For our Scripture reading tonight, let's turn together to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1, as we read together verses 3 through the end of the chapter, verse 25. 1 Peter 1, 3 through 25. Hear now the Word of God. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith of greater worth and gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. For you are receiving the gold of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told to you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Be self-controlled. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, Be holy because I am holy. Since you call on the Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear, for you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb, without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever. And this is the word that was preached to you. also turn in the back of this altar hymnal to Lord's Day 22, page 29. As we continue our consideration of the second main section of the Catechism, but now closing our consideration of the Apostles' Creed, we confess the two questions and answers found here in Lord's Day 22 regarding the resurrection of the body. and life everlasting. Let's say together what we believe with these answers. Question 57 asks, How does the resurrection of the body comfort you? Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but even my very flesh raised by the power of Christ will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. How does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no man has ever imagined a blessedness in which to praise God eternally. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, do you ever think about what happens to man after this life as we know it? Do you ever stop and take the time just to wonder about the future? How about you, boys and girls? Now, I'm not talking about thinking about the future of tomorrow, the future of next week, the future in five years, the future after college. But that future is separated from life on this earth as we know it. And of course, we know that that future will be different for different people. That is, it will be different for believers than it will be for unbelievers. Yet this future for believers and unbelievers alike, whatever that future may be, will be certain. Those who have already left this life can testify to that at this very moment. But our focus this evening is on the certain future of the believer. The child of God, as the catechism lays before us the teaching of Scripture regarding that future. God's people have hope for the future. Not just a doubtful hope, not knowing for sure what will happen. Hoping that it will turn out one way, but not having certainty about that. But it is a living hope. Something that is real today. Peter says in verse 3, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we know that while our Lord Jesus Christ tarries, boys and girls, that is, while He stays away until He comes again, we will all face death. That's a fact. Unbelievers will die. Believers will die. Our loved ones will face death. We've been reminded of that as a congregation once again recently. Yet even in the face of death, in the face of something that is sometimes so difficult, God's own people own as their very own. We possess that living hope given to us by God. And although we may not know what the future holds for us when it comes to the prosperity or the adversity of this life, we do know from Him who holds the future in the palm of His hand, we do know what the future for believers is in Christ Jesus. Through the eyes of faith, Believers have seen the future in the past events of Christ's resurrection and ascension. Those events point to our eternal future. In Hebrews chapter 12, we are called to run the race of faith with our eyes focused on Jesus and the prize that awaits His people. And the future for you and me who believe contains that prize won by Christ for believers. The resurrection of the body and life everlasting. These two articles of the Christian statement of faith are a beautiful conclusion to and crown of the Apostles' Creed's profession of the work of the triune God. The work of God, the Father in our creation, the Son and our redemption, the Holy Spirit and our sanctification, the work of the triune God points to glory for God's people. We've seen before when we consider the profit or benefit and advantage of Christ's resurrection and ascension that His resurrection is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection. And His ascension guarantees, it guarantees that He will take us to be with Him. Beloved, the Christian lives today clothed in the promises of Christ that we will one day participate fully and completely in the saving benefits of Christ's work. well, it is fully ours in principle today. This is our living hope. It is real in that sense, but it will be fully ours in reality in the future. Again, Peter says in verses 24 and 25, all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever. And this is the Word that was preached to you. That's our comfort. The Word of God tells us what we've said so far and our comfort is that God's Word never fails. And His Word gives us the confidence to make the unimaginable yet glorious confession of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. And therefore, I preach to you tonight this Word of God. The believer enjoys present comfort for a certain future. First of all, in the blessed presence of Christ. Second, following the powerful pattern of Christ and finally fulfilling the eternal purpose of Christ. Now notice that the catechism answer, the first answer that we confess together as it explains the believer's comfort in the truth of the resurrection of the body begins with the soul. Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ's head, but even my very flesh, the older version of the catechism says, that this my body also this my body not only my soul but it includes the soul and what happens to that soul will be taken immediately after this life to christ its head but also my body my very flesh you see what we have here is a double defense first of all there is a defense against those who don't believe the resurrection of the body like the sadducees of jesus's day as well gnosticism and teaches us that that which is material, matter, is sinful, and only the spiritual is good. And therefore, in this life, the body is nothing more than the prison house of the soul. And at death, the soul then is released from that prison. And therefore, this is a confession of the truth against these errors. The truth of the importance of the body along with the soul. But this is also a defense against those who teach that there is nothing after this life, not even for the soul, or that there is something different after this life than what the Bible teaches. Some teach that at death, the soul simply goes to sleep for a time. Just like you and I go to sleep at night and eight or nine hours pass by and we don't know what happened, we wake up in the morning. And this is called soul sleep. soul sleep, they say, is that unconscious state between physical death and the resurrection of the body in which there is no conscious fellowship, for example, between the believer and the Lord where the believer tastes the blessedness of heaven. Nor is there a conscious existence for the unbeliever where the unbeliever tastes the torments of hell. And then there is what is called annihilationism, which can take different forms. For example, one which says that at death the soul is completely annihilated, destroyed, because the soul cannot exist apart from the body. Or the spin of the Jehovah's Witnesses who say that those not saved will ultimately be annihilated, wiped out completely, body and soul. Boom, gone, no more, nothing left. There is also the error of the Roman Catholic Church called purgatory, that place supposedly where souls go after this life. Not heaven, not hell. but purgatory. And there in that place, one has a kind of a second chance as that one or maybe those who remain try to finish accomplishing the satisfaction of the temporary punishment of sin for that one. Now, the Catechism rightly defends against these wrong views by teaching the truth of Scripture that the believer enjoys present comfort for a certain future. And that certain future includes the fact that at death, The believer's soul goes immediately in the blessed presence of Christ. Yes, there is sorrow for the family of one who dies. People in this life experience this sorrow every day. Grave markers are monuments of sorrow. Obituary pages bring forth tears of sorrow. Cards and letters of sympathy are sent and received in the hope of softening the sorrow. Yet in the midst of that sorrow, there is comfort for the believer. There is comfort for you and me who believe to know that whenever the Lord may require our life from us, that we will be forever in His presence. And that comfort intensifies. It grows stronger for the believer who knows his life is nearing its end. And there is comfort, or is to be comfort, for the family of a believer who has died. When we speak to our children about a Christian who has died, we say that he or she has gone to be with the Lord. And those are more than just pious, nice-sounding words. That's the truth. That's our confidence. The believer's relationship with the Lord is not interrupted at death, but that relationship is made the more glorious by the grace of God. How can we be so confident about this? Boys and girls, you know, don't you? The Bible tells us so. This is the Word of God. And what did Peter say about the Word of God? Quoting Isaiah, the Word of the Lord stands forever. It abides forever. It cannot be moved. It will not be changed. You see, this is true because God says so. God's Word says in 2 Corinthians 5, For we know that if our earthly house, this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. As well, the word of the Lord says through the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1.21, For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain. That time between physical death and the resurrection of the body we call the intermediate state. Now we don't know that much about this state. But we do know what we need to know for our comfort and our edification and we may not deprive the believing child of God of this comfort. First of all, we know that it is immediate. No sooner than the last breath is taken is the Christian soul beginning that unbroken communion after this life with the Lord. There's only one step that separates the believer from the eternal heavenly communion and that step is death. And if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, this truth of going immediately to Him as you pass through death's gate, this truth is more certain than your future in this life. It's more certain than that we will even wake up tomorrow morning. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus as well as the other passages we just quoted a moment ago teach us this. Lazarus was found in Abraham's bosom no doubt long before anyone on this earth missed him. And the soul of the rich man watched from hell as his grand funeral procession took place no doubt again before the eyes of many men on this earth. Congregation, physical death, becomes the believer's servant. Setting Him free and opening for Him the door unto glory. It is liberation from all things sinful, from all suffering, from all consequences of sin, from all things earthly. But we also know where our soul goes immediately. As the Catechism rightfully says, to Christ. It's head. It's owner. Congregation, those who are joined with Jesus Christ by true faith with a graphing that is permanent are immediately taken into the presence of the Lord at death. The moment the eyes close for the last time in this life, at the very same time, they open in the presence of the Savior. He said to the criminal on the cross, Today you shall be with Me in paradise. And Jesus gave us His word of comfort in John 14, I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus Christ is My Head He's my owner, the one to whom I belong, body and soul, in life and in death. Why is heaven paradise? We call it paradise. Why is heaven paradise? Not simply because of the streets of gold or the gates of pearl or the sea of crystal. Those things, of course, point to the unimaginable beauty and gloriousness of the Father's house. But it is heaven, it is paradise, because of the blessed fellowship and unbroken communion which is enjoyed with our Savior. And that must be why we long for heaven, in order to be in the presence of God. Our desire for heaven, beloved, is not to be in order to be reunited with loved ones, but to be with Christ. Sometimes, at the time of death, when our emotions are running high and we are sentimental, We talk about the one who has died and relate that one to one in the family maybe who has died before. And we talk about them being together as if they're going to catch up on old times and times missed. It simply won't be that way. Sometimes maybe you've heard people say, you know, the first thing I'm going to do when I get to heaven is I'm going to ask St. Peter about this or I'm going to ask St. Paul about that Or I'm going to ask Elijah what it was like being swept up to heaven in the fiery chariot of horses. I really don't believe so. Heaven is going to be a family reunion of sorts, but not necessarily with our earthly families, but with our Christian family, our spiritual heavenly family. And then our focus will not be on each other catching up on old times and times missed. But our focus will be on the one who alone deserves our 100% undivided attention, our God. The certain future which the believer enjoys begins at death with my soul being taken to heaven to be with my Savior. There is where the believer's soul waits then for the final glorification of God when it will be reunited with its glorified body following the powerful pattern of Christ. Not only my soul, answer 57 says, but even my very flesh raised by the power of Christ will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. God created man in His own image and He created man, body, and soul. Through the body, as we studied before, our life is lived, our life is expressed. Through the body, the soul or life of man lives in communion with God and expresses that image. And even though the body decays in the grave, God's saints will not see eternal corruption because Christ has come to save man. He came to save the whole man, body, and soul. And it's true that the grave reminds us of the wages of sin and as believers peer into the graves of their loved ones, there is sorrow to be sure, yet there is also much joy in gazing into the grave of a believing loved one. First of all, because as we look into that open grave, before it's sealed, We are reminded that the grave of our Lord is open. He is not there. He is risen as He said. And because He lives, we too shall live. And there's also joy in gazing into the grave of a loved one because when Jesus comes again, the graves will be opened and for believers, the redemptive work of Christ will then be seen in its full glory as the bodies and the souls of the redeemed are reunited and made like unto His glorious body of Christ. Again, this is the Word of God which stands or abides forever. Paul says in Philippians 3, verse 21, speaking of Christ and His power, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body. I belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, body and soul, and therefore He takes care of His possession as a whole body and soul. Job confidently said, For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh I shall see God. Beloved, this body is not the prison house of the soul. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is that most beautiful work that the hand of God has created, and it will not be destroyed. It will be renewed. And that's why I believe the willful destruction of the body, which we can do today in such subtle ways, the willful destruction of the body is wrong. In the Corinthian letters, Paul speaks of the beauty of this body. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul makes a comparison between this body and the resurrected body. This body is fragile like a tent. The next is like a building standing strong. The tent of this life is like clothing that is mortal and liable to death, but the building of the next life is eternal and immune to death. And of course, 1 Corinthians 15, which is that wonderful resurrection chapter, speaks volumes to this. And again, we don't know nearly everything about the resurrection of the body, but we do know what the Bible says. Turn with me for a moment to 1 Corinthians 15 to that wonderful resurrection chapter. 1 Corinthians 15, as we read together verses 35 through 44. Beginning at verse 35 of 1 Corinthians 15. But someone may ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come? How foolish. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. All flesh is not the same. Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another, and the star is another, and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable. It is raised imperishable. 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Now we must understand, beloved, that those who rise are the dead, those who have died. Now we know that when Christ comes again, according to Scripture, that those who are still alive believers will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. But those who rise are those who have indeed died to this life. And the resurrection concerns the very person, body, and soul the same, yet so different. A mystery to be sure. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus rose again with the very same body, nail holes and spear scar included. His body was glorified indeed, yet it was the very same body in which He was crucified, died and was buried. Paul speaks of this truth for the believer using the figure of a seed. Of course, he talks about that seed, there can be no new life unless that seed dies in the ground and new life comes forth. And when a farmer sows wheat seed, what does he expect to sow? Or what does he expect to reap? Well, wheat, of course. He doesn't expect to sow beans or reap beans or potatoes. When we think about what happens to these bodies, even the fact that many saints of old have been burned at the stake or ripped apart by wild beasts or blown up or any number of things, even the decay of the body in the grave, when we think about these things, the resurrection of the body to us is incomprehensible. It doesn't make sense. yet it is a marvelous truth because what is impossible with man is indeed possible with God. We know that our resurrection bodies will be material bodies. They will be human bodies. And they will be individual bodies, yet they will be radically different. As Paul makes clear in Philippians 3.21, this body of death that I stand here before you with right now one day will be made like unto Christ's glorified body. I can't fully understand that. But yet, that must be an awesome thing. And notice the radical difference. The before and the after recorded in the portion we read, verses 42-44. And now this is the believer that Paul is specifically speaking of. Our present bodies are sown perishable. These bodies age, get sick, they get wounded, they die. We know that full well. But they will be raised imperishable. In the eternal kingdom there is and will be no disease, no germs. Boys and girls, no one will ever say, I don't feel good. I'm sick. Why? Because as Scripture says in the book of Revelation, the former things, the things of this life, are passed away. This body is sown in weakness, Paul says. We have limited strength, and that strength will fail. The psalmist says that man's strength is 70 or 80 years. In this life, on this earth, we do not have access to the tree of life, nor is there a fountain of youth that many vainly chase. But we will be raised in power. God's people will not lack strength in His eternal kingdom. Because they will draw their strength from the omnipotent, unfailing, never-ending source of strength Himself. This body is sown in dishonor. That means that this body is without its original created glory and beauty. And we know this to be true physically speaking, especially as old age appears. Today we are flooded. Flooded with artificial means of looking more youthful. But beloved, cosmetics and hair restoration and facelifts and tummy tucks cannot bring about the beauty and the glory God intended. In fact, death robs the beauty of what little dignity it has as we commit a lifeless body to the grave. Yet God can and will bring about the beauty and the glory for the body which He intended as this body is raised in glory. That glorified body will sparkle like the new fallen snow. All of the effects of sin and death will be erased from its appearance. And that glorified body made after the powerful pattern of Christ will shine forth the image of God in all of its beauty and all of its holiness. But Paul also speaks of one more distinction. This body is sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body. This present body is made for this earthly life and is limited to this earthly existence. But the resurrection body will be transformed for our glorified Spirit, made to inherit the kingdom of God, to live with Him and see Him face to face, to behold Christ and always be with Him, and to have direct contact and fellowship with heavenly things. Beloved, the resurrection power of Christ will raise each and every one for whom He died not. One will be left behind and make us like unto Himself. We shall be like Him. You see, this is our present comfort today for a certain future, which also then fulfills the eternal purpose of Christ. Now what is that eternal purpose? Well, the last article that we profess, everlasting life. That was the eternal purpose of Christ's work. Now it should be no surprise to us that with a resurrection body, one that is imperishable, one that will not perish or spoil or fade, that we will then enjoy something everlasting. Man was created for life and that is what the believer will have eternally. The catechism answer quotes 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9 in describing this life, such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no man has imagined. We know that this life is life in everlasting communion with God, the source of life. This glory that awaits God's people. Again, it's far beyond our comprehension. It is literally and figuratively unspeakable. Partially because we're finite creatures. We're limited to time, stuck in time. Yet, it is very real. In fact, in His grace, God blesses His people with a taste of it in this life. The Catechism says, even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy. The beginning of this joy is regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Being born again to that living hope. And what then does that mean? Well, it means knowing God's mercy and grace and the forgiveness of sins. Knowing and understand the beauty of being an adopted child of God. Enjoying reconciliation and peace with God as well. the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit, also experiencing preservation in trial, and then finally enjoying the very promise of the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Congregation, the believer's new life here on this earth, is intimately connected with everlasting life in heaven. The two cannot be separated. You see, there is, and there must be a change in the believer when he becomes a Christian. The difference between a believer and an unbeliever is so much more than just the believer going to heaven after this life. The Christian does not remain the same sinner as before. A sinner, yes. But a sinner saved by grace. Through regeneration. And then that daily conversion as well. He begins to live different here and now as He begins to live a life out of faith. Jesus says, Whoever believes in Him not shall have future, but has present already today, eternal life. Again, as Peter says, the second part of verse 3, in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. Beloved, eternal life drives and motivates the believer today. It governs and directs the Christian's whole life. If the assurance of eternal life doesn't drive you or motivate you, then maybe you don't understand what this means. Worse yet, maybe you don't have it. The Christian enjoys the seed of everlasting life here and now and we'll enjoy the fruit for eternity. And what then will be our everlasting life's work? The catechism's treatment of the Apostles' Creed ends with the most appropriate phrase, to praise God eternally. And that too begins in this life with our hands and our feet and our lips and our hearts, our whole being by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. God's purpose in glorifying His people through Jesus Christ comes back to Him so that He may be glorified. The chief end of man, you know it, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. One who doesn't understand the honor of God won't be at home in heaven because heaven is the place of perfect harmony with the honor of God being everyone's highest aim. Will you be at home in heaven? Is the honor of God your highest aim? Not just saving it for then, But already today, beloved, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting are real today. For those who are washed in the blood of Jesus, God's gift of fulfillment of His eternal plan, are these real to you? We profess it every Sunday night with our mouths. Are they real for you? These are the believers' precious gifts from the gracious hand of God. But understand that unbelievers will also be raised but not to eternal life. To eternal death. Their bodies and souls, this too is a mystery, are also reunited but not made like unto Christ's glorified body. We don't know much about this either except to say that God's punishment for the wicked is also everlasting. upon body and soul. The wicked, those who reject Christ Jesus, will experience death in its widest extent as the full weight of the wrath of God is poured out upon them. Unbelievers will consciously, not unconsciously, but unbelievers will consciously suffer the extreme penalty of death, always dying, but never die. But the believer enjoys present comfort for a certain future because Jesus Christ lives and reigns today. Beloved, He is victorious over sin, death, and hell. And by the mercy and grace of God, those who repent of their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ share in this victory. It is an everlasting victory. It cannot and it will not ever be taken away. The believer's sure confidence is that He who began a good work in you will perfect it, will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Congregation, now this is worth living for. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, again in Jesus' name and in His name alone, we bow before Your throne of grace. And may we be humbled, yet overwhelmed with joy as we have considered again the precious truth of Your Word concerning our eternal future. A most blessed future. Not getting what we deserve, O Lord, but having the precious gift of life and having it abundantly, having it eternally. O Father, may this be the precious confidence of each and every one here tonight. If it is not, O Lord, if there is even one here who does not own this comfort, O Lord, work in their heart powerfully and effectively. Bring them to Yourself that they might recognize their sin and misery and confess it and repent of it and turn to Jesus Christ alone, the only one in whom we might have this glorious future. Lord, we pray that we might leave here tonight strengthened even more than when we came in tonight. Strengthened in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. Give us strength to continue our journey in this life. Never leave us or forsake us. Continue to uphold us by your power. And may we give you all the glory. In Jesus' name alone, amen.