Principles of Christian Living. Lesson 12 Lesson Text—I Corinthians 15:51-54 I Corinthians 15:51-54 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all.

Principles of Christian Living

Lesson 12

Lesson Text—I Corinthians 15:51-54

I Corinthians 15:51-5451 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Lesson Text—I Corinthians 15:51-54

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in

victory.

Lesson Text—I Corinthians 15:55-57

I Corinthians 15:55-5755 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lesson Text—I Thessalonians 4:13-15

I Thessalonians 4:13-1513 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

Lesson Text—I Thessalonians 4:13-15

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

Lesson Text—I Thessalonians 4:16-18

I Thessalonians 4:16-1816 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Lesson Text—I Thessalonians 4:16-18

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Focus Verse—Romans 8:11

Romans 8:11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in

you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that

dwelleth in you.

Focus Thought

The hope of the church is the

return of Jesus Christ to receive

His bride.

I. Hope of the SaintsCULTURE CONNECTION

Left without Hope

In the March 8, 2010, issue of the weekly periodical The Big Issue in Scotland, Adam Forrest addressed a major cultural problem in the nation of Scotland in his article titled “Methadone Is a Noose around My Neck.” In the article he tackled the epidemic use of methadone to assist individuals who are addicted to heroin.

I. Hope of the SaintsForrest wrote, “In a quiet corner of

Bearsden, one woman is helping addicts quit cold turkey. Maxie Richards, a devout Christian, has for two decades been taking in hard drug users as guests in her home for however long it takes to turn them around. . . . She loathes methadone, and has watched the treatment’s rise with despair. ‘It’s sedation, it’s not a treatment, not a cure,’ she sighs. . . . ‘People are coming here in complete despair after years on methadone.

I. Hope of the SaintsThey’re unhappy, they need to come off it, but clinics just up the dose. It makes me so upset to see a generation left without hope like this.”

Perhaps Richards’ statement sums up the issue well: “a generation left without hope.” It is that sense of hopelessness that entices some people to experiment with narcotics, which throws them into an even deeper state of hopelessness. Then, as they attempt to become free from the addition to drugs, they become dependent on methadone and find they still are left without hope.

I. Hope of the SaintsThe world needs the hope that is available only through Jesus Christ—through the new birth of water and Spirit, and through the hope engendered in one’s heart as he anticipates the return of Jesus Christ. Salvation through Christ and His return are our only hope in this world. We do not have to be left without hope.

I. Hope of the SaintsCONTEMPLATING THE

TOPIC

1. Hope is different from faith. There is much discussion about which comes first: hope or faith. The difference in the two, however, is not that definitive. Hope and faith are like two sides of the same coin, and many people use them interchangeably. Both hope and faith are eternal.

I. Hope of the SaintsHope is like seed. History is full of

stories about seeds. Someone who discovered seeds in Egyptian tombs planted the seeds, and they produced. Seeds uncovered by earthly upheavals from volcanoes or earthquakes suddenly sprout after being buried for perhaps centuries. They still produce. Seeds contain a hope of life, while faith causes a person to plant, water, and harvest the product of the seed. Once the harvest is over, there remains seed for the next season, the next planting, and the next crop.

I. Hope of the SaintsThe consistency of the produce is in

the seed. The methods of sowing, the systems of irrigation, and the implements of cultivation and harvesting may differ dramatically, but the seed will bear the same product planting after planting after planting. Therefore, hope is in the seed, but faith is in the activity that allows the seed to spring to life, multiply, and bring profit. Disasters can destroy equipment, deplete the budget, and demolish the harvest, but a true farmer knows he should never deplete the seed supply.

I. Hope of the Saints2. Hope is the last thing lost.

Disaster may sweep the harvest fields and destroy the produce. Drought may dry up the roots of plants and bring to dust the budding sprouts. The seed in the ground may be wasted or rotted and lost, but the seed in the barn or seed store yet unplanted still has latent life. There is hope if there is seed. Faith’s action may be unprofitable, wasted, and destroyed, but as long as a seed remains there is a future; there is hope.

I. Hope of the SaintsIf all the harvest is devoured, distributed, or destroyed along with the seed, however, then hope is lost. Every harvest demands some of the seed to be reserved for the next year and a new sowing. To use all the seed is to remove all hope.

A farmer stood with his wife and son looking at dried, sun-scorched fields with shriveled, immature crops from a drought. They had hoped to pay the mortgage on the farm and buy a new tractor. Instead, they faced loss, despair, and hunger.

I. Hope of the SaintsWhile the father voiced concern for daily survival, the son replied, “But, Dad, we have food. It’s in the barn. There are bags of wheat and corn for making bread and beans for making soup. We can make it.”

The father looked at his son with sad eyes and said, “That seed is for next spring, the next sowing, the next harvest, and our future in farming. We dare not use it for daily food. If we eat that seed, I have to give up farming and find a new career.”

I. Hope of the SaintsThe hope was in the bags of seed

still in the barn, not in the weather, the farmer’s expertise, or the fertility of the field. Any farmer could take the seed bag and sow a new harvest. This farmer’s hope was not in a new career but in the seed bag.

A. A Blessed HopeSearching the Scriptures

Hope of the Saints

A. A Blessed Hope

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”

(Titus 2:13).

I. Hope of the SaintsTo see the Lord Jesus Christ who

gave His life for our salvation is one of the most cherished hopes in the world. A genuine love for God conceives that joyful expectation; no amount of effort, sacrifice, dedication, or service can manufacture that pleasure. Hope of eternal redemption and seeing the Lord Jesus Christ springs into existence when a person obeys the gospel, and nothing compares to that hope.

B. A Comforting HopeB. A Comforting Hope

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:18).

People do not intentionally seek after heartaches and sorrows, but disappointment, disability, and discord happen in spite of faithfulness, loyalty, and devotion.

I. Hope of the SaintsStill, the hope of Christ’s glorious appearing brings comfort. We sing songs that look forward to “someday” or “understanding it better by and by” or “won’t it be wonderful there.” In this life, any respite or refuge from circumstances that decay, distress, or disillusion is temporary at best, but hope brings the comforting solace that one day things will be different. On that day we will have reached a status that will be far above the earthly and the profane.

C. A Lively HopeC. A Lively Hope

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us

again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the

dead” (I Peter 1:3).

I. Hope of the SaintsThe “lively hope” or “living hope” to

which Peter referred in I Peter 1:3 is the living Christ. Believers do not place their hope simply in a historical event, but in a Lord who transcends all history and time. The resurrection of Jesus Christ may have occurred more than two thousand years ago, but the resonant reality of our hope exists in our belief that Jesus is alive today! The Cross was a passage of victory to bring us a triumphant and living Savior, Friend, and Deliverer.

I. Hope of the SaintsSix times in Peter’s first epistle he used forms of the word living (I Peter 1:3, 23; 2:4-5; 4:5-6). Peter’s message to believers emphasized what we sense, feel, and exercise if our faith is vibrant, dynamic, and alive. Peter’s salutation to “strangers” who are the “elect” recognizes the temporal and alien situation of a people who live by faith in a world of decay.

I. Hope of the SaintsThe church of today exercises evangelism across cultures, governments, and languages “strange” to them, but they faithfully represent and present the dynamic gospel that never changes. They bring to others a living hope anchored in a living Savior!

D. A Purifying HopeD. A Purifying Hope

“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:3).

Sinners are without help in a hopeless world. Neither soap and water nor fasting and ritual can purify the soul.

I. Hope of the SaintsThey need someone on the outside of their existence to bridge the gap of despair and cleanse the unreachable, untouchable, and unknown fabric of their being. They cannot save themselves. Their only hope exists in the salvation provided through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Neither can believers save themselves; like unbelievers, their hope of salvation is through Jesus Christ alone—by experiencing the new birth and becoming His “children.”

I. Hope of the SaintsIn this life believers have no concept of what they will look like when they see Him, but when Jesus appears they will be like Him, for, as His children they bear His likeness. (See I John 3:2.) Believers experience spiritual adoption, which transcends legalism and formality. This “hope” of being a child of God purifies them in a heavenly relationship they did not initiate.

II. Hope of the ResurrectionHope of the

Resurrection

“Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

I. Hope of the SaintsYea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (I Corinthians 15:12-20).

A. Christ’s Resurrection Is the Basis of Our Hope

A. Christ’s Resurrection Is the Basis of Our Hope

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most profound and fundamental aspect of Jesus’ earthly ministry. His resurrection gives believers a glorious hope that they too can take part in His resurrection. The miracle of His resurrection takes us beyond hurts and hindrances to an experience of life after death far beyond our ability to effect or replicate or deny.

I. Hope of the SaintsOur new birth brings the hope not only of changed hearts, minds, and souls, but also of a changed body and existence. Faith prompts us to value and nurture this eternal hope. We gladly testify and evangelize about that which was impossible to do for ourselves. Ultimately, our faith reacts to our hope and empowers us to perform acts of faith.

I. Hope of the SaintsObeying the gospel of Jesus Christ contains the hope of our salvation. His birth, death, burial, and resurrection are the effective and viable proponents of our belief in repentance and forgiveness, of atonement and justification, and the regenerative power of a new life in Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost. We act upon this hope by faith, appropriating the truth of the gospel, giving validity to its power, and living by its tenets.

B. Hope in Christ Transcends Death

B. Hope in Christ Transcends Death

The sad transitions of most religious bodies are tracked in the passing of their leaders. Denominations founded on the novel teachings of masterful teachers recite by rote their interpretations of the teachers’ words, meanings, and intentions. Sects, divisions, and splinter groups find a new point of dogma and give it an intensity that may last a generation or two.

I. Hope of the SaintsThis fracturing of a journey in faith reflects a false hope in human understanding.

Paul referred to this in I Corinthians 15:17 when he wrote, “Your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” Hope in their leaders, in their teachings, and in their convictions becomes a substitute for the real foundation of their faith. If only they knew their real hope lies in Jesus Christ! He is uniquely apart from all other teachers and leaders of the past who died.

I. Hope of the SaintsTheir followers have no hope and no faith, and they will die in their sins. However, Christ’s resurrection provides a hope that transcends death.

A. Death Has Lost Its StingHope of Eternal Life

A. Death Has Lost Its Sting

The old joke about the only permanent things in life being death and taxes reflects the temporal aspect of our existence. In this life, temporal qualities may be the markers or indicators of our faith, but our hope is beyond the grave. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians by describing the Rapture of the church. (See I Thessalonians 4:13-17.)

I. Hope of the SaintsBecause our hope is out of this world, we do not succumb to the despair and misery in the world. Certainly, living by faith can put us in situations the world would perceive as miserable. However, the joy and hope we have inside sees a different victory, a different cause, and a different end than what the world can see. Our hope is not in a last breath, a final resting place, or a poignant epitaph. Those things carry the “sting” of this old creation, but our hope is in the Creator who makes all things new!

B. We Shall Be ChangedB. We Shall Be Changed

Jesus did not allow Mary to touch Him shortly after His resurrection, but later He allowed Thomas to touch the wounds in His hands and His side. Jesus appeared through locked doors and seemed to transcend time and distance. These unearthly qualities of His resurrected character give us clues to the changes we can expect “on the other side.”

I. Hope of the SaintsWe do not flinch at a “crossing over”; rather, we rejoice and anticipate; we revel and wonder at the glory that awaits us in His presence. Rejection, sorrow, loneliness, and misunderstanding cannot abide in this new existence for which every believer hopes. Pain, tears, agony, and illness will then be unknown, for we shall be changed!

C. Mortal Shall Put on Immortality

C. Mortal Shall Put on Immortality

Mortality is a human condition. However, in His ministry Jesus Christ imposed the divine onto the mortal. He brought the dead back to life through divine intervention. He gave people the strength to start over with a new hope. He restored health, relationships, potential, and self-esteem.

I. Hope of the SaintsJesus reversed, revised, and resurrected these mortal constraints when He reached beyond human capability and appropriated “hope” from beyond this life.

Believers are stuck in their mortality when they cannot envision new life in sin-torn people. They yield to mortality when they limit the power of God to keep them in an ungodly world. They grovel in their mortality when they turn to old habits, commiserate with their failures, and excuse their weaknesses.

I. Hope of the SaintsIf they cannot believe they are new creatures in this life, how can they believe the glorious immortality of their resurrected life? The only hope is in the Creator!

To put on immortality is to step into an existence we cannot now comprehend. We have no frame of reference through which to understand a heavenly way of life. Our only glimpses of the spirit world come when we are lost in the Spirit. For humankind, putting on immortality will be the ultimate change.

I John 3:2

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John

3:2).

A. The Hope of Saints Who Died in Christ

Hope of Christ’s Return

A. The Hope of Saints Who Died in Christ

It seems futile to ascribe hope to people who are dead, but those who are dead in Christ have hope that abides. Some Christians fret about quandaries: Where are the righteous and unrighteous dead? When are the dead judged, resurrected, or united?

I. Hope of the SaintsTheological speculation on the condition, disposition, and “hope” of the dead fills the library shelves and unsettles the mind. However, the Christians’ hope is in Jesus Christ and His resurrection. The times, the incidences, and the particulars of their situation rest in the same principles that apply to the “quick” (the alive) and those who will follow after.

I. Hope of the SaintsIn Romans 8, Paul wrote concerning

this dilemma about the dead, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). He defined death as the “bondage of corruption.” Interestingly, Paul also tied this bondage to the living: “And not only they [the dead], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

I. Hope of the SaintsFor we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:23-25). The living believers and the dead in Christ have the same hope: the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

B. The Hope of Those Living in Christ

B. The Hope of Those Living in Christ

“For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth” (Psalm 71:5). Many have tried to trust in parents, teachers, friends, and even their own talents and willpower. Such trust often results in disappointment and disillusionment because human realities fall short of human expectations.

I. Hope of the SaintsExperiences lead to questions, doubt, and avoidance of things that have been valued since childhood. The source of disappointment could even be fellow believers, the pastor, or things perceived in the Bible that do not represent the reality of biblical truths. Some who suffer from these hurtful experiences may feel their hope only prolongs the distress.

I. Hope of the SaintsMarina Krakovsky, in her article

“Hope Can Be Worse Than Hopelessness,” (New York Times, 2007), writes, “People often display a remarkable ability to adapt to adversity, bouncing back to their usual levels of happiness despite extreme hardships. But people don’t always rebound, and scientists have long wondered what factors might account for the difference.

I. Hope of the SaintsIn a talk at Harvard in September, a team of researchers suggested that one obstacle to emotional recovery, oddly enough, is hope—the belief that your current hardship is temporary. . . .

“From the beginning, the investigators suspected that hope might sometimes be counterproductive: prisoners with life sentences but with the possibility of parole adapt less well to prison life, for example, than prisoners with life sentences without the possibility of parole.

I. Hope of the Saints(People without hope adjust and accept this world with resignation. People with a lively hope never feel quite right about this world.)”

Placing one’s hope in other people, unreasonable expectations, or faulty perceptions will result in a miserable life. True hope is in Jesus Christ. He is the only constant in a world fraught with broken trust, failed expectations, or the perceived failings of religion. Hope and trust placed in people, talents, or willpower will fail.

I. Hope of the SaintsChrist is the only steadfast hope in a life filled with rejection, pain, and confusion. His death, burial, and resurrection create in believers a new life in an entirely different dimension from the mundane life allowed by their physical birth. Instead of a miserable life and a bleak future, believers have a true hope, a dynamic confidence that does not end with this life but continues throughout eternity.

I. Hope of the SaintsInternalizing the Message

Everything in this world that can be shaken will be shaken, and much of it will crumble and fail. The wood, hay, and stubble of life will burn up and disappear. People will violate trust, cause emotional wounds, and fail to live up to the expected ideals. Philosophies will change, economies will fail, and governments will corrupt.

I. Hope of the SaintsThose people who have been begotten

by Christ acquire a living hope. Instead of looking downward, they look upward. No longer fearing death, they can look forward to an eternal hope.

The redemption we look for and the hope we carry is with Jesus Christ. His return is our rapture. The mechanics of that reunion may engender questions, but the reality of that reunion is our hope. Above all else in life we look for His soon appearing and say with the apostle John, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).