Paul would write to the church at Corinth and he would 00:00:59.46\00:01:03.02 explain his views about the future life more clearly to 00:01:03.05\00:01:06.58 this church, then in any other letter he would write. 00:01:06.61\00:01:10.82 In this special episode, from a cemetery in Corinth, 00:01:10.85\00:01:15.36 I want to explore with you Paul's understanding of death 00:01:15.39\00:01:19.87 and how Jesus' resurrection from the dead brings hope 00:01:19.91\00:01:24.36 that stretches beyond the grave, 00:01:24.39\00:01:26.94 it stretches into eternity. 00:01:26.98\00:01:29.64 But first I would like to survey with you. 00:01:29.67\00:01:32.04 The prevailing attitudes toward death Paul encountered 00:01:32.08\00:01:36.22 when he entered in to the great city of Corinth. 00:01:36.25\00:01:39.42 The first was that of the Epicureans, we encountered them 00:01:39.45\00:01:43.28 in Athens when they invited Paul with the Stoics to come 00:01:43.32\00:01:47.79 and share his beliefs about Jesus and the resurrection 00:01:47.82\00:01:52.26 before the Areopagus. 00:01:52.29\00:01:54.43 The Epicureans were founded by Epicurius, and Epicurius 00:01:54.46\00:01:59.80 had a certain attitude toward death. 00:01:59.83\00:02:02.43 He said. 00:02:02.47\00:02:03.47 Yes Epicurius taught that we do not worry about death, 00:02:14.63\00:02:18.05 for while we are alive, death doesn't bother us. 00:02:18.08\00:02:21.67 When we are dead, what we are dead so what 00:02:21.71\00:02:24.44 can we worry about? 00:02:24.47\00:02:26.20 The philosophy of the Epicureans was be happy, live for 00:02:26.24\00:02:30.12 the moment, seize the opportunity, and take no thought 00:02:30.16\00:02:34.01 for tomorrow, and yet death comes upon all. 00:02:34.04\00:02:37.81 As Germanus, that Roman citizen living in Gadara 00:02:37.85\00:02:41.44 correctly observed in the inscription he had placed 00:02:41.48\00:02:45.03 above his hinged tomb. 00:02:45.07\00:02:47.34 Yes death is a great reality for all human beings. 00:02:59.10\00:03:02.58 According to the Bible only two people got out of this 00:03:02.62\00:03:06.07 world alive, Enoch and Elijah. 00:03:06.10\00:03:08.79 All of the others have had to submit to this ultimate 00:03:08.83\00:03:13.46 reality of death. 00:03:13.50\00:03:15.80 As Paul came into the city of Corinth, there were many 00:03:15.84\00:03:19.01 here who were filled with a sense of hopelessness, 00:03:19.04\00:03:22.77 of the Epicureans philosophy nothing beyond the grave. 00:03:22.80\00:03:26.42 This is reflected in so many of the grave steles that 00:03:26.46\00:03:30.04 have been uncovered throughout ancient Greece. 00:03:30.07\00:03:32.86 Grave steles are from the fifth century and fourth 00:03:32.90\00:03:37.37 century BC, steles that show a mother who has died. 00:03:37.41\00:03:41.82 It shows the father bringing the baby and holding the 00:03:41.85\00:03:45.74 baby before her and yet there is a hollowness in the 00:03:45.78\00:03:50.12 mother face, she does not respond for she is dead. 00:03:50.15\00:03:54.50 There are grave steles of a family coming before the 00:03:54.54\00:03:58.94 father, or seeking to encourage the father but he stares 00:03:58.98\00:04:03.34 blankly into space, he cannot respond. 00:04:03.38\00:04:07.88 A steles of a mother who has died, a servant holds her 00:04:07.91\00:04:14.50 jewelry and yet she cannot take it. 00:04:14.54\00:04:17.36 Her child pulls on her robe, but she does not respond. 00:04:17.40\00:04:20.99 Yes there was a sense of hopelessness, for death was an 00:04:21.03\00:04:24.58 endless night without a morning. 00:04:24.62\00:04:26.60 Paul came in and so many of the people in this great 00:04:26.63\00:04:30.19 Roman city were infected with a sense of hopelessness 00:04:30.22\00:04:33.74 about the future, hopelessness after death. 00:04:33.77\00:04:36.56 But there were new philosophies also being taught 00:04:36.59\00:04:39.55 here in Corinth, a prevailing philosophy must've 00:04:39.58\00:04:42.50 been that of Plato. 00:04:42.54\00:04:44.72 Plato and his teacher Socrates taught that we are in 00:04:44.76\00:04:49.39 innately immortal, they believe in a special dualism that 00:04:49.43\00:04:53.95 the body was bad, but the soul was good. 00:04:53.98\00:04:57.68 That matter was bad, but spirit was good. 00:04:57.72\00:05:01.35 They taught this dualism and they believe that when you 00:05:01.38\00:05:05.25 died your soul was released from the prison house of this 00:05:05.29\00:05:09.12 body, it was released to travel to a higher plain. 00:05:09.16\00:05:13.77 They taught that indeed death comes upon all but it is 00:05:13.81\00:05:17.58 not to be feared for you will be released to a higher 00:05:17.61\00:05:21.35 plain of existence upon death. 00:05:21.39\00:05:24.30 Certainly this would have been a prevailing 00:05:24.33\00:05:26.00 philosophy here in the city. 00:05:26.03\00:05:28.00 The city also had trade with Egypt, the Greeks had 00:05:28.04\00:05:32.39 established themselves in Egypt and certainly the 00:05:32.42\00:05:36.70 Egyptians philosophy of death would have been widespread 00:05:36.73\00:05:40.36 in a city like Corinth. 00:05:40.40\00:05:42.16 A port city with much traffic down to Alexandria. 00:05:42.19\00:05:45.20 The Egyptians with their belief in the afterlife revolved 00:05:45.24\00:05:48.84 around the Ka and the Ba, they believed that death the 00:05:48.87\00:05:52.04 deified soul would be released. 00:05:52.08\00:05:54.75 This immortal soul would be released and that it would 00:05:54.79\00:05:58.04 wander aimlessly until it is able to recognize 00:05:58.08\00:06:01.34 the body of the deceased. 00:06:01.38\00:06:03.59 Once it recognize the body it could come back and be 00:06:03.63\00:06:07.02 there, this is why the Egyptians mummified their dead. 00:06:07.05\00:06:10.40 This is why they carved representations 00:06:10.44\00:06:13.62 into their caskets. 00:06:13.65\00:06:15.95 In addition there would have been a Persian or Oriental 00:06:15.98\00:06:19.24 influences here in the city of Corinth. 00:06:19.27\00:06:21.64 We see the influence that has manifested in a shaft tombs 00:06:21.68\00:06:26.27 there in Palmyra and Syria, they too believed in the 00:06:26.31\00:06:30.81 dualism between the body and the soul. 00:06:30.84\00:06:33.50 They too believe that at death the soul was released 00:06:33.53\00:06:37.26 from the body to ascend to higher plains. 00:06:37.29\00:06:40.38 The common thread uniting both Platonic philosophy and 00:06:40.41\00:06:44.69 Egyptian mysticism, and Persian dualism was the idea of 00:06:44.72\00:06:48.96 the innate immortality of the human being. 00:06:49.00\00:06:52.36 The idea that at death the soul was released to ascend 00:06:52.40\00:06:56.19 to a higher plain. 00:06:56.23\00:06:58.07 Paul came to the city and was confronted by two major 00:06:58.10\00:07:02.06 attitudes towards death. 00:07:02.09\00:07:04.47 One was a sense of hopelessness, a sense that there was 00:07:04.50\00:07:07.65 nothing beyond the grave, that it was an endless night 00:07:07.68\00:07:10.79 without a morning. 00:07:10.83\00:07:12.45 It is reflected in the pagan epitaphs that have been 00:07:12.49\00:07:15.92 discovered in the catacombs of Rome. 00:07:15.96\00:07:17.66 Goodbye my mother, I will never see you again. 00:07:17.69\00:07:20.54 Farewell my darling, I will never see you again. 00:07:20.57\00:07:23.35 It was a sense of hopelessness and despair, but he would 00:07:23.39\00:07:26.75 also encounter Platonic philosophy and Egyptian 00:07:26.79\00:07:30.71 mysticism and Persian dualism, with their belief that there was 00:07:30.75\00:07:34.56 something beyond the grave. 00:07:34.59\00:07:35.86 That is soul ascended to a higher plain. 00:07:35.90\00:07:38.57 Paul is confronted by these various philosophies in the 00:07:38.60\00:07:42.41 city of Corinth, but he was not affected by them for his 00:07:42.45\00:07:46.22 mind was filled with the Hebrew Scriptures. 00:07:46.26\00:07:49.16 He was a Jew from Tarsus, a Greek city that was a center 00:07:49.19\00:07:53.60 of Greek philosophy, but Paul had not been infected with 00:07:53.64\00:07:58.25 Greek philosophy, he was a Jew and in his mind it was 00:07:58.28\00:08:01.67 filled with the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures. 00:08:01.71\00:08:05.79 Tarsus was on the edge, the frontier of the Orient, but 00:08:05.83\00:08:09.88 he was not infected with the ideas of 00:08:09.92\00:08:11.56 Persian mysticism and dualism. 00:08:11.59\00:08:14.55 Paul did not believe in the innate immortality of man. 00:08:14.58\00:08:17.58 He did not believe that when you died your body went 00:08:17.61\00:08:20.74 to dust and your soul, your immortal soul went off to 00:08:20.77\00:08:23.86 some other existence. 00:08:23.89\00:08:25.59 Paul was arrested and when he was brought before the 00:08:25.62\00:08:29.20 Sanhedrin in Jerusalem he said it asked 23:6. 00:08:29.24\00:08:34.42 Paul believed in the bodily resurrection of the dead. 00:08:44.96\00:08:49.30 He said I am on trial for my hope in the 00:08:49.34\00:08:52.70 resurrection of the dead. 00:08:52.73\00:08:54.47 The idea of a bodily resurrection was foreign 00:08:54.50\00:08:58.51 to the Greek mind. 00:08:58.54\00:09:00.63 It was not in the vocabulary of the Greeks. 00:09:00.67\00:09:03.42 When Paul was witnessing before the Epicurean and Stoic 00:09:03.45\00:09:07.34 philosophers on the Areopagus in Athens, they said we 00:09:07.38\00:09:11.23 want to hear you about this again. 00:09:11.27\00:09:13.78 They said that Paul was advocating foreign gods, 00:09:13.81\00:09:17.52 yes foreign gods, how could it be plural? 00:09:17.56\00:09:21.14 They thought Paul was talking about two gods, 00:09:21.17\00:09:24.72 Jesus and the resurrection. 00:09:24.75\00:09:27.12 The idea of a resurrection was not in their vocabulary. 00:09:27.16\00:09:30.64 It was not in the vocabulary of the Egyptians, 00:09:30.68\00:09:33.60 they believe the Ka or the Ba went off and would return, 00:09:33.63\00:09:36.27 if it could recognize the body. 00:09:36.31\00:09:37.93 It was not in their vocabulary of a Persian dualism. 00:09:37.97\00:09:41.88 Paul said I am on trial for my hope in the resurrection 00:09:41.92\00:09:45.80 of the dead, he believed in the bodily 00:09:45.84\00:09:48.08 resurrection from the tomb. 00:09:48.11\00:09:49.98 As Paul entered into the great city of Corinth, 00:09:50.01\00:09:52.70 he proclaimed Jesus Christ and Him crucified and how 00:09:52.73\00:09:58.01 Jesus was buried in the tomb and slept peacefully over 00:09:58.04\00:10:02.45 the Sabbath hours and then came back to life on the 00:10:02.49\00:10:06.87 first day of the week. 00:10:06.90\00:10:08.39 He proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus. 00:10:08.42\00:10:11.55 Yes as a Pharisee he'd believe in the bodily 00:10:11.59\00:10:14.65 resurrection all his life, but it was not until he 00:10:14.68\00:10:17.33 encountered Jesus Christ on the Damascus road that 00:10:17.36\00:10:19.97 he understood how it could take place. 00:10:20.00\00:10:22.49 Jesus Himself was bodily raised from the tomb and this 00:10:22.52\00:10:26.13 was the basis of his hope, his hope of the 00:10:26.16\00:10:28.80 resurrection of the dead. 00:10:28.84\00:10:30.63 Paul wrote to the church of Corinth his most complete and 00:10:30.67\00:10:35.99 extensive teachings on this great subject of death. 00:10:36.03\00:10:40.14 We want to read about it in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:10:40.18\00:10:44.18 This was the basis of Paul's gospel, the death, burial, 00:11:02.91\00:11:07.63 and resurrection of Jesus from the dead. 00:11:07.67\00:11:10.20 Paul taught that according to the Scriptures, Jesus went 00:11:10.23\00:11:12.91 into Jerusalem and was crucified on Friday. 00:11:12.95\00:11:15.47 That He peacefully slept Friday afternoon, that He slept 00:11:15.50\00:11:18.20 in the tomb during the Sabbath hours, but He came back 00:11:18.24\00:11:20.91 to life on Sunday morning. 00:11:20.94\00:11:23.24 It was not some disembodied spirit that when up, 00:11:23.27\00:11:25.52 it wasn't some soul released from his body. 00:11:25.55\00:11:27.95 No, Paul taught that Jesus was bodily resurrected. 00:11:27.98\00:11:32.90 He was resurrected with a perfectly spiritual body. 00:11:32.94\00:11:37.82 Jesus entered into the realm of the dead. 00:11:37.86\00:11:41.78 You see the old devil invented death, that was his realm 00:11:41.82\00:11:46.53 he claimed as his own. 00:11:46.56\00:11:48.54 He claimed the Greek word Hades for the realm of the grave as 00:11:48.58\00:11:52.28 his special place, he claimed the cemeteries of the dead. 00:11:52.32\00:11:56.48 Jesus died and went to Hades. Jesus died and went into 00:11:56.52\00:12:00.64 the grave and the devil rejoiced, I have Him now. 00:12:00.68\00:12:03.25 He is mine, He is under my charge, I am His keeper. 00:12:03.28\00:12:06.74 Yet Paul said, the miracle of miracles happened. 00:12:06.77\00:12:10.99 Jesus came forth from the grave alive, in His body. 00:12:11.03\00:12:15.21 Alive for evermore and Paul says that is 00:12:15.25\00:12:20.67 the basis our hope. 00:12:20.70\00:12:22.53 The apostle would write in Hebrews 2:9. 00:12:22.57\00:12:26.59 He says we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the 00:12:40.54\00:12:44.03 angels that He might taste death, that He might experience 00:12:44.07\00:12:48.11 death for everyone, why did Jesus become a human being? 00:12:48.14\00:12:52.15 Why did He enter into this realm of human affairs? 00:12:52.18\00:12:56.42 The apostle goes on in verse 14. 00:12:56.45\00:12:58.54 Yes Jesus had to become a man so that He might be able 00:13:15.91\00:13:19.95 to die, He might be able to experience death. 00:13:19.98\00:13:24.30 Then by His resurrection, He might destroy the one who 00:13:24.34\00:13:28.16 has the very power of death. 00:13:28.20\00:13:30.37 Yes Jesus defeated the Devil in the grave. 00:13:30.40\00:13:33.06 Jesus came back to life and the apostle says He has now 00:13:33.09\00:13:37.27 delivered us from fear of death all our life time. 00:13:37.30\00:13:40.69 Subject to bondage, that we were afraid of death and 00:13:40.72\00:13:44.49 yet as Paul came into Corinth he was confronted with 00:13:44.53\00:13:48.89 Greek philosophy, so what that Jesus came back to life? 00:13:48.93\00:13:53.26 Socrates and Plato taught that everybody continues 00:13:53.30\00:13:57.31 to live after death. 00:13:57.34\00:13:58.89 That their existence just changes to 00:13:58.92\00:14:01.25 a more exalted state. 00:14:01.28\00:14:03.57 So what if there was a bodily resurrection of Jesus? 00:14:03.60\00:14:06.21 What do you need a body for, a soul is much more pure? 00:14:06.25\00:14:08.82 The body is a bad. 00:14:08.85\00:14:10.10 In this context the death of Jesus 00:14:10.14\00:14:14.39 had no special meaning. 00:14:14.43\00:14:16.42 Paul was confronted with these various attitudes toward 00:14:16.45\00:14:19.96 death here in the city of Corinth, and yet He came 00:14:20.00\00:14:22.71 preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 00:14:22.74\00:14:26.00 Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected from 00:14:26.03\00:14:29.35 the dead, on the third day, as the basis of His 00:14:29.39\00:14:32.68 hope in eternal life. 00:14:32.71\00:14:34.64 The basic crux of the problem was, if at death when you 00:14:34.67\00:14:39.72 go to Hades, you have already received your reward. 00:14:39.76\00:14:44.77 Whether they be good rewards or bad rewards. 00:14:44.81\00:14:48.39 Why should there be a future resurrection? 00:14:48.42\00:14:51.93 This attitude even affected people in the church. 00:14:51.97\00:14:57.39 Paul confronts the falsehoods. 00:14:57.43\00:15:00.55 Yes some of the Christians here in Corinth were teaching 00:15:27.74\00:15:30.27 there was no resurrection from the dead. 00:15:30.30\00:15:33.48 There was no need of a resurrection since their soul 00:15:33.51\00:15:36.77 already gone to its place of eternal rewards. 00:15:36.80\00:15:40.32 Paul said if that is true then there is no power in the 00:15:40.35\00:15:43.65 gospel, Paul said if that is true then there is nothing 00:15:43.69\00:15:46.96 special about the resurrection of Jesus. 00:15:46.99\00:15:49.09 Paul says let me assure you that indeed Jesus was 00:15:49.13\00:15:52.45 resurrected from the dead and that He is the first fruits 00:15:52.49\00:15:55.65 of all who will believe, that we too if we should die 00:15:55.68\00:15:59.20 before the Lord comes will be raised in His likeness on 00:15:59.23\00:16:02.71 that great day. 00:16:02.75\00:16:04.33 Greek philosophy and other world religions were 00:16:04.36\00:16:07.48 diametrically opposed to the Hebraic 00:16:07.52\00:16:10.10 concepts of life and death. 00:16:10.14\00:16:12.62 The Hebraic concept was very, very clear. 00:16:12.66\00:16:16.59 Scripture teaches that man is mortal, there is not 00:16:16.62\00:16:21.88 one instance in the Bible where it says that man 00:16:21.92\00:16:27.14 has an immortal soul. 00:16:27.18\00:16:29.65 Yes the word soul is used over 1600 times, and not once 00:16:29.69\00:16:34.50 does it say that we have an immortal soul. 00:16:34.54\00:16:38.21 The Bible consistently teaches that man is mortal. 00:16:38.25\00:16:42.81 This was Paul's understanding of death and life. 00:16:42.84\00:16:47.37 He would have been familiar with Job 4:17. 00:16:47.40\00:16:52.78 Paul understood that God alone was immortal. 00:16:59.90\00:17:04.04 Writing to Timothy in the sixth chapter of his first 00:17:04.07\00:17:07.02 letter in the 15th verse he said. 00:17:07.05\00:17:08.77 Yes the Greek philosophers taught that we innately 00:17:28.98\00:17:32.14 process immortality, they believe that at death the body 00:17:32.18\00:17:36.29 would decay and go back into the dust. 00:17:36.32\00:17:39.84 But they believe that pure soul would be released 00:17:39.87\00:17:42.71 to go to higher plain. 00:17:42.75\00:17:44.62 This is diametrically opposed to the teachings of 00:17:44.65\00:17:47.40 Scripture, Paul taught that God alone has immortality. 00:17:47.44\00:17:53.10 When writing from Corinth to the church at Rome, 00:17:53.14\00:17:56.25 he reminded them that they were seeking for immortality. 00:17:56.28\00:18:01.55 Paul's mind was bathed in Hebraic thinking that he 00:18:11.55\00:18:15.64 understood that man was mortal, God only is immortal. 00:18:15.67\00:18:19.73 That man is seeking immortality and he teaches 00:18:19.76\00:18:24.05 the Corinthians that one day we shall 00:18:24.09\00:18:26.46 receive that immortality. 00:18:26.50\00:18:28.62 What happened here in Corinth was not unique. 00:19:03.09\00:19:05.83 With the decline of the old pagan philosophy, many 00:19:05.87\00:19:09.42 teachers tried to harmonize the old and the new. 00:19:09.45\00:19:13.80 The Jew, Philo was teaching down in the Alexandrian 00:19:13.84\00:19:18.15 Egypt, try to harmonize the Hebrew Scriptures 00:19:18.19\00:19:21.77 with Greek philosophy. 00:19:21.80\00:19:24.80 He tried to harmonize the Old Testament Bible with the 00:19:24.84\00:19:28.95 teachings of Plato and Socrates, but at their root the two 00:19:28.99\00:19:33.07 teachings are diametrically opposed to one another. 00:19:33.10\00:19:36.07 The Hebrew Scriptures teach that when a person dies they 00:19:36.10\00:19:39.43 will sleep, they will sleep with their fathers until a 00:19:39.47\00:19:42.76 very sure event in the future, 00:19:42.80\00:19:45.35 the event of the resurrection. 00:19:45.39\00:19:47.87 Daniel 12 is an example of that, but in contrast Plato 00:19:47.91\00:19:52.47 taught that at death, the immortal soul was released from 00:19:52.50\00:19:56.88 the body to go to a more high, exalted, and pure state. 00:19:56.91\00:20:01.41 This caused great confusion, even in the Judaism of 00:20:01.45\00:20:05.81 Paul's day, as the gospel penetrated the Greek speaking 00:20:05.84\00:20:10.16 world, the problem was amplified. 00:20:10.20\00:20:12.85 After Paul's death, the problem would resurface in places 00:20:12.88\00:20:17.25 like Corinth and other Greek cities. 00:20:17.29\00:20:19.71 As this idea would return of the immortal soul even 00:20:19.75\00:20:24.02 to Christian thinking. 00:20:24.06\00:20:25.63 The first man we have a record of, who had adopted this 00:20:25.66\00:20:30.20 as a Christian, was named Athenagoras. 00:20:30.23\00:20:34.48 Yes Athenagoras, he was a Greek lawyer, trained in Greek 00:20:34.52\00:20:39.33 philosophy, he wrote in 187 A.D. about his belief as a 00:20:39.37\00:20:44.15 Christian and the immortal soul. 00:20:44.19\00:20:46.61 Do you know which verses in the Bible he pointed to? 00:20:46.64\00:20:49.51 Not one verse in the Old Testament. 00:20:49.55\00:20:51.85 Not one verse in the New Testament. 00:20:51.88\00:20:54.12 Instead he quoted Plato, yes his thinking, 00:20:54.15\00:20:58.25 his schooling, his education had been in platonic thinking 00:20:58.28\00:21:01.91 and now he inserts that into the Scriptures. 00:21:01.94\00:21:05.75 This was a foreign idea in the Bible, but it comes over 00:21:05.78\00:21:08.99 from Greek philosophy. 00:21:09.02\00:21:10.76 Little by little, gradually it begins to permeate the 00:21:10.80\00:21:14.88 church until it replaces the very idea of sleep 00:21:14.92\00:21:18.87 until the resurrection. 00:21:18.90\00:21:21.37 Paul was concerned about this and so he wrote to the 00:21:21.40\00:21:24.61 church at Corinth to resist the pagan philosophy, and the 00:21:24.64\00:21:28.84 pagan ideas of the immortal soul. 00:21:28.87\00:21:31.32 He wrote to them to accept the good news of Jesus' 00:21:31.36\00:21:34.82 death, burial and resurrection from the dead. 00:21:34.86\00:21:38.07 He said that Jesus has defeated the last enemy. 00:21:38.11\00:21:41.25 He has defeated death, this is the basis of our hope, 00:21:41.29\00:21:44.82 our hope of a future life. 00:21:44.86\00:21:47.31 All through Scripture, the consistent teaching is that 00:21:47.34\00:21:50.93 we sleep until the event of the resurrection. 00:21:50.97\00:21:53.98 Jesus clearly taught this in John 5. 00:21:54.02\00:21:58.45 When does that happen? Jesus says His voice will sound. 00:22:14.70\00:22:18.97 Paul says that will happen with a voice of the Archangel, 00:22:19.01\00:22:23.24 the trumpet call of God, that last trumpet. 00:22:23.28\00:22:25.95 For the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ will 00:22:25.99\00:22:29.72 be raised first, then this old mortal body will put on 00:22:29.75\00:22:33.44 immortality, this perishable will be putting 00:22:33.48\00:22:36.96 on the imperishable. 00:22:36.99\00:22:39.04 Yes the consistent teaching of Scripture is that we are 00:22:39.08\00:22:43.92 mortal, that we seek for immortality and we receive that 00:22:43.96\00:22:48.77 immortality on the day when Jesus returns again. 00:22:48.81\00:22:54.24 If we should die before that happens, we will come forth 00:22:54.28\00:22:57.88 from the grave and be clothed with it. 00:22:57.91\00:22:59.58 If we are still living when it happens we will be 00:22:59.62\00:23:02.26 caught up in the air and receive the gift 00:23:02.30\00:23:04.91 of immortality at that time. 00:23:04.94\00:23:07.28 Right now we have the assurance of the gift of 00:23:07.31\00:23:11.28 eternal life, we possess that, it is ours as a 00:23:11.32\00:23:15.26 gift to encourage us. 00:23:15.29\00:23:17.34 But what about the wicked? 00:23:17.37\00:23:19.26 Will they to be raised from the dead? 00:23:19.30\00:23:21.24 Jesus said indeed there will be a resurrection of both 00:23:21.28\00:23:25.24 the good and the bad. 00:23:25.27\00:23:27.38 Some will be raised to life everlasting and some to 00:23:27.41\00:23:29.93 everlasting death. 00:23:29.97\00:23:31.67 Paul seems to interpret the words of Jesus when 00:23:31.70\00:23:34.79 witnessing before Felix. 00:23:34.82\00:23:36.79 Paul taught that there were be a resurrection of the 00:24:00.00\00:24:02.75 righteous and the wicked. 00:24:02.79\00:24:04.31 Jesus taught two resurrections. 00:24:04.34\00:24:07.00 Yes Daniel seems to be the source for both Jesus and 00:24:07.03\00:24:10.56 Paul, they seem to be referring to his teachings. 00:24:10.59\00:24:14.08 Daniel chapter 12 describes a time, a great time of 00:24:16.68\00:24:19.48 trouble such as not been since there were nations 00:24:19.52\00:24:22.52 upon the earth and at that time Michael, the great 00:24:22.56\00:24:25.29 Prince, would stand up for His people and there would 00:24:25.33\00:24:28.02 be a tremendous deliverance. 00:24:28.06\00:24:30.11 Verse 2 of chapter 12 actually says that multitudes 00:24:30.15\00:24:33.20 that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, 00:24:33.24\00:24:36.26 some to everlasting life and some to 00:24:36.30\00:24:38.35 everlasting condemnation. 00:24:38.39\00:24:40.25 Yes they will sleep in the dust of the earth until 00:24:40.29\00:24:43.02 the great event of a resurrection. 00:24:43.06\00:24:44.87 This is the blessed hope of the gospel, death is not 00:24:44.90\00:24:48.59 the end, our hope goes beyond the grave and it 00:24:48.63\00:24:52.63 goes beyond the tombs. 00:24:52.67\00:24:54.29 Paul summarizes it in 1 Thessalonians 4:18. 00:24:54.32\00:24:57.19 What encouraging words, believers are not immune from 00:25:02.16\00:25:05.89 tragedy, believers are not immune from the grim reaper 00:25:05.93\00:25:09.63 of death, but we have a hope that goes beyond the 00:25:09.67\00:25:12.58 grave, we have a hope that goes beyond the tomb. 00:25:12.61\00:25:15.46 Our hope is based in Jesus Christ and His defeat 00:25:15.49\00:25:19.39 death by the resurrection from the dead. 00:25:19.43\00:25:21.47 Our hope is based on the fact that one day Jesus, 00:25:21.51\00:25:24.64 the Lord Himself, will return from heaven with a shout, 00:25:24.67\00:25:27.15 with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet call of 00:25:27.19\00:25:29.63 God, and the dead in Christ will be raised first. 00:25:29.66\00:25:32.79 Paul says don't grieve like those who have no hope. 00:25:32.83\00:25:36.21 Oh friend of mine, perhaps you have lost a loved one. 00:25:36.25\00:25:39.88 Perhaps you have lost a spouse, a child, a parent, 00:25:39.91\00:25:43.51 a brother, a sister, a friend. 00:25:43.55\00:25:45.29 Perhaps your heart is grieving even right now. 00:25:45.32\00:25:48.05 Paul says that there is good news, don't grieve like 00:25:48.08\00:25:51.67 those who have no hope. 00:25:51.71\00:25:53.53 For when our loved ones died believing in Jesus, we have 00:25:53.57\00:25:57.04 a hope of seeing them again. 00:25:57.07\00:25:59.12 We have a hope that there is more than just this present 00:25:59.16\00:26:02.43 reality, more than just this present world. 00:26:02.46\00:26:05.09 That hope is based in the good news, that one day Jesus 00:26:05.13\00:26:09.51 will descend from the heavens and will come back a second 00:26:09.54\00:26:13.44 time and resurrect those who have died believing in Him. 00:26:13.48\00:26:16.97 That is the grand hope, that is the fruit of the gospel. 00:26:17.00\00:26:20.64 It is very interesting that in the catacombs of Rome you 00:26:20.68\00:26:24.29 can read the pagan epithets that say. 00:26:24.32\00:26:26.62 Then Jesus came into the human body. 00:26:35.80\00:26:40.81 He was incarnated and He lived the life, and He died a 00:26:40.84\00:26:43.84 perfect death, and He came back to life by He is 00:26:43.87\00:26:46.66 resurrection from the dead. 00:26:46.69\00:26:48.53 Christians died with a triumphant hope and they would 00:26:48.56\00:26:52.27 often be buried right next to pagans in the catacombs. 00:26:52.31\00:26:55.82 Above their graves would be written, goodbye my mother, 00:26:55.86\00:26:59.34 I will see you again when Jesus comes. 00:26:59.38\00:27:01.89 Farewell my sweetheart I will see you on that glad day. 00:27:01.92\00:27:05.92 Yes they were filled with hope because Jesus, their Lord, 00:27:05.96\00:27:09.92 had defeated death. 00:27:09.95\00:27:11.58 Death was no longer an endless night without a morning. 00:27:11.61\00:27:15.26 Death was no longer a time of despair for there was hope. 00:27:15.30\00:27:18.96 Jesus had defeated death and they look forward to the 00:27:19.00\00:27:22.63 time when their loved ones would live again. 00:27:22.67\00:27:25.15 Jesus said the time is coming when many who sleep in 00:27:25.18\00:27:28.70 the dust of the earth will hear the voice of the Son of 00:27:28.73\00:27:32.21 Man and come forth from their graves. 00:27:32.25\00:27:34.34 What a glorious time that will be. 00:27:34.38\00:27:36.40 When Jesus comes again, this hope is not based 00:27:36.43\00:27:40.51 on pagan philosophy. 00:27:40.55\00:27:42.78 This hope is not based on Platonic teachings of the 00:27:42.81\00:27:46.73 immortality of the soul. 00:27:46.76\00:27:48.53 It is not based on some New Age idea or even philosophies 00:27:48.56\00:27:51.54 that might have infiltrated the Christian church through 00:27:51.57\00:27:54.52 Athenagoras and others in the past. 00:27:54.55\00:27:57.18 This hope is based solidly on Jesus' resurrection from 00:27:57.22\00:28:01.27 the dead, and the fact that one day soon, and very soon, 00:28:01.30\00:28:05.39 He will come again and call the believers who have died 00:28:05.42\00:28:09.47 in Him forth from the grave that they might live 00:28:09.51\00:28:12.35 for ever and ever. 00:28:12.38\00:28:14.34 Let's pray together. 00:28:14.37\00:28:16.26 Father in heaven, here in this cemetery in Corinth, we 00:28:16.29\00:28:19.48 thank you for the powerful teaching the apostle Paul gave 00:28:19.52\00:28:22.62 to the church here. 00:28:22.66\00:28:24.58 A teaching that was filled with hope when he said listen 00:28:24.62\00:28:27.33 I will show you a mystery, we will not all sleep but we 00:28:27.37\00:28:29.87 will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 00:28:29.91\00:28:32.38 Oh Father, we thank you for that blessed hope. 00:28:32.41\00:28:36.16 Bring encouragement to each of our hearts we pray 00:28:36.19\00:28:39.91 in Jesus name, Amen! 00:28:39.94\00:28:42.98 From this beautiful cemetery here in Corinth we want to 00:28:43.02\00:28:47.13 encourage you to join us for our next teaching as Paul 00:28:47.17\00:28:51.24 goes to the great city of Ephesus. 00:28:51.28\00:28:54.10