How Spiritual Life Overcomes Physical Death - Romans 8_9-11
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Summary
In today's sermon, Pastor Ken expounds on Romans 8:5-9 and challenges us to see the difference between the flesh and the spirit, and how it relates to identity. He also reminds us that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Transcript
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Amen. Well, I feel like it's been a little bit somber this morning. I don't know if the snow
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has just made us a little calm or not, but excited to have a conversation with you guys and
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also just be preaching through the Word of God here. This is a really wonderful passage of
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Scripture. Honestly, when I was preparing this passage of Scripture, I honestly didn't understand
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the text until I had gone through and exposited the text. And so it was actually about something
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that I didn't expect and I think it might be the same for you. Bear with me, I'm still, you know,
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I'm a couple weeks of being sick and I'm finally starting to get a little bit of a rhythm here and
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so if I take some breaks for water, that's the reason behind that. Today's sermon is really a
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part two of last week's sermon on Romans chapter 8 verses 5 through 8 or 5 through 9 and in verses
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five through nine, we saw a few things. We saw Paul make several statements of contrast. He was
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contrasting two realities between the flesh and between the spirit, back and forth, back and forth
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between these two realities. And the term that I've been using even in my own study is he's
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talking about flesh walkers and he's talking about spirit walkers. And I know those are funny terms,
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but I use those terms because I don't want you to think that Paul is dealing with behavior.
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And this is essentially what Paul is doing is that he's not talking about how sometimes
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Christians walk in the flesh and sometimes they walk in the spirit.
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He's not using that structure in this particular passage of scripture.
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No, he's talking about those who are in the flesh and those who are in the spirit, those
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And so these are definitive descriptions of two categories of people.
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And we have essentially one people that is saved and I would say controlled by the Holy Spirit.
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And then we have other people who are not saved or pagan or unconverted and are controlled by the flesh.
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And it's why he said in verses 5 through 6, if you guys look down in your Bibles, it says,
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For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.
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But those who live according to the Spirit set the minds and the things of the Spirit.
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For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
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For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.
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And so Paul concluded that section by addressing the Roman Christians directly.
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He looks directly at them by saying, you, you, however, are not in the flesh, but are in the spirit.
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If, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
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And so, again, this passage of scripture is characterized by this back and forth contrast that we're seeing,
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a back and forth contrast that's either speaking of the controlling and animating power of the flesh
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or the controlling and animating power of the spirit.
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And so today's sermon, we're going to see one more great contrast.
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it would be that the gift of spiritual life surpasses the cost of physical death.
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Okay, the gift of spiritual life surpasses the cost or the pain of physical death.
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And so last week, we concluded by reading verse 9.
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It says, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
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So today in verse 10, he draws now our attention and he addresses the saved.
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So if verse 9 was addressing the lost, he's doing this other contrasting and he's now addressing the saved in verse 10.
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It says, but if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.
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so Paul makes it clear that the requirement of eternal life is the
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indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is a requirement now in this generation this
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doctrine has been vandalized by the charismatics okay we have a very skewed
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and polluted understanding of what it means to have the indwelling of the Holy
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Spirit in this generation we have you know expressions of being slain in the
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spirit we have expressions that require speaking in tongues to be in the spirit
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We have the Kesawicks that talk about a second blessing or a second coming of the Holy Spirit.
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And so for that reason, we need to understand what scripture teaches about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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What does it actually say so that we could bank on the word of God when we have questions on this matter?
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In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed, were sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit.
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So if you're wondering when the Spirit comes to indwell a person, if you're wondering if Christ is really in you,
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The way that you determine that is not by looking at your spiritual experiences.
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It's not by looking at your spiritual activity.
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It's by looking if you believe and trust in Christ.
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Because nobody can believe and trust in Christ that does not have the Holy Spirit.
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Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
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On that day, many will say to me, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out
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demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never
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knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Spiritual activity does not determine
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spiritual security. It doesn't. I drove past churches on the way here knowing that those
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pastors are not regenerate. There are churches who are filled with spiritual
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activity but do not know the gospel. They're moralists, religious, churchianity
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but have not repented and truly trusted on the righteousness of Christ for
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salvation. The only way to determine if you have the spirit is to ask yourself,
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do I know that I'm a sinner? Do I know that on judgment day when I stand before God
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that I have not a righteousness of my own but I need an alien righteousness given to me?
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Do I know that I am a sinner and need to be forgiven and those sins need to be covered?
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Do I believe those things? If you do, that is the confirmation that you have the indwelling
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of the Holy Spirit. But here in verse 10, Paul makes a passing parenthetical statement.
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Just a passing statement. You just kind of want to keep reading.
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He says, spiritual life does not free a person from physical death. If you look in verse 10,
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it says, but if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin,
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the spirit is life because of righteousness. It's just easy to just kind of keep reading.
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You're like, oh yeah, the body's dead because of sin. And then you realize his entire argument
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is revolving around this parenthetical statement. As we know, Paul opened up this chapter with the
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words, therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I believe
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that Paul includes this parenthetical, this caveat in this sentence regarding the death of the body
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because he's anticipating an honest and I would say obvious question. If there's no condemnation
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for those that are in Christ Jesus, if that's a true statement, if Christ was our substitute,
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dying the death that we deserve in our place, then why do Christians still have to physically die
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a significant amount of time this week studying.
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That is, if Christ has died the death that we deserve,
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the simple answer is they don't have to die. Believers do not have to die because Christ has
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died in their place. There is not an atom of penalty left to pay. For that reason, God could
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justly translate Christians to heaven without experiencing physical death, just as he did with
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Enoch and Elijah. And he, as he will do with billions of Christians who are alive when Christ
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returns, end quote. Fascinating, right? Fascinating perspective. Now, as we know, the vast majority
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of us are going to die. We are going to experience a physical death. So how should we think about
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this? Why do we still have to die if we technically don't have to die? Now, theologically and
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biologically speaking, physical death is a consequence of sin. We know this because we've
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already been through Romans chapter 5. In verse 12, it says, just as sin came into the world
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through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all had sinned.
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You die, we die, we're sick, we have cancer, we have disease because of sin. It is the cause,
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it is part of the curse, it is part of the decay of our bodies.
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in addition scripture teaches that we cannot experience a physical resurrection
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first corinthians 15 36 says what you sow does not come to life unless it dies
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anybody is in the agrarian world or understands agriculture you understand that reality
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a few verses later Paul says for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal
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body must put on the immortality John 12 24 Jesus is speaking about the necessity of his own
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physical death and he says something fascinating he says truly truly I say to you unless a grain
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of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it bears much fruit end quote
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but then we get to philippians 3 10 and i think the answer that you guys are looking for
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of why do we still physically die what's the value in physically dying if we don't technically have
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to die Philippians 3 8 and 10 it says quote for his sake I suffer that I may
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know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his
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sufferings becoming like him in his death and quote so ultimately God has
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actually seen that there's some sort of spiritual benefit for us to experience a physical death like
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him there's some sort of spiritual benefit there it's physical death permits us to share
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in a physical resurrection like christ it becomes this ultimate test of faith it becomes this
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ultimate testimony to our friends and family about the peace that we have in the face of death
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question 42 in the heidelberg catechism actually touches on this exact question
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it asks since christ has died for us why do we still have to die the answer is
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quote our death does not pay the debt of our sins rather it puts an end to our sinning
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and is our entrance into life end quote i think that's beautiful
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For the Christian, the deathbed actually becomes the birthing room.
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It becomes the place where we enter in to eternal life.
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the graves of Christians are truly the seed beds of the coming resurrection.
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It's why churches used to have graveyards next door,
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It looks like deadness, but it's truly seeds falling into the ground
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And though this body may die, does not mean that you die.
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Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live.
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And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
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The gift of spiritual life essentially surpasses the cost of physical death.
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If you don't anchor that truth down into your soul,
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you will look at death with fear and anguish and bitterness.
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The gift of spiritual life surpasses the cost and impact of physical death.
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It's why verses 8, or sorry, in chapter 8, 8 verses later from now, Paul says,
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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us.
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but do you understand the value of the spiritual life that you've been given that's what Paul is
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getting across yes you might have cancer you might have a terrible disease and dementia
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but do you understand what you've been given in Christ
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This is the contrast that Paul is breaking forth.
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The hardship of physical death is not even an appropriate comparison
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to the treasure of spiritual life that we have in Christ.
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I think it's the Baptist catechism I used to say with my kids,
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you know, do you have a soul as well as a body?
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yes, we have a soul that will never die. We have everlasting souls. And the physical death that we
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do die will be without fear of eternal judgment. It'll be without guilt and condemnation. And it
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will essentially permit us to share in the sufferings and the death and the resurrection
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of Christ. And for those who still have anxiety, those who still are worried or concerned about
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the loss of their body. Paul in the next verse gives you an incredible promise. He says in verse
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11, read with me, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised
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Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells
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in you. Essentially, Paul is telling us how the spirit gives us life that will overcome the
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problem of our body's physical death. It's like, so yeah, you're going to lose your body for a
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minute. And if you're so worried about the loss of your body and not recognizing the reality of
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the spiritual life that's been given to you in Christ, that's step one. Step two is that body
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that died, it's coming back. This is an amazing passage of scripture. It says, and if I could
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paraphrase, if the spirit of Christ is in you, who raised Jesus from the dead, if that
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same spirit dwells in you, then it is only coherent and logical and consistent to conclude
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will have the exact same experience that Christ had.
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That essentially, that same effect that it had on Christ's body
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is the faithfulness of the resurrection of your body
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first corinthians 2 or sorry second corinthians 4 paul speaks to the same promise he says
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we speak knowing that he who raised the lord jesus will raise us also with jesus and bring
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us with you into his presence so we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our
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inner self is being renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us
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an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison end quote amazing that's in a it's such an
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important passage of scripture death is the absolute last enemy to humanity we have people
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but if in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,
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the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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Now to be clear, every person who dies will experience a physical resurrection.
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The atheist will experience a physical resurrection.
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The Muslim will experience a physical resurrection.
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The sexually immoral, the idolaters will experience a physical resurrection.
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Scripture says that there will be a time in history
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that at the name of Jesus, every physical knee will bow
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and every physical tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
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Now, in addition to this physical resurrection, we're also going to have a judgment.
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Now the difference between the Christian's judgment and the pagan's judgment, and the
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difference between the Christian's resurrection and the pagan's resurrection, is that the
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Christian's going to experience glory and peace and eternal life because of the righteousness
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is going to lead to bodily torment, divine justice, and wrath.
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You know who spoke about hell more than any other person in the Bible?
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I had to eliminate passages of the scripture to keep on time because of how many verses
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Jesus mentions hell and wrath and justice Jesus says in Matthew 10 28 and do not fear those who
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can kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell
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you can't burn without a body think about that for a minute you can't burn
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without a body you can't weep with body the the weeping and gnashing of teeth
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you can't weep without a body hell is often referred to as a place that there
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is without thirst or a desire for thirst there's there's no water what I would do
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Ultimately, the descriptive feelings of hell in Scripture demand a physical body.
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And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
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Acts 24, 15 says, I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
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For an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth.
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Those who did the good deeds to the resurrection of life,
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those who committed the evil deeds to the resurrection of judgment.
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Matthew 25, 32 through 34 and verse 46, it speaks of his judgment.
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It says, before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
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And he will place the sheep on his right, but on the goats he will place them on his left.
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inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
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And these will go away into eternal punishment,
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One more passage, Revelation 20, 11 through 15.
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Then I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it, from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
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And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened.
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Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
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And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done.
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Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them.
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And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
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Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
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And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown in to the lake of fire, end quote.
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We often place a great importance on where our names appear.
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Some strive to have their names etched in stone, in a monument, a statue.
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you. Some strive to have their names be seen in newspapers or magazines or book covers
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or diplomas. We dedicate years to having effort put forth to achieving recognition with our
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names in these prestigious places. But the only place where having your name written
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Many people are one stopped heartbeat away from hell.
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Will your name be written in the Lamb's Book of Life?
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Will you be one of those whose body might not live, but your soul is alive?
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Eternal souls who sin against an eternal God demand eternal consequences.
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People often say that the consequence of eternal hell seems harsh.
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It's because we don't understand the holiness of God
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We all will have to face the matter of our guilt for breaking God's law.
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so that he could give the righteousness that he has
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do you have the spirit of christ in you do you trust in the righteousness of christ
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if so as we all drove out this morning and saw the white snow that covers the black streets
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it's exactly what the blood of christ does to our sin amen let's pray
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We thank you, Lord, that we have the confidence of eternal life
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Lord, we thank you for the peace that we have with the Father