WEBVTT 00:00:27.949 --> 00:00:28.910 And so here we are. 00:00:29.070 --> 00:00:30.109 What next? 00:00:30.910 --> 00:00:32.829 Absent, present. 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:34.990 What did Paul say? 00:00:35.310 --> 00:00:40.590 He would rather be absent from the body and be present with the Lord. 00:00:40.909 --> 00:00:42.670 Unclothed in heaven. 00:00:42.989 --> 00:00:44.829 No, don't worry about it. 00:00:45.070 --> 00:00:49.549 You will have something to cover you in heaven, but we'll explain that in a moment. 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:51.869 It's a phrase used by Paul, by the way. 00:00:52.030 --> 00:00:58.829 Then we're going to think about the resurrection, the rapture, the prize giving, and the wedding feast. 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:04.909 Now, one day earthly life comes to an end. 00:01:05.789 --> 00:01:08.990 And the question is, what next? 00:01:09.229 --> 00:01:17.069 Well, if you're an atheist or an agnostic or a humanist, you say that question is invalid. 00:01:17.310 --> 00:01:18.509 It's meaningless. 00:01:18.829 --> 00:01:20.909 There is nothing after. 00:01:21.229 --> 00:01:25.150 Once you're dead, you're dead, and that's it. 00:01:26.109 --> 00:01:27.549 Nothing beyond. 00:01:27.870 --> 00:01:40.590 However, we who know and love the Lord and read his word understand that beyond physical death, God has a great future for his people. 00:01:42.430 --> 00:01:48.669 Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 8 bring comfort to Christians. 00:01:49.069 --> 00:01:59.150 We are confident, says Paul, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:08.590 Paul says to the people he's writing to, actually, I'd rather die and go to heaven than be with you. 00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:13.949 I'd rather go to heaven than linger on any longer in this world. 00:02:14.430 --> 00:02:20.909 But I have to stay because I have a work to do for your benefit. 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:24.349 But he makes it clear where he'd rather be. 00:02:24.590 --> 00:02:32.509 Paul is confident there is a future for the believer beyond death and a glorious future at that. 00:02:33.150 --> 00:02:37.949 Immediately upon death, we enter heaven. 00:02:38.590 --> 00:02:45.709 I seem to recall a pastor that I know talking frequently about when you draw your last breath. 00:02:46.429 --> 00:02:47.469 How does it go? 00:02:49.069 --> 00:02:51.069 Your passport stamped. 00:02:51.469 --> 00:02:57.069 Well, you don't actually get a passport in case you're worried you haven't got one. 00:02:57.629 --> 00:03:00.750 But we know what Pastor Michael means by that. 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:08.349 As soon as we die in this life, we enter heaven. 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:14.109 Absent from the body, but present with the Lord. 00:03:14.590 --> 00:03:21.229 But uh we need to notice that not all of us go to heaven. 00:03:23.150 --> 00:03:38.030 The spirit or soul, the part of us that feels and thinks and knows and understands that part, the immaterial part of us, goes straight to heaven into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:38.669 --> 00:03:45.709 But the body, as we know perfectly well, is either buried or cremated. 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:55.389 We enter heaven as what Paul calls unclothed spirits. 00:03:55.629 --> 00:04:04.909 That is to say, we're there in spirit, in understanding, in awareness, but we have no body. 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:10.509 When Paul says we're unclothed, he doesn't mean to say we've left our shirt and trousers behind. 00:04:10.669 --> 00:04:13.629 What he means is that we've left our bodies behind. 00:04:14.989 --> 00:04:26.910 And in the presence of Jesus, in the glory of heaven, with the saints who have gone on before, we will rejoice in his presence. 00:04:28.030 --> 00:04:35.230 We will see him as he is, and as we have never seen him before. 00:05:02.270 --> 00:05:06.910 We will enjoy blessings we can't even imagine down here. 00:05:07.629 --> 00:05:19.310 You may notice that in the Bible, a lot of the descriptions of heaven are couched in negative terms: no sin, no sorrow, no sickness, no death. 00:05:20.750 --> 00:05:37.470 And I think the reason for that is that heaven will be so utterly wonderful and glorious and amazing that if it were described fully to us now, we wouldn't really be able to understand it. 00:05:39.550 --> 00:05:48.030 How could you explain, let us say, the color red to somebody who had been blind from birth? 00:05:48.270 --> 00:05:50.030 How would you explain it? 00:05:50.430 --> 00:05:57.790 Or how could you explain the beauty of a piece of scenery to someone who had never seen? 00:05:58.990 --> 00:06:06.270 They lack the capacity to fully understand our description. 00:06:06.430 --> 00:06:11.390 And friends, there are things about heaven we won't really understand till we get there. 00:06:11.790 --> 00:06:21.470 But when we do get there, we'll have plenty of time to think about them, to engage in them, to enjoy them, to relish them. 00:06:22.910 --> 00:06:32.590 It says in Psalm 17 and verse 15 that when we get to heaven we will be completely satisfied. 00:06:34.110 --> 00:06:38.430 Very few things in this life satisfy completely. 00:06:38.830 --> 00:06:44.189 And even the things that do probably only do it for a short time. 00:06:44.750 --> 00:06:49.870 But in heaven, we will be completely satisfied with everything. 00:06:50.110 --> 00:06:52.430 Everything will be perfect. 00:06:53.550 --> 00:06:55.550 In heaven we will serve him. 00:06:56.110 --> 00:07:00.750 The scripture tells us, in heaven, his servants will serve him. 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:07.069 And we'll be able to serve him with an ability that we have never had down here. 00:07:07.950 --> 00:07:16.510 Sometimes when we try to serve Jesus in this life, we feel that our best efforts are so inadequate. 00:07:17.629 --> 00:07:26.590 But friends, when we get to heaven, we'll serve him with new, extended, glorious abilities. 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:35.550 And most amazing of all, when we get to heaven, the Bible says, when we see him, we will be like him. 00:07:35.950 --> 00:07:37.470 Isn't that amazing? 00:07:38.670 --> 00:07:48.590 That first song we sang tonight mentioned change and made the point that we who are believers should be changed. 00:07:49.710 --> 00:07:58.030 A continual process of change as we grow more and more into the likeness of our Lord and Savior. 00:07:59.069 --> 00:08:14.030 But if you've been a Christian for more than five minutes, you'll know that the process down here on earth is very slow and very uncertain, and sometimes with a good deal of sliding back along the way. 00:08:14.510 --> 00:08:25.950 But friends, when we get to glory and we see Jesus face to face, we will be instantly transformed into his likeness. 00:08:26.270 --> 00:08:34.830 Purity, godliness, holiness, call it what you like, but we'll be like Jesus. 00:08:35.149 --> 00:08:47.789 The process that seems to take forever in this life and seems so faltering in this life will be instantly completed in a moment of time when we see Jesus. 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:54.429 At the moment of death, body and soul are separated and go on different journeys. 00:08:55.069 --> 00:09:03.149 The soul, which is the real you, the bit that thinks and feels and chooses, leaves the body behind. 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:09.149 That's what Paul means by being absent from the body and enters heaven. 00:09:09.709 --> 00:09:15.389 And the body is laid to rest in the grave or cremated or whatever. 00:09:17.789 --> 00:09:24.589 Paul says everything in heaven is better, it's far better than anything down here. 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:36.189 The Bible says, as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for those who love him. 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:48.509 In other words, heaven is not just better than anything we have experienced down here, it's better than anything we can even dream about or imagine down here. 00:09:49.469 --> 00:09:52.990 Now, some of you have got fantastic imaginations, haven't you? 00:09:53.230 --> 00:10:02.110 And you can imagine all kinds of wonderful scenarios where every kind of marvelous thing happens to you. 00:10:02.829 --> 00:10:12.509 Well, friends, the word says that heaven will be better than the best you can even fantasize about or dream about. 00:10:15.789 --> 00:10:41.149 However, although being in heaven as an unclothed, disembodied spirit in the presence of God sounds marvelous, it's actually only a little part of the story. 00:10:43.469 --> 00:10:45.789 It's not the end of the story. 00:10:46.429 --> 00:10:54.029 It's not a matter of getting to heaven, and once we're there, we settle down, we're here for ever and ever and ever. 00:10:55.230 --> 00:11:02.269 God has a more elaborate and more interesting and more exciting future ahead for us. 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:23.309 And for this reason, the time between the death of an individual Christian and the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ is often called the intermediate state. 00:11:23.789 --> 00:11:31.789 Now, for some of those who are in heaven, the intermediate state has been centuries long. 00:11:32.669 --> 00:11:35.709 They've been in heaven for centuries. 00:11:35.870 --> 00:11:39.149 You go right away back to Adam and Eve. 00:11:40.509 --> 00:11:43.069 Millennia, perhaps, is a better word. 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:57.789 For some who are in heaven now, they've been there for a long, long time, eagerly looking forward to something even greater that lies beyond. 00:11:58.589 --> 00:12:15.069 For some Christians who pass away just shortly before Jesus returns, this intermediate period may be quite short, a matter of days or weeks or months or a few years. 00:12:15.389 --> 00:12:30.990 But whether it's short or whether it's long, this period is a time of bliss, a time of blessing, a time of glory, but it's not the full extent of what God wants to do for his people. 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:39.870 And this brings me to two key words: resurrection and rapture. 00:12:41.309 --> 00:12:46.669 When Jesus returns, the scripture says he comes to the clouds. 00:12:46.909 --> 00:12:51.549 He comes to the atmosphere above this earth. 00:12:51.870 --> 00:12:54.189 Above what part of this earth, you might ask? 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:56.029 And to be quite honest, I don't know. 00:12:56.189 --> 00:13:09.549 The Bible doesn't specifically say I don't think, but probably, probably, it would be reasonable to think above the sight of the city of Jerusalem, earthly Zion. 00:13:10.429 --> 00:13:27.549 Jesus comes to the air and he brings with him all those saints who have been in glory, some for centuries, some for years, some for weeks or months, but he brings them all with him, a mighty army of the redeemed. 00:13:27.789 --> 00:13:32.429 And they come to the skies above our world, and what happens? 00:13:34.349 --> 00:13:40.110 These saints, remember that they're disembodied, they have no bodies. 00:13:41.309 --> 00:13:44.429 They are given a new body. 00:13:44.829 --> 00:13:47.389 It's called the resurrection. 00:13:48.189 --> 00:14:02.509 And the chapter of the Bible to read, most importantly, if you want to understand this, is 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where Paul deals with this in considerable detail. 00:14:02.829 --> 00:14:13.789 When Jesus returns, he'll bring with him all those who have been dwelling with him in heaven as unclothed spirits, and they will receive their resurrection bodies. 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:23.469 Paul makes it clear in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 that this is actually what he's looking forward to most of all. 00:14:23.709 --> 00:14:28.909 Yes, he's looking forward to being with Jesus in heaven as an unclothed spirit. 00:14:29.230 --> 00:14:38.029 But Paul says, actually, I'm looking forward even more to the day when I receive my resurrection body. 00:14:41.709 --> 00:14:51.069 Paul visited the city of Athens, the great intellectual center of the New Testament world. 00:14:51.949 --> 00:15:11.389 And he began to speak to the philosophers and learned people who loved to gather in the center of Athens to discuss all kinds of philosophical and religious topics. 00:15:11.629 --> 00:15:18.189 And he talked to them about Jesus and about Jesus' death and about salvation and all these things. 00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:20.990 And they seemed to have listened with interest. 00:15:21.709 --> 00:15:25.870 But then he began to speak to them about the resurrection. 00:15:26.829 --> 00:15:28.269 And what happened? 00:15:28.509 --> 00:15:30.589 Some of them started to laugh. 00:15:30.829 --> 00:15:32.990 What a ridiculous notion. 00:15:33.629 --> 00:15:36.029 Getting back your old body again. 00:15:36.189 --> 00:15:37.069 That's horrible. 00:15:37.230 --> 00:15:38.509 Who wants that? 00:15:39.069 --> 00:15:40.990 Some began to laugh. 00:15:41.870 --> 00:15:46.669 And some said, look, we'll hear you again some other time about this. 00:15:46.829 --> 00:15:50.509 In other words, don't phone us, we'll phone you. 00:15:52.429 --> 00:15:57.789 They just dismissed him as a crank, as a lunatic. 00:15:58.029 --> 00:16:07.230 As soon as he began to speak about resurrection, and friends, there are millions of people in our world today who are exactly the same. 00:16:07.549 --> 00:16:14.669 The idea of resurrection causes them to laugh and to sneer. 00:16:15.549 --> 00:16:19.949 To the wise men of Greece and Rome, it was nonsense. 00:16:20.189 --> 00:16:22.829 But friends, it is central to the gospel. 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:29.709 Because first of all, as a key part of the gospel message, we have the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 00:16:30.110 --> 00:16:37.389 In dying upon the cross and rising again, he demonstrated his power over death. 00:16:38.189 --> 00:16:42.750 He demonstrated, he proved that he is the victor over death. 00:16:45.789 --> 00:16:48.750 Jesus rose bodily from the dead. 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:58.589 And the good news of the gospel includes the fact that those who trust him as Savior and Lord will also rise again. 00:16:59.230 --> 00:17:05.150 We're not going to remain in heaven as unclothed spirits for eternity. 00:17:06.110 --> 00:17:09.069 Only for this intermediate period. 00:17:09.309 --> 00:17:13.870 And then when Jesus comes back, we get a resurrection body. 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:25.710 Friends, it's not just the body that was laid in the grave, reconstituted and reanimated. 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:28.349 It's a new body. 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:36.670 And Paul explains it in 1 Corinthians 15 by using a horticultural illustration. 00:17:37.069 --> 00:17:42.029 He talks about somebody planting a seed in the ground. 00:17:43.629 --> 00:17:52.190 And when you plant the seed in the ground and you cover it up, it's a symbol of death. 00:17:52.589 --> 00:17:57.389 It's gone into the ground, just as a body is buried in the ground. 00:17:57.629 --> 00:18:01.389 But from that seed there grows a new plant. 00:18:01.710 --> 00:18:06.909 And the new plant is not just the old seed popping up again. 00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:17.069 The new plant is completely greater and fuller than the single seed that was buried. 00:18:18.349 --> 00:18:20.349 It's a new plant. 00:18:20.670 --> 00:18:24.990 And Paul says that is the illustration of the resurrection body. 00:18:25.230 --> 00:18:27.549 In some respect, in some way. 00:18:28.430 --> 00:18:38.829 And Paul doesn't explain exactly how, but in some way, the new body is linked to the old body that died and was buried or cremated. 00:18:39.230 --> 00:18:41.149 Somehow there's a connection. 00:18:41.950 --> 00:18:48.190 But the resurrection body is actually a completely new body. 00:18:54.829 --> 00:18:57.549 Think about Jesus after his resurrection. 00:18:57.789 --> 00:19:12.109 Have you noticed that in in the chapters that speak about his interaction with his disciples after he rose from the dead, very often, when they first met him, they didn't even recognize him. 00:19:13.069 --> 00:19:19.869 These are people who had been with Jesus day and daily, day and night for over three years. 00:19:20.109 --> 00:19:21.869 And they don't recognize him. 00:19:22.349 --> 00:19:23.789 What's happened? 00:19:24.109 --> 00:19:36.109 Two of the disciples are on the Emmaus road, walking to their home in Emmaus from Jerusalem, and a stranger comes beside them and they enter into a conversation about spiritual things. 00:19:36.349 --> 00:19:40.430 And it's a long and quite a detailed conversation. 00:19:40.990 --> 00:19:48.829 And they've no idea that this stranger is Jesus until they go into their house and they invite him in as well. 00:19:49.069 --> 00:19:55.470 And when he sits at the table with them and breaks bread, suddenly they recognize him. 00:19:56.269 --> 00:20:06.029 He had changed physically, but they recognized him in the characteristic action of breaking the bread. 00:20:06.509 --> 00:20:15.789 And read about the other disciples when they meet Jesus for the first time after the resurrection, they don't immediately recognize him. 00:20:16.750 --> 00:20:23.950 The body that he has risen with is, of course, linked to the body that was laid in the tomb. 00:20:24.750 --> 00:20:30.509 But it has new powers, new vitalities, new energies, new something. 00:20:30.670 --> 00:20:39.149 It's greater in some way than the body that he had before the resurrection, the body that died upon the cross. 00:20:39.309 --> 00:20:45.069 A friends when we get to heaven, but when the resurrection happens, we will get new bodies. 00:20:46.109 --> 00:20:54.269 Not just what you have now, stuck back together again, but something altogether different. 00:21:11.069 --> 00:21:12.430 He'd never met her husband. 00:21:12.589 --> 00:21:21.149 Her husband had died 30 or 40 years before as a soldier in the Second World War. 00:21:21.470 --> 00:21:31.950 And all the pastor had ever seen of the husband was a photograph on the mantelpiece of a smart, handsome young man in military costume. 00:21:32.909 --> 00:21:36.509 And she got a little bit weepy when she thought about it. 00:21:36.750 --> 00:21:43.389 And the pastor began to console her by saying, You know, dear, when you get to heaven, you'll meet him again. 00:21:43.710 --> 00:21:46.029 And she burst into tears. 00:21:46.430 --> 00:21:51.309 She wailed and howled, oh no, no, no, I don't want to see him again. 00:21:51.950 --> 00:21:54.029 The pastor couldn't understand. 00:21:54.750 --> 00:21:58.589 And then eventually he got what was happening. 00:21:58.829 --> 00:22:00.349 She said, Look at me. 00:22:00.589 --> 00:22:01.710 Just look at me. 00:22:01.950 --> 00:22:03.950 I'm just an old done woman. 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:06.750 I wouldn't want him to see me like that. 00:22:08.990 --> 00:22:13.869 A handsome young man in his twenties and an old lady in her eighties. 00:22:14.109 --> 00:22:16.029 No, she said, I don't want to see him. 00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:18.589 I wouldn't want him to see me like this. 00:22:18.909 --> 00:22:22.750 And the pastor had to explain, you'll not be like this. 00:22:23.069 --> 00:22:33.309 There'll be no age, there'll be no disfigurement, there'll be no Disability, there'll be no frailty, there'll be no weakness of any sort. 00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:43.549 When we get our resurrection bodies, friends, they will have powers such as we have never even begun to imagine here on earth. 00:22:44.509 --> 00:22:52.670 The Savior's resurrection body is referred to in scripture as his glorious body or the body of his glory. 00:22:53.149 --> 00:23:01.789 Jesus had a glorious body in resurrection, and we will have glorious bodies too. 00:23:08.589 --> 00:23:10.509 What did Beethoven say? 00:23:10.909 --> 00:23:19.470 You know, he was profoundly deaf towards the end of his life, and he was composing music that he couldn't hear himself. 00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:25.069 But he said to somebody, I shall hear in heaven. 00:23:26.509 --> 00:23:31.950 And friends, heaven, the resurrection body, absolutely perfect. 00:23:32.269 --> 00:23:33.389 What about the rapture? 00:23:33.470 --> 00:23:35.470 What's this word rapture mean? 00:23:35.950 --> 00:23:41.230 Well, not every Christian is going to get resurrected. 00:23:42.029 --> 00:23:49.069 Some Christians won't need to be, because they'll still be alive on earth when Jesus comes again. 00:23:49.389 --> 00:23:51.710 You need to be dead to be resurrected. 00:23:51.950 --> 00:24:01.710 So the Christians who are still living on this earth when Jesus comes again, which may very well include any of us, depending when he comes. 00:24:05.309 --> 00:24:13.309 If you're alive on earth when Jesus comes, you won't be resurrected, but you will be raptured. 00:24:18.430 --> 00:24:21.230 The word itself is not in the Bible. 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:33.549 But that shouldn't alarm us, because the truth that the word describes is very clear in the Bible. 00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:41.789 The word rapture itself comes from early Latin Bibles. 00:24:43.470 --> 00:24:53.549 And it's a translation of a Latin word rapere, which means snatched away. 00:24:53.950 --> 00:25:07.789 Because in the scriptures we're told that when Jesus comes again, those who are living on the earth, those Christians who are living on the earth will be snatched away to meet the Lord in the air. 00:25:08.029 --> 00:25:24.509 And that word snatched away, translated into Latin as raperi, has become the word that we use to describe what happens to living Christians when Jesus comes again. 00:25:25.069 --> 00:25:32.909 Now, we we mentioned before that some early Christians got a bit worried that they might have missed out on the return of Jesus. 00:25:33.069 --> 00:25:34.430 They thought, what if he's coming? 00:25:34.509 --> 00:25:35.869 And I missed it. 00:25:37.149 --> 00:25:40.589 And Paul is at pains to explain to them. 00:25:40.990 --> 00:25:45.149 First of all, before Jesus comes, the Antichrist has to appear. 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:50.589 And as the Antichrist hadn't appeared, they obviously hadn't missed the return of Christ. 00:25:50.750 --> 00:26:09.309 But he also says to them that don't you know that those who have already died before the Savior returns have not missed out on the second coming. 00:26:09.470 --> 00:26:13.549 In fact, the dead in Christ will rise first. 00:26:16.750 --> 00:26:29.869 And the resurrection of the saints who've already died will take place first, but immediately following that, there will come the rapture of living Christians. 00:26:30.109 --> 00:26:37.869 If any of us is still alive on this earth, when that happens, we'll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 00:26:37.950 --> 00:26:39.069 Isn't that lovely? 00:26:39.549 --> 00:26:41.549 We'll defy gravity. 00:26:41.789 --> 00:26:44.589 I tell you, friends, Superman is nothing on this. 00:26:44.990 --> 00:26:52.430 All the superheroes of comic fiction are feeble, feeble compared with this. 00:26:52.589 --> 00:26:57.710 We're going to defy gravity and be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. 00:26:57.869 --> 00:27:06.670 And the best thing that's said there is, and so shall we ever, so shall we ever be with the Lord. 00:27:06.829 --> 00:27:08.269 Isn't that marvelous? 00:27:08.589 --> 00:27:11.149 Never separated again. 00:27:13.389 --> 00:27:24.509 These end-time saints may well have suffered unimaginably for their faith and for their loyalty and devotion to Jesus. 00:27:24.829 --> 00:27:34.430 Like Christians in every generation, in every part of the world, they have faced appalling persecution just because they are followers of Jesus. 00:27:34.750 --> 00:27:37.149 But now all that is over. 00:27:37.950 --> 00:27:39.950 Jesus has come again. 00:27:40.349 --> 00:27:47.309 The Antichrist and all those evil forces have been defeated and cast into the lake of fire. 00:27:47.789 --> 00:27:53.149 And God's people are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 00:28:01.549 --> 00:28:12.990 Now we're told, and by the oh, by the way, yes, I meant to say, and not only are they caught up, they're changed. 00:28:13.629 --> 00:28:16.670 Those who have died get a resurrection body. 00:28:16.909 --> 00:28:21.069 Those who are who are still alive on earth are changed. 00:28:21.629 --> 00:28:28.109 So that they too are able to participate fully in the glories of what is to come. 00:28:28.349 --> 00:28:32.670 They will have a completely transformed body. 00:28:35.869 --> 00:28:45.149 The scripture tells us that as this is about to happen, there comes the sound of a trumpet. 00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:48.829 Now, I don't think it's any human trumpet. 00:28:49.069 --> 00:28:58.829 This is a divine sound that will make any trumpet ever played before sound feeble and thin and tinny by comparison. 00:28:59.069 --> 00:29:02.109 A great sound that will echo round the earth. 00:29:02.349 --> 00:29:08.349 The sound of the trumpet, God's trumpet, the voice of the archangel. 00:29:08.829 --> 00:29:12.909 Well, there is only one archangel in scripture, and he's called Michael. 00:29:13.149 --> 00:29:22.269 And the archangel Michael will give a shout announcing the return of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 00:29:24.109 --> 00:29:28.109 I read a little comment by a writer called J.T. 00:29:28.269 --> 00:29:45.069 Mawson, whom I've never heard anything about, but he simply makes the point that when a battalion of the Roman army was preparing to move location, three trumpets were sounded. 00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:52.190 The first trumpet was sounded, and the message to the troops was pack your bags. 00:29:53.230 --> 00:30:01.710 Then a little while later, a second trumpet sounded, and the second trumpet indicated that they were to fall in. 00:30:03.470 --> 00:30:10.750 And then after a little while, the third trumpet sounded, and it meant quick march. 00:30:11.149 --> 00:30:19.069 And friends, when what the Bible calls the last trumpet sounds, we are off to heaven. 00:30:21.149 --> 00:30:29.710 Whether resurrected or raptured, we'll all be transformed and off to be with Jesus forever. 00:30:31.149 --> 00:30:42.269 Apostolic pastor Ian McPherson wrote, at the rapture, the whole church will be on the move together for the first time in history. 00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:44.269 I thought that was quite telling. 00:30:44.509 --> 00:30:56.509 The first time every Christian can be got to agree with every other Christian is when Jesus comes again and we're all caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 00:30:57.389 --> 00:30:59.869 Now, my time is going on. 00:31:00.990 --> 00:31:05.710 Two special events, a prize giving and a wedding. 00:31:06.670 --> 00:31:15.549 Immediately after the resurrection or rapture, the Bible says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 00:31:16.349 --> 00:31:22.829 And that phrase strikes terror into our hearts. 00:31:23.149 --> 00:31:24.269 Judgment. 00:31:25.230 --> 00:31:27.869 Well, let's be sure about this. 00:31:28.990 --> 00:31:33.549 We're not going to be judged to see if we're fit to get into heaven. 00:31:34.190 --> 00:31:36.589 That has already been decided. 00:31:36.909 --> 00:31:46.509 The moment you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you were as sure of a place in heaven as if you were already there. 00:31:47.950 --> 00:31:49.309 That's decided. 00:31:49.549 --> 00:31:53.069 So we're not on trial to see if we're fit for heaven. 00:31:53.950 --> 00:32:05.069 Nor are we facing a stern, angry judge who scowls down at us and looks at us as if he couldn't believe how awful we all were. 00:32:05.389 --> 00:32:13.629 No, friends, we're looking into the face of the one who died upon a cross to bring our salvation. 00:32:13.869 --> 00:32:22.829 The one who loves us more than any other individual could love us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 00:32:24.109 --> 00:32:36.670 And this judgment seat of Christ, the the Greek word in the original Greek New Testament for this is a word bima, B-E-M-A, written in English, bima. 00:32:37.789 --> 00:32:48.029 And the bima was actually a podium on which the judges sat at the ancient athletic contests. 00:32:48.269 --> 00:32:54.670 At the ancient Olympic Games, the judges sat on a podium called the Bima. 00:32:55.710 --> 00:33:04.029 And from there they watched the Games and they gave out the awards to the winners. 00:33:04.349 --> 00:33:09.389 So it's a prize-giving ceremony rather than a judgment. 00:33:09.629 --> 00:33:17.149 We will give an account for the things that we have done in this life as Christians. 00:33:18.029 --> 00:33:30.909 And some perhaps will gain greater rewards than others, because they have served more faithfully, more diligently, more devotedly than others. 00:33:31.230 --> 00:33:41.149 Some may find when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ that they're not among the top echelons of Christians, even if they thought they were. 00:33:41.710 --> 00:33:52.750 Many of the things that they have done have been done for self-glory and self-praise, and will count for nothing, and will be burned up like wood, hay, and stubble. 00:33:53.549 --> 00:33:59.149 So there will be a measure of assessment of how we have lived for Jesus. 00:33:59.470 --> 00:34:25.389 And it behoves every one of us to live our Christian life in the light of the fact that one day we will have to give an account to our Lord and Savior for the way we have lived, for the way that we have used or misused the gifts and abilities that He's given to us, the way we have seized or have ignored the opportunities that have laid before us. 00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:52.909 But whether we gain greater rewards or lesser rewards, whether some things that we thought were marvelous evidences of our great Christian faith prove to be nothing of the kind and are burned up as wood, hay, and stubble because we did them for our own glorification and not for Jesus. 00:34:53.070 --> 00:35:09.070 Whether that happens or not, friends, every one of us will receive commendation from the Lord for serving him, and the Bible describes the giving out of crowns. 00:35:10.349 --> 00:35:17.469 Crowns, rewards for those who serve and follow Jesus. 00:35:22.429 --> 00:35:36.349 And that's called the judgment seat of Christ, the award-giving ceremony, when Jesus says, Well done, to his followers. 00:35:38.190 --> 00:35:42.110 Sometimes I feel I feel quite terrified of the thought of being there. 00:35:42.590 --> 00:35:56.269 On other times I feel consoled by the fact that the one who is doing the judging already knows me through and through and loves me and wants the very best for me. 00:35:56.750 --> 00:36:03.309 And whatever little I've been able to do in his service, he will say thank you. 00:36:04.269 --> 00:36:07.869 Sometimes in this life we do things for people, don't we? 00:36:08.349 --> 00:36:10.909 And then we say, they never even said thank you. 00:36:11.469 --> 00:36:13.150 Jesus is not like that. 00:36:13.469 --> 00:36:15.710 He'll say thank you to us. 00:36:16.909 --> 00:36:29.389 And immediately following the judgment seat of Christ, there comes, I've called it the wedding feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb. 00:36:29.550 --> 00:36:33.070 And you can read all about it in Revelation chapter 19. 00:36:35.389 --> 00:36:36.829 Who is the bride? 00:36:37.150 --> 00:36:38.349 We are the bride. 00:36:38.590 --> 00:36:40.989 The church is the bride of Christ. 00:36:41.389 --> 00:36:49.949 And the church is portrayed in Revelation 19 as clothed in white robes, which speak of purity. 00:36:50.509 --> 00:36:53.869 We've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. 00:36:55.309 --> 00:37:01.309 We're pure in his sight because we've been cleansed through Jesus. 00:37:01.789 --> 00:37:08.349 The bride is the church, and our heavenly bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:08.670 --> 00:37:12.590 Now, you might ask how much of this is symbolic? 00:37:16.029 --> 00:37:25.949 Well, I don't think it matters whether you see it as strictly literal or whether you see it as symbolic. 00:37:26.349 --> 00:37:37.630 Because I would say this if these are symbols, they are so wonderful that what they symbolize must be absolutely fantastic. 00:37:38.590 --> 00:37:44.509 What we're reading about in the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Lamb, of course, is Jesus, the Lamb of God. 00:37:44.750 --> 00:37:51.789 What we're reading about is a union between Christ and His people. 00:37:53.309 --> 00:38:13.550 It exists now, but in a sinful and broken form in this world, but in the resurrection, that relationship will be renewed, will be strengthened, will be perfected for all eternity. 00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:16.590 We're going to meet Jesus. 00:38:17.630 --> 00:38:26.029 If you uh travel up the road from Strenroa towards Domfries, I don't know what that is, is it the A75? 00:38:26.110 --> 00:38:26.670 I'm not sure. 00:38:26.909 --> 00:38:36.509 Anyway, if you travel along that road, uh at a certain point you can look up on to the hills on the side and you see a tall monument. 00:38:37.789 --> 00:38:41.550 And if you happen to notice it, you might wonder what it was for. 00:38:41.869 --> 00:38:57.230 Well, it was put up in honor of a man called Samuel Rutherford, who was the minister of the church in the little village of Hanworth, which just stands a little bit off the A75 today. 00:38:57.389 --> 00:39:02.429 Just a handful of houses and an old ruined church is all that remains. 00:39:02.670 --> 00:39:08.509 And Samuel Rutherford was the godly minister of that church for many years. 00:39:08.750 --> 00:39:21.949 Eventually he was arrested and imprisoned in Aberdeen for the crime of preaching the gospel in a way that was not approved of by the authorities. 00:39:22.110 --> 00:39:25.949 He lived from 1600 to 1661. 00:39:26.190 --> 00:39:36.509 So in 1661 he's imprisoned, and he knows that very soon he will be executed for the crime of preaching the gospel. 00:39:36.909 --> 00:39:40.110 He isn't executed in the end because he dies first. 00:39:41.389 --> 00:39:44.269 But he wrote letters from prison. 00:39:45.070 --> 00:39:48.989 And a hundred or more years later, a lady called Mrs. 00:39:49.070 --> 00:39:56.509 Cousins wrote a beautiful hymn based on his letters called Emmanuel's Land. 00:39:56.829 --> 00:40:03.469 And it's all about death and eternity and what lies beyond. 00:40:03.710 --> 00:40:06.269 It begins with the word, some of you will know the hymn. 00:40:06.429 --> 00:40:16.590 The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of heaven breaks, the summer morn I've sighed for, the fair sweet morn awakes. 00:40:17.309 --> 00:40:19.550 Here's a man who knows that death is near. 00:40:19.710 --> 00:40:29.949 Dark, dark has been the midnight, but day spring is at hand, and glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. 00:40:37.869 --> 00:40:45.789 And then it is this verse the bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. 00:40:46.269 --> 00:40:55.469 I will not gaze at glory but on my king of grace, not at the crown he giveth, but on his pierced hand. 00:40:56.110 --> 00:41:00.909 The Lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's land. 00:41:01.469 --> 00:41:03.710 And what is the what is the message? 00:41:03.949 --> 00:41:05.949 It's the one we've been talking about. 00:41:06.269 --> 00:41:09.230 Jesus is the bridegroom. 00:41:09.710 --> 00:41:11.070 We are the bride. 00:41:11.389 --> 00:41:18.909 When we get to heaven, are we going to be so taken up with our rewards, our crowns? 00:41:19.389 --> 00:41:20.670 I don't think so. 00:41:20.909 --> 00:41:30.909 We'll be looking at Jesus, seeing face to face the one who loved us and who died for us upon the cross. 00:41:32.829 --> 00:41:38.509 As I said, Samuel Rutherford preached in this little village of Anworth for years. 00:41:38.909 --> 00:41:44.269 And in one of the verses of the hymn are words taken from his own writings. 00:41:45.309 --> 00:41:55.389 If some soul from Anworth meet me at God's right hand, my heaven will be two heavens in Emmanuel's land. 00:41:55.710 --> 00:42:09.309 In other words, if when I get to heaven I meet somebody there who was saved through my ministry, through my speaking, through my words, heaven will be twice as good. 00:42:09.630 --> 00:42:19.949 And friend, when you get to heaven, if you meet somebody that you've had the privilege of leading to Jesus, it will make everything seem even better.