I would just like to say for the sake of those who are here for the first time tonight that what we have been looking at during these meetings is the great doctrine of the second coming again of our Lord. Last evening we were looking at the teaching of Christ concerning His coming. And by the way, every fundamental doctrine in Holy Scripture in the New Testament, first of all, is based on the teaching of Christ Himself. What we find later on in the Epistles of the Apostles is the elaboration, the exposition of what Christ himself taught. So last night we were looking at Matthew, twenty four, twenty five, and also in John chapter fourteen. Now let me just briefly recall what we were looking at last night. There are two phases of the coming of the Lord. One is the rapture and the other is the appearing. There are technical words in the New Testament for these two phases of the coming. We don't want to be technical, but let's get it clearly in our mind that the second coming again of Christ is in two phases. First of all, he's coming for his church as a bridegroom, and then after a period of approximately seven years he's coming back again. Visibly, when a speech shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, when he'll take a scepter and for one thousand years will rain from sea to sea and from the river on to the end of the earth. One is the rapture and the other is the appearing. Now, our Lord, in Matthew twenty four, that first section of that gospel, of that prophetic discourse, he describes the second phase. That is, when he comes back again, visibly, when every eye shall see him, on them also which pierced him on when he will be seen by the whole world at that time. That is the appearing. But then when we turned over to the gospel by John with a little select group around a table in the upper room, he said, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me, in my father's house, or many mansion. If it were not so, I would have told you. If I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. Now, any intelligent person looking at the Synoptic Gospels on the teaching there, and then looking at the Gospel according to John and examining what our Lord has to say there will see a decided difference. And the difference is the difference between the rapture for the church and the visible appearing. the manifestation, the apocalypse, the epiphany, the art shining of the glory when he comes back again to take up his throne and reign. So in the teaching of Christ, he brings before us very clearly in the Gospels the two phases of the coming. Now what I want to do tonight is to see how the Apostle Paul develops this great theme. He speaks, first of all, he speaks about the rapture, and he also speaks about the appearing. Now, the two passages be read at the beginning tonight. It is the rapture that he speaks of. We want the time tonight to look at the third passage. And Lord willing, tomorrow morning, at half past nine, tomorrow morning, I would like to look at the third great passage. a tremendous exposition of the appearing of the Lord Jesus in second Thessalonians chapter two. I would like to say this tonight in connection with that passage, it was that tremendous exposition of the appearing. They opened the eyes of Mr. J.N. Darvey many, many years ago to the difference between the rapture and the appearing. You know, that some people would like to tell us that he learned it from a Roman Catholic priest, a man called Ribera. Under others that would tell that he learned it from a man called Edward Irving. He was a Pentecostal preacher in the city of London. And he did teach some things connected with the coming again of Christ. And some would say that Mr. Darby learned it from him. And then there are others quite recently have said that he learned it from a woman who lived in Greenock in Scotland, Mrs. Macdonald. But I don't think that anyone who has examined the evidence would conclude that he learned it from any of these people. He learned it from the Word of God. A young man, twenty-six years of age, along with other students of the Word of God, sitting around a table, and examining God's Word carefully, and with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, he learned the difference between the rapture and the appearing. That's all I want to say about that tonight. But Lord willing, tomorrow morning, we'll take a little time to look at that tremendous passage in Second Thessalonians chapter two. But tonight, I want to look at these two great classic passages in the teaching of the Apostle Paul concerning the rapture. That is the hope of the church. Now, First Corinthians chapter fifteen is a little different from what we find in First Thessalonians chapter four. You remember in First Corinthians fifteen, there was a doubt thrown by some of the believers at Corinth, concerning the resurrection body, whether there would be a real literal bodily resurrection. I've run into the same kind of thing among some of our young people today. And they say, do you mean to tell me that any person after they die and the body goes into the grave and that body disintegrates in the grave and returns to the fourteen chemical elements of which it's composed and the body is completely disintegrated in Mother Earth. Do you mean to say that there ever will be a literal resurrection of that body? And then they bring up the fact that many people today are cremated. And the body is burdened. And sometimes the ashes are scattered to the four winds of heaven. And do you need to say that that body that has been cremated, that there ever will be a literal resurrection of the body? And again, a body that has been buried at sea. It goes down to the depths of the ocean, and naturally the body will disintegrate, or maybe eaten by some of the monsters of the deep. Will that body ever be resurrected again? Now, that is a legitimate question. And sometimes the look at you with the quizzical look in their eye on the wonder what the answer is. Now, in First Corinthians chapter fifteen we get the answer. And anybody that has any thoughts about the resurrection body of the believer, I think should carefully study that passage. The foundation of the doctrine is the bodily resurrection of Christ. And the Apostle shows that our Lord, who is the first fruits of resurrection, in the same body which he was crucified upon Calvary's cross, and that body taken by clean hands, reverend hands, and laid in Joseph of Arimathea's new term, that on the third day that same body in which he was crucified, with the marks of crucifixion upon it, that he rose from the dead. And the Apostle, he uses that as the great foundation of the doctrine of the resurrection of the believer, the resurrection body of the believer. Now in First Corinthians, there are two questions asked, and I read them at the beginning. Some man will say, after he gives the evidence in connection with the person of Christ on his resurrection body, But some men will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Now, there are two questions. And you notice the apostle in answering them, he takes the last one first. And he speaks about the resurrection body of the believer. With what kind of a body do they come? And he gives some lovely illustrations here concerning the resurrection body of the believer. And then the... First question, he answers at last. Some man will say, how are the dead raised up? And at the end of the chapter, he tells us about the second coming of Christ and what will happen when he comes back again. Now, the whole context has to do with the resurrection body of the believer. Let's just consider for a moment this second question. With what body do they come? Now the apostle in answering that question, he uses three lovely illustrations. First of all, he uses an illustration from botany, the seed that goes in, or the harvest that comes out. Secondly, he uses an illustration from biology. He speaks of four different kinds of flesh. The flesh of man, the flesh of beast, the flesh of birds, and the flesh of fish. And he uses here an illustration from biology. And then thirdly, he uses an illustration from astronomy. He speaks of the glory of the sun, the glory of the moon, and the glory of the stars, each star differing from another star in glory. Now these three illustrations that he's using is an answer to the question or an illustration. of the answer to the question that is asked in verse thirty-five. With what body do they come? Now first of all, the sea on the harvest. You know when a body is placed in Mother Earth, it's just like planting sea. And by the way, let me express a personal opinion. I'm not dogmatizing here. But it is becoming more and more common today for people to be cremated. And sometimes people that do not seem to consider the teaching of Holy Scripture concerning the disposal of the body, when death takes place, sometimes they'll leave it in their will for the body to be cremated. Now, I think that the example of Holy Scripture is what we find in the person of Christ. His body was buried. And not only that, but in the Old Testament, wherever a body was burned, it was a pagan custom. And sometimes the motive behind cremation, well, I'm not going to judge the motive. But the teaching of Holy Scripture concerning the disposal of the body, when death takes place, it is the seed that's planted in Mother Earth. Now the Apostle here in speaking about the seed and the harvest, he uses two distinct words. He uses a word for seed and then he speaks about bare grain. Now there are two words that he uses about the seed. The first one is the word sperma. Notice the ordinary word for seed. But then he uses a second word and that word is cocos. And that word means the vital germ of the seed. Now I don't need to tell any farmer. or anyone that does a little bit of gardening, they know when the seed is planted in the air, that a large section, a large portion of the seed disintegrates. But there is a vital germ in that seed, and it does not disintegrate. And by the almighty part of God, in the springtime, and by the way, it's always a miracle when it takes place. There's life there. There's vitality there. and although a large part of the seed disintegrates, that vital germ, God, by his almighty power, it starts to sprout. And then there's the blade and the ear and then the full corn in the ear. Now, it seems to me that the teaching of the Apostle Paul is this, that in every human body that there is a vital germ that never, never can be destroyed. And I personally believe that the teaching of the Apostle here is this, that by God's almighty power, when Christ comes back again, that vital germ will burst into life. You know, life begins with a single cell. It's microscopic. But in that cell, everything connected with that person is there. It's all unfolded, incorporated. in that cell. And I believe that when Christ comes back again, that vital germ of the seed that has been planted, it will sprout. And when we look at the person, we'll see that person in all the glory of a glorified body. You know, the seed that goes in, it's wrinkled, it's dry, nothing very beautiful about it at all. But when it goes into the earth by God's almighty power at the resurrection, it will come out and everything will be absolutely perfect. It will be a glorified body and it will be comparable to the body, the glorified body of Christ. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Some time ago there was an old brother, preacher, man that I have known all my life. and he was dying. I can remember him in this praying, fine big upstanding man with a beautiful voice. Love to minister the word of God at the Glasgow half-yearly meeting. But he was ninety-three and he was dying. And I sat by his side, all the hair was gone, and his head had become so small that it just looked like a good-sized grip for it. His eyesight was gone, his teeth were gone, and it just seemed that everything was withered and dried. You know, when I looked at him, I said to myself, one day, the resurrection body that you will have, oh, it will be perfect. And when I see you, it will be just what I used to see when you were in your praying. Perfect, a perfect body, a glorified body, and it will be comparable to the body, the glorified body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I think that the secret of the answer to the questions that are asked today are those two words that the Apostle uses here. First of all, the seed that goes in. But that vital germ of the seed that absolutely nothing can destroy, and by God's almighty power, at the sharp, at the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, the dead shall rise. The dead in Christ. shall rise, and that body that we'll have will be comparable to the body of Christ himself. The seed on the heart. And then the second one is the flesh of beasts, the flesh of men, the flesh of beasts, the flesh of birds, and the flesh of fish. Do you think the Apostle Paul is teaching evolution here? I don't think so for one moment. You know, if you think of the illustration that is using four different kinds of flesh, the flesh of men, it's a lovely thing to see a perfect human body, or at least one who is in the full broom of health and strength. See a young man or a young woman in their early twenties really enjoying life and good red blood flowing through their veins. That person is perfectly adapted to the environment where God has placed them. the flesh of men and then the flesh of beasts. You take the lion, for instance, in the forest. I have seen him in his native environment and he is the king. Many a time I have sat up a tree waiting for him and in the middle of the night I hear him roar and see him stalking through the forest. He is not afraid of anybody. I have heard people say, all you need to do is look them in the eye. And they turn away and leave you because he's afraid of the human eye. That's absolute nonsense. He's not afraid of you or anybody else. He's the king. And he's perfectly adapted to his environment. Any time I go to a zoo and see him behind bars in the zoo, I look at him and say, poor fellow. I'm sorry for you. But we've seen him in his own environment. And he's a king. And when he roars, this complete silence. You would almost think you could hear a leaf dropping off the tree. Every sound of the forest is silent when he roars. When he speaks, he is the king. Perfectly adopted to his environment. And then the flesh of birds. You know, you see these great, seven forty sevens flying through the sky. And it is an amazing thing to me to see them. Would you take an eagle? or even a seagull or some of these beautiful creatures that God has created. It's absolutely beautiful to see them sailing through the sky, completely adapted, perfectly adapted to their environment. And then the flesh of fish. You know, when you go down to this aquarium here in Florida, see those beautiful creatures that are there. It's absolutely amazing how they have been adapted to the environment that God has made them for. What's it all about? You know, I have a terrestrial body down here and I'm adopted to the environment where I am. But when I get up there, I'm going to have a glorified body. And that body will be adapted to the climate. To the atmosphere, it will be adapted to the environment of heaven. I'll feel perfectly happy and perfectly at home when I get up there with that glorified body that God is going to give me. So the first. is the illustration from botany, the illustration from biology. And then the third one, the illustration from astronomy. The glory of the sun. What is that glory? That's the supreme glory. That is the glory of Christ. The glory of the moon. The moon in Holy Scripture is a type and picture of the church of God. Our reflected glory. But then the glory of the stars. That is the individual glory of the same. Every star shining there, each one reflecting. the glory of Christ, but each star is representative of the saints in the coming day. And my dear brother and sister here tonight, when I see you with that glorified body, I will be able to tell the kind of a life that you live. Each star differing from another star in glory. They that win many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever. These three illustrations that the Apostle uses connected with a glorified body to me, they're supremely beautiful. The first one, the seed and the harvest. The second one, perfectly adapted to the climate of heaven. You know, an ungodly wretch, if he was taken to heaven, he wouldn't be happy there at all. He would be most miserable if he was there. I know a little bit about that. Before God saved me, I'd have been very, very unhappy in this little meeting here tonight. And when anybody would get up to pray or read the scriptures or even give out to him, I felt uncomfortable. But you know, God brought a change. And when I was born again, I received a new nature. And God knows. I'm never happier that when I'm in the company of a little company of believers, when they're lifting their hearts in prayer, and singing these beautiful hymns of praise to God, perfectly happy in the climate, perfectly happy in the environment. And when we get up there, it will be a perfect environment. where the resurrection body will be perfectly at home. So the first part of this magnificent exposition, with what body do they come? And the apostle illustrates that. There are other things that he says about it there that we haven't time to look at tonight. But then at the end, he answers the other question, how are the dead raised up? And then he says, behold, I show you a mystery. There are fourteen of them altogether in the New Testament. Some of them are dispensational, some of them are doctrinal, some of them are devotional, and some of them are diabolical. This is the mystery of iniquity and so on. But here is this great mystery that the Apostle is speaking about here, the rapture of the Church. And how delightful it is where he opens up and elaborates the teaching of Christ in John chapter fourteen, it was our Lord himself that laid the foundation of the doctrine in speaking to Simon Peter, if I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself and hear God's dear servant. He takes it up and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he gives us some details of what will happen when Jesus comes back again. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. That's what he's been talking about, the resurrection body. In a moment, that word moment is the word for atom, in an atom of time, in the twinkling of an eye. On the same, that is the smallest part of time that is possible to contemplate. The word that's used here sometimes is used for the beating of a bee's wing. The twinkling of an eye. Almost instantaneously, when Christ comes back again, and then at the last tram. Now just a word about that. There's some confusion in many people's minds today about this tram, the last tram. And some would turn it over to the book of Revelation where we read in chapter eleven about the seventh tram. And that is Tribulation Day. And there are some people today that would transfer this last trump to the middle of the book of Revelation, and they use it as a proof that the church will go through the tribulation. But I don't think that that is what is in the apostles' mind at all. I'm quite sure it isn't. What does it mean at the last trump? In the Old Testament scriptures, there were two kinds of trumpets. One was the ram's horn, what the Jewish people today call the shofar. and it was used in certain occasions in the history of Israel. You remember when they surrounded the city of Jericho and it was going to be dedicated to judgment. That city was going to be devastated by judgment. It was the ram's horn that was blown. But then again in the book of Numbers chapter ten we read about two silver trumpets. They were the trumpets of redemption. And if you turn over to that passage, you'll see that they were used in at least a fourfold way. First of all, when the silver trumpet of redemption was blown, it was together, the people together, the gathering glass, gathering them together. And then if they were at war and they were surrounded by their enemies, when the trumpet was blown, God heard and He answered and He gave them victory. Again, when they offered, on the feast days, they offered the burnt offering and the peace offering. Again, the trumpet was blown. It was blown in gladness and joy over the burnt offering and the peace offering. But the final trumpet, the last blast, it's called an alarm. When the last blast of the trumpet, when it was sounded, it meant that they were to pick up their tents and go. The pillar cloud had moved. And the last bless of the Trump, the last Trump, it was the trumpet of march. Now, personally, I believe that that is what the last Trump means here. It's the order to march. Oh, thank God that the sacrifice, that trumpet of self, the trumpet of joy, and rejoicing, it is long. And thank God, too, in the warfare of the Christian, the ministry of conflict. Thank God it's long, and the Lord hears and answers. and at the gathering too. Oh, it's a lovely thing to see God's people gather together. But the final trump, the last trump, the last blast is to pack up everything and go. And we go to meet the Lord in the air. The trumpets of the Lord shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. We shall be changed. This corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory, and then a twofold challenge. O death, where is thy sting? That is the living. Those that are mortal, those that are alive, O death, where is thy sting? And then those that are in the grave, as they rise, they'll say, O grave. Where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God that giveth us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a beautiful, beautiful passage this is, until the exhortation of the end. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable. always abounding in the word of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Now over on the other passage, First Thessalonians chapter four, it would be utterly impossible in two minutes to cover this wonderful passage. Well, just a word or two about it in conclusion. I would not have you to be ignorant. Now this passage is addressed to ignorance. But in Synceth Thessalonians where he's speaking about the day of the Lord, it is addressed to deception. I would not have you to be deceived. But here he's removing their doubt. He's removing their ignorance. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are a slave. The problem here was those that had died. And they had the idea that maybe the persecution that they were enduring, that they had already arrived at the Great Tribulation. but he's removing that doubt from their minds. Concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Now notice the threefold foundation of the doctrine. If we believe that Jesus died, thank God we do. That's the foundation of our salvation. If we believe that Jesus died, and rose again. That is the second thing that he speaks of. the great foundation. And then in the next verse, this we say unto you by the word of the Lord. There's a threefold foundation for the doctrine that is just about to expand to us. First is the death of Christ. Secondly, the resurrection of Christ. And then thirdly, the authority of God's word. This I say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain shall not go before them which are asleep, for the Lord himself. I love that word. He's not going to send an angel, just the Lord Himself. Well, to me that is delightful. Protocol, even in this country, demands that when a head of state goes to another state, it's the head of state that meets him. When Mr. Carter... went over to Egypt, it was the head of state that met him, Mr. Sadat. And when he went over to Israel, it was the head of the state that protocol demanded that he would meet him at the airport. That was Mr. Began. And when Christ comes, he's coming for his bride, the Lord himself. Oh, to me, that's absolutely delightful. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shark, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. Notice the three things, the shark. The voice of the archangel and the trump. It's mentioned here again, the trump of God. Not the angelic trump of Matthew twenty four or the angelic trump of Revelation chapter eleven, but it is the trump of God. The shark, the voice of the archangel and the trump. I think it was Martin Luther who translated the word shout, the war cry. It is a military word. And Mr. Darby suggested that the word means the order of a military commander immediately after stand at ease. That is when he called them to attention. That is the sharp. It is a military word and it has that connotation. The sharp, the voice of the archangel. Michael is the archangel. There's only one archangel. His name is Michael, and his name occurs six times. And he's always fighting with the devil. And he has something to do not only with the air and the forces in the air, but also something to do with the grave and the resurrection of the believer. It'd be interesting to look at the six different occurrences of Michael's name. We're going up through enemy territory. Going up through the air. And we're going to have an angelic escort. And that escort is Michael. The voice of the archangel and the trump of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first. And we which are alive and obeyed shall be caught up. The word is raptured. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. We're for comfort one another with these words. Oh, we've heard this again and again and again, but I don't think we'll ever be able to plumb the depth of the beautiful, beautiful doctrinal teaching that we get here concerning the Lord's coming. Thank God he's coming, and he's coming soon. First Corinthians, the resurrection body. But here it is comfort to those that have lost their loved ones. I'm looking forward to some that we have known long since. and have gone to be with the Lord. Right here at part of the palms, I can remember some dear, dear friends that were here. And one day, I look forward to seeing them once again. Caught up together. Caught up together. Oh, that reunion in the air. But it's to meet the Lord. To meet the Lord and when we see him, not only to see him, but also the reunion with loved ones that have gone before. And then to go up and to go in. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Or for comfort one another with these words. May God bless his word for his name's sake. Little word of prayer. Our God and Father, we bow again on our presence in the name of the Lord Jesus. And we do thank thee for these glorious, triumphant words that we've been reading tonight. Our Father, as we look at all the devastation and tragedy in the world in which we live, we thank thee that we have that bright and blessed hope of the soon coming again of the Lord Jesus. And our Father, we do pray that our hearts may be in tune with thyself, and that it may stimulate our testimony for thee. Lord, as we look around and see many hastening to their doom, Lord, give us compassion, we pray, for those that are in their sin. And we do prayer, Father, for whatever time is left to us, let it be longer short, that it may be occupied with holy, happy service for thyself. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.