In the real nitty-gritty and the tough times of life, it's not knowing some deep theological output that secures your soul and rests you in the Savior. It's the simplicity of Christ and the simple parts of the Word of God. Nothing here that we've covered today is extremely difficult to understand, and God's certainly given all believers the faith to believe it. What a blessing. What's it going to be like to be changed in the moment of the twinkling of an eye? In Romans chapter 8, we're going to look down at verse 28. I think we're also going to look at verse 29. We talked this morning in Sunday school about God spending seven days making creation. How he spent 2,000 years so far after he said, I go to prepare a place for you. And I wonder how long he's been working on you. And just to, in case you're wondering, go back to the day of your salvation and you can start counting time there and see how long God's been working on you. And, you know, I'm reminded of Walter Barnhart singing, God's Still Working on Me. It took him just a week to make the moon and stars. how loving and patient he must be because he's still working on me. And we've already discussed a little bit today about if God's still working on you, what a blessing and a thrill. Look with me in Romans 8 and we're going to look at verse 28 to start. And we know that all things work together for good. to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed. to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, moreover whom he did predestinate them also he called, and whom he called them also he justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified. In 31, what shall we then say to these things of God before us, who can be against us? I want to go back to 28, and I'll look at the first couple words there. And the Bible says, and we know. And I want to say, you know, what we know is the things that we are certain of, the things that we have confidence in. And we know by the Word of God as Christians. We know, based on the testimony of God, we know what God has provided for us by faith and then given us the competence and the ability to believe. In Ephesians 2.8-9, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God to faith. So, God gives to everyone a measure of faith, and he's given a bit of faith to you, in order for you to believe his word. I like the word in scripture, we know, and I'm going to do something we do once in a while. Every time we come across the word know, I want you to clap. So, in Romans 8, 28, and we know. Alright, let's all try to get together on this. And we know. Oh, perfect. Got a little lagging in the back, so we'll do it one more time. And we know. So, we know we have confidence and we have faith. We have confidence in God's Word and God's given us faith to believe it. Now, here's a progression that I want you to remember. We know. We obey. and we grow. And here we have this in Romans 8. We know all things work together for good. We obey. We're called according to God's purpose. His purpose is His plan, what He has for you to do. And we grow conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, God's Son. Now we're going to look in Job 19. I want you to keep looking for no. Interesting here. In Job 19, 25 and 26. In Job 19.25 it says, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the later day upon the earth. 26 it says, And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Job said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Here he was and he was at the worst point of his life. He was broken down. He had the boils from head to foot. He had lost his children. He had lost his possessions. And he had lost the good fellowship and confidence of his wife. I was like, what else is there to lose? But instead of saying, look at everything he lost, he said, look what I still have. I know that my Redeemer liveth. I know that in the later day, he'll stand on the earth and I know that I'll see God in the flesh. What a blessing that we can have this confidence because of our Savior, Jesus Christ. to look in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 12. Job says, I know my Redeemer liveth, and this is certainty. He was certain and confident of God's promise. He said, even if you put this body in the ground after the worms have ate through the skin and they eat my flesh, I know that God is going to restore it all. He's going to bring me to a resurrection, and I'm going to see him in my flesh in the latter day. What a blessing and a promise from God when we look in see the spirit that resurrected Christ from the dead, the spirit that brought Christ from the grave, and we have the same spirit in us with the same promise of resurrection. And Jesus showed us his little test with Lazarus. Lazarus, four days in the grave, so now he stinketh. He's been in there four days. He's passed the point of recognition because of deterioration in that climate and he goes to the grave. And she says, your brother will rise again. She says, yeah, I know he'll rise again in the last days. She says, take in the confidence of Job and say, yeah, my brother's going to rise again in the last days. She said, the Lord will stand in the earth in the latter day. And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and life. He that believeth in me, though he is dead yet, shall he live. And he goes to the grave and rolls the stone away. And he says, Lazarus, come forth. And I can't imagine Lazarus. I don't know if he could stand up and toddle out like a penguin. I don't know if he was wrapped up so that he had to holler. I don't know if they had stuffed some gods in his mouth. I don't know exactly how they did that, but Lazarus was in there and he was making enough of a commotion that Jesus said, Go in and release him and let him go. And they go in there and they start unwrapping him. And they're not unwrapping a dead guy, they're unwrapping a living guy. And when we look at Lazarus' resurrection, Christ validating himself, and then we look at our Savior's resurrection. At three days and three nights, and up from the grave he arose. He said, I'll give you the sign of Jonah. Three days and three nights in the belly of the well. Three nights and three days in the belly of the earth. Even so, the Son of Man. He said, Destroy this temple and I'll rise it up in three days. So we have the first thing is certainty here in 2 Timothy 1.12. The Bible says, For the witch cause I'll also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed. He's talking about how he had been imprisoned, how he'd been beat, how he'd been stoned, how he'd suffered being beat with rods, how he'd been scourged by the different magistrates, all the things. I'd been shipwrecked. He said, nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. or I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. He says, I know whom I have believed. I know my Savior. I'm not ashamed because I understand the cause and I understand God's purpose in the situation. I'm not ashamed to suffer for the gospel. We have certainty in Job saying, I'm going to stand in the latter day. Here we have eternity. He says, I've committed against that day. He says, I know that He is going to keep my soul in possession. I know that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him, keep my salvation. I know that He's going to hold that inheritance for me. I know that He's going to see me realize the end of my salvation when I reach heaven with God, absent from the body and present with the Lord. Look in 1 John 5, verse 13. 1st John, back in the back, 1st and 2nd, 3rd John, Jude and Revelation, chapter 5, verse 13. And the scripture tells us, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. That ye may know. That ye may know. Wake up! Wake up! That ye may know. That ye may know what? That ye may know that ye have eternal life. And that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. I've shared with people going back through 1 John and looking at the scripture and there's several times where it says, you may know. It's not about having said the right prayer. It's not about having the right preacher there. It's about placing your confidence in the work of the cross of Jesus Christ. It's about trusting with confidence that God gives us through faith in the propitiation, our atoning sacrifice. And here it says that ye may know that ye have eternal life. You can have a certainty like Job that you're going to see God in the latter day. You may have eternity like Paul that he says, I know whom I have believed. And here, that ye may know having security in your salvation. Some places in faith say If you can step forward and say, I know that I'm saved and I know that I'll be with God. I know that he's given me eternal life. I know that I've trusted my soul with him. And you say, oh, that's pride. No, this is security. It's a confidence given by God to his children and as a parent. What a blessed thing to be able to give to our children. to make them feel safe and confident about their environment. To have a freedom from fear and a freedom from the unknown and uncertainty. Here we have security provided by our Father God, by our Savior Jesus Christ. It says, He may know. You don't have to waver back and forth and say, oh, was I saved now? Am I saved then? Did I do wrong? Did I walk off the edge? Did I give it back? It says, no, I placed you in my hand, and my hand's in the Father's hand, and no one's going to pluck you out of my hand. And I've written these things here that you may know that you have eternal life. Anybody ever got caught up in saying, well, I don't know too much. I want you to know that God's given us some things that are rock solid that you can understand, that you can believe, and that you can follow every day. These things here, certainty, I'll see God in the flesh. Eternity, I know whom I believe in and I'm persuaded He's able to keep that. He, Jesus Christ, which I've committed unto Him against that day. These things have I written unto you, that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God, and ye may know that ye have eternal life. What a blessing! To know with security that we have eternal life! Look with me. We're here this morning, 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5 and 1. And I love this. for the confidence that God gives me for myself, but I love it also for the confidence that God has given me as I've seen others. In 2 Corinthians 5-1, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, what does that mean? That means the body ain't functioning anymore. As soon as the heart stops beating and the blood stops going, the thing starts to go south. And that's why they said, He's been in the grave for four days, Lord, he stinketh. You don't want to see him now. We had him looking good for the showing, for the wake, but you don't want to see him now. We put all the spices and everything on him, but oh, now he stinketh. I said, we know that if our urban tabernacle, our house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. As I watched a Christian step out of this life into the next life, God has given me help and comfort in this very scripture. As I watched some of my loved ones, I watched them with a confidence because I knew that they were going to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. And I knew that their condition just got ten times better. And more than ten times better. Ten times, ten times, ten times better. That they went from this reality to immortality. that they walked off of this plane of pain, and they walked into a place of peace and hope and help with the Lord, that they walked into a place that was prepared for them by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want you to go one more place, and I'm going to ask everybody to turn there. We're going to look at several verses here. In 1 Corinthians 15, and we're going to go all the way back to verse 50. It's a big, long chapter. Now when we look at the word sleep here in this portion of scripture, it's the same sleep that Lazarus was doing when Jesus said, Lazarus sleepeth. And the disciples all said, oh good, if he sleeps he's going to get better. And then Jesus told them plainly, he said, Lazarus is dead. In 1st Corinthians 15 and verse 51 it says, Behold I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. My dad used to say this was the verse for the nursery. Everybody's getting changed. I want to say that we're not all going to sleep talks about death. There are going to be some folks that live all the way up to the time when God has the angel blow the trumpet and says come up hither. And there's going to be saints that are still living in their flesh and blood bodies at that time. Now the majority of saints are going to go first because they're going to be already in the grave. So, if the Lord Jesus were to come back now, he has the angel blow the trumpet, come up hither, and there's old Miss Bertha, and she gets to come up first. And there's Miss Patty Blessing, and she gets to come up first. And there's Howard, and he gets to come up first. Then we, which are alive and remain, be caught up together with him. in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. And it says, we're all going to be changed. So Job said, hey, I know that if the worms eat through my skin and my flesh, that I'm going to see God in the flesh and say, hey, everyone is going to receive. All those saints, been in the grave for a while, guess what happens? The ashes to ashes and dust to dust, that's a true story. We came from dust and we returned to dust. The little boy was under the bed mixing around and he said, Mom, I had a Sunday school class about what's coming from dust and there's either somebody coming or going under the bed. But at the day of the resurrection, when Christ calls, come up hither, it's going to supply for every person in the grave a glorified body. It's gonna come out of that body, or come out of that grave, right up through. It won't necessarily have to break through the dirt like a solid object now. It could go right through the wall like Jesus did after he was resurrected. Might be that God will have it go one way, might be God will have it go the other way. He didn't really discuss it too much. It'll come right up through there, and we are all going to be changed. That's we which are alive and remain. See, flesh and blood won't inherit eternal life. You won't take that body to heaven, Zane. If you live to see the day of the rapture when the Lord calls up hither, and he's going to blow the trumpet and the dead in Christ arise first, and then we'll all be changed in the moment of the twinkling of an eye. I'm not going to taste death, but that corruption, that body will put on incorruption, that mortal will put on immortality, and Zane will leave this body behind and he'll take up that changed, that glorified body. I come in here after the rapture and get in every pew and go, wow, what happened in this church? All these dead bodies in the pews. Everyone that knew the Lord is going to leave a body behind and take a glorified body with them. That's the mystery. But hold on, I'll show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In the moment of the twinkling of the night, the last trump, for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. where this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, this mortal shall put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Zane, if the Lord come back at this second. Every person that knew Christ, after the dead in Christ rise, would leave their bodies behind, be changed in the moment between coming to life, and their glorified body would head to heaven. Guess what would be left behind? A lifeless body. Somebody would come in, I do it all official. Dead. Lifeless body. Dead. Lifeless body. Pronounced death, time of death. dead, lifeless body. Well, you know what? We didn't really experience death in a horrible way. We were changed in the moment of a twinkle of an eye and death was swallowed up in victory. We were absent from the body and present with the Lord. We were sitting there and we heard the trumpet and he called us up and he took and changed us in the moment of a twinkle of an eye. We put on immortality. We put on the glorified body and death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? Just like changing coats, eh? Except getting a far better coat. Changing bodies, and this one's left behind, this body's been corrupted by sin, this body's been corrupted by death, this body's been stained on earth, this body that has experienced sin, and we leave it behind, we have a glorified body. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? You could put this old body in a grave, but there's not even anybody left to mourn over it. All my Christian brothers and sisters, we were caught up together and met the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. when you're heading for heaven in your glorified body. You're free from the penalty of sin, of course. You're free from the power of sin, and you're free from the presence of sin. No sin in God's presence forevermore. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy string? The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is law, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we look toward that end, I have one thing to say. Are y'all there in 1558? It says, Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You remember in Luke 11 when Jesus said, no it's John 11, where Jesus said, I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he said, Believest thou this? do we understand the things that God has for us to know? Let me run down through them again. Job said, I'll see God in the flesh. I'll see him in the last days. Certainty. Paul said, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep that. Eternity. 1 John 5.13, you may know that you have eternal life. Security. And 2 Corinthians 5, we know that if our earthly house is this tabernacle, we have a building of God, not made with hands, eternal in heaven, immortality. And then we look here and say, your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It's certain, it's assured, and we can believe it. If God's word is true, Then we quit trembling and trust we quit pouting and praise we quit running and we rest we quit worrying and we wait and we quit belittling and we believe. Your labor is not in vain. In the Lord. I delight. In being with another saint. And I'm saying to me. Pastor, I don't think we're going to have to die. I think that we're going to see the Lord come back in our lifetime. And then they start describing what they're imagining of the Lord coming back and us all being caught up together. and I enjoy hearing it from someone else's faith and from someone else's perspective, what God has secured in their heart and mind concerning these precious promises. Wouldn't it be, wouldn't it be wonderful if the Lord caught us all together today? And we said, oh, grave, where is thy victory? Death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law, but we have victory through Jesus Christ. We have victory through our salvation. We have victory, and I know whom I have believed. Amen? I want you to take these things that you know. Secure them in your heart, secure them in your mind. Tag them back to the scripture that roots where you believe in, and the rock around which that root is secured and fastened. In the real nitty gritty and the tough times of life, it's not knowing some deep theological output. that secures your soul and rests you in the Savior. It's the simplicity of Christ and the simple parts of the Word of God. Nothing here that we've covered today is extremely difficult to understand, and God's certainly given all believers the faith to believe it. What a blessing. What's it going to be like to be changed in the moment of the twinkling of an eye? It's going to be like a little wink. When you shut your eye, you're in the old, incorruptible, immortal. And when you blink back open your eye, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, there's almost nothing faster than an eye blinking. Hallelujah, what a savior. You've been listening to a message from the pulpit of Town Center Baptist Church in Happy Valley, Oregon. We invite you to come visit us at 10505 Southeast 85th Avenue in Happy Valley. If we can be of help to you, please call us at 503-659-4494. We wish you God's very best.