WEBVTT 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:28.799 It's been a little while since I've done this, so it's been a little while since I've done this, so if I can do anything. 00:01:29.679 --> 00:01:52.400 Um I guess the main thing that's been on my mind since Brother Mike asked me uh about speaking, um, a little partway through the week, uh my mind kind of got stuck on a particular phrase that pops up in a couple of Apostle Paul's letters, redeeming the time. 00:01:53.039 --> 00:02:07.120 Um it's a particular phrase that I've always found somewhat um both a good piece of advice and also encouraging in different ways. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:23.360 But um I didn't realize, I guess, most of the time when I think of that particular verse, um, there's two particular spots where redeeming the time pops up, and I'll I might be jumping back and forth between them a couple times, but I'll try not to go too quickly between them. 00:02:23.519 --> 00:02:28.959 Um the first one, the one that I think of more often, is in uh Ephesians 5. 00:02:29.519 --> 00:02:32.639 Um, and I think I'll start there. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:56.399 So um, just for context, the the other place is in Colossians, and something that's interesting about both of these places where the verse is used is right before the apostle Paul gives that piece of guidance. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.519 Uh he's talking about um. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:06.800 Actually, let me just let me just start with the verse and then I'll start back from there. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:20.719 Um in verse 15 of Ephesians 5, uh the apostle writes, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. 00:03:21.359 --> 00:03:38.240 And when thinking about the phrase redeeming the time, often the main thing that comes to mind for me is just being productive, making use of time that we have because our time is limited and we don't have honestly that much on Earth. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:49.680 Um but the more I was reading over it and thinking about it, um it occurred to me that the term redeeming is a pretty interesting word to use in this context as well. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:04:03.919 Um just because yes, it is telling us to make use of the time we have, but redeeming often comes with the um the connotation of buying back or taking back something. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:13.359 Um which, when I started thinking about that, uh because the days are evil started to make a decent amount more sense why it's placed right after. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:18.079 Um as we all know, this world is not exactly a friendly place. 00:04:18.159 --> 00:04:51.279 It is full of corruption and evil in it, and um in in the way it's stated and the place it's put in this chapter and in this uh letter, I think it's it's not just telling us to make the most of the time that we have, but to actively take back time and to make use of time that would otherwise be spent doing or in a world full of um evil in it. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:05:16.960 Uh so leading up to that verse in both the Ephesians and Colossians, the apostle is going over just from starting in about verse 3 of this verse, talking about all the sorts of things that we should not be partaking in, those things that are outside of the kingdom of God and that we should be steering clear of, uh, and then leading up to that verse. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.240 And that same, I guess, structure is echoed in Colossians. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:23.519 I'll move over there now. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:37.759 Uh so in Colossians 4, um the apostle writes similarly, walk in wisdom towards them that are without redeeming the time. 00:05:38.080 --> 00:05:41.600 Uh this one, the way it's worded is a little differently. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:54.240 Um but another thing that I found interesting about both of these verses is that in um sorry, I've been bouncing back and forth already. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:06:03.600 Uh in Ephesians, the verse directly after uh in verse 17, he says, Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:10.080 And then in Colossians, when he uses this, he says right before, walk in wisdom towards them that are without redeeming the time. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:17.279 So another part of redeeming the time, not only to be making use of the time, but to be using it wisely. 00:06:17.679 --> 00:06:32.720 Um but understanding what the will of the Lord is, I think, is a good explanation of how exactly or what exactly being wise and how we redeem the time means. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:07:15.120 Um and then I guess just one last kind of thing towards um uh in the verse in Colossians, and this is probably something a lot bigger, so I won't go very deep into it, but um, towards them that are without, I think also is an interesting part of that because like in Ephesians is talking about all the things that would be outside of the kingdom of God, all of those things that we should be avoiding, uh, he's specifically telling us to walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:31.519 Um so the sense in which that we should be redeeming the time, not only having to do with how we spend our time, but how we should be acting towards those when we are in the world, dealing with those who are outside of perhaps the kingdom of God. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:41.759 Um I just thought this was uh some interesting uh connections between these two verses and some thoughts on um what it means to redeem the time. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.639 I don't have a whole lot more outside of that. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.279 Um anyway, uh thank you. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:01.279 I appreciate Brother Elijah's thoughts and willingness to come before the church and um offer those up. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:10.720 Certainly a good um uh admonition in the scriptures for us to redeem the time as Brother Elijah read to us. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:19.279 Um the apostles said we have uh it's one of the few the most rare resources we have. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.840 There is no more than what what we have. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.120 The you can't save it up. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.639 Um you can't just store up time and use it later. 00:08:30.799 --> 00:08:36.159 It ticks away for every one of us, and it seems to go faster the older you get. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:41.200 Um I used to think that was perception, and I'm starting to think it's reality. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.360 I it really feels as if um you go, where did the time go? 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.240 Well, some of that has been on me. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:50.080 Um, that I've wasted it. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:09:14.799 I love how the I mean, I say I love the poet that writes this, but I I love it because it I I feel it so much as a conviction to me, as uh the hymn writer says, Thus far the Lord has led me on, and thus far his power prolongs my days, and every evening shall make known fresh memorials of his grace. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:16.320 Now it's a beautiful thought. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:29.600 At the end of every day, we can remember back the memorials of the Lord's grace for us, but then then he writes, then he writes, much of my time has run to waste. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:32.799 And I perhaps am near my home. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:39.919 Yet he forgives my follies past and gives me strength for days to come. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:42.319 That's the one I feel the conviction. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.279 Much of my time has run to waste. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:57.839 How I have spent time I could have spent in service to the Lord and to his people, and yet I've wasted it on myself and my selfish interest. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:04.000 Um redeeming the time is certainly a good admonition for us to have. 00:10:04.079 --> 00:10:09.679 And I love that Brother Elijah thought second about it and thought um twice about it. 00:10:09.839 --> 00:10:18.000 We should spend time in scripture thinking twice, not just a cursory reading, not just the first time you read through, you say, Oh, well, that means this. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:19.360 What could it mean? 00:10:19.439 --> 00:10:22.719 In its context, what more could we glean from it? 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:36.079 Because I promise you that the scriptures are a lifetime of work, of digging out gems and beauties that are deep within. 00:10:36.319 --> 00:10:49.120 You'll never search out the beauties of the Lord to its completeness, and you'll always find more and more the further you you dig into his word. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:11:06.480 I just happened to be reading in Ephesians yesterday and came across that same chapter just in reading, and noticed how tied to what's on my mind that chapter is. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:15.439 Interestingly enough, I don't know that I'll get to it because time. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:21.600 But uh I need to redeem that time right now, and I'm already feel like I'm wasting it. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:29.839 So let's get into a subject that I started last weekend about Christ as the first fruits. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.559 But again, last weekend I didn't have enough time to continue my thoughts. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:38.399 So we'll try and pray the Lord bless as we move into it again. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:44.559 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where we were reading about Christ. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:57.039 Um Corinthians 15 and verse 20, and it says, But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 00:11:57.439 --> 00:11:59.600 That is an ever-present is. 00:11:59.839 --> 00:12:12.639 This is, as we mentioned last weekend, the fact that Christ rose from the dead, he rose to a glorified state, to a life, an unending life. 00:12:12.719 --> 00:12:15.360 He has the power of an endless life. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:35.199 He sits on the throne at the right hand of the majesty on high of God, and he is, it says, henceforth expecting until his enemies be made his footstool, meaning that there is coming a time where he will put down all enemies. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.959 Now he's already conquered all his enemies. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.959 The victory is won, it is achieved, it is finished. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:47.919 There is no more battling with enemies that Christ needs to do. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:58.719 The battle is over, the fight is over, the victory is achieved, but the manifestation of it is not yet come to pass. 00:12:59.839 --> 00:13:00.159 Okay? 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:37.679 Um, how you can, I guess, visualize this, you find in the Old Testament at one place in particular where the enemies of Israel, Joshua was leading Israel and they were fighting an enemy, and they took the kings of that, of the five kings that they were fighting against, and they were put into a cave, and a stone was placed on the front of the cave, and guards were placed there, and then they went out and they finished fighting the battle until they had conquered the enemy completely. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.519 Then after that, now the victory's won, right? 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:43.279 They have already conquered the enemy. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:48.159 Then they go and Joshua says to bring those kings out of the cave. 00:13:48.319 --> 00:13:49.679 They bring them before them. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.559 Joshua tells them to put their foot on the neck of those kings. 00:13:54.719 --> 00:14:00.240 This was a symbolic in that day of having your enemy under your heel. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:07.199 And then after that, they killed the kings that and they were finally put away. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:16.240 Now, all of that foot on the neck, and then the final executing of those kings did not win the victory that was already done. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:17.039 Right? 00:14:17.199 --> 00:14:21.199 They were put in the cave till everything else was done, then were brought out, and then finally conquered. 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:22.240 They were already conquered. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:23.679 They were already defeated. 00:14:23.839 --> 00:14:26.559 But now there was the final putting away. 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:29.120 And that's kind of the way you can picture this. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:29.600 Okay? 00:14:30.079 --> 00:14:37.279 The enemies of Christ, the enemy, death, hell, grave, they are completely defeated. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.719 He's conquered that, he's won the victory. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:49.120 There is yet a final enemy to be destroyed, and the scripture tells us that is death. 00:14:49.439 --> 00:14:54.879 Because while Christ rose from the dead, he rose to die no more. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.159 He'll never die again. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:01.360 There is no more death for Christ to ever go through. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:12.000 And in that sense, everyone that he died for, everyone that was in Christ, represented by him on the cross, has also passed. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:14.480 Death will not touch them. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:22.719 Now, you say, but Brother Mike, I know that death is still a reality for me and our and people we love. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.399 And that is true in this time world. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:42.639 There is a death that we have to face as mortal men that are not yet glorified, but in Christ we are seated at the right hand of God, glorified. 00:15:42.719 --> 00:15:56.319 In Ephesians, it talks about that in a legal sense that he has quickened us together with Christ and raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:03.360 He writes it as its past tense, but yet we are still not in heaven. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:20.959 If we can see that he has conquered it and won the victory, but yet there is a final manifestation of it that hasn't fully come to pass, then we can understand that we're as good as there, but we're not there, right? 00:16:21.199 --> 00:16:22.719 There is something coming. 00:16:22.959 --> 00:16:35.120 Now, if we get that full picture, then we can come back and see that Paul is saying that Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of them that slept. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.639 There were other people who rose from the dead. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:44.480 There was a widow's son that Elijah, by the power of God, raised from the dead. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:55.360 There was a prophet in the Old Testament who was killed and then was thrown into a pit that had the bones of another prophet that had died before. 00:16:55.439 --> 00:16:59.439 And when he got down thrown into the pit, he revived from the dead. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.199 There's stories through the Old Testament of dead coming back. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.000 There's New Testament experiences. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:15.039 Certainly, Christ himself raised a widow's son from the dead in the middle of his funeral procession. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:22.960 I mean, Christ just happens, you could say that, or I would dare say he knew exactly where that funeral procession was going to be. 00:17:23.120 --> 00:17:37.200 But he comes across the funeral as they're carrying the poor widow's son to his grave, and he stops the funeral procession, and it becomes a celebration because he raises that boy from the dead. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:43.920 He goes to Jairus' daughter, a ruler, who comes to him saying, My daughter is sick, she's nigh unto death. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:48.160 And before they get there, someone says, Your daughter's died. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:50.240 She was twelve years old. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:52.319 But Jesus keeps on going. 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:54.640 They said, Trouble the master no more. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.120 But he, it was no trouble at all. 00:17:57.360 --> 00:18:00.000 Jesus said, You know, show me where she is. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:04.400 And he goes to there and he raises that young girl from the dead. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:08.400 And there was, of course, Lazarus. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.519 We all remember the story of the one that uh the brother of Mary and Martha, who Jesus loved so much. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:25.600 Martha, who was cumbered about with much serving because she desired to serve the Lord, and Mary, who wanted to sit at his feet and listen to him talk. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.759 They had a brother named Lazarus. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:34.320 And the scriptures tell us that Jesus loved Lazarus, but he was sick, and he died. 00:18:34.560 --> 00:18:40.000 And Jesus went to his tomb four days after he had been in the tomb. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.360 And Jesus says, Lazarus, come forth. 00:18:43.600 --> 00:18:46.560 And Lazarus came forth out of the grave. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.759 And Jesus tells them to loose him and let him go. 00:18:49.840 --> 00:19:04.000 Then because he was bound up in grave clothes, and they went and they took the grave clothes off him, and Lazarus was seated at the dinner with him the like next day, and everybody saw it, and they knew he had been dead. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.920 Four days he had been in the tomb. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.400 They knew he was raised from the dead. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:22.480 But none of those people that I've just mentioned, or any others you find in Scripture, who had died and the power of God had brought them back to this life, none of them were raised to an endless life. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:29.680 None of them were raised in the way that Jesus came out of the grave three days after his crucifixion. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:40.320 None of them came forth to not die again, but Jesus, but this man, Jesus Christ, when he rose from the dead, he rose to die no more. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:56.000 In Acts, Peter would preach a sermon to the Jews that would have this certain phrase in it that if I can remember exactly the chapter it's in, I think that it's just really telling. 00:20:00.800 --> 00:20:09.440 And I do not know that I will find it quickly enough, but I'll just tell you what it says. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:22.480 It says that God, Peter tells them that God raised him from the dead, for it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 00:20:23.120 --> 00:20:32.480 It was not possible that death would keep Christ in the grave because he had conquered death. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:40.960 We're told it says that he through death, he through death might destroy him that had the power of death. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:42.720 That is the devil. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:50.080 Jesus conquered death and thereby destroyed the power it held over his people. 00:20:50.320 --> 00:20:54.560 And so it was not possible that death would hold Christ in the grave. 00:20:54.800 --> 00:20:56.000 It wasn't possible. 00:20:56.320 --> 00:20:59.759 He must come forth from it because he had conquered it. 00:21:00.080 --> 00:21:12.800 And likewise, it is not possible that death should hold us because we've already legally been raised in Christ. 00:21:13.600 --> 00:21:17.600 If we're in Christ when he died, we're in him when he rose. 00:21:17.840 --> 00:21:21.360 And if we're in him when he rose, we're in him when he's seated at the right hand. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:27.600 What happened with Christ happened for every one of his people. 00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:34.080 And that's the principle found in this idea of first fruits. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:34.960 Okay? 00:21:35.600 --> 00:21:45.519 That it's the same crop, but the same harvest, but it's the first of it, and it represents all the other. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:22:03.920 So when he says, now Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept, even though he wasn't the first one to ever come back to life, he was the first one to ever come back raised to the power of an endless life, to an eternal life. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.519 He came forth glorified and will never die again. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.920 He's the first one to do that, but he's not the last one to do it. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:23.600 That he comes in representation of the harvest that he is of, that he's the brethren, his family. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.720 That when he came forth, he brought forth a people, his people. 00:22:29.120 --> 00:22:31.840 Now, think of the harvest in the field. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:41.120 And you plant it all at the same time, and it grows up, and then you go out and you harvest all of it. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:53.120 But the fur, we read this last week, and we'll go back and see this again in Leviticus chapter 23, where it told them what to do when they first get the very first sheep. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.279 Now, sheep was like a bundle. 00:22:55.360 --> 00:22:59.120 You couldn't harvest the entire field all at one time. 00:23:00.080 --> 00:23:01.519 Remember, they did it by hand. 00:23:01.600 --> 00:23:03.519 They didn't have combines and tractors. 00:23:03.600 --> 00:23:09.680 They'd go out by hand and they would cut some of the stalks of wheat down, I think. 00:23:10.320 --> 00:23:12.160 Barley was the first harvest they would do. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:20.880 But they'd go out and they'd cut down stalks and then bundle it up into a carryable thing called a sheaf. 00:23:21.120 --> 00:23:22.160 It was rather big. 00:23:22.320 --> 00:23:23.759 It wasn't a handful. 00:23:24.080 --> 00:23:27.200 It was a big amount, but it was still movable. 00:23:27.360 --> 00:23:29.200 So they'd bundle up the sheep. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:33.680 Well, the first sheep they bundled up was to be brought in. 00:23:33.840 --> 00:23:37.920 Don't harvest the rest yet, because you owe something to the Lord, right? 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:39.440 So they'd bring it in. 00:23:39.840 --> 00:23:41.920 And out of the first sheep. 00:23:42.080 --> 00:23:44.480 Again, this is Leviticus 23. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:51.440 It's an important thing that we remember everything preachable comes from Scripture, right? 00:23:51.840 --> 00:23:55.759 So I'll tell you where it is, but I won't go and read it all here. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:04.640 But in Leviticus 23, they were told to bring in the first fruits. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:07.279 And where is it? 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:12.800 I'll find the scripture and then let you go read it yourself. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:18.400 Verse 8 is the beginning of it talks about the offering by fire. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:23.120 And then verse 9 starts this thing about speak to the children of Israel. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:31.840 When they reap the harvest, they'll bring a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest, and they'll wave the sheep before the Lord to be accepted for you. 00:24:32.080 --> 00:24:32.400 Okay. 00:24:33.120 --> 00:24:40.240 So you can see the principle that they would bring in the first sheaf of the f of the harvest, wave it before the Lord. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:44.640 They're to take out of that sheep something and offer it to the Lord. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:47.600 And that would be to be accepted for them. 00:24:47.840 --> 00:24:50.000 And it's for their whole harvest. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:25:10.960 Now, that principle is what's being used by Paul to say that when Christ rose, he is the first of a harvest that would all come at the same time later than him, but of the same type, the same kind. 00:25:11.120 --> 00:25:11.440 Okay? 00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:23.120 We're not talking about a thing you come out to this time, and then you got next season, another harvest that the point is every season had its own first fruits. 00:25:23.600 --> 00:25:30.080 Christ is the first fruits, and those that are his will be the harvest. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:34.880 There's not going to be a second fruits and a third fruits and a fourth fruit. 00:25:35.120 --> 00:25:37.519 There's nothing nothing like that in Scripture. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:41.040 There is the first fruits and then the rest of the harvest. 00:25:41.360 --> 00:25:41.680 Okay? 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:53.600 So when he says that Christ is the first fruits of them that slept, he's representing and his offering ensured the rest of the harvest. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:58.400 They didn't have to offer to the Lord constantly throughout the harvest. 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:01.759 There was one offering and it ensured the rest of the crop. 00:26:01.840 --> 00:26:04.320 And that's what Christ is a representation of. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:10.160 He's the same in this sense as the rest of the harvest. 00:26:18.080 --> 00:26:19.920 He was accepted for us. 00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:28.480 It means we will be raised like him from the dead to an everlasting life. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.800 That we will be made like him. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:40.560 And scripture tells us that we look for Christ who will change our body, our vile bodies, to be made like unto his glorious body. 00:26:40.800 --> 00:26:53.519 And in Romans chapter 8, it says that we should be conformed to the image of his son, who was I can't believe I can't quote Romans 8. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:27:00.960 But maybe it's because I have to get a running start and start a few verses ahead for my quoting. 00:27:03.360 --> 00:27:16.640 But Romans 8.29, it says, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 00:27:16.800 --> 00:27:22.240 That's the same connotation, the same meaning as this first fruits of them that slept. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:29.360 So it's what's coming after Christ, that those that are in Christ, it's been fixed. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:30.080 It's done. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:45.279 It is a surety that we will be made like him, that we'll be conformed to the image of the glorified Son of God, that he predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:50.720 In 1 Corinthians, it says that he is the first fruits of them that slept. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:55.759 The rest of the harvest, though, that's going to all happen at the same time. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:56.560 Okay? 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.720 It's after the first fruits is offered and accepted of God. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:06.720 Then they went out and they harvested the whole field one time. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:12.480 What's important about that is to understand the next verses. 00:28:21.600 --> 00:28:28.240 Tells us the requirement that the first fruits be the same kind as the rest of the harvest. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:29.440 Now notice this. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:31.920 They harvested the barley. 00:28:32.320 --> 00:28:36.160 They brought the first fruits of the barley harvest and offered it to the Lord. 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:38.320 Then they harvested the rest of the barley. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:39.759 But then there was wheat. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:49.040 When they harvested the wheat, they didn't leave, they had to offer the first fruits of the wheat harvest and then harvest the rest of the wheat. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:53.920 And if they harvested some other thing, then I don't really know what all harvests they have. 00:28:54.080 --> 00:28:57.840 But whatever harvest they had, they had to offer the first fruits of that. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:28:58.320 Okay? 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:00.320 Then there's the harvest. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.480 Now, there's not that many categories of people. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.920 There is those that were all in Adam. 00:29:08.080 --> 00:29:10.320 Every human being is from Adam. 00:29:10.560 --> 00:29:13.200 There's no other lines of people but Adam. 00:29:13.360 --> 00:29:15.040 Adam is the first man. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:18.400 His name even means man. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:19.759 God made Adam. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.720 From Adam he made the woman Eve. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:24.560 There she's the mother of all living. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:26.080 That's why her name was Eve. 00:29:26.320 --> 00:29:34.320 All human beings come from Adam and Eve, except for Jesus Christ, who came from the woman, but not of an earthly father. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:38.000 So there's no other thing out there. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:39.360 You got to remember this. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:49.519 We're not talking about like 18 different harvests here, but the only harvest that he's talking about is those that are like that are Christ's. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:50.080 Okay? 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:57.200 There will be a resurrection from the dead of the unjust, of those that are the wicked, those that are not Christ. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.279 But that's not what 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is talking about. 00:30:01.600 --> 00:30:08.160 It is true there will be a resurrection of the wicked, of the of the unjust, but that, and that's a true statement. 00:30:08.320 --> 00:30:12.320 It'll happen at the same time, but it's not under consideration here. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:16.560 The only thing talked about here is the harvest of those that are Christ's. 00:30:16.800 --> 00:30:17.120 Okay? 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:25.440 There is those that are Christ, those that are in Christ, those that he represented, and then that harvest. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:32.400 Now he tells us it had to be the same kind, because since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:37.440 That's why Christ had to come into this world, made like unto us. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:44.400 And in Hebrews it talks about that he was made like unto his brethren, that he through death might have destroy him that had the power of death. 00:30:44.560 --> 00:30:46.800 So that's why he had to come. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:48.480 He had to come to die. 00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:50.240 So he had to come like us. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:55.279 He couldn't come in like an angel or some other thing. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.440 Nothing else would be suitable. 00:30:58.080 --> 00:31:02.800 The transaction that needed to pay the debt had to be of the same kind. 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:09.600 And he came and suffered and bled and died in our place because he was made like us. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:13.840 He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:20.800 And what that means is he was made actual flesh, but it was like sinful flesh, but it didn't have sin. 00:31:21.120 --> 00:31:26.480 Don't let anyone ever deceive you that Christ came not as a man. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:31.040 He was fully man, but yet he was still fully God. 00:31:31.360 --> 00:31:36.160 Can I understand how something could be totally man, completely man, and also completely still God? 00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:38.000 No, I can't understand that. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:43.279 I trust the scripture that tells me that, but I don't understand it. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:47.759 And there's a lot of things about God we can't fully comprehend and grasp. 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:51.200 And we trust Scripture and God's word about those things. 00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:54.320 But he didn't lose any bit of being God. 00:31:54.560 --> 00:32:01.360 His divinity, he didn't lose any of that when he took fully on him man. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:06.480 He also didn't lack anything about being man except sin. 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:07.759 He didn't have sin. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:11.200 But he fully was man. 00:32:12.320 --> 00:32:15.600 And so he could fully pay the price. 00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:21.200 Since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:24.560 He's the same type, the same kind as the harvest. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:32.320 So it says, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:36.080 Now there's a lot that I could say about this verse. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:41.680 It's simply, it says it simply, and yet I could spend a whole hour on this. 00:32:41.840 --> 00:32:53.440 But this verse is teaching the principle of representation, that it's just as complete as the principle of representation in Adam. 00:32:53.600 --> 00:32:57.200 It's federal headship is the big term that's used. 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:22.480 What it means is that it's not that everybody's in Christ, that's certainly not true, but it is saying that just like everyone that was represented in Adam faced the same consequence as he did, when he died, everyone that was in him died with him. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.600 By one man, sin entered the world. 00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:38.240 This is in Romans chapter 5, since by one man, for by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, meaning death entered the world by the sin that entered the world by the man. 00:33:38.560 --> 00:33:51.600 By one man sin entered the world, that's Adam, and death came in because of the sin, so death passed on all men, for all have sinned. 00:33:51.840 --> 00:33:57.040 Now notice that verse doesn't tell us that death will pass on all men because all men will sin. 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:00.160 That is a true statement that we all sin. 00:34:00.320 --> 00:34:01.440 We all will sin. 00:34:01.600 --> 00:34:07.680 Every single human being that lives long enough will actually actively sin. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:15.360 There is no way that won't happen if you live long enough. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:20.000 And you don't have to live that long for the first time to actually happen where you sin. 00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:27.039 But even in the womb, a human being is a sinner. 00:34:27.279 --> 00:34:33.599 Even in the womb, when they are not yet able to actively sin or even consciously sin. 00:34:33.759 --> 00:34:37.199 See, I sin oftentimes, and I know I'm not alone in this. 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:47.679 Every single person is like this, but I'll just say I only know me in my thoughts, I sin and never act on it, right? 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:50.559 Is it still a sin if it never gets done out? 00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:51.279 Yes. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:59.920 Christ tells us that in principle when he says things like uh the law says don't kill. 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:09.840 But I say unto you, if a man hate his brother without cause, he is murdered, he's a murderer already in his heart. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:16.159 He might say, like, how do you hate someone without well you you if you've never done it, then good. 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:17.759 You have other sins, I'm sure. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:25.679 Yeah, I might have my own problems, but things that happen in the heart is still sin before God. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:28.879 Things that happen in the mind is still sins before God. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:36.559 And um, certainly that doesn't mean we should act on that those things, but they're still sins, and every one of us is a sinner. 00:35:36.799 --> 00:35:43.119 The baby in the womb even doesn't have the act the thought processes yet, and it's still a sinner. 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:50.399 And ultimately the proof to that is this the wages of sin is death. 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:54.639 Why do babies die? 00:35:55.839 --> 00:35:59.279 They die because it's a consequence of sin. 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:04.960 It's not not to be necessarily thought of as a punishment for sin. 00:36:05.359 --> 00:36:20.799 Now, also, certainly, God will punish sin, and one of those punishes might be death, corporal death, and you find that in Scripture where God does deal out a punishment of death for sin. 00:36:22.399 --> 00:36:26.559 But just because it is listed as a punishment, that's not the first thing. 00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:29.519 It's actually a consequence of sin. 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:36.719 It is the thing that comes from wages of sin means the thing that is duly earned. 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:38.559 That's what a wage is. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:42.159 It's right and follows. 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:45.119 It is what sin owes. 00:36:45.839 --> 00:36:50.239 When Adam sinned, we all owe death. 00:36:50.799 --> 00:36:55.599 It didn't matter if we actually do a sin, death is there. 00:36:55.839 --> 00:37:01.599 And that's the proof of that is the fact that young babies die. 00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:05.759 They didn't commit a sin to be punished. 00:37:05.839 --> 00:37:09.119 They just have sin that has a consequence of death. 00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:11.279 As in Adam, all die. 00:37:12.879 --> 00:37:18.079 But just like that, as in Christ, all shall be made alive. 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:23.039 Or in other words, say that is all that are in Christ shall be made alive. 00:37:23.279 --> 00:37:28.879 It is just as sure as all the death that happens for those in Adam. 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:32.639 There's none that'll escape death if they can't, if they're in Adam. 00:37:32.879 --> 00:37:38.159 There's none that will, I don't want to say the word escape life. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:39.440 That seems weird. 00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:43.359 There's none that shall not get life. 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:49.279 There is none in Christ who will not see eternal life. 00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:51.039 It is just as sure. 00:37:51.279 --> 00:37:52.799 That's the point of that. 00:37:53.119 --> 00:37:56.239 Because Christ is the same harvest. 00:37:56.399 --> 00:38:11.199 Now, the next verse says, but every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming. 00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:12.239 That's it. 00:38:12.399 --> 00:38:16.480 That's the end of the of the two of the harvest. 00:38:17.039 --> 00:38:19.519 The first fruits and then the rest of the harvest. 00:38:21.759 --> 00:38:24.399 Then it says, Then cometh the end. 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:31.440 So there is no progression. 00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:41.119 There is no Christ coming, raising some, spending some time, coming back, raising more. 00:38:41.279 --> 00:38:42.960 There is one harvest. 00:38:43.759 --> 00:38:50.480 It is yet to come, but it's as sure as the first fruits in Christ raising. 00:38:51.359 --> 00:39:09.839 There is the thought out there that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and then a time period of trials and tribulations and sufferings or testings. 00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:24.079 There's different ways people look at this, but they'll say there's some people who will say that there will be a resurrection of those that are already righteous, and then a time period for everyone else to get right. 00:39:24.319 --> 00:39:26.559 And then another resurrection at the end. 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:29.199 Then this verse puts that out. 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.000 This verse tells us that can't be. 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:40.480 There is Christ, the first fruits, and afterward those that are his at his cometh, then cometh the end. 00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:41.679 That's it. 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:56.639 There is going to be one more time that the Lord will come in his bodily presence, his glorified body that is already raised up to heaven and seated right now at the right hand of God will come again. 00:39:56.799 --> 00:40:08.559 When he comes the second time, it says in Hebrews, without sin, not there's no sin for him to come and deal with because he's already put it away. 00:40:08.879 --> 00:40:10.239 Unto salvation. 00:40:10.399 --> 00:40:14.480 It says, um, exactly where is it? 00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:19.599 Um it's in Hebrews. 00:40:19.679 --> 00:40:21.519 I want to say it, get it right. 00:40:21.759 --> 00:40:24.799 So, especially if it's in Hebrews, I want to get it right. 00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:49.440 Um I can't stop finding Hebrews chapter 9, and this is um verse 27 to 28, and there's another comparison being made here. 00:40:50.399 --> 00:41:09.279 Um it says, as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:17.039 So what he's told us there is this comparison is to the very fact that we were appointed unto death once. 00:41:17.279 --> 00:41:22.480 That wasn't, that verse doesn't mean that each one of us has an appointed time to die. 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:26.399 It says it was appointed unto men once to die. 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:28.000 When did that happen? 00:41:28.319 --> 00:41:31.119 By man came death, by Adam came death. 00:41:31.279 --> 00:41:42.639 That appointment with death was made sure for all Adam's represented people, everyone that comes from Adam was appointed death. 00:41:43.199 --> 00:41:47.440 After that appointment came the actual execution of death. 00:41:47.679 --> 00:41:52.239 Because we didn't all actually physically die when Adam died. 00:41:52.319 --> 00:41:57.599 Even Adam didn't physically die when he died in trespasses and in sins. 00:41:57.759 --> 00:42:00.799 When he ate of the fruit, appointment was made. 00:42:00.960 --> 00:42:02.799 It was sure he would die. 00:42:03.039 --> 00:42:11.359 He died right then in trespasses and in sins, and natural death would follow as a consequence, it was going to come. 00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:18.799 And that judgment, that execution of the sentence, comes to each one of those that come from Adam. 00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:22.719 And it's just as sure as the appointment. 00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:32.559 And he says, in that same way, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. 00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:33.279 How many? 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:34.480 Everyone in him. 00:42:34.879 --> 00:42:38.799 It says, unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time. 00:42:39.359 --> 00:42:40.799 There's no third time. 00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:46.319 He came the first time to deal with sin, he put it away, it's conquered, it's defeated. 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:48.719 He'll come the second time without sin. 00:42:49.359 --> 00:42:50.639 That doesn't mean that he didn't have sin. 00:42:50.719 --> 00:42:52.079 He didn't have sin the first time. 00:42:52.319 --> 00:42:56.239 It means when he comes again the second time, it's apart from sin. 00:42:56.480 --> 00:42:58.000 It's not dealing with sin. 00:42:58.159 --> 00:42:59.759 It has nothing to do with sin. 00:42:59.920 --> 00:43:04.319 When he comes the second time, it's to harvest and bring us home. 00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:10.319 It's to reap that which he has already, that's already fully ripened and ready to go. 00:43:10.559 --> 00:43:12.960 He's coming to bring us home. 00:43:13.199 --> 00:43:20.960 And he's going to come not to deal with sin, but unto salvation, to redeem and bring home his people. 00:43:23.279 --> 00:43:32.000 So that's what's being talked about about the first uh first Christ and afterward they that are his at his coming. 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:40.639 Everyone, when it says those that look for him, to those that look for him, shall he appear the second time? 00:43:40.879 --> 00:43:44.639 I promise you, he's not excluding those that aren't looking for him. 00:43:44.960 --> 00:43:52.000 I mean, he when he comes the second time, it's going to get all that he bought. 00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:53.679 Everyone that is his. 00:43:54.159 --> 00:43:56.159 Because it says, Then cometh the end. 00:43:56.319 --> 00:43:58.079