I. 1 JOHN 2:17 "And the world passeth away and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
Proposition: He that does the will of God abides forever. The world and all it contains passes, he continues.
II. JOHN 11:25-26 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Joh_8:51 RV — "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my word, he shall never see death."
Proposition: He that believes on Jesus Christ shall never die.
He that keeps the word of Jesus Christ shall never see death.
Believers in Christ fall asleep, but they never die. (Compare to Act_7:60.)
III. 1Th_4:13-15 "But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep."
Proposition: Until the coming of Christ, believers in Christ who have departed from this life sleep.
QUESTION: What is meant by sleep? Does it refer to a state of unconsciousness? Is this state called sleep to distinguish it from being awake, or to distinguish it from death?
ANSWER: Sleep is not necessarily a state of unconsciousness, but often of highest consciousness and mental activity. Sleep is, however, usually a condition in which one is largely shut out of intercourse with the outside world and shut up to himself and to God and His angels, or the devil and his angels.
IV. PHILIPPIANS 1:23-24 RV "For I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake." 2Co_5:6; 2Co_5:8 RV — "Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord .... We are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord."
Proposition: When the believer gets out of the flesh (the body), he departs to be with Christ; when he is absent from the body, he is at home with the Lord. (Compare to 2Co_12:2-4.)
QUESTION: What is the precise and definite character of our existence when "absent from the body" and "at home with the Lord," up to the time of the coming of the Lord and our being "clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven" ( 2Co_5:8; 2Co_5:2; 2Co_5:4 RV)?
ANSWER: The Bible seems to give but little explicit and detailed information on this point. It does say, however, that this state "is very far better" than our present state ( Php_1:23). This leaves no room for purgatorial tortures, nor for a state of unconsciousness. It is evidently a state of conscious bliss. It is not the highest state the believer will attain. "For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life .... We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" ( 2Co_5:1-4; 2Co_5:8).
V. 1Th_4:16 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1Co_15:12-13; 1Co_15:20-23; 1Co_15:35-38 — "Now 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: . . . But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. 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. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming .... But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?
Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, anti to every seed his own body."
Proposition: At the coming of Jesus Christ the bodies of those who sleep in Christ shall be raised from the dead.
Not, however, precisely the same bodies, even as the grain that grows is not precisely the same as the grain that was sown. The grain that was sown disintegrates and many of its constituent elements go, no one can fully say whence. So it is in the resurrection.
VI. <470501> 2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-2, 4 RV "For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven;... For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life."
Proposition: At the resurrection we shall be given in place of"the earthly house of our tabernacle" (i.e., our present physical frame), "a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (i.e., the resurrection body).
Mortality shall be swallowed up of life.
VII. PHILIPPIANS 3:20-21 RV "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself."
Proposition: At His coming our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, "shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory." THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESURRECTION BODY. 1Co_15:35-38 — "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die; And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."
It will not be the same body that is laid in the grave. 1Co_15:50-51 — "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."
It will not be flesh and blood. Luk_24:39 — "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Compare to Php_3:21.)
It will not be pure spirit, but have flesh and bones. 1Co_15:42 — "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption."
It will be' incorruptible, imperishable, not subject to decay. 1Co_15:43 — "It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory."
It will be glorious. (Compare to Rev_1:13-17.) 1Co_15:43 — "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power."
It will be powerful. The days of weariness and weakness will be forever at an end. The body will be able to accomplish all the Spirit purposes. 1Co_15:47-49 — "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.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."
It will be heavenly. Mat_13:43 — "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Dan_12:3 — "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." Mat_17:2 — "And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." Luk_9:29 — "And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering."
It will be luminous, shining, dazzling, bright like the sun.
It has been conjectured that the bodies of Adam and Eve were glorious and dazzling (as described above) before they sinned, and that this glory served as a covering which departed when they sinned. Then "they knew that they were naked" ( Gen_3:7). Mat_22:30 — "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." Luk_20:35-36 — "For they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection."
They will be "like the angels." They do not marry. They cannot die any more. 1Co_15:41-42 — "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also in the resurrection of the dead."
Resurrection bodies differ from one another. Rom_8:23 — "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
The resurrection body will be the consummation of the adoption, our placing as sons. In the resurrection body it will be outwardly manifest that we are sons of God. Before His incarnation, Christ was "in the form of God" ( Php_2:6), i.e., in the visible appearance of God. So shall we be in the resurrection. (Compare to Col_3:4 RV and Joh_3:2 RV.)
VIII. 1Th_4:17 "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
Proposition: At the coming of Christ and the resurrection of those who sleep in Jesus, believers who have remained alive until that time and those who are raised shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.
IX. JOHN 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." 1Th_4:17 — "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." Joh_12:26 — "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honour."
Proposition: After the coming of Christ and our being caught up to meet Him, we shall ever be with the Lord; there shall be no more separation from Him.
WHERE BELIEVERS SHALL BE.
Joh_14:2 — "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
We shall be in a prepared place, a place where Jesus has gone for the express purpose of preparing it for us. We shall be a prepared people in a prepared place. Jesus spoke of this place as "abodes" or "abiding places" (translated "mansions"). Heb_11:10; Heb_11:16 — "For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God .... But now they desire a better country, that is a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."
We shall be in a city that has foundations built and made by God, a better country than this, a heavenly country; a city prepared by God for us.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THAT CITY.
Heb_13:14 — "For here we have no continuing city.., we seek one to come."
It will be an abiding city. Rev_21:22 RV — "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof."
The Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple there. We will not go to some building to worship, but right to God Himself. Rev_21:23 RV — "And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb."
That city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it: for the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb himself is its lamp. Paul got a hint of the dazzling brilliance of that light on the Damascus road. Our resurrection eyes will be able to endure and enjoy the glory that blinded him. There will be no dark days. Rev_21:25 — "And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there."
The gates will never be shut and there will be no night