20260816 1 Corinthians 15.50-58 Sunday Sermon Mike Dickmann

Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank

you for your great goodness, faithfulness, holiness,

justice, truth, that you have revealed yourself

to us as your people, that you, through the power

of your Holy Spirit, have made yourself known

unto us. You have entrusted us with your book,

the Bible, a full revelation of... who you are

and who we are. So we do thank you and praise

you for all of those things, Father, and for

you yourself most of all. We come to confess

our need and our weakness now before you that

you indeed must help us. Your power, your Holy

Spirit must quicken our minds and our hearts

to be able to speak out the word, to be able

to receive it. Most of all, Father, for all of

us to apply it to our lives, to hold it dear,

to put into practice all that you preach. Help

us, Father, to learn, to grow, to remember, and

mostly to increase our faith and trust and love

for you. We ask for the lost again, Father, that

you would save some who are yet in their sins.

We pray not only for those gathered here, but

for others as well who are gathered in amongst

your faithful people, and faithfully proclaim

your word, that you indeed would show mercy,

that this would be the day of salvation for some,

Father, in their sins, for many who are yet in

their sins. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, we're going to try to get through the end

here. 1 Corinthians this morning, so if you'd

like to turn there with me. We've been looking

at the resurrection and how Paul views it, and

he gives us a description of it, how it is going

to occur, when it's going to occur, so on and

so forth. The importance of Christ's continual

intercession for us. Yes, he interceded on the

cross. And we couldn't live without it. He was,

though, indeed raised from the dead to continue

to make intercession for us all of our days.

And all of the days of all of God's people forever

until his return. And we can't live without that

either. It's equally important. There is no gospel

apart from the resurrection. So Paul's going

to make some declarations here at the end of

the chapter. He's going to make some assertions.

He's just going to exhort us, plead with us really,

to know of a certainty as to who we are, who

Christ is, and of what awaits us because of those

things. He's going to assert it. He's going to

lay it out there. That's what Christians do.

That's what we all should do. We shouldn't be

timid in our proclamation of the truth. It is

the truth. It's the whole truth. It's nothing

but the truth. Jesus Christ is. It's on our sign

out there. The way, the truth, and the life.

We need to proclaim those things. Make assertions.

We have the truth. We have the good news. We

know the giver of all good things. So we should

never be shy to proclaim that. Now we've got

our outreach coming up. Hope you all are praying

for it. Hope you all are praying for yourselves.

That you get out there with boldness. Share the

gospel. We're not out there to make friends or

to have idle chit -chat. We're out there to share

the truth. We're out there to give some good

news to those who pass our way. Make assertions,

just as Paul does, just as all Christians should.

So we read that in the 50th verse. Now this I

say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit

the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit

incorruption. Now there's an assertion, and he's...

He's repeating it, essentially, because of the

importance of it. We have to die. Flesh and blood

cannot inherit, it says, the kingdom of God.

Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

That's an assertion. In other words, what? God's

got to do something. God's got to do it all.

We are flesh and blood. We are corruption. He's

telling us we can't inherit. You say well we

have the earnest of our inheritance already.

And you'd say right. That's absolutely true.

But yet the far. Greater inheritance, the inheritance

of the whole, yet awaits. And the only way to

get there is to die. You can't get there any

other way. You cannot inherit in our present

condition. Now that should comfort us in our

dying. We've fought against death all of our

lives. We've strived to maintain our good testimony.

We want to love and trust God even in our most

vulnerable time, the time of our death. That's

what we don't want to fail then. We don't want

to go out crying and whimpering and dreading

it like we're leaving some great thing behind.

We don't want to do that. This should help us.

God's bringing us to the edge of the river. We've

been decreasing. We all know we're going to die.

And it's a necessity that we die. Because sin

has so corrupted the world and corrupted us that

in order to live everlasting life, we've got

to pass through the river. We've got to go over.

We've got to die physically to this world in

order to get to the next. That's what Paul's

telling us. And it's true. And then he's going

to go on and he says, Behold, I show you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

There you have it. Encouragement for both groups

here. It's a mystery. Nobody could have figured

this out. That's what the Bible means by mystery.

It's something that God had to reveal. God had

to tell us in order for us to know the mystery,

to solve the riddle, the puzzle, to come to a

settled opinion. God had to tell us. God told

Paul. Paul's telling us. He says, I'm revealing

this mystery. He uses a euphemism for death.

He says, you shall not all sleep. In other words,

he doesn't want to say that we're going to die.

But we are going to die, but our spiritual self

is not. But our bodies are going to go into the

ground. But that's not death to us. The real

us, the inside of our bodies, our spiritual self

is... continuing on. But, he says, we shall all

be changed. So, if Christ comes when we're alive,

that's not going to eliminate our change, which

is what you could get from the first verse that

I just read, right? You've got to die, I said,

right? In order to be changed, in order to inherit

incorruption, we have to die. Well, if you're

still alive when Christ is coming, Christ comes,

Paul says, You're going to be changed anyway.

You're not going to be excluded because you're

alive. You will be changed, just as those who

have already gone before us and who are dead

and in the grave. We will all, all be changed.

That's what he wants us to know. Then he goes

on, 52. 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 and

we shall be changed. At the end of the world,

at the end of this age, when the trumpet sounds,

when Christ returns, we will all be changed.

We'll be out of the graves. We'll be resurrected.

We'll all have our glorified bodies when the

trumpet sounds. And is it going to be a gradual

process? Are we going to grow into it? No. In

the twinkling of an eye, in a split second we

might say, we'll be changed before we even realize

that we were changed. Instantly. We'll have our

glorified body. And he's telling us that it's

at the end of the age when the trump sounds.

That's it. It's over. Again, we have already

been through this earlier in this same epistle,

and he's repeating it to let us know that this

age is coming to an end, and will end. And the

new age, the new heavens, and the new earth will

be ushered in when Christ returns, when the trumpet

sounds. That's it, it's over. You've had your

opportunity. You heard the gospel. You refused

it. That's it. Your destiny is sealed. And it's

true either way. We're either going to heaven

and the new earth and the new heavens or we're

going to hell. When that trump sounds, that's

it. There's nothing else. This age of grace will

come to an end at that point. And all men will

receive their just rewards. But in the idea of

the resurrection and the glorified body, he's

telling us here that that's when it will happen.

It won't happen before. And it won't be late.

When Christ returns, indeed, we will be raised

incorruptible. We will be changed in the twinkling

of an eye. You know, that's something if you

think about it. We spend all our lives trying

to get closer to Christ. All of our lives we

pray and plead that God would sanctify us more

and more. That indeed we would die to ourselves

more and more. Every day we ask forgiveness for

our sins because we failed again. And our best

efforts include sin. That's why Christ is interceding

for us continually. Our works are acceptable

to God, not because they're perfect. Remember,

God is perfect. Everything has to be perfect

in order to be acceptable with Him. So could

we ever do anything on earth that would be acceptable

to Him? No, we're not going to do anything ever

perfectly. We need Christ's intercession, and

we have it, and we should have confidence in

that. We should have confidence to go forth and

continue on in the work that he's given us to

do, in the devotional, in the believing, in the

trusting, in the sharing of the... Whatever the

work is, Christ is there. He's interceding. He's

pleased. He's pleased with us as his people.

He desires for us to give glory to his name.

And that's how we do it. So then, in 54, so when

this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,

and this mortal shall have put on immortality,

Then shall be brought to pass the saying that

is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is

thy victory? So Paul's taunting death, as it

were. He's throwing it in its face. You don't

have any victory. Where is it? Where is your

victory? Where is your sting? Where is all that

power that you're supposed to have? It's gone.

Why? Well, because of Jesus Christ. He says that

the saying, and this is a loose quote from the

Old Testament. And I think we should read these.

We should read these two quotes because they

do, or verses because they do shed light. In

verse 6, it's Isaiah 25. You don't have to turn.

I'll read it. Verse 8. Now this is in the middle

of, That this little verse appears. He's telling

them how they've blown it. How God is going to

help them anyway. But here, this is where Paul

got the quote from, from Isaiah 25 and verse

8. He will swallow up death in victory, and the

Lord God will wipe away all tears from all of

their faces. And the rebuke of his people shall

he take away from off all the earth. For the

Lord has spoken it. Now, this all began. This

is important. This isn't talking about exclusively

the last days, the end times. This is an Old

Testament prophecy in the Old Testament gospel

of Isaiah. Isaiah and all of them are prophesying

the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what

they're prophesying. The first coming. We get

very little information on the second coming

from the Old Testament. Almost nothing compared

to what is prophesied in regard to the first

coming of Christ. And that's what he's talking

about here. He's talking about what Christ is

going to swallow up death. He is going to wipe

away tears. And he's going to take the rebuke

of his people away. And that all happened through

the death of Christ on the cross. That's when

he did it. Now we get these blessings by being

in Christ. Right? We don't have any problem seeing

that. We didn't die for our own sins. So on and

so forth. We're in Christ. So therefore we died

with him. And we did receive eternal life. We

did receive the earnest of our inheritance. And

that's what this is talking about. Now Paul's

taking this same verse. And now he's saying that

yes. And that is going to be totally fulfilled.

Completely fulfilled. by Christ at the second

coming. He is going to do that again at the second

coming, we might say. Paul takes that Old Testament

quote of the first coming and uses it in this

verse dealing with the second coming of Christ

and the resurrection that will happen. In other

words, all of our faith is going to be realized.

All of our faith in the promises of God is going

to come to realization completely and finally

at the resurrection or at the second coming.

The other quote is from Hosea. It's from Hosea

13, 14. And here we read, this is in an... He's

encouraging the people to repent. And so in 14,

Hosea says, and this is not him, what he's going

to do. This is what the Lord is going to do.

I will ransom them from the power of the grave.

I will redeem them from death. O death, I will

be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction.

Repentance shall be hid from off mine eyes. So

again, it began to happen at the first coming.

Death was defeated. The grave is defeated. The

sting of death is gone, but not completely gone.

It won't happen completely until Christ comes

at the second coming. And so Paul's taking these

prophecies of the first coming and applying them.

the completion of them through the second coming

so indeed we have everything in c form we could

say we own everything partially we'll own it

completely when christ returns and all of these

things are completely fulfilled at his second

coming So now Paul wants to make sure that we

understand all this information about the sting

of death and the grave and all of this. So in

56 he tells us. Now this is a doctrine of sin

right here. This is, this is, this is, I don't

know how you can say this any briefer than this.

Paul deals with this in about three chapters

in Romans. He devotes three whole chapters to

it. He's only got this one little verse here.

So if you're not familiar with any of the other

places where Paul deals with this, you say, what?

What's going on here? But in 56, it says, the

sting of death is sin. Why do men just are terrified

of death? That's what he's wanting to know. Why

is it? Because of sin. Because they know they're

sinners. Christians more than anybody knows about

sin. We hate sin. We hate that we give in to

sin. We hate that we sin. We love righteousness.

We hate sin. But the sting is the sin. The sting

in death is the fact that there's a problem.

Nobody is going out of this world neutral. Everybody

in himself is going out of this world guilty.

Because of sin. So you either have an advocate,

you have a mediator, or you die and die again.

That's the sting of death, sin. Well, what makes

sin powerful? Well, And the strength of sin is

the law. The law is what makes sin, sin. That's

what he's saying here. The sin and the law exposes

sin. Paul says he'd never had known sin apart

from the law. And that's true of all of us. That's

true of the whole world. Thou shalt not kill.

Why? Why on earth shouldn't you kill? Huh? We

know the answer. But just try to envision and

think as though you're not a Christian. And it's

easier to do now because the people that are

coming up, the young people, they don't have

all this Christian background in their lives.

They've probably never been to church. They've

probably never heard a thing. So what makes it

wrong to kill somebody? Where'd that come from?

Well, obviously it came from the Bible. It came

from the law of God. God, who created all things,

said it was wrong to kill them. If you kill a

human being, you're going to die. That's what

makes it wrong. It's the power of sin is the

law. I'm going to go ahead and read a couple

of these passages. Let's see. I'm not going to.

I'm going to do this. Okay, Romans 6. Romans

6. This is a big parenthesis in the book of Romans.

I don't know if you remember all this. 6 and

7 are a parenthesis. They're a pause in the progressive

argument. You can leave out 6 and 7 completely,

and it makes total sense to read from the end

of verse 5 to the beginning of chapter 8. So

from 5 to 8, it all makes sense. It's a continuing

argument. 6 and 7 are parentheses to answer two

questions. And the two questions are, if this

is all a free grace, if this gospel sets men

free from the law, and it takes all the restraints,

all the offenses, everything else, however you

want to express it away, well then let's just

sin. Let's just do whatever we want to. Let's

eat, drink, and be married because tomorrow we

die and we'll go into heaven. So Paul's answering

that objection or that question either way in

chapter 6. That's what chapter 6 is all about.

It's all about the need or the necessity of dying

to sin and living to righteousness. It's got

nothing to do with earning your salvation. So

in verse... Okay, verse 10 of chapter 6. And

this is quick. For in that he died, he died unto

sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth unto

God. Okay, so he's dead to sin. He died to sin.

Christ did. Jesus Christ did. On the cross. Not

his own sin, but for our sin. So then Paul tells

us in the following verse of chapter 11, Likewise,

reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed

unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ

our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your

mortal body, that you should obey the lust thereof.

Okay, so now again, this is a frame of mind.

This is something that you're supposed to believe.

This is something that you're supposed to consider,

take note of. Hey, I'm dead to sin. Dead indeed

to sin. Likewise, consider yourself. Know this

truth. You are dead to sin. You have died to

sin with Christ. You are dead to sin. Therefore,

because you are dead to sin, let not sin, therefore,

reign in your mortal body. Now, is Paul saying

anything about you're not going to have any sin,

you're no longer going to have to war against

sin? No, he's not saying any of that. Is he saying

it's okay, just forget about it, you don't have

to worry about the sin, you just go on and live

because you're all in Christ and you're all going

to heaven? He's saying nothing like that. Not

even close to it. He's saying, consider yourself

dead to sin and don't serve sin. Now, he said

this was going to be quick, and it is. There's

a lot more there. But that's the juxtaposition

of Romans 6. We don't live righteously to earn

salvation. We live righteously because we are

saved. And if you're not living righteously,

then you don't have any reason to think you're

saved. If you're not mortifying sin in your body,

you're not, you have no assurance of your salvation.

And nobody around you does or should have. You

should be admonishing one another to mortify

your sins. Sin. The strength of sin is the law.

As we get it from Romans 7. Romans 7 is the answer

to the objection or the question, What good is

the law then? Of what purpose does the law serve

in all of this theology that you're talking about,

Paul? We're Jews. We have the law. We have the

oracles of God. We're right with God. Because

we do have this law. All the oracles of God.

All the prophets. Moses. We know we're right

with God. Those things are not what makes you

right with God. They didn't know it. So he's

in chapter 7. Now this is, I don't have, I'm

not going to even try to go through this whole

thing and explain it to you, but there's no man

here in Romans 7. Okay? Romans 7 is all about

what the law can and cannot do. That's what,

this is a picture of the law. So don't try to

get a man in here. Yeah, he's talking about a

man, and it appears to be a man, but he's using

this illustration to illustrate what the law

does. None of these things will fit. None of

these descriptions will fit an unconverted man

or a converted man. If Paul would be the most

confused person if he was talking about a man

that all of this stuff consisted in. But anyway,

all right. In Romans 7, 9 to 11, we read this.

For I was alive without the law once, but when

the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

And the commandment which was ordained to life,

I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion

by the commandments, deceived me. and by it slew

me. Wherefore, the law is holy, the commandment

holy, and just and good. So it's not the fault

of the law. It's a revelation of a holy God.

God gave the law. There's always been a moral

law. But there's no power in the law to help

or to enable a man to keep it. That's the problem.

The law can only condemn. If you read the law

and you say, oh good, I've got 8 out of 10 checked

off and I'm fine with that. You've read the law

wrong. That's an impossibility. You cannot keep

the law. And the law does not empower you to

do so. All it does is show us our sin. And Paul

says that it stirred up sin in him. And caused

him to sin more. That's what the law was given

for. And that's what it does. And that's what

it's going to continue to do. In 13. Yeah. Okay.

I should have read this also. Was then that which

is good made death unto me. God forbid. But sin.

That it might appear sin. Worketh death in me.

By that which is good. That sin. By the commandment.

Might become exceedingly sinful. That's what

the law does. It's doing it to this day. You

want to show your kids. An example of sinfulness.

Show them the law. That's what it's for. To reveal

sin. To punish sin. That leads to death. The

curse of the law is death, remember? It's not

life. It's death. So, is there no hope? Of course

there is. And Paul gets to that in 24 and 25.

O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me

from the body of this death? Now, again, that

sounds like a man, and you could use it that

way. But it's saying that the law is absolutely

powerless. I'm without hope. How am I going to

get out of this mess of a law? That's the purpose

of the example. And in 25, I thank God through

Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the outward. He's

the out. If you're in Christ, you're out of the

law. You're dead to the law. The law is dead

to you. It has no purpose in your life. Other

than, again, if you start feeling proud or something,

you want to read the law, go read it. And it

should humble you. But you don't need the law

to be humble. There's plenty of other passages

in the New Testament that do the same thing.

But Paul, that's what he's... telling us in Corinthians.

And maybe I'll take longer on a subsequent Sunday

to go through the whole thing. But that's the

doctrine of sin that Paul has reference to here

in chapter, or in verse 56. The sting of death

is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. And

he ends it the same way as he did back there

in Romans 7. But thanks be to God which giveth

us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We can proclaim victory, but we don't earn a

victory. We're not awarded victory. We're given

it through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has the

victory. He gives it to his people. We share

in this victory over sin, over death. All the

power of the law is gone. He nailed it to the

cross, it says in Colossians. He took it out

of the way. All the ordinances were against us.

The law was against us. It kept beating us over

the head. Guilty, guilty, guilty. Remember the

pilgrim's progress. A worldly wise man told him

to go up to see Moses. And he was trying to climb

up the fiery hill. And the closer he got to Moses

and the law, the hotter and the more dangerous

it was. And finally he had to give up. Because

he could never do it. He could never get out.

It's also portrayed as a big ditch, a big hole.

That you can climb up with a ladder and you think

you're almost to the top when conviction comes

again and smacks you down to the bottom. There's

no escaping it other than Jesus Christ. And he

just lifts us out through his power, through

his grace. He lifts us out of the miry clay.

He puts a big shield against all the fiery darts

of the law. the victory is ours in Christ Jesus

we will be resurrected we have nothing to fear

we live in victory and we live in the partial

victory of what all Jesus has done for us all

waiting for the complete fulfillment at the second

coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but it's all

All through Jesus Christ. He's all that we have.

He's all that we need. He's all that we should

want. Jesus Christ. The Savior for sinners. The

mediator. Between God. And his people. And he's

going to close it up here. In 58. Therefore my

beloved brethren. Be ye steadfast. Unmovable.

Always abounding in the work of the Lord. For

as much as you know that your labor is not in

vain in the Lord. So what does this all lead

to? It leads to continued perseverance. Continued

perseverance in faith and love to the Lord Jesus

Christ. He says, my beloved. Remember this is

Corinthians. They're full of problems. They've

got all sorts of issues. We should be very thankful

for the Corinthian church because we get answers

to all kinds of problems here in Corinthians.

They were messed up. But evidently there was

still a whole bunch of people that were trying

to get it right. Struggling to get it right.

And he says, my beloved. It's an expression of

dearest intimacy and love. To these people that

he was writing to. And if. If you want to have

any effect on anybody else. You have got to have

that same love. Not pretended. Not a pretend

relationship. But a love. For the person that

you're dealing with. That's especially true for

all pastors. If they don't know their people.

Enough to say that. I know they know I love them.

Then there's a problem there. It's all love,

folks. Remember sweet words when we looked at

that? Anyway, Paul expresses his love for the

brethren. And then he exhorts them, be steadfast,

unmovable. Be steadfast and unmovable. Do you

know the truth? Do you love the truth? Is all

of your truth wrapped up in Jesus Christ? Remember

the saying, or the verse, Jesus Christ, the way,

the truth, and the life. Be steadfast, unmovable.

Let nobody move you away from the truth. I don't

care how sweet they are, how loving they are.

What a great, Whatever. It's nothing if they

don't have the truth. It's nothing. It's worthless.

That's all it is. It's worthless. It's just fill

in the air with worthless words. That's all.

The truth is what matters. Be steadfast. Unmovable.

Has anybody ever called you stubborn? I hope

they have when you're talking about the Lord.

Because that's a good thing. That's what he's

telling us. Don't move. Don't be persuaded. Don't

be influenced. Remember, bad company corrupts

good manners. He's telling us again. Be steadfast.

Unmovable in the truth and what you know. In

your faith. Don't get sidetracked in your faith.

It's not Christ plus something. If it's Christ,

here's it is. Christ plus anything equals nothing.

Zero. Christ alone. That's all that we have.

It's all that we need. He is totally, completely

sufficient. Step out in faith. Grow in your faith.

Do something you've never done before. Prove

God. That's what he says. Prove me. I'll show

you. I'll enable you. I'll carry you through.

Just show. I'll be glad to carry you through.

But again, if you're just sitting there and nothing

ever changes, nothing ever occurs to you. Well,

what is there to be? You're not going to be carried.

You're not going to be helped in that. You're

just going to be left on the shelf. You might

even get some discipline from the Lord for it.

I don't know. It's up to Him. He wants us to

go forward. He wants us to exercise our faith.

That's what He's talking about next. In the work,

always abounding in the work of the Lord. Abounding,

He says. Not a little bit. I do a little thing

here and there. Abounding in the work. Well,

you say, I got all kinds of things I gotta do.

Well, that's true. We all do. We all got a lot

of things we gotta do. But do we even consider

this work of the Lord as something we gotta do?

In other words, is there any importance to the

work of the Lord? Well, I ask the question. You

supply the answer. And you supply the answer.

Remember we looked at it already. By what you

do. That's how you supply the answer. Not what

you think. It's what you do. Do you deny the

resurrection by your life? Or do you affirm it?

Anyway. Always abounding in the work of the Lord.

I mean, I feel bad about preaching it this way,

but that should be the most joyous and fun and

everything else thing that we ever do in this

life. What we do for the Lord. That should be

a joy. That should make us laugh. But God is

using me. He's carrying me along. He's entrusting

me with all these kids. Don't get this wrong.

If you got kids, it's because God gave them to

you. He's entrusting you with them. You are going

to be responsible for an immortal soul. And that's

the truth. And what you do should be a joyous

thing with your children. You have the awesome

responsibility to shepherd this immortal soul.

This was entrusted to you. What does that say?

God trusts you. God trusts you to do the right

thing. Think of it. Using folks such as we are

in that manner. That's a blessing beyond degree.

I never had so much fun as I did when we were

raising our kids. There wasn't any burden. That

just irritates the stew out of me when people

talk about what a job and a burden it is to have

kids. Especially you hear it in commercials this

time. Oh, school's back in. Yay, I'm getting

rid of my kids. It's terrible. And then you know,

and this is the end. I've come to the end. For

as much as you know that your labor is not in

vain in the Lord. It's not empty. It's not useless.

It's going to accomplish what the Lord has meant

it to accomplish. Does that mean that you're

always going to see the great result from your

work? No. The results are not up to us. We don't

have to worry about the results. We don't have

to think, boy, I guess I didn't do that good

enough because nothing happened. No. Whatever

the result is, is up to God. We don't count numbers.

In other words, we don't count how many people

supposedly we saved. That's up to God. What our

responsibility is to be faithful. And we leave

the results to God. But we know that everything

that we do in the Lord, He will make what He

will make of it. It's never vain. It's never

empty. It's never useless. It's never wasted

time. Think about it. Is there anything else

on this earth that you can say, I can do this

and I have no worry about wasting my time? That's

a blessing, folks. It's a blessing to know that

what we do in the Lord is not in vain. It will.

Accomplish what God has meant for it to accomplish.

And whatever it accomplishes, we have glorified

God in whatever we did. It's a beautiful life

in Christ. It should be an exciting life. It

should be a romantic life. It's a life of purpose

and usefulness and growing in our faith and love

in the Lord. And we're only getting started in

this life. We've got the whole next life and

into eternity to really enjoy God and His Word.

Then it gets perfect. It's no more imperfectness.

It's no more sin. It's no more struggle. It's

no more, I've got to decide. It's all done. It's

finished. And we serve Him perfectly in the next

life. Amen.