Adam and Eve before the full. That transcended the work of the ages. It was a foundation statement of hope that transcended not just the work of Adam and Eve. It transcended even the work of the Lord for us in these ages.

114. 57:07

     And look right forward to the end of the thousand year period when the whole earth, the whole purpose of the Father’s creation, would be utterly full of the glory of the Father and of His glory alone, because dominion would be had over everything upon the earth. This is Yahweh’s glory, that God may be all and all as we saw yesterday, but expanded so beautifully here. You see, yesterday when Paul was talking about God being all and all, he was dealing with us in our mortality, in our weakness. He was dealing with the fact that in our life now as an ecclesia, we are to be bound together in a way that starts to produce God being all and all in us. But here in First Corinthians 15 is the final climax of all of Yahweh’s work, that Yahweh’s glory has been utterly transformed in each one of us because we are there in immortality.

115. 58:17

     And what the apostle is doing so beautifully in this chapter is to show the power and the transformation of that work in a way that is absolutely beautiful and powerful to us. Yes, God is working our life now. Yes He is working in us to develop us and to to help us to grow and we become part or Co Co labourers together with Him to build and to assist in His glory.

116. 58:40

     But brothers and sisters and young people understand that Paul is saying in First Corinthians 15, we work now, but we can scarcely comprehend the enormity of the transformation and the power that will occur as we stand in immortality upon the earth able to do God’s work in that day. That God’s work will take this massive leap forward as there are a group of immortal beings under the the rulership of His Son who can go forth upon the earth to work his work and to have dominion over sin itself until finally he is revealed in a group of spirit beings who are completely and utterly like Him.

117. 59:22

     Just contemplate the concept of God being All in all. In that context, it means what it says. It means that every person upon the earth is in the Father in their entirety. It means that there is nothing left in those individuals which contradicts or goes against anything in the Father’s character or His principles.

118. 59:45

     That every component of their life, that every fibre of their being and every thought they they have is lived in a beautiful and a perfect harmony with the Father and His intentions. And that is us. It’s talking about every one of us with no element of sin, none of the weakness of mortality, and no longer presiding over an earth with its own struggles. We’re part of a glorious throng of people whose entire focus is on the glory of God and of Him alone. And in that sense, I say it carefully, God is all that is left.

119. 1:00:20

     In that sense, we have become part of God because that’s all that’s left us. As an expansion of the Father’s glory, our hearts an expansion of Him, it’s almost too wonderful to contemplate, too large to get our heads around that there could be such a glorious time upon the earth. Never anything bad, never a struggle, never any weakness.

120. 1:00:52

     But the Father exists alone in the hearts and and with his people. This concept of being All in all is actually picked up in relation to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come across to to Ephesians and chapter 1 Ephesians 1 and in verse 19.

121. 1:01:24

     And what is the exceeding greatness of his power? Interesting use of phrases and of his power to us who who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he God wrought in Christ, when God raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this will, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet.

122. 1:01:51

     It’s exactly the same concept being talked about, isn’t it? And gave him to be the head over all things to the ecclesia, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all. And so in a in a very real sense, Christ becomes this body in which we become All in all in Christ.

123. 1:02:11

     And that All in all in Christ is then used to expand and work upon the earth until God becomes All in all. We are. He’s our head over the ecclesia, His body, the fullness of Him that that worketh. All in all, the work of the Father with us is the work which is working to the end of the millennial reign.

124. 1:02:33

     Interestingly, it is, as we see here, a work that is mirrored or replicated by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ with us today in our ecclesial environment. He’s the head over all things over the ecclesia. He’s put all things under His feet and in the same way that the Father is working towards the end of the thousand year period to be All in all, in exactly the same way, the Son is working with us now so that we can be All in all with him. Am I taking it too far?

125. 1:03:03

     We’ll come across to Colossians chapter 3, Colossians 3 and verse 10. Well, let’s read verse 9 for context. Lie not one to another, saying you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

126. 1:03:35

     And so absolutely, He’s picking up that same phrase of the Father’s work, but he’s saying on a smaller scale on a subset of the Father’s work, that work is mirrored by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ today, that he is working in our ecleses. He’s working with us as the Son in his own millennial time, as it were, to bring his people to be all and all with Him until he returns to the earth to do God’s broader work upon the earth.

127. 1:04:06

     So Paul tells us in Corinthians that that work of Christ, as he works with us in the ecclesia to be all and all in Him, is then expanded with the sun and with us as we are All in all with Him, to fulfil God’s greater purpose of being all and all upon the earth. It’s telling us that the work of a Millennium in placing all enemies under the sun’s feet and subduing all flesh is exactly the same work that is going on in our lives today. That the Son is working with us to that same extent to subdue our flesh under His feet and to bring us victorious with Him when He comes to establish God’s Kingdom upon the earth. It’s that beautiful mirror image that works, the parallel of of Christ’s work with us personally to remove sin and God’s work with Christ and their Saints to remove sin upon the earth. But The thing is, if we wish to be part of that work, if we want to be part of that resurrection, then we have to die and we have to die now, Paul says back in First Corinthians 15 verse 30. Why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

128. 1:05:39

     I die daily. Our work in this life is to die with Him, to put life and flesh and sin to death in subjection under the sun’s feet, so that when He returns, we can be all and all with Him. I want to skip across now to verse 42. There’s some beautiful sections here which we’re going to have to skip just to get through to the end of the chapter. I just want to pick up the concepts of what’s talked about here in verse 42 through to verse 45. So also is the resurrection of the dead. So the question being asked here by the Corinthian brethreners in what body are people raised?

129. 1:06:26

     How could people possibly be raised was their question and he’s answering that. What is the sense of of how they’re raised? Verse 42, So also is the resurrection of the dead. Note that it’s not the death and resurrection, It’s the resurrection of the dead. It’s the process of resurrection being talked about. It’s sown in corruption. It’s raised in incorruption.

130. 1:06:43

     It’s sown in dishonor. It’s raised in glory. It’s sown in weakness. It’s raised in power. It’s sown a natural body. It’s raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it’s written. The first man atom was made a living soul. The last man atom was made a quickening spirit. Now you can see the comparison of the two ideas that flow through there, can’t you?

131. 1:07:01

     There’s corruption, there is dishonor, there is weakness. There’s a natural body, there’s the first atom. On the other hand, there’s incorruption, there’s glory, there’s power, there’s a spiritual body, there is the last atom and he’s he’s contrasting or or using this idea of of two different two different ideas. Here brother Thomas suggests an Anastasis and he has all his reasoning behind it, which I find very convincing.

132. 1:07:30

     He says this passage then in first Corinthians 15 should be read the resurrection body springs or is sprouted or born in in corruption. He goes back to the to the original Greek that rather than saying that the body in verse 42, it is sown in corruption. Should it actually be read to say it’s it’s sprouted or springs forth in corruption?

133. 1:07:50

     His, his, his point there essentially is if we say, if we say it’s a the idea of sowing, then we’re actually putting the seed into the into the ground and it dies, isn’t it? But he’s actually showing the point from the Greek, which, as I say, he, he argues quite convincingly that actually this form of the Greek word here is more of the idea of, of the sprouting up. So it’s actually talking about a two step process in resurrection that occurs.

134. 1:08:13

     The resurrection body springs first in corruption and then it’s built up or reared up or raised in in corruption. So the the apostle is actually taking us through or telling us very simply that process of the the resurrection is a 2 step process from being dead. The person who is dead is raised first in a corruptible body. The process of judgement then occurs, and having been found worthy of immortality, they are then built or read up or raised into incorruption.

135. 1:08:48

     And the phrase just is repeated. It’s sprouted us in dishonor. It’s raised in glory. It comes forth in its weakness, in its in its weak body, but it’s built up in power. It’s born of the earth, a natural body. It’s read up or transformed by the spirit into a spirit body. And so we’re being told quite simply, that there is a 2 step process here of, of resurrection.

136. 1:09:13

     It comes because of death. People are dead, but they are raised up not immediately into mortality. That makes sense, isn’t it? Because there’s a, there’s a judgement process that occurs first. So they’re raised up into a body of mortality or of corruption. They go through the process of judgement and then a raised into the spirit being. So the faithful person is raised up not as an as an immortal, but as a body that is corruptible goes through the process of judgement.

137. 1:09:49

     And then in the final process of judge of resurrection, when it’s raised into its immortal glory, the seed has not just put out its little sprout in terms of it’s resurrected to to a corruptible life, but has been expanded so beautifully to bring forth fruit in the glory of immortality. It’s a 2 step process that gives the earthly body new life and transforms it into a glorious spirit being.

138. 1:10:16

     So why is that the case? Why has the Father deemed it important to have this process of resurrection? Well, the first answer, brothers and sisters and young people, is that it allows us to be part of the process of glorification for those of us who have not died at the coming of Christ, which is getting more and more likely by the year.

139. 1:10:39

     That process of resurrection out of the grave itself is not required because we are already here in our earthly body. But the second process following the judgement seat, when God willing, we are changed into spirit beings, is 1 where all the Saints of the ages are joined together in the glory of immortality. The second reason I believe is it allows it to be very clear on by on, on the basis of by whom and on what principle we are saved.

140. 1:11:14

     Verse 45 as it is written, the first man, Adam was made a living soul and the last man, Adam was made into a quickening spirit. That’s the Lord Jesus Christ who has made this idea of the quickening spirit, is into a life giving spirit, a spirit who gives life. So on the one hand we have Adam, Adam who made us, who made us a living being, but also a dying being and from whom we had mortality. But the second Adam is the Lord Jesus Christ who is raised up into a spirit being who gives us life. We only have life in Him.

141. 1:11:56

     It’s not our work. It’s not our work, brothers and sisters and young people. That work is only accomplished through one who is able to be a life giving a quickening spirit. And thirdly, it highlights for us the principle that resurrection must come from death. There can be no resurrection to glorious spirit being unless our mortal body is put to death. So if that is the case, if there can be no resurrection to life without death, where does that place us who are alive and remain at His coming?

142. 1:12:45

     And the answer has to be The answer has to be that in all but the physical sense we have put to death the flesh. Now as Paul says, I die daily, that we have learnt that we are nothing, that no flesh can glory in His presence, that if we want to partake of the resurrection of the dead, then we must put to death the put to death the flesh in this life.

143. 1:13:11

     Now, as Paul says in Philippines, he says that I might know Him in the power of His resurrection, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might also attain to the resurrection of the dead, the sense of being made conformable unto His death, so that we can share in His resurrection. And then, brothers and sisters and young people, shall come the glorious moment that we all wait and long for. We shall all be changed in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump.

144. 1:13:56

     For this, 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. We shall be changed.

145. 1:14:12

     And in that phrase, our mortality and our tendency to sin, our daily struggle with this body, the sadness, the weakness, the pain and the difficulty we face is done away and we are ushered in. We are transformed into the glorious spirit power of immortality. We are transformed, brothers and sisters, because God says this corruptible must put on in corruption and this mortal must put on immortality. And that’s us.

146. 1:14:52

     It’s talking about. It’s us in our life, in our body, who are transformed into the power and the wonder of immortality, together with the sun and because of the sun, and together as this united ecclesial body, we are there in that glorious immortality. And when this corruptible shall have put on in corruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Death is swallowed up in victory. He can sense this triumphant cry. O death, where is thy sting?

147. 1:15:39

     O grave, where is thy victory? It’s perhaps the most triumphant cry of all of Scripture, isn’t it? It’s a cry that mirrors the cry of the Lord. It is done, it is finished, because the battle is won. Our flesh is subdued and dead, and we are there in the glory and the wonder and the power of immortality.

148. 1:16:06

     But death is swallowed up in victory, and as death swallows up its final victim, this beautiful irony of death swallowing itself as it reaches out its hand to take its final victim and touches the last of those mortals who will not share an immortality. As it turns to take its next, it realizes that there is no more, that there can be no more death, that it’s very power has been overthrown and shall never ever, ever again work its work or its power upon the earth.

149. 1:16:43

     But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s his work. We cannot do it ourselves, but the power of that victory of the work of Christ is going to be wrought on a scale that we cannot comprehend today because every component of our life is transformed by the power of immortality.

150. 1:17:08

     And the work which He has accomplished with us as individuals, that’s wrought in our families and in our ecclesias, will be wrought throughout the Millennium until every individual upon the earth are only those who know and love their Father with all their fullness and all their being. We become the spirit beings of the age to come.

151. 1:17:35

     We dwell with God as part of Him, and God is All in all. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,

152. 1:18:06

     ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.