Future of the Body of Christ

to Psalm 8 if you would Psalm chapter 8 the topic I want to take up this morning is the future of the body of Christ and let me just open in a a word of prayer and we'll begin father God thank you for your word thank you that you have preserved it for us and that you have revealed in your word the things that you would like us to know we thank you that we don't have to be uncertain about what the future holds because you have told us help us to to learn these truths and to understand them and to hide them in our hearts it's in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray amen let me let me t this up by asking a question we know that in in by Genesis 3 Satan has rebelled he's led rebellion in heaven he's come down to earth and he started a rebellion on earth as well why didn't God destroy Satan immediately after he rebelled so in Genesis 3 obviously Satan has come down to earth he's led Eve astray Adam followed in the rebellion God pronounces a curse upon Satan in Genesis 3 he tells them specifically how he was going to destroy him but why didn't God destroy him immediately and the basic answer is that God had work for Satan to perform before God condemns him to the lake of fire then in other words between here and over here there's some things that God has for Satan to do and I want to just spend some time understanding how these things play out look with me at Psalm chapter 8 and I'll start with the idea that angels do not have a second chance in Scripture when an angel rebels in other words they rebel against God the Father they follow Satan in his revolt they never have a second chance look with me at Psalm 8 verse 4 what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him notice this for thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and has crowned him with glory and honor so between angels and man man is lower but according to Psalm 8 he's just a little bit lower get with me Luke chapter 20 Luke 20 Luke 20 verse 35 Luke 20 35 but they would shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage this is a description of how things operate in the resurrection notice verse 36 neither can they die anymore why for they are equal unto the Angels Psalm 8 and Luke 20 are interesting verses to put next to each other Psalm 8 says man is what a little lower than the Angels Luke 20 says in the resurrection man is what equal unto the Angels he's equal under the Angels because of what reason can't die anymore angels cannot die look with me at Hebrews 2 Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9 Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9 but we see Jesus notice what it says who was made a little lower than the Angels well he was made a little lower than the Angels he was made man right we know that who was made a little lower than the Angels why for the suffering of death what all those verses tell you is the basic distinction between an angel and a man is the ability to die get Genesis 35 Genesis 35 Genesis 30 verse 18 genesis 35:18 and it came to pass as her say was in departing for she died in genesis 35:18 what happens at death is the soul departs the body now many of you know that I spent a lot of my career as a professional artist I know that's very lifelike here's what genesis 35:18 says what happens at death is the soul by the way who is that by the way I was gonna say the gingerbread man but yes that's that's right what happens at death is the soul departs if you think of yourself putting on a coat when you put on a coat and you then walk around the coat moves but if you take off the coat sat on a table it's just lifeless it won't move this body is clothing in fact second Corinthians 5 specifically uses the metaphor that the body is clothing get James to James chapter 2 James chapter 2 verse 26 for as the body without the what without the Spirit is dead so what happens at death mankind is a three-part being spirit soul and body Genesis 35 tells you that at death the soul departs the body James 2 tells you at death the spirit departs the body so what happens at death is the inner man the inward man the soul in the spirit they depart the body and so the body is just lifeless that's why it doesn't move it's just like clothing without a person it's it's there's nothing there so now think about this then with me get Romans 7 Romans chapter 7 Romans 7 verse 20 now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me verse 23 but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members where does sin reside in this body the basic reason that at the catching up so if you think about the catching up of the body of Christ what God does before he takes the body of Christ to heaven is he gives the body of Christ new bodies spiritual bodies that are uncorrupted by sin it would be pointless to create a new heaven and a new earth and then populate it with sinful creatures because it would just be contaminated so what God does is he gives the body of Christ new bodies spiritual bodies uncorrupted bodies so that they are fit to inhabit eternity ok so now think about this with me we can get new bodies angels according to Luke 20 verse 36 cannot die sin resides in the body so if an angel can't die that means that once an angel rebels and falls it has sinned resident within its being but can never get a new body which means it is not possible for an angel to be redeemed you follow me it was a benefit for mankind to be a little lower than the Angels because mankind can suffer death and therefore get a new body and be fit for heaven for all eternity but when those angels who were created as a higher class of beings when they rebelled what did that mean there's nothing that can be done for them Hebrews 2 you should read it later today Hebrews 2 doesn't say Jesus Christ took upon himself the nature of angels he never did he took upon himself the nature of man and thus there was never a sacrifice provided for angels get with me Genesis 3:14 Genesis chapter 3 verse 14 and the Lord God said unto the serpent now by the way that's Satan it's not a snake that was on the ground that's Satan because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field and upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life verse 15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel notice that as early as genesis 3:15 God tells the serpent what he's going to do there's going to be the seed of the woman and it's gonna bruise his head and thou shalt bruise his heel if you take the metaphor it's the metaphor of someone who is crushing a snake's head and the the Beast nips him in the heel while being crushed by the way that's where Achilles comes from Achilles the Greek hero where is he vulnerable it is in his heel right guilty Matthew 25 Matthew chapter 25 verse 41 Matthew 25:41 then shall he say also unto them on the left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire this is the judgment of the Lost where they're cast into everlasting fire notice what it says prepared for the devil and his angels Genesis 3 God knew exactly how is he going to destroy Satan and he had everlasting fire prepared for him get with me job one job chapter one job one verse 12 job 1:12 and the Lord said unto Satan behold all that he hath is in thy power only upon himself put not forth thine hand in job 1 God allows Satan to tempt job God allows Satan to do so only according to certain prescribed Authority in other words he can tempt him but he can't touch his body in job 1 is is what that says obviously some of jobs children were killed look with me at job chapter 2 verse 6 and the Lord said unto Satan behold he is in thine hand but save his life as you go from job 1 to job 2 Saints had an increase in authority now Satan can cause harm to job's body but he can't kill him what I want you just to notice is this sometimes there's the idea that you know Satan is out there doing all these plans and you know he has if you will unlimited freedom of authority it's just not true what happens is there is specifically defined permissions that are given to him and he operates according to those at a particular point in time going back to what I started with what what happens as time plays out is there is work that God has for Satan to do that he's permitted to do within defined areas of authority that God selected carefully first Kings 22 first Kings 22 first Kings chapter 22 and look at verse 20 and the Lord said who shall persuade a hab that he may go up and fall at remov Gilead and one set on this manner and another set on that manner and there came forth the spirit and stood before the Lord and said I will persuade him and the Lord said unto Him where with and he said I will go forth and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets and he said thou shalt persuade him and prevail also go forth and do so so the Lord's trying to figure out how to accomplish his plans with Ahab a lying spirit I believe that's a fallen angel there says I'll help I'll do this I'll go be a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets notice verse 23 now therefore behold the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning me what you can see occurring in 1st Kings 22 is God has a plan he wants a hab to fall a true moth gilead and to execute that plan there are fallen angels that play a part in making that happen those fallen angels have their own motivations for doing that but is it God's plan that's being accomplished it's God's plan look with me at Isaiah 10 I chapter 10 verse 5 Isaiah 10 verse 5 Oh a Syrian the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is mine indignation I will send him against an hypocritical nation and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey and to tread them down like the mire of the streets what you understand what's going on there the Assyrian thinks that what he's doing he's doing of his own choice and by his own power one of the things that happens is this as men we are full of ourselves and we think we are something right no doubt the king of Assyria thought look at my might look at my power I have all these people at my command I have this great army I'm going to go crush my adversary right Assyria is what destroys is what conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel the ten northern tribes and when the king of Assyria does that is he doing that because he says you know I should really do this in the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy that's not what he's motivated by he's motivated by I have this power and here's what I'm going to go accomplish what God says about that is Oh Assyrian the rod of mine anger you think you're something you know what you are you're an instrument that I use so you see the metaphor in other words what happens in this universe is there are creatures men and angels that make choices they have freewill they make choices to do things but they make those choices because God is working out a purpose that he is accomplishing and other independent moral creatures making those choices choose to fulfill what God wants to happen the Assyrian doesn't attack the Northern Kingdom because he says there's a verse in the Old Testament that tells me I should do this to Israel to punish them that's not his subjective motivation he does it for his own reasons but whose purpose is being fulfilled it's God the father's get with me well get with me Ephesians 1 Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians 1 verse 4 according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him and love Ephesians 1 describes the formation of the body of Christ if you think about what God the Father is doing today God's message to the earth is the gospel Christ died for our sins was buried and rose again the third day mankind is our sinners we're all guilty we all deserve God's wrath but the good news is that if you trust what Jesus Christ did for you and dying on the cross God will save you the moment that you believe the gospel you are placed into what scripture calls the body of Christ Ephesians 1 describes the formation of the body of Christ so then in other words from the time when God reveals the mystery the Apostle Paul when he gives him the gospel of Christ till the end of this dispensation with the catching up of the body of Christ everyone who believes the gospel is spiritually placed into the body of Christ now notice with me 1st Corinthians 15 1st Corinthians 15 verse 40 there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial but the glory of the celestial is 1 and the glory of the terrestrial is another so also is the resurrection of the Dead it is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonor it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body so as we think through what happens during the dispensation of grace the first thing that happens is everyone who believes the gospel is placed into the body of Christ what then happens at the end of the dispensation of grace is every member of the body of Christ receives a spiritual body that's fit for them to function in the heavens for all eternity get 1st Corinthians 3 1st Corinthians chapter 3 verse 10 first corinthians 3 10 according to the grace of god which is given unto me as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is what first Corinthians 3 describes is this Paul says he's the wise masterbuilder he laid the foundation the foundation is Jesus Christ if you try to build on any other foundation it's a complete waste of time you get to choose how you build upon that foundation you can use gold silver precious stones you can use wood hay or stubble but it's going to be tested tested by fire my personal belief is that the fire there is a reference to God's Word if you read Jeremiah 23 what it says is it likens God's word to a fire what happens to a believer is you get saved in an instant you don't get saved as a long process you get saved in an instant when you believe the gospel you then get to choose what you do with the rest of your life you can build with gold silver precious stones wood hay or stubble but it will be tested by the fire of God's Word look at verse 14 if any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward so if you build with gold silver precious stones it survives the fire you receive a reward verse 15 if any man's work shall be burned that is wood hay and stubble someone shows up at the judgment seat of Christ in the fire of God's Word well just immolates just completely consumes their work if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss the loss is not loss of salvation its loss of reward described in verse 14 do you know how I know that because look at what it says but he himself shall be saved so it tells you the loss isn't loss of salvation its loss of reward I don't know about you I get in conversations like this all the time well can I believe the gospel and then sin of course you can and in fact you will won't you but you don't lose your salvation on that base you if if it was the case that you had to stop sinning to be saved guess how many people on earth would be saved zero the way that it works is the moment you believe the gospel God saves you forever eternally the rest of your life doesn't determine whether you're saved the rest of your life determines your reward okay so now think about this with me here well you get first Corinthians 9 before we do that get first Corinthians 9 first Corinthians 9 verse 25 and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible we looked earlier in 1st Corinthians 15 about corruptible bodies now we learned something about incorruptible crowns the rewards described in 1st Corinthians 3 our elsewhere described as crowns if you think about the government of the earth there are layers of government there's national government and then there's state government and there's county government and city government and local government and so on and there's all sorts of layers of authority as you think about the heavens there's an archangel and there's angels and there's cherubs and there's principalities and powers and there's different levels of government that are described in the scriptures so if you think about what likely happened when Satan rebelled so when Satan in his heart decides I'm going to rebel against God the father's Authority what would he then logically do does he then want to try to get all of the privates to follow him in the rebellion or would he prefer to have the Admirals and the generals and the leading powers in heaven well clearly in any rebellion you much rather have you'd start with the more powerful creatures to try to have them help you the reason I say that is this as you look at the heavenly government many of the leading positions have followed Satan in his rebellion if you've ever wondered about 1st Corinthians 6 where Paul says know ye not that ye shall judge angels it's clear that what happens is that heavenly government God hasn't cast all those angels into hell at this point they're still there they're still operating but what he's doing during the dispensation of grace is he is identifying their replacements and at a future point in time of God's choosing the bad guys will be kicked out and the body of Christ will be moved into their positions so think about this with me right here at the catching up in the body of Christ God has identified all the members of the body of Christ it's the first thing he did then the second thing he did is he gave them new bodies so they can function in the heavens for all eternity then they go to the judgment seat of Christ and at the judgment seat of Christ their lives and work are evaluated to determine their rewards to determine their positions once all of that occurs God has fully prepared the replacements for Satan and his angels so if you've ever wondered why why didn't God get rid of Satan right here nature abhors a vacuum God had work for Satan and his minions to perform and to accomplish and then there comes a point in time where what God is he has formed the replacement that he wants that's what the catching up in the body of Christ and after it goes through the judgment seat of Christ and you know what happens shortly after that what happens between here and right in the middle of the 70th week or let me ask it this way what big event happens in the middle of the 70th week Revelation 12 says there's war in heaven look with me at revelation 12 Revelation chapter 12 revelation 12 verse 7 and there was war in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not neither was their place found any more in heaven and the Great Dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him verse 12 therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them it will be a pretty exciting time in the heavens when Satan is kicked out woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time let's talk about this for a minute see once God forms the body of Christ puts them through the judgement seat of Christ assigns them their eternal positions he doesn't have any purpose for Satan in the heavens any more he's selected his replacement so he says to Michael Michael you can go ahead and kick these guys out and I just love this because the image I have this is unscriptural but the image I have is I just have the image of Michael smart saluting and saying yes sir right in other words he's wanted that order for a long time right and he gets it Satan is cast down to the earth so the heavens rejoice because Satan is gone but what does it say about the earth Rome inhabits the earth deceived because the Devils come down on do you know they have but a short time see Satan sees the handwriting on the wall now let's just play through this because this is fascinating get revelation 19 revelation 19 verse 20 revelation 19 is the second coming and I want you to see what happens to the beast and the false prophet and the Beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and then that worshipped His image these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone so during the 70th week their Satan there's the beast and the false prophet there's this satanic Trinity at the second coming the beast and the false prophet are apprehended and they're thrown into the lake of fire look at revelation 20 verse 2 and he laid hold on the dragon this is the angel that comes down from heaven and he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nation's No More till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season I'll just share this with you I find this fascinating a lot of the common sayings we have are taken from the scriptures you've heard people say we robbed Peter to pay Paul that's the book of Acts if you're mad at someone you tell them to go jump in a lake right you don't tell them to jump in a pond or a stream or an ocean or a river you tell them to jump in a lake because revelation refers to a lake of fire in other words that saying derives itself from scriptural truth well look at verse 3 and cast him in the bottomless pit and shut him up you know where we get the phrase shut up I think we get it from that because what God does with Satan is he shuts him up in the bottomless pit that he can deceive the nation's No More during the thousand years Satan is in the bottomless pit and he's just held there so he can't deceive the nation's the Lord Jesus Christ is visibly reigning on the earth at that time I want you to notice something at the end of the millennium Jesus Christ has reigned righteously for a thousand years the most popular thing to do on earth is to complain about the government right well that's a time where you aren't going to have a legitimate complaint about the government right the government is perfectly perfectly righteous look at verse 7 revelation 20 verse 7 and when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison get with me revelation 19 verse 5 or 19 verse 15 I'm sorry 19 verse 15 and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nation's notice this and he shall rule them with a rod of iron what the Lord Jesus Christ does during the Millennium is he is a benevolent King but he rules the rod of iron so wickedness is punished get eyes we're coming back to Revelation 20 but get Isaiah 66 Isaiah 66 verse 22 Isaiah 66 22 for as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make so Isaiah 66 is written from the standpoint of before the new heavens and the new earth shall remain before me saith the Lord so shall your seed and your name remain and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the Lord notice verse 24 and they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me for their worm shall not die neither shall their fire be quenched and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh now just so I understand what's going on in verses 23 and 24 during the Millennium during the thousand year earthly reign of the Lord Jesus Christ he sits on his throne in Jerusalem and outside of Jerusalem there is a portal there's a vent where it is possible from the face of the earth to see down into hell and that's what's being described in that verse just read it one more time so you see it and they shall go forth notice they go outside of Jerusalem and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me it's talking about people that have been judged and by the way you never ever want to be referred to as a carcass right that's a sign that something bad has happened they've transgressed against me for their worm shall not die the description of the lost man in Hell is that of a worm it talks about the fire not being quenched now go back to Revelation 20 revelation 20 in verse 7 we saw that Satan was loosed out of his prison I'm gonna say this there's no verse that says this but I'm just gonna say this I strongly suspect that when Satan is loosed out of his prison he starts lying yet again and here's what he does I'm just suspecting this he says they couldn't hold me see revelation 20 verse 7 says Satan is loosed God chooses to let him free I have a suspicion that what Satan does as he says I busted out they couldn't hold me cuz I'm too clever and he goes out to the earth look at verse 8 and he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea this is madness now just think about this with me if you would get revelation 14 14 verse 15 and another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time has come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe verse 19 and the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God and the winepress was trodden without the city and blood came out of the winepress even unto the horse bridles how high as a horse bridles right by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs how long is a furlong for long as an eighth of a mile so sixteen hundred furlongs is two hundred miles so there's blood that flows at the level of a horse's bridle for two hundred miles the human body has five quarts of blood how many millions upon millions of people have to be slaughtered for blood to flow for two hundred miles at the level of a horse's bridle that's what happens at the second coming in other words the Lord returns at the second coming the mass of the earth says we don't want you to rule he says I didn't ask your opinion and there's a slaughter that's unbelievable now fast-forward that occurs right there at the end of the thousand years where Jesus Christ has visibly reigned with a rod of iron and people that disobeyed him were cast into hell and by the way it's not faith if you can see it we walk by faith not by sight if you can see it it's not faith is there any question at all during the Millennium that hell is real not so Satan is loosed for a little season he goes out to gather the nations of the earth together to go up to Jerusalem to kill the Lord Jesus Christ and they say that is a tremendous idea let's do that that sounds like a winner do you realize how insane that is the last time there was concerted rebellion against him blood flowed for 200 miles revelation 20 verse 9 and they went up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints about and the beloved city in other words what they do is they go up to Jerusalem which is where the Lord Jesus Christ is and they encircle it they surround it you're not gonna get away right what happens and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them so they's all gathered together to kill him in one place and God says oh and it's sinner rates in Revelation 20 verse 10 and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet notice the word are they are there but they were cast there a thousand years before some will teach than in Hell there is the annihilation of the soul that man doesn't suffer conscious eternal torment day and night forever but he's destroyed and it ends but what that's not true is it because the thousand years later when Satan is cast in the beast and the false prophet have already been there a thousand years suffering torment and it didn't get better and it's only starting it's this is terrifying right so here's what God does what God does is he eradicate sfrom the universe everything that he hates in the lake of fire we know that death and hell are cached there the Beast is there the false prophet is there Satan is there and the souls of all the lost are cast there for all eternity so what I want you to see I'll close with this thought Satan rebels why doesn't God get rid of him immediately well the reason as we saw is there's work that God has for him to do even at the end of the Millennial Kingdom you know what happens and I didn't say this so let me say it during the money I'll Kingdom what happens is this people don't visibly rebel against the Lord Jesus Christ because when you go over there and you look down into hell even if you hate him I'm just gonna be quiet right because that's I I'm not no right so I will be silently resentful and I might really be mad if one of the guys he tossed in there was my buddy so I hate him but I'm not gonna do anything about it Satan when he's loosed for a little season he goes out with his lying ways and he uncovers what was already in the heart of man it was already in man's heart to rebel against the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan makes that manifest once he does that he has performed the last work God has for him to do and that's why after that he's thrown into the lake of fire God has no need for Satan in the new heaven and new earth because that's where righteousness dwells the function that we have the privilege of the body of Christ is this Genesis 1:1 in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth well that perfect heaven and earth that God created immediately became contaminated for sin but what God is gonna do in the future is he's gonna have a new heaven and a new earth that new earth is going to be under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ and Israel will administer it that new heaven is going to be administered by the body of Christ that's the purpose for your life the purpose for your life is not to acquire more toys it's not to be more entertained it's not to collect earthly trinkets God's purpose for you is he wants to save your soul by virtue of what Christ did for you and then he has a purpose for you in his new heaven for all eternity to manifest the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to the universe amen Father thank you for this time thanks for the opportunity to look into your word may you be glorified in all that we do may we have a better understanding of your purpose for our lives it's in Jesus name we pray amen dude we are we gonna close in a song we're just gonna close

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

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Length: 49min 3sec (2943 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2019