The question now arises as to Paul’s maintaining by virtue of Christ’s resurrection, that all in Christ who are asleep in the dust of the earth, shall at His coming be made partakers with Him of a glorious resurrection, and of a glorious body. This chapter deals with this wonderful, mysterious, matter—the nature of the resurrection body of believers. I’m not going into that, except so far as to say that it is here in the Bible, in the doctrine and the teaching of the Saviour, and in the Apostolic doctrine. Bound up with the resurrection of the Lord of Glory, there is the future resurrection of believers and that to possess a glorious body, a spiritual body. The souls and bodies of believers, at the coming of Christ, are to be united one to another, and they who shall be alive at His coming shall be changed. The Apostle maintains all this in the chapter. Part of a verse in connection with Christ’s resurrection states, Christ has “become the first fruits of them that slept”. That’s the second part of the verse. The Apostle here links up the resurrection of the Lord and the resurrection of His people. He goes back to what was true in Israel in regard to the harvest, and what was practised in Israel at the harvest. When the harvest was ripe, they were required to take the first ripe sheaf and to wave it before the Lord. That sheaf was the evidence and the token of the fact that there was a whole harvest to be gathered in. That is how I understand the reference here. Christ was the first fruits, and as Paul says later on, “afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming”. That’s it, friends. There is no separation between Christ and his people; there is no separation in life, and no separation in the matter of resurrection. If you read the sixth chapter of John there you have the Saviour saying, “Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day”. Now you’ll get that I think four times in that one chapter. Christ maintains that they who are His and who believe in Him, that He is not only concerned with their souls, He’s concerned with their whole personalities and persons, and with their bodies as well. “I will raise him up at the last day.” By virtue of Christ’s rising, all those who are in Christ shall be blessed with a glorious body to enter in finally into “the Holiest of all”, and to be capable not only as to their souls fully sanctified, but also as to their bodies, of standing there in the glory of the everlasting Kingdom and that before the “throne of God and of the Lamb”. That’s what he maintains here. He says in the chapter, “Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible”. That is, the dead asleep in the dust of the earth, Christ’s people.
He says, “We shall be changed”. That is a reference, as far as I understand it, to those who shall be alive at His coming. They shall be changed “in the twinkling of an eye”.
Then there are three references by the Apostle to victory. One reference to victory is a reference to Old Testament Scripture, and that reference is in these words, “Death is swallowed up in victory”. I’m quite conscious of the profundity of that statement, very personally conscious of it, and it is better for some of us to take a simple view of profound statements. If we have, as we profess in this Synod to have the faith of the Gospel, then we’ll know enough about this wonderful truth without going beyond our depth. “Death is swallowed up in victory” as the Scripture says. Christ says that in the face of all the Church, at the last trumpet, death will be vanquished as far as they are concerned. It’s vanquished as far as they are concerned. It’s vanquished already in the Person of Christ, and it shall be “swallowed up” and made an end of by the victory that the Church of God will have in their personal and individual resurrection at the last day.
The second reference to victory is by way of challenging questions. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” These questions are a reference to the ultimate that the Apostle was seeing, according to the revelation he got from the Lord in truth and in faith. This is a challenging question. “O grave where is thy victory?” Where is the victory that Satan thought he had over the whole of mankind? The consequences of sin were that “by man came death”. But where is that victory today regarding Christians? That victory has been taken from death, and the sting has been taken out of death by virtue of the resurrection of Christ, and it shall be taken out of death at the resurrection of the Church at the last day.
The third reference to victory is this: “Thanks be to God, Who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is it, friends. There will be praises and thanksgivings resounding in Heaven, and that before the “throne of God and of the Lamb” by a multitude that no man can number out of every nation and kindred and tongue and people. And surely this will be in it, not only thanksgiving to the Trinity for covenant love and for redemption, but also thanksgiving for the victory over death by the Son of God on behalf of His people, and thanks for the victory that they themselves experienced on the resurrection morning, which fitted them and prepared them for the glory of Heaven. Victory! victory! victory! victory!
In all this, you have consolation for the Church of God of whom we read that they are “begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven.” That is where this inheritance of everlasting glory is. It is in Heaven reserved there, and all this which the Apostle maintains against damnable heresy, is the basis of the encouragement to the people of God, who have been given a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Their hope, according to all this, will be satisfied, and will be realised at the last, and throughout an endless world.
At the time at my disposal, I would like now to come to what stems from the maintaining of a damnable heresy such as this, and maintaining of the truth regarding the resurrection of Christ and His people. There are two things in the wide application. The Church of Christ is confronted today with the positive rejection of many of the fundamental truths and realities and doctrines of the faith. I hinted already how the resurrection, the denial of it, impinges on the belief in the infallibility and inspiration of the Scripture. You can go through every doctrine and every truth, starting at the resurrection, and going backwards and forwards and you’ll not find a doctrine of the faith, but is affected and undermined by this damnable heresy. The Church is confronted with this today. The Confession of Faith is to be overthrown, and some kind of substitute given in its place of some outline of the ‘substance’ of the faith. On the other hand, there is laid upon the Church today, the duty and the obligation of maintaining, not only the physical aspect of the glorious resurrection of the Divine and holy Saviour, but all the other doctrines of the faith, which are inseparably bound up with that. That is upon the shoulders of the Church.
Now, I come for a little while, secondly, to the three-fold exhortation. “Therefore,” after all this, because of all this, “therefore,” be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” “Steadfast”—stead, a place; fast, firm. That’s what the dictionary states. Where is the Church today? Where is the place of the Church? In the area of Divine Truth. In the area of the Divine Word of God. The Church’s place is there, and the Church is to be firm in that place and in that area, and to be steadfast in faith upon Christ in His Holy Word. Faith upon Christ is that which the Church needs, and faith in His Word, in which, and through which, the glories of the Divine Saviour are revealed to us. Do you believe so much of the Bible? Some may answer, “Yes”. The thing is my friend, that there can be no such thing as a belief in part of the Bible, as it reveals Christ to us. The Bible is a Divinely given, inspired, means whereby the Church comes to have faith in a Person. Never forget that as far as the Gospel is concerned, belief in the Truth is one thing. Belief in the Person of Christ, in His actual death, in His actual resurrection, is of the very essence of faith, and is absolutely essential and vital to salvation. It is required that the Church of God be steadfast in the area of Divine Truth, and to resolutely adhere to Divine Truth as the very life of the Church’s existence.
Now, “Immoveable”. That’s the next thing. You have a good example in the Apostle Paul here. Well could he afford to give this exhortation not only to be steadfast, but to be immoveable. This is the matter that is raised again and again in the Apostolic writings and in the Church. “Be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel.” The Church today is to be immoveable as far as all the erroneous doctrinal influences of today are concerned. However widely held error, and damnable heresy are, the Church is told here to be unmoved. That’s not what can be termed an exhortation without necessity. There are none of these things without reason, and when the Spirit of God by the Apostle is commanding you and me and our Church to be unmoved as we face all the winds of erroneous doctrine that are propagated and held widely and strongly, the Bible means what it says. You and I are exhorted to be immoveable. We are not to be moved. We are not at all to be compromising. We are to guard against being doubters. We are to guard against going back in regard to any of the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God. As far as we are concerned tonight with this central doctrine of the resurrection of Christ and of His people, we are to be immoveable, friends, whatever the world and the professing church may think of us. We are to be immoveable as a remnant in the midst of a large majority who are drifting down the broad way of error to everlasting destruction, unless a day of power and mercy will come to them. We are to be immoveable as to all that the Word of God maintains in regard to the physical resurrection of the Holy and Blessed Saviour and the resurrection of His people.
Now I come to the third part of the exhortation. The Apostle exhorts the “beloved brethren” to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord”. Now Christ has risen, and has gone to Heaven. His people are going to be raised, and those who have that hope are to be “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” What work? Well, briefly, first of all, as far as the Church is concerned, preaching the Gospel. What Gospel? That Christ died and rose again. That is at the centre of the Gospel. That’s the work of the Lord—to declare to a lost world that there is a living Saviour set forth in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel, Who says, “Because I live, ye shall live also”. Then there are practical activities. The work of the Lord involves practical activities in every avenue of the Church’s Scriptural activities—the preservation of the Church, and the extension of the Church and Christ’s kingdom in this world. These activities are varied and many. There is to be practical devotion to the worship of God and practical application to the government of the Church according to the Word of Truth. There is to be practical administration of discipline in the Church of God, which is to be Scriptural discipline, preserving the Church from impurity, and cleansing it from what might be impure. There is to be a practical undertaking of works of faith and labours of love. There is to be practical provision for the training of the ministry, and a cheerful regard to Christian giving for the support of the Church and the Cause of Christ. You see there are many and varied matters that devolve upon the Church with regard to practical devotion to the Lord. “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Prayer! Labouring in prayer is the work of the Lord, and from the Lord in relation to the Lord. Praying for what? Praying for the Holy Spirit to come to you and me, and to come to every family among us, and to come to every congregation among us, and to come to us as a Church at home and abroad. That is how you and I and ministers and elders and office-bearers and those that fear the Lord among us should be constantly engaged. That is “abounding in the work of the Lord”. We’re not trying to be pharisaical or legal or anything else of that kind, but to be spiritually truthful and honest and practical. Every day that we open our eyes we ought to be praying in the name of the Divine Redeemer that the Holy Spirit would be poured down upon us from on high, on our own souls and on those around us, on our congregations and on our Church at large. The Lord says, “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” I remember once at Stoer saying, if we’re not getting the open reward, the secret praying is not there. If we be in secret, then the Lord’s Word will be fulfilled, and the reward will come. Now, what more? Personal witness. “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.” How do you witness for the Divine and risen Saviour? Not by a superficial godliness, but in a meek, quiet, firm, strong, humble, spirit and frame of mind, taking Christ with you wherever you go. Let it be known by the world that each one of us who professes the Name of the Lord, whether ministers or office-bearers or members, are Christ’s. Let it be known by all sections of the world that we are on Christ’s side, and that we are for Christ’s Word and Christ’s Gospel, and all that is connected with the glory of the Divine Redeemer, including the fact that He rose again from the dead. Our Saviour is alive, and “alive for evermore”, and He has “the keys of hell and of death”. “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Let us be willing to work for the Lord. Let us seek to be willing, to have a willing heart and a willing mind to work for the Lord. Let us be seeking the Divine strength and receiving it, abounding in strength for the Lord, and not for another. “Always.” ‘Oh well, you know, things are not very encouraging,’ some will say. ‘They’re not very encouraging in my area of the Church of Christ.’ There was a time when the Lord Himself was preaching the wonderful truths about the sufferings and death that were to be His, and there were professed disciples there, and they murmured and then went back to walk no more with Him. There were times when the Lord experienced things of a discouraging nature in His sojourn through this world. “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Certainly in the day of prosperity spiritually in the Gospel, and also when you meet days of adversity. Seek to abound in the work of the Lord, come what may. “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in His time.” That is a precious Scripture. If you are on the Lord’s side, and if you have the enemies of the Truth at the door, if you’ve got love to Jesus and love to the glories of Jesus, you’re going to follow in the footsteps of the Apostle, and maintain the Truth in the good day and in the dark day, in the sunshine and in the darkness. “Always abounding in the work of the Lord.”
Now here is the encouragement briefly. “Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” First of all, the purposes of the Lord are being fulfilled through the instrumentality of the Church, and I mean our Church. There are other churches, and they are used as far as the Lord’s purposes are concerned in the world too. But the fact is that the purposes of the Lord are being fulfilled. “Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” Because of that, what does the Lord say about one of the primary matters that the Church handles, the Word of God in the Gospel? “My word shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” “Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” There are people who are being built up in their most holy faith in our midst by the doctrines of the Gospel. There are people who from their experience can testify that they have been nourished in the faith of the Gospel in our midst as a Church. There have been conversions. There have been sinners brought to Jesus. There are sinners being brought to Jesus in the midst of the Free Presbyterian Church by the grace of Heaven and by the power of the Divine Spirit. Do you know that? It is an encouragement that we know that. Our labour is not “in vain in the Lord.” We know that as we stand in this pulpit, that there are souls being brought to Jesus in our congregations. You have this encouragement as a Church, as ministers, as elders, as those who fear the Lord and seek that the Lord’s work would be going on. Your labour is not in vain, not empty, not without fruit, not without glory to Christ, and that is all of the Lord. They who labour for the Lord are in the Lord. They are under His Divine favour and blessing. The work and the labour of the Church is not empty and fruitless as the Lord is in it all. However limited, the evidences are that the labour of the Church “is not in vain in the Lord”: they are there. That is the encouragement, from and in a risen Lord at the right hand of God in Heaven.
Labouring for a Saviour who has not risen! Oh friend, no, no. That’s not the Church we belong to at all. We’re exposing damnable heresy and maintaining the truth of the glory of Christ. “Therefore,” on this account, “be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” May the Lord bless His Word.