Sermon
History's Last Day
February 17, 2002
Pastor Donald Sheley

Would you take your bulletins, and in your bulletin we have the notes for the sermon today. They're quite detailed today and we're going to be reading a great number of Scriptures, and so I would like for you to make sure that you have the notes because probably 80% of our message today is just Scripture reading. But my prayer is that these truths will lock themselves deeply into your heart.

John chapter 6 verse 40 says: "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, "I have come down from heaven?"

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught by God." Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not everyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

Our theme today comes from that one phrase, "I will raise him up on the last day." Now Jesus speaks about this last day several times in this chapter. In verse 39 it reads: This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

And then verses 40 and 44 we have that same phrase "I will raise him up at the last day." Verse 54 reads: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Now this is an expression found only in John in the New Testament.

And in Chapter 5 Jesus speaks of "that day in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice, and come forth-those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation."

Now in the verse that commences our study today, Christ is sure of a day that will end this world and usher in the life to come. He is equally sure that the believer has nothing to fear when that day comes for he will be raised up, and he will go in to the fullness of the life of the world to come!

Far from salvation in this world being all that there is, John looks forward to the end of the world and to Jesus as the One who will raise the redeemed and bring them into life eternal.

When Jesus met Martha after the death of her brother, Lazarus, "Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection, and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."

Paul writes these words to the Christians at Thessalonica: "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will 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. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

Now in this passage, Paul is telling the Christians at Thessalonica that those alive and those who have fallen asleep in death will share in the last resurrection. It seems that he's replying to some kind of discussion that was going on in that early church and wondering concerning this whole matter of the resurrection. You can understand because they lived in a pagan world in the face of death the world In the face of death, the pagan world stood in despair. They met it with grim resignation and bleak hopelessness.

If you're listening to the pagan preachers, this is what they would be saying during Paul's days;
Aeschulus wrote: "Once a man dies there is no resurrection." Theocritus wrote: "There is hope for those who are alive, but those who have died are without hope." Catullus wrote: "When once our brief light sets, there is one perpetual night through which we must sleep."

Now you can understand why Paul writes to the Thessalonians and he clarifies our Christian faith. If you went for a walk in the graveyard of the pagans you would find epitaph such as this:
I was not; I became, I am not; and I care not. Despair and hopelessness surrounded that Thessalonian church.

So in this Thessalonian passage Paul lays down a great principle. The man who has lived and died in Christ is still in Christ even in death and will rise with Him. Between Christ and the man who loves Him, there is a relationship which nothing, nothing can break -- a relationship which overpasses death. Because Christ died and rose again so the man who is one with Christ will rise with Him.

Now Paul paints this beautiful picture describing what is indescribable when he talks about this moment. He says, at the second coming Christ will descend from heaven to earth. He will utter the word of command and thereupon the voice of an archangel and the trump of God will awaken the dead; then the dead and the living alike will be caught up in the chariots of the clouds to meet Christ; and thereafter they will forever be with their Lord.

So for believers, the promise is that we will rise to meet the Lord, and that day is known as the day of glorification. When Christ redeemed us He did not redeem our spirits or souls only. He redeemed us as whole persons, and this includes the redemption of the body. Therefore the application of Christ's work of redemption to us will not be complete until our bodies are entirely set free from the effects of the fall and brought to that state of perfection for which God created them.

This moment between time and eternity when this change takes place is called glorification. So glorification is the final step in the application of redemption. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, and reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like His. That's known as the glorification of the saints.

Remember, Paul said, those He's called, those He's justified; whom He's justified, those He's glorified. That's the ultimate. Now Paul writes to the Corinthians these words: "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. That's often the phrase used for death, fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. And then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom of God to the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death."

Now when we read on in this Corinthian passage at verse 47 it says, "The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Philippians 3:20 -- "But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power which enables Him even to subject all things to Himself."

John writes, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

That's a momentous thought folks. In a moment we leave this frail human frame made of dust (snaps fingers). In a twinkling of an eye we take on a body immortal, incorruptible, and as glorious as that of Christ. That's amazing, isn't it? Let's read on.

As for the belief of those living in the time of the Old Testament, Hebrews 11 tells us that Abraham "looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." And if we read on in that 11th chapter, it speaks of saints who "all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar." That's with faith. "And having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city."

So it's obvious in the ancient past in Old Testament times the saints had an anticipation for this glorious day. Job said: I know, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, I myself will see Him with my own eyes-I and not another."

Remember, Job is the most ancient of Old Testament books. And so from the early moments of human history there was that anticipation of someday standing in the presence of God.

Look at what David says in his Psalms, "But God will redeem my soul from the grave; He will surely take me to Himself." And old Daniel has a very, very explicit prophecy when he says, "many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

Now put your notes down just for a moment. I want to insert some thoughts. When we read those verses it seems like history flows along in heaven and in earth, and then out here on that day marked in God's calendar of events -- the last day. Jesus comes, the resurrection, the judgment, and eternity. (Claps hands) It all takes place on the last day. It seems that the verses say that.

Well, most of us who sit here today are Evangelicals who have been taught with a different approach to prophecy, which we call ask ecology. We're taught as premillennialist that history moves along -- here's earth, here's heaven, and then 1 Thessalonians happens; behold, when He comes. We call that the rapture of the church, and it says that at that moment when He comes, in the skies, it says that the dead will rise first and then we'll join them, and we'll all be in heaven.

We're taught that up in heaven for seven years we're enjoying the great marriage supper of the lamb. Down here on earth is the great tribulation. Then we're told that Jesus returns with the saints, sets up His kingdom, and for 1000 years, that's called the millennium, at the end of that time then the wicked are resurrected to judgment, the great judgment, and eternity begins.

Now when you study deeper into premillennial prophecy, or we call it eschatology, eschatology is the teaching of things to come. You find that also we're taught that the reason why they believe the first resurrection has nothing to do with the unbelievers, is because in that Thessalonian passage there is no reference to the unbelievers. It references only the believers being caught way to be with Jesus.

So we're told that the wicked remain in their graves for 1000 years longer, clear out to the end of the millennium. Then if you study deeper into that theology, they'll tell you that there are multiple resurrections because there most likely will be people that will be saved down here during the great tribulation, so they've got to come up to enjoy the millennium.

Then there will be people who die during the millennium and they are going to be buried, and they're going to have to be resurrected to be with Christ in heaven. So what you have is a theory of multiple resurrections, and that is what basically makes up our prophetic understanding of the Scriptures as premillennialist.

But there are some interesting facts. All through the ages of the church, for 2000 years, there has been a consistent effort to keep purity in Christian doctrine. And thus, when it looked like there was a deviation occurring and some preacher started teaching things that really were not of the original Christian faith they'd convene a great conference and they would rewrite the great creeds. So we literally have hundreds of creeds and confessions that have been written down through time to defend and to protect what the Bible really says and to keep Christianity as pure as possible.

One of the fascinating studies is to study those creeds and those confessions that have been written down through history. It's the defense of our Christian faith. Now interesting enough when you go back to all of the creeds and the great confessions of the church for the first 1700 years, it is implied that there will be a general resurrection and at that time Christ comes, the dead are raised, judgment takes place, and eternity begins. So it's implied and it was the teaching of the Christian church for 1700 years. There will only be one great last day and one great resurrection.

You say, pastor, which one do you think is right? I don't know. I just know that great minds, great theologians, have wrestled with both teachings. All I know is when He comes, I want to go with Him. Right?. And I'll let the theologians argue till they're blue in the face. I know one thing, Jesus said in the last day I will raise you up, and that's what my great anticipation is; that when He calls. I'll go with Him.

Now let's go back to our notes. Here's the thing that amazes me, or it fascinates my mind. I say, if in that moment in a twinkling of an eye this mortal takes on immortality, this corruption takes on incorruption, this natural body takes on a spiritual body, this man of the dust becomes like the Man of heaven, what will my resurrected body be like?

I tell you that frequently I stand at the death bed of saints and while I'm standing there, which I did just the other day down at the hospital, I watched Ray take his closing breaths, I watched him close his eyes, and I watched the monitor standing side-by-side with the doctor. And when the monitors went silent I stood there and said to my heart, what is Ray experiencing now? For in a (snaps fingers) moment, he's now in the presence of Christ. What a moment that must be, to close our eyes in death.

So, let's see if Paul can help us out. He says that in the Corinthian passage, which we just read, Paul, using the example of sowing a seed in the ground and then watching it grow into something much more wonderful, says this about our resurrection bodies: What is sown, that is, what is born, is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable. What is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. What is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. What is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. Just as we have borne the image of the man of the dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.

So this is what he tells us our resurrection bodies will be imperishable. That is, they will not wear out or grow old or ever be subject to any kind of sickness and disease. Our resurrected bodies will have no sign of aging, but will have the characteristics of youthful but mature manhood and womanhood.

Now that's about as far as we can go with human logic because we don't understand heaven. Let me suggest a question: if when that moment (snaps fingers) takes place and we're all changed and your just a baby, with you be a baby for all of eternity in heaven? Someone said, well, what would heaven be like if we didn't have babies? But if it's implied that the baby will grow then it implies that I will grow.

What I'm trying to show you is when we get beyond the realm, you realize how limited we are in trying to understand the infinite mind of God with our little mind. All we know is, what we don't like, here won't be there. I don't like getting old, but I'm working at it to do it gracefully, and it's hard folks.

And I don't like sickness. The other morning I rushed my wife to the hospital with an asthmatic attack and we were there until 2:00 in the morning. I don't like hospitals. And you don't like pain and tears. One thing we know, when we get to heaven those will all be gone.

Secondly, Paul says, our resurrected bodies will be raised in glory. When this term is contrasted with "dishonor," as it is here in this verse, there is a suggestion of the beauty or the attractiveness of appearance that our bodies will have. They will no longer be "dishonorable or unattractive, but will look "glorious" in their beauty. Because the word "glory" is so frequently used in the Scripture of the bright, shining radiance that surrounds the presence of God Himself, this term suggests that there will also be a kind of brightness or radiance surrounding our bodies that will be an appropriate outward evidence of the position of exaltation and rule over all creation that God has given us.

This is suggested in Matthew by Jesus. He says, "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." And Daniel sees a vision, and he said, "those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever."

So Paul is telling us that in that moment (snaps fingers) when mortality takes on immortality there will come a brightness, a radiance that we will take on and be like the sun. Isn't that amazing?

Notice: in our resurrected bodies we'll be raised in power. This is in contrast to the "weakness" which we see in our bodies now. Our resurrection bodies will not only be free from disease and aging, they will also be given fullness of strength and power--not infinite power like God, of course, and probably not what we would think of as "superhuman" power in the sense possessed by the "superheroes" in modern fictional writings...but full of strength to the degree that God intended human beings to have in their bodies when He created them. It will therefore be strength that is sufficient to do all that we desire to do in conformity with the will of God.

And Paul tells us that our resurrected bodies will be spiritual. It is sown a natural body subject to the characteristics and the desires of this age, and governed by its own sinful will, but it will be raised a spiritual body, completely subject to the will of the Holy Spirit and responsive to the Holy Spirit's guidance. And when Paul says, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," what he means by "flesh and blood" is our present human nature, particularly our physical bodies, as they are now existing, in the likeness of Adam after the fall. So as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.

But there's the other side of the story to that last day. The last day we as Christians can forward to a wonderful, glorious moment to be with Christ. But look at what Jesus said, "Do not marvel at this: for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice, and come forth--those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation."

So for the people who have rejected Jesus Christ, for those who have ignored the gospel of God's love and His grace, for those who have turned away from Jesus' love, John sees a vision what will happen on that last day. "Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat upon it; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Also another book was opened which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

Some will rise to life; others will be raised to condemnation. Look at what he says in Thessalonians: "Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes in that Day", the last day," to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed."

There's something very solemn about that thought of the last day -- the last time. When we think of that there will come that day, that last day, we will prepare for work. That last day will be the last day we hug our kids in this earth. That last day will be the last day we drive to work. On that last day will be the last time we have dinner with family here on earth -- on the last day. There's something solemn about that, isn't there?

John says, he that hath this hope within him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Implied -- if we truly believed that this could be the last day, it would totally alter our living patterns. If we lived as if this was the last day, it would change us entirely.

Then the question is, then what is the final state when he says I will raise him up at the last day? He is now talking about, we understand, both sinners and saints. So the question is what is the final state for the unbeliever? What's the end? Hell.

The Bible describes hell as a place of punishment, a place of conscious suffering, a place of outer darkness, Jesus said, a place where the soul is banished from God's presence forever, and forever, and forever, and forever. Some will be raised to judgment. What will be the final state then for the person who puts their trust in Christ, who has believed that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world? What will be our final eternal state?

I went to Dr. Lockyer's book on doctrine and he gives us a very beautiful outline. He said, first of all, we're going to be with Christ in heaven and it's really a place. It's not just a figment of the imagination. It's a real place. Heaven is a real place. Or is it? I don't know. It's up there. It's somewhere. And it's an abode that has been prepared. Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you. When I come again I will receive you unto myself.

Now I think this way: boy, if He created this world in six days and He's been gone 2000 years fixing up heaven, that must be one glorious place. But it's a prepared place and it's not only a prepared abode, but it's a peopled abode. The Bible says that all of the saints of the ages are going to be there. I've always wanted to meet Elijah, and Joseph, and Moses, and Abraham. They'll all be there. Most of all -- Jesus will be there. It's a peopled abode.

And it's a paternal abode, says Dr. Lockyer. That is, Jesus said, it's my Father's house. You get a picture of a marvelous, loving, heavenly father who says come home, come home. Not only is it a paternal abode, but it's a palatial abode. That is, when John sees that vision all he's got his human words to describe it. And he's describing something indescribable. And when he sees the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, all he can say, it's one great big jewel box. Because in that 21st chapter of Revelation all he says it's like jewels, amethyst, sapphire. He said it's pure gold.

He says I measured it, and if you used human dimensions, it's 1500 miles square. That means from here to Chicago Square. 1500 miles high, and he said the gates are made up of pearls. Can you imagine a pearl 1500 miles across?. Well, you see, what he's saying is it's so beautiful there's no way, there's no way -- we have no language to describe the palatial glorious of heaven.

Lastly, it's a perfect abode. There's no sin, there's no sickness, there are no tears, and will never say goodbye again. We're home. Jesus said, in that last day I will raise you up, and may our resurrection be a resurrection unto life eternal.

Father, I'm so glad that You didn't leave us in the dark with regards to the great future events. Today we just simply read Your Scripture and we believe it's just exactly like You said it was. But at least now we know, and we know that that day will come and there will be a great judgment. And we who have loved You, Lord Jesus, will have the joy of being ushered into Your eternal presence.

For those who have rejected You, Ah, what tragic eternal consequences. But our expectation, our hope, our faith, believes, Lord Jesus, that when You call us we will be with You forever. May that be true of every one of us here today, with our faith fixed firmly in You, Lord Jesus, as our Savior and our God.

And if there's anybody here that hasn't made that confession of faith, in the silence of this moment, dear Jesus, may they tell You that they put their trust in You as Savior and Lord. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen . God bless you all.