 So you're going to bookmark First Corinthians chapter 15, and we're going to come back there. That's going to be kind of our core chapter for the evening. Go, if you would though, after you bookmark that, go to Acts chapter 23 and let's start out there this evening. We're going to start out in Acts chapter 23 and we're going to segue. And tonight I'm going to kind of give you the mechanics. This could actually be one of the how stuff works sermon series. That's probably how we'll post it. But tonight we're going to talk about, you know, how your resurrection works. And how that ties to Jesus. We see a little debate that starts in Acts chapter 23. Let's look at that and then we'll get into the sermon this evening. What I'm going to show you from First Corinthians chapter 15, mainly First Corinthians chapter 15 is kind of known as the resurrection chapter in the Bible. There's a lot of different names for chapters in the Bible. Hebrews 11 is the faith chapter. And if you read through, if you're reading through First Corinthians chapter 15 and you're just like, wow, that seems really complicated. I'm going to kind of break it down for you tonight. All right, look at Acts chapter 23. Look at verse number six. So of course, Paul here is talking to the Pharisees and he had just insulted the high priest. Look at verse number six. And we talked about that last week, but when Paul perceived that one of the part were Sadducees and the other were Pharisees, he cried out in the council, men and brethren, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. Of the hope of the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question. So Paul, you know, this is just more evidence that he knew exactly who the high priest was. He knows who the Sadducees and who the Pharisees are. And of course, he was a Pharisee. And he's saying here, he brings up the resurrection of the dead, talking about what he's preaching, which is Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus. Look at verse seven. And when he had said so, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the multitude was divided. So Paul knew what he was doing here because he knows what the Sadducees believe or I should say what the Sadducees don't believe. Look at verse number eight. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry and the scribes that were part of the Pharisees part arose and strove saying, we find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or angel had spoken to him, let us not fight against God. And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing less, Paul should have been pulled the pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. So Paul kind of just does an intellectual trick on these folks here and he gets them fighting amongst themselves to a way they pretty much forget about him. And he knows that the Sadducees don't believe in a resurrection. They don't believe in any resurrection. So that puts the Pharisees against them. I mean, they're kind of like the Shiites and the Sunnis. If you think about it that way. So he gets them arguing amongst themselves. So you've got false prophet arguing with false prophet and then the Romans pull Paul out. But tonight, I want to just segue out of this and talk about the importance of the resurrection. Really, the title of the sermon is like the mechanics of everlasting life. Like how your everlasting life works. How your resurrection works and how that's tied to Jesus. Turn to John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Look at verse number 25. So what happens when we die? You know, our body, this body, this mortal body that we're in is going to die one day. We don't know when we're going to die. You know, many people think, well, I'll live to be 90 or 95 or whatever, but you could die in a moment. You know, you could die suddenly. That happens to a lot of people these days. All right? Just a little, you know, side note there. All right? That won't get me kicked off of YouTube. Anyway, the mechanics of everlasting life. The mechanics of your resurrection is what we're going to talk about this evening. Look at John chapter 11, verse number 25. Jesus says, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. So this is for the people that say, oh, did Jesus resurrect from the dead? Jesus literally says, I am the resurrection. All right? A lot of people deny the resurrection of Jesus. No. Jesus physically rose from the dead. He rose from the dead in a body. We'll talk about that body and what type of body that will be tonight. But look, Jesus had a physical actual resurrection. He ate. People touched him. He was physically resurrected. And so are you going to be physically resurrected? All right? But the point is Jesus was resurrected first, and then we will be resurrected later. So what happens when we die? How is your resurrection going to work is the title of the sermon. Go to Luke chapter 16. So the first question is this. When I die physically, where will I go? Where will I go? Like the moment that my life leaves my body, and I am dead according to doctors on this earth, where will I go at that point? The Bible is very clear about this. Look at Luke chapter 16. I'm going to show you everything from the Bible tonight. There's a lot of misinformation about this. There's a lot of false doctrine about this, but it is very clear in the Bible. Luke chapter 16, we have a story about a rich man and a beggar. And both of them die. And it's a great story because it explains one of them is saved and one of them is not. Okay? Look at Luke chapter 16, verse number 22. Both of these people die. Lazarus, the beggar, and the rich man, they both die. And it came to pass that the beggar died. It was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Now, that just means like where Abraham is. Okay? Abraham is in heaven. That's what this is talking about. People take this Abraham's bosom and they go make a bunch of weird doctrine about how it's some halfway heaven or something like this. It's ridiculous. Abraham's in heaven. I'll show you that from the Bible as well. Jesus talks about it. I'll show you in a few minutes. But he goes to Abraham where Abraham is, Abraham's in heaven. And then it says, the rich man also died and was buried. Look at verse 23. It says, and in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torments. And seeeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. So immediately these two men, when they die, if you're saved, you're immediately in heaven. If you're not saved, you are immediately in hell. All right? And you're immediately in hell in torments, the Bible says. All right? So it's just like as soon as you die, you know, if you're not saved, you're in hell. That's why, you know, since the vast majority of people are not saved, this is why it's actually pretty sad when people die. It's actually a sad thing. Look, if you go to a funeral of somebody that's saved, you know, it's kind of like, let's celebrate Jesus. You know? I mean, let's not talk about how great they were. Let's celebrate Jesus. Let's celebrate what he did. Because we don't really, look, and I get it. Like, if one of, you know, my family members died, God forbid, you know, before I did, you know, that would be very sad because I would miss them on this earth. But look, if they're saved, I know that they're in heaven. Immediately. They're in heaven. All right? So what about, like, you know, this doctrine of soul sleep? Like, there's this doctrine that the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, even some Lutherans and some, you know, Protestants believe that, you know, as soon as we, you know, as soon as we die, our soul, like, goes to sleep. And of course, these people aren't even saved anyway. But the point is, is they believe your soul goes to sleep and then you don't get, you know, your soul doesn't come alive again until, you know, the resurrection or the day of judgment or whatever their false doctrine teaches. But that's not what the Bible teaches at all. When you die, you are immediately in heaven. Turn to Philippians chapter one. I'll show you more verses on this. The Bible is super clear on this. This is not anything that is gray, even just a little bit. Go to Philippians chapter one. The irony is that Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventists and all these different people that have false gospels that believe in soul sleep, they're going to know immediately that they were wrong. Because they're thinking, like, when they're going to die on this earth, they're thinking, I'm going to be asleep and they're immediately going to be in torments. Because they're going to be in hell right away. All right? Look at Philippians chapter one, verse 21. Look what Paul says here. He says, for me to live as Christ and to die is gain. Now, if you went to sleep, if you, you know, went to soul sleep and you were sleeping for thousands of years or however long it was until the judgment or whatever they believed, would it be, I mean, to die would be in the ground. To die would be dirt. That's not gain. All right? But if I live in the flesh, he said, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what shall I choose? What I shall choose, I want not. For I am in a strait betwixt too. He's like, you know, I can't really decide is what he's saying. He's saying, I can't really decide whether or not I want to die physically or whether I want to stay here with you all. This is what Paul is saying. Look, Paul was a man that was in pain. We know he had some kind of ailment about him physically. And then he was just being beaten and stoned and whipped and everything everywhere. He had a horrible life on this earth because of the things that he was preaching because he was preaching Jesus Christ. So he's like, you know, having a desire to depart and what? And to be with Christ. He's like, as soon as I'm dead, I'm with Christ. Now where is Christ? 1 Peter 3 verse 22? 1 Peter 3 verse 22. I have it written in my Bible right here because where is Christ? Maybe Christ is in some weird place like some half-heaven or something. No, Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. You know, who has gone into heaven, it says in 1 Peter 3 verse 22, and is on the right hand of God. Christ is in heaven. Paul is saying, if I depart, if I die, I'm in heaven. That's what he's saying. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. So he's saying, look, it's actually better for me personally if I just die because I'll immediately be with Christ and all this suffering will be over and all that. He's like, but I know you all need me here, so I'd rather, you know, so I'll stay. Look at John chapter 8 verse 56. John chapter 8 verse number 56. So look, I mean, there is no soul sleep. When you die, you're saved. You are immediately with Christ. You are immediately in heaven. Obviously your body's in the ground. We'll get to that. But your soul is immediately in heaven with Jesus. And look, here's where Abraham is, right here. So the Pharisees were getting all over Jesus here and they were talking about, they didn't believe him and they were just getting all over him. Look at John chapter 8 verse 56. Look what Jesus says to them. He says, your father Abraham, he's talking to the Pharisees and he's saying, you Jews, he's like, you don't even believe me. He's like, your father Abraham, because they're like, we're children of Abraham and they just celebrate this genealogy of being from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. How could Abraham see Jesus being born and Jesus on this earth if he was in the ground sleeping? If he was in soul sleep or whatever. No, Abraham's in heaven watching this and he rejoiced. He rejoiced. Then said the Jews unto him, they're not yet 50 years old. They don't understand anything he's saying. And has thou seen Abraham? And now he just addresses the age part here. It's kind of brilliant how Jesus talks to these people. He says, Jesus said unto them, verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Basically calling himself God because I am is God's name in the Old Testament, one of the names that God calls himself. So he addresses in verse 58, he addresses this whole age thing. He's like, I've always been because I'm God is what he said. But he says Abraham in verse 56, he says Abraham, he's rejoicing that I'm here. Abraham is rejoicing that the Messiah is finally come. Because why? Abraham was someone that the promise was made to and he just had to hope he had to take it on faith. You see the people in the Old Testament were saved the exact same way as we are, except they were hoping in the future they were having faith in a future Messiah whereas we are looking back on a past Messiah that's already come. So saved by faith the same way. It's just they're looking forward, we're looking back. Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse number 8, I mean it literally says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I mean it just, I mean can it be any more clear than that? When you die physically you will immediately be in heaven. If you have been, if you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and you have trusted in Him, you are saved, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit. When you die physically, you're in heaven. That's it. You said, well what about this idea of sleep in Jesus? Because the Bible does talk about people that are sleeping in Jesus. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. So the Bible calls people that have died in several verses here that we're going to look at as a sleep. But it's not talking about that they're literally a sleep. It's talking about their body is in the grave and that their soul is in heaven. We're talking about that, which means a sleep in Jesus, which is the term that it uses in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Look at verse number 13. Look at verse number 13 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. But I would have you not be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are a sleep that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, God will bring with him. So it's talking about the people that have died in Christ. People that have died physically and are now, their soul is now in heaven is what the Bible is calling sleep in Jesus. Now, there's something that's extra here in verse number 14. It says those people that have died, as I've showed you in verse after verse after verse, that are now, their soul is in heaven. It says that they won't be, their body won't be in the ground forever is what it's saying here. It says these people that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Well, that's interesting. Bring with him where? Bring with him where? It's like, where are we going? Well, I'm going to show you. You're actually going a couple places. You're going to be going a couple places. We'll talk about the second one later, but look at verse 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. So it's talking about the entire group of saved believers. Some have died, enter in heaven, their soul is in heaven, and some are still alive. So if this happened right now, which it won't, but if this happened right now, we would be the ones that are alive and remain. All right? For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with, you need to remember or underline these three words right here, and with the Trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. So note the Trump of God here. So this is talking about, you know, the Lord himself, Jesus Christ himself is going to come down from heaven at the voice of the archangel. There's going to be a Trump that sounds, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Meaning the saved people are going to rise. They're going to be resurrected here. All right? And the dead, look, there's an order of everything that we're going to talk about tonight. So the dead, the people that have died that were saved, they're going to be the ones that rise first. Okay? Look at verse 17. Then you've got to pay attention to first, then after these things. I mean, the Bible is trying to, like, give us the order of things here. So after the dead in Christ, the people that have died that were saved, rise first, 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. So after this point, will we ever be separated from Jesus? No, we will be with Jesus forever. And we will go where he goes. And we will do what he does. He's going to do some pretty exciting stuff coming up. All right? We're going to be part of that. It says, where for? Comfort one another with these words. So it's saying, look, there's going to be a resurrection. You're not going to be sad. Look, I get it. We miss our relatives that died. It's really sad when someone's child dies. Things like this are very sad. But children we know are in heaven. The Bible teaches that very clearly and save people that we know that have died are in heaven. Yes, if we know people that are unsaved and have died, that is very sad. But that's why we want to become soul winners so we don't have that many people around us that are unsaved. So we can get as many people possible saved in our lives. Because we don't want to go through that sadness because that's a really, truly sad thing. All right? Now, go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So we're talking here about the rapture, folks. When Jesus comes back in the clouds and he grabs the people that have died first, that are in the ground, they get resurrected, and then we that are alive to remain, I don't know if that will be us or not, are going to go with them all together in the clouds. We're talking about the rapture. All right? So when will this happen? All right? We're talking about the rapture here. There's two groups. Those are already dead physically, and then they're asleep in Jesus, the dead in Christ, and then there's those that are still living during the time. Okay? Turn to Romans. Actually, you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I'm going to read for you Romans chapter 8 in verse number 11. The Bible says this in Romans 8, 11. You're in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It says, That is saying here. It's saying that if the Spirit of God dwell in you, meaning what? Meaning you're saved. If you're saved, the Holy Spirit is in you. You're sealed by the Holy Spirit. God's giving you that down payment of the Holy Spirit. You have that Spirit inside you if you're saved. It says even so that the same Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies. That means it'll make your mortal body alive. Quicken means make alive. Okay? By His Spirit that dwelleth in you. So is anybody that doesn't have the Spirit in them going to be quickened? No. You must have the Spirit in you be saved, and then your mortal body is going to be made alive. So the question is when? All right? 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to kind of work this chapter backwards. All right? Look at verse number 42. Verse number 42. The Bible says, So also is the resurrection of the dead. This is what we're talking about. All right? It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. Now there's going to be several comparisons in each of these verses. We see here corruption in corruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. So it's talking about, you know, the dead body basically to be gruesome. But the dead body, it was corrupt. And it's going to be raised in incorruption. It was dishonorable. It's going to be raised in honor. Look at verse 44. Again, another comparison here. It is sown in natural body. So you have what's called a natural body right now. You have flesh. It is going to be raised, though, a spiritual body. There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body. It's comparing what went in the ground to what is going to be resurrected here. Okay? By using these words, corruption in corruption. Dishonor, glory. Natural, spiritual. All right? Look at verse 45. Then he gives a really much deeper comparison here. So it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. Talking about, you know, Adam, the first, the literal first man that God made a living soul. The last Adam, that's Jesus, was made a quickening spirit. Talking about the mortal man and the immortal Jesus. Given that comparison. Look at verse 46. How be it, that was not the first which is spiritual, but that which is natural. So you see that comparison to Adam and Jesus is the same comparison we've been using. Natural, you know, spiritual. You know, corrupt, incorruptible. You know, so it's the same, you know, same thing. That we're verse 47. The first man is of earth, earthly. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthly, such are they also that are earthly. As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have been born in the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. So what this is saying is, is that you have this natural corrupt. The Bible calls it vile in other places. You know, this body that's going to go into the ground when you physically die. But it's going to be raised when you go through this resurrection at the rapture, you're going to get a heavenly body. You're going to get a glorious body. You're going to get a spiritual body. Look at verse 15. Or verse 50, I'm sorry. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot. You say, well, why though? Why do I need a better body? Here's why, right here in verse 50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Kingdom of God, sorry. Need of the doth corruption inherit in corruption. There can't be corruption in heaven. This is why. This is why your body can't go to heaven. There can't be sin in heaven. There can't be corruption in heaven. There can't be vileness in heaven. Everything in heaven must be in corrupt. It must be glorious. It must be perfect. God cannot be in the presence of sin. Look at verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. So that's a change, right? Isn't that a change from your normal natural body that you have? And all of a sudden you're going to have this, you know, spiritual incorruptible body. You're going to have this glorified body. You say, when? It says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the what? At the last trump. At the rapture. That's when this is going to take place. The trumpet shall sound. You see how this matches perfectly 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. At the rapture. So your soul is in heaven if you've died physically. Jesus comes back, and he is going to raise all the bodies of all the people that are asleep in Jesus. He's going to raise them. You raise their glorified bodies up, and then they will be complete again. They will have glorified bodies. He will gather everybody. Then the people that are alive and remain will be changed in an instant, just like that. And the glorified, everybody in their glorified bodies will go to heaven with Jesus at the rapture. Okay, so you're, look. That's when you get your glorified body. That's when, you know, your knees will stop hurting, and you'll stop having the lusts of the flesh and all these types of things. Okay, well, I'm pretty good looking now. Well, it just gets better. Okay? It just gets better. So you say, what's the difference between my corruptible body now and like my, what's the mechanical difference between, I mean, because I, you know, I think about these things, right? So what's the difference between my body now and my glorified body that I'm going to get? Well, I mean, longevity, really. Then we'll ask for eternity, and this one's dying, right? This one's dying day by day, right? The cells are dying and all this. So this is the body that you're going to take to heaven and live in eternity. All right? But you're going to go other places as well. Look at verse 53 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. That's the difference right there. You need an immortal body. And this corruptible shall 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. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Turn to Philippians chapter 3, and we're going to come back to this. You're going to keep your place in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In Philippians chapter 3 verse 21, we see another verse explaining how our bodies will be changed here. It says, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working thereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. So, right there. That's how you will be resurrected, folks. That's how you personally will be resurrected. I can say anybody that's alive today that's saved, anybody that has died in the past that is saved is going to be resurrected in this way at the rapture when Jesus comes back. But here's the thing. There are other resurrections in the Bible. Now, we are not going to be part of these other resurrections. However, we will be involved in a way. Turn to Revelation chapter 20. So now I'm going to give you the complete order of resurrections. You know how you're going to be resurrected. You are going to be resurrected and given a glorified body wherever your soul will have been in heaven already if you've died physically on this earth. Turn to Revelation chapter actually go to Revelation chapter 19. Let's just do a recap. So Revelation chapter 19. So let me just give you a whole End Times prophecy synopsis in five minutes. So basically, when is the rapture going to happen? So we've got the antichrist if the clues and milestones series kind of went through this. But we've got the antichrist you know he's the antichrist. There's been many antichrist leaders that are against Jesus Christ. This is the antichrist. He's going to strike a covenant with many in Daniel chapter 7. Then he's going to through some massive war that Revelation chapter 6 worldwide war where millions and billions of people possibly die in this war. He's going to have a whole one world government that's formed in Revelation chapter 13. Then of course he's going to set up this image in the temple. He's going to demand that everyone worship this image of himself. So we've got the beast which is the antichrist himself and then he's got this false prophet that's demanding people get this mark on their right hand or on their forehead, their right hand or on their forehead. And anybody that doesn't take the mark is going to be killed. So there's going to be this great tribulation time where the antichrist is hunting Christians. This is all detailed in Matthew chapter 24. This goes on for over three years where this guy comes on the scene, the abomination of desolation is set up in the temple and he's just persecuting the Christians because they won't take the mark. Because nobody knows, everyone's like oh he's great except for the saved Christians. They're not going for it because they know he's not Jesus. Because why? What do they have inside them? They have the Holy Spirit showing them truth. And then the Bible says that it gets so bad at the very end. Tribulations such as never been seen before. Can you imagine? Look back at some of the tribulation we've seen in this world. Especially against Christians. It's been bad. It's going to be worse than it's ever been. It says in Matthew 24 it's like if those days no one would survive if those days weren't shortened. And how are those days shortened? By the rapture. Jesus finally says in Revelation chapter 6 people are saying everybody that's in heaven already more proof that people are in heaven right now. They're in heaven they're saying to God how long God? Like God how long are you going to let this go on? Because people are just being beheaded, they're being killed, they're being hunted and the people in heaven are just crying out and finally Jesus just says enough and he goes back and he just gets them all. And that's the rapture. That's where we all get our glorified bodies in that resurrection that we went through. After Jesus comes back and raptures the saints, the saints by the way anyone that saved. Okay? That's a sermon in itself. The saints aren't like these 10 people that some false church decided the saints are people that have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's clear in the Bible as well. The saints are those that are saved. As soon as he gets the saints in the rapture immediately that same day God starts to pour out his wrath on the earth. Look at Revelation chapter 19 in verse number 11. I mean this is the same day like immediately after this the saints are gone and immediately God starts just laying down the law. This is the trumpets and the vials of Revelation. Look at verse number 11 of Revelation chapter 19 and I saw heaven opened and behold, oh I'm sorry so I'm still summarizing so basically the wrath goes on for three and a half years. The wrath of God where he's pouring out all these vials these horrible plagues these locusts from hell on the earth. He burns up a third of the earth. I mean like a third or more of the earth is killed during this time. But look not everybody's killed. As soon as this happens then there's this big battle at the end where these kings of the earth get together and they want to fight against Jesus. And this is what we're reading in Revelation chapter 19 verse 11. So this is after the wrath of God has been poured out and now Jesus is going to come and finish it. And I saw heaven open to behold a white horse and he sat upon him and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire and his head on his head were many crowns and he had the name written that no man knew but he himself. Now you think about all the pictures you've seen of Jesus when I start reading these next verses. Think about all the renaissance pictures of long hair Jesus with the sheep when I start reading you these verses and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God that tells us who he is right there and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean that's us by the way. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword and with it she should smite the nations and he shall rule over them with a rod of iron and he shall cast the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he head on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. He just tells all the birds he's like you better get over here because there's going to be bodies everywhere when Jesus is coming back with all the saints in battle at Armageddon verse number 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains and the flesh of the mighty men the flesh of the horses and then that sit on them and the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies this is the antichrist and his armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet so this is the the beast and the false prophet that I was just telling you about in Revelation chapter 13 that came up with this worldwide government and alliance through world war and was persecuting the Christians in that great tribulation 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 them that worshiped his image these both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone these are the first two occupants of the lake of fire right here the lake of fire is in outer darkness this is another doctrine in itself but hell is in the center of the earth and the remnant and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse so here's the thing we're not going to have to fight we're going with him but the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fouls were filled with their flesh he's just going to open his mouth and just like the words or the swords are going to come out of his mouth and just kill everybody that's against him we're not going to have to fight at all Jesus pretty much takes care of it all himself right here that's the ending that's the ending this battle of Armageddon is the ending of the wrath of God but there's something that happens look at verse number one of Revelation chapter 20 now what happens and I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand this is the same angel just for context the angel that's called a baton or the angel that's called a polygon in Revelation chapter 9 the angel that's the king over the bottomless pit that's hell by the way the center of the earth the bottomless pit this angel he laid hold on the dragon this is Satan 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 nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season so this angel comes and basically God just takes Satan so the beast the antichrist and his false prophet they're thrown into the lake of fire they're gone they're out of the picture Satan himself now is taken and chained and put into hell he's put into the bottomless pit not forever though for a thousand years and then it says that God's going to let him out for a little while and I'm going to explain to you why it says cast him into the bottomless pit and set a seal upon him they should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little seasons and I saw thrones and they that sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshiped the beast we're talking about the saints the saved here neither his image neither had received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years so right after the wrath of God that three and a half years Jesus is staying with us to live and reign a thousand years and look we are going to reign with him we are going to reign with Jesus this is what Jesus is talking about when he talks about the parable of the talents in Luke chapter 19 and Matthew chapter Matthew Matthew somewhere he talks about this parable of the talents and he said you know thou good and faithful servant I will give you you know I'm going to give you reign over ten cities over five cities this is what he's talking about this is where he's going to reward the people that went out and actually worked for Jesus so look this is going to be the time when people get their rewards they're going to be able to rule over this earth with Jesus for a thousand years we'll look at verse number five so I mean it's one thing to be saved and just be like yes I'm saved and look I'm sure you'll be happy to be there but I mean you might as well do some work and you might as well bear some fruit in this life so you can be part of this great event for a thousand years so this is you know look at the verse number five but the rest of the dead now this is where we're going to talk about the other resurrections so here we are we're with Jesus ruling and reigning for a thousand years now let's think about this who is in this millennial reign let's do an accounting of the people that are here so we have Jesus he's in charge and then we have all the saints all the people that are saved all the immortal bodies they're in their glorified bodies so really we got kind of two classes of people here we've got Jesus and the immortal saints who are ruling and reigning over the earth and then we have everybody else because look everybody wasn't killed in the battle of Armageddon it was just the people that were in these armies and all this so you got the whole earth of people saved and unsaved that are on this earth during the millennial reign of Christ so you're going to have people that are living and dying and living and dying for a thousand years on this earth some people that are saved some people that are not saved you say well will most people be saved well you know I don't know I mean probably not I mean you say well Jesus will be there ruling well Jesus was here two thousand years ago and many people didn't believe him most people didn't believe him so I mean there's going to be unsaved people folks I don't know what the ratio is going to be I mean Satan's going to not be their cause and trouble but there's going to be saved and unsaved people that are living and dying during that time alright so you got two classes of people the immortal people that are going to rule and reign for a thousand years we're not going to die we have everlasting life we have we're eternal at that point alright but you basically have immortals ruling regular people saved and unsaved and so what's that going to look like so for those saved and unsaved people Luke chapter 16 that's what it's going to look like they're going to die and if they're not saved they're immediately in hell and if they die and they're saved immediately their soul is going to be in heaven that's how that's going to be so the people that are in heaven they need to be resurrected at some point alright look at verse number 5 again but the rest of the dead notice what it says here the rest of the dead what well the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection look at verse number 6 blessed and holy is he that is part that have part in the first resurrection by the way that's you blessed and holy are you because you are definitely part of the first resurrection if you're saved tonight on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years but he's just saying like you're blessed you're blessed if you're part of the first resurrection because you get to be a rule you get to rule and reign with Christ during that thousand year period look at verse number 7 now it gets interesting again and when the thousand years are expired so we're going to get back to the details on that second resurrection here in just a minute but let's look at how this ends when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations and gather them together to battle the number of whom is the sand of the sea so this is going to be the battle of Gog and Magog you know this is like people that you know Gog is like part of Russia somewhere so anything that ever happens with Russia you get all these people like oh the battle of Gog and Magog I'm like what are you talking about like the millennial reign has that happened yet did I miss that on accident that's we have to pay attention to like the first, the second then after you know these hard words in the Bible that tell us like what's going to come first and what's going to come second all these things so basically God's going to let Satan out he's going to let him out of hell and he's going to go out and gather an army and they went up on the breadth of the earth verse 9 and compass the camp of the saints about see who's ruling and reigning with Christ the saints on the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them well that was quick battle again and the people that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire in brimstone who's in the lake of fire so the lake of fire is in outer darkness look the lake of fire and hell are eventually all going to be in the same place we're going to see that here in a second but right now they're in different places everybody that dies unsaved is going to hell and the only two people at this point when I'm reading this that are in the lake of fire are the beast and the false prophet now Satan's with them ever and ever and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were open and another book was open which is the book of life and the dead so are these save people here when it calls them the dead no these are people that are considered dead these are people that have been brought out of hell okay these are people that are then brought out of hell they were not saved they did not believe and there's just some irony right here it says the books were open what is the books here the books were opened the other book was open which is the book of life so we've got the books and the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in these books according to their what according to their works so here's the irony of it all these people that are going to go to hell because they're trusting in their own works to get them to heaven they're going to be judged by their works those books that we're talking about that's the bible that's the book of the law those are the books of the law that's where God's going to go through their whole life and say let's see if you're good enough and they're not going to be good enough and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works twice he says it all these people that you talk to that are like you know what I believe that it is of works I believe that they're going to be judged by their works they're going to get what they want and death and hell and this is why it says that every knee shall bow you imagine the most ardent atheist out there and he's been in hell for thousands of years he's brought before the throne of God he's going to get down on his knees and beg for his life because they believe the moment people open their eyes in hell in torments they will believe in Jesus the moment that Stephen Hawking the most ardent atheist and ardent there is no God and Darwin and all these people that denied the Lord Jesus Christ it took them about one second to believe in Jesus after they died and they're going to beg for their lives here but you know what they're going to come up short death and hell all the dead all the dead and everybody in hell were cast it's all going to be cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire but what about the people that were in the book of life that's the second resurrection right there the people that were in the book of life so this from verse number 11 all the way to verse 15 we're talking about the second resurrection you know if you want to just categorize it as the first resurrection the second resurrection some people are going to be resurrected until life just like it said I'm just a few verses back in you know it says where they live not again this is where they live again get their glorified bodies just like you did in the first resurrection but then there's going to be that great white throne judgment which is going to be a resurrection to damnation is what that's going to be now go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 1 Corinthians chapter 15 so all this is sorted out that second resurrection that second resurrection of life and that resurrection to damnation where death and hell are cast out into that outward outer darkness lake of fire that is going to be after the millennial reign of Christ look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15 look at verse number 12 look at verse number 12 now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead now we bring it full circle back to Acts chapter 23 how could you possibly say now he's going to talk about how could you say that there's no resurrection of the dead he's going to say if there's no resurrection of the dead we're all in trouble if there is no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching in vain and your faith is also in vain yay and we're all 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 if the dead rise not then is not Christ raised he's kind of coming from both angles here he's saying look if Jesus didn't rise from the dead none of the gospel works he's like if Jesus didn't rise from the dead none of this works he's going to explain why if Christ be not raised your faith is in vain you're yet in your sins then they also which have fallen asleep in Christ are perished he's saying if Jesus didn't rise from the dead if that's not true if there are relatives that are dead that believed in Jesus they're just in the ground they're just dead that's what he's saying he's like Christ must have risen from the dead 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 what become the first fruits of them that slept the first to be resurrected it's a model by God raising Christ from the dead it was a model of what's going to happen to us and he was just the first one for as in Adam all die Adam killed everybody it's what he's saying Adam was like men what did we do we killed everybody through our sin we rebelled against God and brought death on this earth all be made alive it's the opposite but every man in his own order now you understand the order the order of things Christ the first fruits Christ is first after word they that are Christ it is coming the first resurrection then you notice how this fits together with everything that we've talked about then come at the end when we shall have delivered up to the kingdom of God even the father had put down all rule and all authority and power the millennial reign of Christ for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet that's why he lets the devil out to gather all the people that are against him and then he just destroys them all and he puts all enemies under his feet just as we saw in Revelation chapter 20 this is talking about the millennial reign of Jesus Christ right here and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is what the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death that's that second resurrection to damnation death and hell are cast into the lake of fire there is no more death at that point it's cast into the lake of fire notice how it all fits together it fits together perfectly it's not that complicated I mean basically you're going to die physically you'll immediately be in heaven I showed you everything from the Bible as soon as all these end times events come to place eventually Jesus is going to stop that tribulation that the antichrist is putting upon us we don't know if that's going to happen or not here's what I do know Jesus is not coming back tomorrow to get us though this is this imminent rapture stuff it just causes people to be like oh you know I don't have to do anything in my life come get me now Jesus is not where's the antichrist where's the third temple where's the abomination of desolation where's all these things that I don't know the Bible clearly tells us are going to happen then after the tribulation of those days Jesus will come and rapture us at that point we get our glorified bodies we're resurrected we go Jesus pours out God pours out his wrath for three and a half years then we rule and reign for a thousand years with Jesus Christ after that Satan has let out and he's destroyed after that the second resurrection all the people that died during the millennial reign that were saved all the people that died during the wrath of God that were saved you have to account for everybody see the Bible accounts for everybody you got to just go the second resurrection at the end of Revelation chapter 20 is just that final sorting of the wheat in the chaff you got to account for everybody I mean it's nice that God gives us all this detail so God's going to second resurrect all the people that are found written in the book of life meaning what they're saved they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ just like you we're all saved the same way those people were saved this way these people were saved that way and all this complicated garbage that's not in the Bible and then that's it the great white throne judgment everybody who wanted to be judged by their works is going to be judged by their works and unless they're perfect which none of them are they're all going to be thrown into the lake of fire they're going to be tormented forever so the point is this folks that's the mechanics of what's going to happen to you that's the mechanics of what's going to happen to you after you physically die on this earth so do you have to worry about it well it's going to be pretty cool actually it's going to be much better than whatever you think you got going on here alright so it's going to be great but the point of the whole thing in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Paul was making at the beginning of that and the reason I end the sermon at the beginning of that chapter is because Paul is saying without Jesus' resurrection none of this is real he's like none of it works because he's the first fruits he's the first example of it so without the resurrection we have no hope so Paul is saying like what in the world who would not believe in the resurrection he's like what are we even doing so I mean obviously they knew that Jesus I mean hundreds of people saw Jesus resurrected they knew that it was true but he's just saying like without the resurrection it's not like you can have a gospel without Jesus resurrecting you know like the Jehovah's witnesses are preaching Jesus anyway they won't even say the name of Jesus but you can't have like oh we believe everything except the resurrection because like no like there's no hope then then you just might as well you're wasting your time you're going to be in the ground if you deny the resurrection you are not saved that's basically what Paul is saying you cannot deny the resurrection because there's no hope without it because without the first fruits there's no fruit that's it hopefully that makes things a little clear about how everything is going to go down after we die on this earth let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer