[0:00] Without a doubt, he is a great God, and that's wonderful. Thank you. Take your Bibles if you would. Turn with me to Mark chapter 13. Now, if you're following the Bible and you know where you are in this passage of Scripture, Jesus will die very shortly.
[0:13] He is hours from death. He knows he's come to an end. He told the guys, I'm going to Jerusalem, and I'm going to die. And so before he does that, he says, I'm going to go ahead and tell y'all what's going to happen in the future.
[0:26] I'm going to tell you. And he's told them before plenty of times, I'm going to die, I'm going to be buried, and I'm going to rise again. But in this passage, he's going to end up saying, I'm going to die, I'm buried, I rise again, but I am coming again.
[0:40] You will see me again coming from heaven with great power and great glory. We won't get to that part yet today, but I just want you to know he is God, the God of all creation, the God of all power, everything.
[0:54] These young ladies saying he is all of that and more. And he is telling them in this passage, this is what's going to happen in the future. We've seen that we all are already suffering and experiencing things that he talked about, a beginning of sorrows.
[1:10] We're talking about how people hurt. We're talking about how people say they're the Christ. But now he's going to take us to the tribulation period. And we're going to talk about that. Look, if you would, in verse 9.
[1:20] And I want you to underline this in your Bible, if you would. Underline, take heed. Because here's what he's saying. Hey, guys, I want you to know before it happens what's going to happen. I want you to know before it happens what's going to happen.
[1:32] Now, nobody else knows what's going to happen. You can guess about what's going to happen. You can tell me, well, I plan on retiring and moving to Florida and buying me a boat. You can name all the things you got in mind.
[1:43] You may die in a car wreck today. You can make all the plans in the world, but you may get sick tomorrow. You can make all the plans in the world, but you don't know tomorrow. But he does know tomorrow.
[1:53] He is the great God of heaven, and he knows. And so he's saying to them, take heed. And then he begins to describe some horrific suffering that people are going to go through that are his people, that are believers in this passage of Scripture.
[2:09] He tells them, you're going to get arrested for being one of my followers. You're going to be beaten for being one of my followers. And you're going to have your family turn you in.
[2:22] You love Jesus. You're trying to serve Jesus and do the right thing. And your brother is going to turn you in where you'll get killed. Your very mama will turn you in, and they'll do it.
[2:32] But you'll be suffering for my sake. And he ends that passage by saying, well, if y'all can hang on to the end, you'll make it through this tribulation period, if you can hang on to the end. I want you to go with me first, though, to John chapter 16 and verse 33.
[2:46] At least write these verses down and look them up later. Now, we're talking about tribulation. And that is problems, trouble, persecution, suffering that God's people are going to go through.
[2:58] And we're going to talk about a time called the great tribulation. We're going to get to that over the next few weeks. We're going to get to this great tribulation. But you need to know that suffering is a part of life now.
[3:11] And the Lord told us about that also. And you need to know that the fact that you are going through hard times, the fact that you are suffering right now. Some of you are saying, you don't know what's going on between me and my wife.
[3:23] You don't know what's going on with my children. You don't know what's going on with my family. I'm telling you, life's hard. And you're thinking that, and you're saying, why hasn't God helped me?
[3:33] You need to know that he already warned us that. Look, if you went to John chapter 16 and verse 33, he warned them about that too. All Christians go through regular temptation, regular trouble, regular tribulation.
[3:46] Just not this great tribulation we'll be discussing. Look at verse 33. These things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation.
[3:57] I want you to learn that. In the world you're going to have problems. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. I want you to look at this verse. And I really want to help you because I love you and I think about you and I pray for you.
[4:09] I want you to look if you went at verse 33, the first part. He said, I'm telling you all it's going to happen. He said, but I want you to know I'm telling you so you can have peace in me. He said, these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace.
[4:21] Would you circle in me? Do you know where your peace is? Your peace can't be found in your health. Your peace can't be found in your bank account. Your peace can't be found in your family relationships.
[4:32] I know of a family that had a large table, a large fancy old table, one of those handmade tables from many years ago. And they took the table and they designed a family tree.
[4:46] So they had this vine come across and it had mom and dad and then had their children being born under them. And I was there for this discussion and they said, what do you do about family mates?
[4:57] So the children, they definitely get to be on there because they're family members. But do you put a hook for them to change spouse? Well, they were actually talking about our family. And I said, well, you can just go ahead and put Betty's name on there. Not planning on changing anytime soon.
[5:09] Amen. But so there are troubles and I can't find my peace in my wife and I can't find my peace in the money and I can't find my peace in the political situation.
[5:19] I find my peace in Christ. Did you put a circle around? Are you saved? Wait a minute. Do you know if you died, you go to heaven? Do you know you know God? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven? If you don't understand what I'm talking about, if you think I'm talking a foreign language, we want to translate it for you and help you that you can be saved.
[5:36] You can know that and you can have that peace that's found only in him. Look at the verse. In the world, you will have trouble, but be of good cheer. You're in me and I have overcome the world.
[5:47] Let me tell you what goes on with suffering. This is on my mind. I'll just be honest with you. It's on my mind. And so I had to take you here because there's so much suffering going on in our church. So many hurting people. I want you to go with me to Romans chapter 5 and verse 3.
[5:59] Because in Mark 13, we are talking about suffering. We are talking about problems. But I need you to understand that when you have trouble and when things are going wrong in your life, God is using that so he can love other people through you.
[6:12] So he can love other people through you. I'm going to prove that to you from the Bible. Who's hurting in this room? Some of you are dealing with family issues. You got children that are sick. Some of you are dealing with, you can't have children.
[6:25] You can't have children. You can't get married. You lost your marriage. Tons of things are going wrong. And you're saying, where in the world? Why all the trouble? Why all the hurt? Look at Romans 5, 3 if you would.
[6:36] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations. Also, would you underline that? You know what Paul said? I want you to get happy you're going through mess. I want you to get happy you're going through mess.
[6:47] Now that's ridiculous. We read that. We're like, oh, good night, man. What planet is he on? Well, this is the word of God and it's for me. Can I get an amen right there? We glory in tribulation.
[6:58] Then it says, also knowing that tribulation worketh patience. Underline that. Tribulation, trouble, problems, works, patience.
[7:09] That word patience there is like the word endurance. You know, no pain, no gain, no mess. You don't get stronger. You're going to get stronger. I'll never forget.
[7:20] Of course, this is back in the days of black and white TV. So many of you never even heard of that. It's back when you had three channels in Saturday morning. I watched a Hercules movie and some scrawny little guy got arrested and thrown on a slave ship.
[7:30] But they were beating him and he worked and rowing on the ship. And every day his muscles grew and he turned into Hercules. Well, if he hadn't have been arrested, put in a ship and had to row, he'd have never turned into Hercules.
[7:41] That's exactly what's going on here. It says here in the verse, tribulation works patience. Then what happens? Patience, experience. Endurance, experience. In other words, if you can hang on when you're going through a whole lot of junk, you're going to learn a lot.
[7:55] If you can hang on and get through it, you're going to learn a lot as you go through it. So you got trouble that's making you patient and giving you endurance. And that endurance is giving you experience.
[8:06] We're not finished yet. Look at what it says next. And experience gives you hope. You know what that means? I've been through mess before and he got me out of it. I've been through mess and he got me through it. I've been through mess and God has shown himself powerful.
[8:18] Hey, I got hope because I didn't quit the last time and he showed up the last time. I can tell you that when things are falling apart in my life, I can trust God to take care of me. Can I get an amen right there?
[8:29] Would you think about that a second? It says we glory in tribulation because tribulation is eventually going to lead me to hope. Tribulation is eventually going to get me to where I can say, hey, I know how God works.
[8:39] I know how God answers prayer. I know how God meets the needs. I know how God shows up and works. My family's been through some stuff. Serve on the field overseas. And on the darkest day of our ministry on a Sunday morning when everything in my life had fallen apart, my daughter had run away from home.
[8:56] I was being embarrassed on national TV. I preached a message and I called it, I will win in this too. You say, how'd you preach that? Well, you see, I'd had so much trouble. I'd have gotten some endurance and that endurance had given me some experience.
[9:08] That experience had told me I know what he'll do. He'll work this out. And today I have the victory. God won the victory. My daughter's a wonderful, sweet servant of God. And I'm just telling you that's what's going on in the verse.
[9:18] We're still not there. We're still not there. Look at the verse. Verse four, patience, experience and experience hope. And hope makes not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.
[9:32] So all of a sudden I'm over here and I'm having trouble. Now look this way and pay attention. I'm having trouble. And that trouble is just giving me fits and tearing me up. But if I'll just hang on and just endure, because you see, when you're going through it, you just, all you can do is hang on.
[9:47] All you can do is hang on and trust God the best way you know how to trust him. You do not know how you're going to get through this. All you're thinking is, I think I can make it one more day. I don't know if I can make it two, but I think I can make it one. I don't know if I can make it two, but I think I can make it one.
[9:59] And you hang on. And as you do that, you develop some endurance. And that endurance takes you on over to some experience. And that experience is like, I did hang on. I made it through one more day and I can make it through another day.
[10:11] And then I made it through two days. I can make it through another day. And then all of a sudden God starts answering prayers. And all of a sudden your stories, you say, man, God always came through.
[10:22] I have hope. Not only do I have hope now, God's love goes through me and loves other people. Because I can say to them, I know where you are. I know how you're hurting. I know how your life is messing up.
[10:33] I know what you're feeling. Because I've been through it. And I worked this whole chain. And I can love you today. I arrived back in Peru in 1990, 88, 88, 89, 90, 91, 1992, January of 92.
[10:44] We arrived back in Peru. And the preachers that worked with me had stolen my car, sold my stuff. Every one of them messed up. All these young men I trained to be in the ministry, all messed up. And the old man missionary that was there, been on the field like 40 years, said, I have never seen anybody come to the mission field with so many problems faced.
[11:01] And I was like, good night, man. I'm going to get back on the airplane. My life is falling apart. I have no ministry left. Everything I've done is in ashes. I might as well quit. And then he looked at me and said, oh, don't worry about it. If you don't have a lot of problems, you don't have any war stories to tell.
[11:14] And someday you'll have a lot of stories to tell. That's hope. That's hope. You're going to be able to tell the story about how God brought you through it. I know I am spending more time on this than I had intended, but I just want you to know God's taking care of you.
[11:25] God's going to let you love people. Look, if you would, at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 4. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 4. Paul was glad to see God's people dealing with their suffering correctly.
[11:36] You need to deal with your trouble correctly. You need to deal with your trouble correctly. You're the people of God. You belong to him. How many of you would say, I am saved? I am born again.
[11:46] God has given me new life. If that's your testimony, say amen. Now, you don't have to say anything right here, but how many of you are hurting? How many of you are sitting there thinking, I am really going through the mess? I got on a smile and I'm acting like everything's all right, but it ain't all right at home.
[11:59] And my wife knows it's not all right. And I know it's not all right. My family knows it's all right. There's stuff I'm dealing with and I'm just going through the mess. God wants you to learn to deal with your stuff right.
[12:10] Look at 2 Thessalonians 1, 4. So that we ourselves glory in you. We'll circle around glory in you. Paul's like, glory to God, I'm bragging on you. I'm proud of you.
[12:21] I have a lot of confidence in you in the churches of God. So he's going around all the churches of God saying, let me tell you the story about the people that are suffering over Thessalonica. And let me tell you how they're dealing with the suffering.
[12:33] Some people, when they deal with suffering, go running for the hills. Some people, when they deal with suffering, go shoot themselves. Some people, when they're dealing with suffering, don't know how to handle it. But the people in Thessalonica, they know what they're doing.
[12:44] They're trusting God and he's doing the work. I'm here to brag about that. That's what he's saying. He's glorying in them for your patience and faith, for the way you've dealt with it. Your endurance, your patience, and how you kept believing God.
[12:56] When? In all your persecution. See, we don't know about persecution. Today, you and I have no idea. We have no concept of what it's like to be thrown in jail. Over in Mark chapter 13, they are going to be brought before the synagogue, brought before the religious rulers.
[13:11] They're going to be brought before the political rulers. They're going to be beaten. They're going to be put in jail. Their own children, their own children are going to say, my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister loves Jesus.
[13:22] And they're not honoring the state. They're not honoring the government. They're not doing what's right. That happened in Russia. Back in the days when they were persecuting Christians, it happened in Russia. It happened in China. I've met people in China that were locked up because they were Christian.
[13:36] I met a man who stayed on his knees. And they said, you're a preacher. They made him sit on his knees and he stayed there and they wouldn't let him sleep and they wouldn't let him get off his knees.
[13:46] And every time he tried to, they'd hit him. Because if you're a Christian, you like to be on your knees, stay on them. Another guy who found God in Soviet Russia tells a story about how they made fun of him and made him serve the Lord's Supper using urine and excrement, human urine.
[13:59] He'd come in and say, that's what you're eating today. They know about suffering. We don't really know much about suffering. Can I get an amen? What I call suffering is having surgery with anesthesia. What I call suffering is having some financial setback.
[14:11] What I call suffering is me and my wife fighting. What I call suffering is my children disobeying. What this passage of scripture is going to talk about is horrible suffering. He said this, look at it for a second. That's as long as one for. So that we ourselves glory in you, in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure.
[14:32] You're going through it and you're still loving Jesus. You're going through it and you're still flying the flag of faith. You're going through it and you're not turning your back on God. You're going through all sorts of things and you're not turning your back on God.
[14:44] I want you to go with me to Acts chapter 14 and verse 22. Acts chapter 14 and verse 22. He wanted them to know that they are all going to go through lots of suffering before we get to heaven. Do you realize that if you live on this planet, you're going to die unless the rapture happens, which we'll get to in a couple of weeks.
[14:58] We're going to get to a little bit of it today. Do you realize that? Do you realize that if you live on this planet, you're going to get sick? Did you know the big C word's coming after you? Cancer or the big D word, death?
[15:09] Do you realize the big H word, hospice, is coming your way sooner or later? You need to know Jesus. Acts 14, 22, the Bible says, Verse 22, he said, Be sure you're saved.
[15:28] Let's check it out and make sure. Don't y'all accept that you're going to go to heaven when you die without looking at the scriptures? Finding out for sure. Did you ever in your life recognize that you had sinned against the holy God? Did you ever in your life admit that you had sinned against him and you deserve to go to hell, but that Jesus died for you and you gave your heart to him and he saved you and changed you?
[15:47] Confirming. He said, let's make sure you're saved, guys. Are you saved? If you're born again, you're going to go to heaven when you die. Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them, challenging them, motivating them to continue in the faith.
[16:00] Hang in there. I know things get rough. I know things fall apart, Paul's saying. But y'all go on. Now, guys, you need to be aware of this. There's always going to be a lot of tribulation. There's always going to be a lot of problem.
[16:11] No way to get out of that at all. Go with me, if you would, to 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. You should know that you're going to suffer persecution. It shouldn't even surprise us that people might make fun of you or you won't get a raise or somebody will mock you because you love Jesus.
[16:27] That shouldn't even surprise you. In 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12, the Bible says, Yea, and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you honor God, somebody might make fun of you.
[16:40] If you honor God, somebody might point a finger at you. Your nickname down at the workplace might be preacher or deacon. Whatever's going on, you need to understand that those that live godly suffer persecution.
[16:52] We're not going to go through this great tribulation. We're going to have trouble. But there's this time coming when God's going to pour out his wrath on the earth. It's described in the book of Revelation and that's not for us.
[17:03] I ain't got a lot of time, so I want you to get to this verse. It'll be 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 9. God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord and Savior Christ. God has not appointed us to wrath.
[17:14] Now listen to what I'm telling you. You know why you suffer today? Because you live in a sinful world. You live in a world that rejected God. You live in a world that chooses to ignore God. You live in a world that says we can do things on our own.
[17:26] So sinful, wicked men run our planet. So sin is running rampant. Death came into this world by sin. So the first man sinned and everybody else followed him sinned. And so we're all in a big mess.
[17:36] The God of heaven is not making you go through this. The God of heaven is not trying to hurt you. Death is not a consequence he had in mind for you. In the Garden of Eden, he put a tree of knowledge of good and evil.
[17:46] And he said, don't touch that one. But what most people seem to forget is in the same garden, there was a tree of life. And he didn't say anything about not touching that one. They could have gone over and eaten a tree of life. But they chose to do the one he said not.
[17:57] Because man seems to like to do his own thing and not the thing of God. So I want you to know this morning that the fact that you're going through trouble is just this world. You're not the only one. It's so easy for Christians to feel like they're going through a mess and it's all God's fault.
[18:10] It's so easy for Christians to look at it and say, we're hurting and we're suffering because we're Christians. No, you're hurting and you're suffering because you're human. You're hurting and suffering not because you're Christians, but because you live on planet Earth.
[18:20] You're hurting and suffering because you have a dying body. You're hurting and suffering because sin is here. I want to go with you now to 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, and this will be where we end. And I would have taken you a lot further, but don't worry, we'll be back.
[18:32] 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. What's the next thing on God's timetable? Did you know that the scriptural, the next thing that's on God's timetable is to get us out of here.
[18:42] He doesn't want you living and hurting. He doesn't want you suffering. He wants to save you. Now he warns you, I'll be with you and you're going to go through things. But there's this plan.
[18:54] He's coming to snatch us out that are born again, to rapture us away. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. The Bible says, I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
[19:09] I need you to underline some things in your Bible. You got your Bible open? If you do say amen. All right, look at 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. Underline this, as others which have no hope. You need to underline that. Or draw an arrow to it.
[19:20] You need to circle it. You need to do something. Do you understand that everybody on the planet is going to die? Do you understand that this whole world is spinning out of control? And most people have no hope.
[19:32] Most people have no hope. They don't know what's going to happen. They have no idea. They know they're going to die, so they'll never talk about it. They know they're going to die, so we sanitize it. We fix it where we don't even hardly remember that they died.
[19:44] They have no hope. You and I have hope. And we're not to sorrow like those that have no hope. You would look at that verse with me. He said, I don't want you to be ignorant. How many of you have lost loved ones to death that were born again believers?
[19:55] You know, my dad died. And my dad's in a grave up in Calhoun. His body's in a grave up in Calhoun. Was it over? Is it done? Is that the last I'll ever see of him? Is it over? Here's what Paul said.
[20:05] I don't want y'all to be mistaken and not understanding what's going on, so I'm going to explain to you what happened. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Circle that word asleep and write the word dead.
[20:17] That's just a nice way of saying dead. It's kind of like when you say rest in peace. Well, I ain't really resting in peace. I'm dead. And he said, hey, don't you want to know what's going to happen to your loved ones that are dead, that are asleep?
[20:30] And I don't want you to sorrow as those who have no hope. Underline this, that you sorrow not. Sorrow not as others. You can sorrow. It hurts to lose your loved one.
[20:41] Your mama dies. Your brother dies. Your children die. Your cousin dies. Your friend dies. Of course it hurts. And you're allowed to sorrow. But if they're born again, you don't have to sorrow like others do. It's a different kind of sorrow.
[20:52] They sorrow like, wow, it's over. I will never see them again. They have just lost everything. That's not the way it works for born again people. And here's how he clears that up. Verse 14.
[21:03] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Now let's stop right there. How many of you believe that Jesus died and rose again? Say amen. How many of you believe that he died on a cross and he was buried and he came back to life?
[21:17] Amen. If we believe that, here's what we can know. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also would sleep in Jesus. Underline sleep in Jesus.
[21:27] I'm translating sleep for you. Dead. Their bodies dead, but they were saved. Sleeping in Jesus. They're dead, but they were saved. They sleep in Jesus. My dad slept in Jesus.
[21:38] I watched him. I was there when he died. He slept in Jesus. Now look what's going to happen. You got your Bible open. Look at this. God will bring with him. You don't know that. God will bring with him. We're getting to Mark 13, but you need to study the setting.
[21:50] We're not going to be there. Watch this. So how do you bring somebody with you if they ain't with you? How do you bring somebody with you if they're not with you? If I say I'm going to bring this person with me, they're going to have to be here with me. You got to be smart to understand that.
[22:02] How many of y'all understand that? I mean, you got to be at least Tennessee IQ to get that one. Say amen. I'm from Tennessee. That's why I can say that. If I can't say I'm going to bring my brother with me down there next to my wife, my brother's not here.
[22:14] He's in Tennessee. And here's what he said. He said, hey, I don't want you to sorrow like others sorrow because when he comes, he'll bring them with him. You should put a circle around with him there in your Bible.
[22:25] We believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them that sleep with Jesus will God bring with him. Can I tell you what actually happened? Let's pretend the platform here is heaven and this down here is earth. And that person, when they died, their body went into a piece of ground over here somewhere or you incinerated or it got buried at sea.
[22:41] But they, if they're born again, they went up to heaven to be with Jesus. And right now they're in heaven with Jesus. And when he gets ready to come back, he's going to say, hey, Charlie, come on, we're going down there. And he's going to bring my loved one with him.
[22:52] That's why we don't sorrow. I know where he is. Somebody said, I'm sorry you lost your dad. And the guy answered and said, I didn't lose him. I know where he's at. Verse 15, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord.
[23:04] He said, I'm not just saying this. I'm telling you this is what the Bible's teaching, that we which are alive and remain. How many of y'all are alive and still here? Hold your hand up. Anybody died in the seat? Until the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
[23:15] Take a circle around that word prevent, draw a line to the margin, write the word precede. So here you are alive on the earth and they are dead and in the ground. And when Jesus comes back from heaven, he's bringing them with him without their body.
[23:28] And he comes down here to get them. And you won't get out of here before they're out of here. They're going to get about a six foot head start on you. So they're coming up out of the ground, coming with us and going back to the clouds to be with Jesus.
[23:39] Read the verse if you would. It says, shall remain alive and remain until the coming Lord shall not prevent them which are dead asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
[23:53] Those that are dead and they were saved, by the way, they're not with their body. You know, my daddy's not up there in some casket in Calhoun right at the Memorial Garden. All we got there is a shell he used to live in.
[24:05] Like a snake shed in his skin, my daddy's gone. He's not there. He's in heaven. But when Jesus comes back, he's going to say, Charlie, go get your body. There it is. I'll show you what's going to happen with that quickly. Time is running out. So here we go.
[24:16] The dead rise first. Verse 17. Then after the dead have risen, we which are alive and remain shall be caught up. Write the word rapture. Circle that caught up and rapture to the margin. We're going to be snatched out of here, caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
[24:31] And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these words. We go to our funerals and here's what we say. I'll see you soon. We go to our funerals and we say, I'll see you soon. You go to a lost man's funeral and it's, I won't ever see you.
[24:43] They don't have hope. Born again people have hope. Their bodies will not be left in the grave. I want you to look at 1 Corinthians 15, 51. 1 Corinthians 15, 51. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, 51, behold, I show you a mystery.
[24:55] We shall not all sleep. We shall not all die, but we shall all be chained. I'm kind of glad of that. I don't have to wear these reader glasses that I always have on. My knees will quit hurting. Praise Jesus.
[25:06] And I think I'm going to weigh 145 pounds and have muscles like I used to have about 40 years. But I'm going to be changed. And thank God those dead people are going to be changed because they done rotted. He's going to bring them up out of the ground.
[25:17] Look what he said. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all die, but we shall all be transformed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, the trump shall sound and the dead shall be raised unrotted.
[25:30] Incorruptible. Circle the word incorruptible. Go over to the margin and say, body intact. Good shape, healthy, back like they were, incorruptible. We shall be chained. And the corruptible must put on, the rotting must put on not rotting.
[25:42] And the mortal, the dying, must put on not dying immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, when this rotting body will have put on an unrotting body, mortal shall have put on immortality.
[25:53] Then will be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is the victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of the sin is the law.
[26:03] But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me explain this to you real quick, and I'll quit. Go eat a hot dog or whatever. You ready for this? You're going to die. They're going to put your body in the ground. It's going to rot. They can put it in all the vaults they want to put it in.
[26:15] They can fill it with all the formaldehyde they can. But 1,000 years from now, or 2,000 years, or 10,000 years, or 100,000 years from now, you're just going to be a pilot. But that's not you. If you're a born-again believer, when you die, they bury your body.
[26:27] But they don't bury you. Before you ever really totally dead, you're out of your body. You left your body, and you move in heaven. God. And then one day, Jesus is going to come back, and he's going to bring all of those people that died who had trusted him.
[26:39] And he's going to bring up their bodies out of the ground. He's going to transform their bodies into the beautiful kind of bodies he had in the days of the Garden of Eden. He's going to change us that are still living. If it happens today, he's going to fix us up.
[26:52] Your pacemaker's going out the window. Your eyeglasses are going out. You're going to be able to hear. You ain't going to have to yell at me anymore. You won't have to look at me and say, do you hear me, old man? We were having a birthday party yesterday with my grandson, and he said something to me, and I didn't say anything.
[27:05] He said, granddaddy, and I said, I didn't hear you. So he looks at me and started talking. He goes, and he said, excuse me, granddaddy. I won't have to do that anymore. Say amen. That'll be good. But here's the deal. Do you know him? Because you see, there's two kinds of sorrow.
[27:16] We're all going to sorrow. We're all going to hurt when somebody dies in our family. You'd be crazy not to hurt if somebody dies in your family. So if they're lost and they die, they're going to hell. If they're saved, they're going to heaven.
[27:26] If they're lost and they die, they'll suffer forever. But if they're saved, he takes them to heaven. They're not in the grave. They're not buried. They're in heaven. And he will come back and get their body and take it to heaven.
[27:37] And here's what Paul said, and I don't want you guys mistaken about that. I don't want to leave you guessing. You're probably saying, us Christians, do we have it any better because we die just like lost people? And he's like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Don't get confused about that.
[27:48] I know what's going on. When we die, we go to heaven. And he brings us with him. He brings our body up. And he fixes our body. And we meet him in the clouds. And so shall we ever be with him, with the Lord. We're going to spend eternity. So if you're here today and you've never been saved, you need to get saved.
[28:00] I mean, just to be blunt and honest, you're on a straight road to hell. You're on a straight road to death, sorrow. And your family will have no hope because they know you don't trust Jesus. You can today because he loves you.
[28:10] And he died for you. And he paid your sin debt. And you can be saved. And you can know for sure you go to heaven. Today's your day. Just a minute, a couple of the men will be here at the front. A couple of ladies will be here. And they'll be here to tell you, to answer your question.
[28:20] Not to make you join the church. Not to get you to give any money. But to pray with you and to show you from the word of God. How you can know your sins are forgiven. And how you can know you'd go to heaven if you don't. Say, say. Some of you are hurting.
[28:31] I need you to understand something about your hurting. We're all going to go through it. Let's go through it right. You've been having a bad attitude. Let's get that attitude right. And let's trust God.