Alright, so in Daniel chapter 12, if you're there, we continue in our series now on the
end times and we're still just very much focused on the rapture, very much focused
on this event because it is a very important event to come.
But Daniel chapter 12 verse 2, the Bible reads, and many of them that sleep in the dust of
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The title for the sermon tonight is The Resurrection in the Old Testament.
The resurrection in the Old Testament.
The reason I've got to teach on this, and this is sort of part one, part two would be
the resurrection in the New Testament, but I need to teach on this because there is a
lot of crazy teaching out there.
There's a lot of unusual, especially from the hyper dispensationalists or from the Rachmanite
camp, they like to teach that the Jews or the Old Testament Israelites have a separate
resurrection from the New Testament saints.
They have their own special, unique resurrection, they can't agree exactly when that is, if
it's before our rapture or if it's after our rapture, they can't exactly work out when
it is, but they do believe there's this totally separate resurrection for the Old Testament
saints.
And as we saw there in Daniel chapter 12, this is one of the most clearest passages
in the Bible that speak of the resurrection in the Old Testament, where we as New Testament
readers can read this and say, yeah, this is clearly about the resurrection, okay, clearly
about the rapture.
And so what I want to do is, you know, just focus, let's see what the Old Testament has
to say about the resurrection.
There are some even, I've even heard some preachers say that the Old Testament saints
had no knowledge of the resurrection.
I mean, obviously that, just this verse alone proves that that is nonsense, but let's start
there in verse number one, Daniel chapter 12 verse one.
It says, and at that time shall Michael stand up, and who's Michael?
Obviously not our Michael, okay, but Michael the archangel, the great prince which stander
for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
everyone that shall be found written in the book.
So this leads up, this verse leads up to verse number two, which we read about the,
you know, the resurrection to come, right?
Some that are risen to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt, but there
are some very important things you need to focus on here in verse number one.
Now we know the book of Daniel, the latter half of it is about the end times.
We know that it lines up very well with the book of Revelation and so there are three
main things that I want you to look at when it comes to verse number one.
First of all, it mentions Michael, that Michael shall stand up.
Now if you can, keep your finger there and go to Revelation chapter 12, Revelation chapter
12.
I just want you to see the consistency of the Bible from the old to the New Testament
and exactly at what time are the Old Testament saints going to experience their resurrection?
The Bible tells us here, okay?
Revelation chapter 12 verse six, this is that vision of that woman that was being persecuted
by the dragon and it says in Revelation chapter 12 verse six, and the woman, if you remember
just in my last sermon, I mentioned how the woman, you know, represents the world pretty
much like Eve as the mother of all living, right?
It says here, and the woman fled into the wilderness where she have a place prepared
of God and they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three school days.
Now if you work that out, that's three and a half years, okay?
So for the first three and a half years of that seven year tribulation, the world is
facing persecution from this dragon but it's going to be looked after in a sense.
It's not going to be utterly destroyed, right?
And look at verse number seven.
So now we're at three and a half years, we're now at the midpoint, right?
Verse number seven, and there was war in heaven, who's fighting this war?
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought against his angels
and prevailed not, neither was their place found anymore in heaven and the great dragon
was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world,
he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him.
So what do we see?
At three and a half years into this, Michael the archangel has a war against Satan and
his angels, right?
And Satan loses this war, he's cast out of heaven, never to return to heaven ever again,
never to get up there and be an accuser to the brethren, to the Lord God, now he's cast
out to the earth and the Bible tells us here in Daniel 12 one that Michael shall stand
at this point.
And I believe it's just tying in that he's standing up for war.
He's getting ready to have that warfare with the dragon.
We see the consistency here in the Bible.
So that's point number one, I want you to notice that Daniel 12 does speak of an event
that happens three and a half years into that first seven year period, right?
Now what else does it say here?
If we keep going, it says here and there shall be a time of trouble.
What is this time of trouble?
Such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.
What I was saying, this is a time of trouble.
This is another reason why I believe we're now at the midpoint.
I'll show you soon.
But it's saying this point of trouble, you know, it's never been like this before.
Since there's been nations on this earth, there's never been so much trouble on this
earth.
And of course, the word trouble is the same as tribulation, right?
So if it's great trouble, it's just great tribulation.
And in Matthew 24 21, Jesus says these words, for then shall be great tribulation.
Look at this, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be.
Basically, almost word for word, what Daniel chapter 12 verse one is saying, right?
And when is this taking place?
For then shall be great tribulation.
At that midpoint, when the Antichrist reveals himself, he starts persecuting the saints
of God, okay?
This is the time of great tribulation.
Daniel 12 one tells us it's a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation
even to that same time.
You see the parallels that are coming through, right?
This is the resurrection for the Old Testament saints.
But it's playing into things we read about in the New Testament.
All I'm saying to you is the same resurrection.
All I'm saying to you, brethren, it's the same thing, you know, there's no difference
between the Jew and the Gentile.
There's no difference between the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints.
All I'm saying to you is we're going to go up together in the same resurrection.
This nonsense of separation of distinctions between these groups is this dispensational
understanding always just falls apart when you just look at clear scriptures.
What else is important?
And I've stressed this before in a previous sermon, but just look at this again.
It said there, afterwards it says, and at that time, thy people shall be delivered,
everyone that shall be found written in the book.
Now please go to Revelation 20 again, Revelation chapter 20.
So the people of Daniel is everyone that shall be found written in the book.
Is that the Jews?
Is that the Israelites?
Is every Jew saved?
Does every Jew just go to heaven?
Of course not.
We read about many Israelites that went straight to hell.
We even read about a man that literally bodily goes into hell when the earth opens up, right?
I mean these things happen.
Look, the people that are found written in the book, as we'll soon see, are definitely
the saved, right?
Definitely those that are saved by Jesus Christ.
Look at Revelation 20 verse 12.
Revelation chapter 20 verse 12.
The Bible says, and I saw the dead.
Now that's important to realize.
I saw the dead, not the living, not those that were resurrected unto everlasting life,
but those that are dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened
and another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books according
to their works, 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.
Notice that the earth is just vomiting up these dead, right?
It's just bringing them up.
The sea is bringing up.
What's happening here?
It's a resurrection.
There's a resurrection happening, but it's a resurrection of the dead.
Not the resurrection of the living.
The resurrection of the dead is taking place in these events.
And then it says here in verse number 14, and death and hell were 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.
So there we see one type of resurrection, that resurrection of contempt, that resurrection
of damnation or of the dead, right?
Now if you kept your finger there in Daniel 12, please go back to verse number 2.
Daniel 12, verse number 2.
So I just wanted to show you how verse number 1 is so important.
Three great truths.
Michael the Archangel, a time of trouble, great tribulation, and names that are found
written in the book, all this coming to be within that three and a half year period,
and then the dead being raised up at the end of the millennium, but we'll touch on that
later on.
Verse number 2.
It says here, and many of them shall sleep in the dust of the earth, sorry, many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life.
That's you.
You know, if you die before the Lord's coming, you know, you're going to be as the dust of
the earth, you'll come back to life.
You'll wake up from that sleep unto everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The word contempt just means despised, right?
Someone that's shameful, that's despised.
Someone will be given a resurrection of everlasting life, and notice, it said there in, sorry,
verse number 2, everlasting, for those that are rejected, for those that have rejected
Christ, are they going to get everlasting life, are they going to live again?
No.
They receive everlasting contempt, okay, they're everlasting, going to be despised in the eyes
of God for rejecting God the Son.
So not only do we see the timing of these, of this resurrection, how it ties into the
end times, but we also see that in the Old Testament days, they knew of two types of
resurrection, for those that have life everlasting, and for those that would be damned.
And look at verse number 3, and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
You know, all of us that save, we're all going to be resurrected, right?
And this is where the teaching of rewards comes in.
You know, for the work we've done on Christ on this earth, He's going to reward us accordingly
to the work that we've done.
And that's why it says here that some will shine as the brightness of the firmament,
or we all will, but then it says, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars
forever and ever.
You know, your brightness, your light can be so bright, and it all depends on how many
people you turn to righteousness, how many people you got saved, how many people you
led to Christ will determine your reward.
Now obviously, I don't know if you're going to physically light, have a great glory of
light.
I don't think so, because we're all going to receive the same resurrected body, which
is like Christ.
But I believe this is tying into the rewards, right?
Being rewarded, and some will have much to show in heaven, and others will not have so
much to show in heaven.
So that is a clear teaching, clear as day teaching on the resurrection found in the
Old Testament writings.
Now please go to 1 Corinthians 15.
Go to 1 Corinthians 15, because do the Old Testament saints experience a different resurrection
from us?
Some people teach this, you know, do they experience a different resurrection from us?
1 Corinthians 15 verse 51.
No one debates this is about the rapture, everybody knows this is about the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15, 51, Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed.
Hey, what did Daniel 12 call the resurrection?
Those that wake from the sleep, right?
And here it says we won't all sleep, right?
He uses the same language as Daniel did in Daniel 12.
Verse number 52, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So what it's saying here, it's that our corruptible bodies that are full of sin will put on incorruptible
bodies.
Bodies that will never corrupt, bodies that will never sin, and then it says, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality.
We're going to give up the bodies that die, that get sick, and struggle in this world,
and we're going to put on immortal bodies.
And now this is so important, because everyone knows this is the resurrection.
Everybody knows this is when we receive those new resurrected bodies that are like Jesus
Christ, and then it says here, Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory.
That's when it's going to come to pass.
This is when this prophecy that was written will come to pass, when we receive these new
resurrected bodies.
Say, where is that prophecy?
Oh, it's in the Old Testament, okay?
It's in the Old Testament, because the Old Testament saints are going to experience the
same rapture as we are, the same resurrection as we are.
That's why, okay?
This is not confusing.
This is normal, and we read this in, stay there in 1 Corinthians 15.
If you're fast enough, you can keep up with me, but I'm going to read to you from Isaiah
25 verse 8.
Isaiah 25 verse 8.
This is where it's written.
In Isaiah 25 verse 8, it says, He will swallow up death in victory.
There it is.
And then it says, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke
of his people shall he take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it.
Hey, this makes sense, because at this, in this time of the Great Tribulation, the world
and the beast and the antichrist and his armies, we persecute in the people of God.
And God says, hey, there's going to come a time when I take that rebuke away from my
people, okay?
It's when death is swallowed up in victory.
It's when the resurrection takes place.
And then it says in verse number, oh, sorry, then it says, for the Lord hath spoken it,
verse number 9.
And it shall be said in that day, lo, this is our God.
We have waited for him, and he will save us.
Hey, this is not about the salvation of your soul, okay?
This is what's going to, you know what's going to happen, Reverend?
When the sun turns dark and the moon turns to blood and the stars from heaven, this is
what's going to come out of our mouths, these very words, right?
Lo, this is our God.
When we see Jesus Christ descending on the clouds, we're just going to say, this is our
God.
He's here.
That's what we're going to be saying.
This is our God.
We have waited for him, and he will save us.
Why are we saying that?
Because the world is trying to kill us.
Because it's a time of Great Tribulation.
And we're going to be excited to see our Redeemer come.
We're going to be excited to know we're going to receive those new resurrected bodies.
And then it says, this is the Lord.
We have waited for him.
We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
That's why it's called the Blessed Hope.
We'll be glad and rejoice when we see Christ coming in those clouds.
Hey, that's Isaiah 25, 8 and 9.
Old Testament saints.
You know, when Isaiah wrote that, okay, it may be if you just read Isaiah on your own,
you wouldn't understand that's got to do with the resurrection.
And when you look at the New Testament, it says, no, that's the fulfillment of it.
At the rapture, at the resurrection, when Isaiah penned those words, he was talking
about the resurrection.
And this is the challenge of the Old Testament, right?
There are things that may seem cryptic to us.
If we just have the mindset, well, if all they had were these writings of the Old Testament
prophets, if that's all they had, how can they come to these doctrines that we know?
This is why these people that are hyperdispensationalists will say, they didn't have any knowledge
of it.
Because they can't understand the cryptic teachings that are in the Old Testament.
But here's the thing.
If the New Testament is telling us what it is, that's what it is.
That's what was being taught.
You know, when the prophets of old, when the priests were teaching out of the word of God,
and they opened up the book of Isaiah, and they read Isaiah 25, 8 and 9, they were talking
about the resurrection.
They were preaching about the resurrection.
You know, one advantage the Old Testament saints had is they had all these prophets,
some unnamed in the Bible, some mentioned, some not mentioned in the Bible, they had
these people able to teach, not just the prophets, but the priests would teach people the word
of God, all right?
So just like you have pastors today, you have preachers today in the New Testament that
teach us the word of God, the Old Testament saints had the same thing, all right?
So they could read a passage like that and just clearly teach about the resurrection.
If you're still in 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse number 55, because that's not the
only saying.
That was Isaiah, but in verse number 55, it says, oh, death, where is thy sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
Hey, who wrote these words?
It was the prophet Hosea, Hosea chapter 13 verse 12.
I'll read it to you, Hosea 13 verse 12.
It says the iniquity of Ephraim is bound up.
His sin is hid.
And then it says this, the sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of
children.
And then it says this in verse number 14, and I will ransom them from the power of the
grave.
I will redeem them from death.
And then it says this, oh, death, I will be thy plagues.
Oh, grave, I will be thy destruction.
This shall be hid from mine eyes.
And so that passage is taken here to 1 Corinthians 15 and translated, oh, death, where is thy
sting?
Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
Again, referring to the resurrection, okay?
And what did Hosea say?
He said, I will ransom them from the power of the grave.
See at the resurrection, the graves will be open and those bodies will be lifted up out
of there, right?
Those new resurrected bodies will come out of that grave.
So look, Daniel knew about it, Isaiah knows about it, Hosea knows about it.
Don't you think they all knew about it?
Don't you think this was a teaching of the Old Testament?
Of course it was.
The Old Testament is consistent with the New Testament even in the resurrection.
There's no difference between the two.
And listen, these are the Old Testament saints that are writing about 1 Corinthians 15, what
we just read, right?
You read 1 Corinthians 15 just then, hey, that's to the Corinthian church, that's to
Gentile believers and guess what?
When Paul is writing this to the Gentile believers, he goes, yeah, you know how Isaiah wrote about
it and Hosea wrote about it?
Of course he wrote about it because we're the same resurrection.
Old Testament saints, New Testament saints, we're all one in Christ, okay?
You can see how dispensational leads to some crazy ideas.
Dispensationism demands a separation between the New Testament churches and the Old Testament
saints but the Bible just keeps bringing them together, just keeps bringing them together
constantly, constantly bringing them together, just clearly spread out in the Bible for us,
you know?
I mean, I think it's a beautiful thing.
I think it's a great thing to know that when we're in the clouds, we'll see Moses, we'll
see Jacob, we'll see Isaiah and Hosea and we'll see them all, we'll see them all there
at that great resurrection, all right?
So the next question might be well, what about the saints prior to the Old Testament, okay?
So there was a time prior to the Old Testament, of course, because the Old Testament was given
by Moses to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt, right?
And all the stories we're going through in the book of Genesis, all of that at the moment,
that's all taken place before the Old Testament times, all right?
So what about the saints before the Old Testament days?
Did they know about a resurrection?
You know, do they have a different resurrection?
Listen, you know, when I was talking to one of my, I won't name, talking to one of my
dispensational pastors and I mentioned this to him, you know, he was trying to tell me
oh, they're separate resurrections, they're separate raptures and I said well, what about
those that came before the Old Testament saints?
Did they get a special one as well?
What about the tribulation, what happens during the tribulation?
Do those saints get a separate one as well, you know, in his view of it?
Like how much resurrection and he basically said there's five raptures, like there's five
resurrections to cover all these different people in these different times, right?
Is that true though?
Go to Job 19, Job chapter 19.
Job 19 verse 23.
Because Job lived around the time of Abraham, okay?
He definitely lived before Moses, you know, and he was not a Jew, he was not an Israelite,
he's not even an ancestor to that nation, to those people.
I mean this guy's a full-blown gentile, Job is, right?
And the reason we know that he lived before Moses is because when God met Moses, God revealed
the name for the first time to him as Jehovah, okay?
And prior to that, the believers would call God, God Almighty, you know?
And so when you look at the book of Job, Job is constantly calling God, not Jehovah, but
God Almighty, okay?
Because he lived before that name was revealed to Moses.
And of course, his long lifespan ties into the long lifespan of the time people of time
of Abraham, you know, Abraham and the like.
So there's many reasons behind it, I've already told you that before.
But look at Job 19 verse 23.
I love this desire of Job in verse number 23.
He says, oh, that my words were now written.
Yeah, they were, Job, right?
And then he goes, oh, that they were printed in a book, they are, Job.
You got your wish, you got your prayer answered, right?
I mean, it took a while, but eventually it got answered, right?
What's he praying for?
What's he asking for here?
Verse number 24, that they were graven with an iron pen and led in the rock forever.
And I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth.
Let's stop there for a moment.
He says, I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Now listen, of course he's talking about God, okay?
And of course, you know, why is he emphasizing that he lives?
Why do you think he's emphasizing that?
Of course, God lives.
Of course, he's alive.
Of course, his life, right?
He's the creator of all life on this earth, and I believe the reason he's saying he liveth
is because he knew he was going to die.
Why do I believe that?
Because he calls him his Redeemer.
His Redeemer.
The Bible tells us in Galatians 3, 13, Christ have redeemed us from the curse of the Lord.
How did he redeem us?
He made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.
The only way we can be redeemed, the only way someone can be a Redeemer is if they save
us from our sins, if they shed their blood, if they go through that process of a death
dying on our behalf, being that Redeemer for us, right?
And this is why Job's so excited to say, may my Redeemer liveth, right?
I know he's alive.
You know, Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Job already knew about it, okay?
And then look at, the other thing is, if you can keep your finger there, go to Job 1, keep
your finger there in Job 19, go to Job 1, Job 1.
And the reason I believe he knew about this is because in verse number 5, what's he doing?
It says in verse number 5, Job 1, 5, and it was so when the days of their feasting was
gone about, were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the
morning, look at this, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all.
He's giving offerings for his children, right?
He's asking God to forgive them, basically.
I won't go into it all now, but you know, he was worried that his children were sort
of partying it up, maybe committing sinful acts, and so he goes and he offers these burnt
offerings, acting as a mediator, basically, so in a sense, toward his children, toward
God.
So he offers the burnt offerings according to the number of them all.
You know, he made sure all of his children were covered, for Job said, it may be that
my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, thus did Job continually.
So what does Job know?
He knows that if someone sins, there has to be a blood sacrifice, there has to be an offering.
And so when he says, my Redeemer liveth, he's talking about the one that redeems him.
Not only is there a death necessary, but he knows that actually, no, he's actually alive.
He's going to have to come back from the dead, right?
Now let's keep going back to Job 19.
And we know this because of verse number 26 again, it says, and though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and
mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reigns be consumed within me.
It says, look, even when I die, I'm going to see God, and I'm going to see him in my
flesh.
What is Job saying?
I'm going to be resurrected.
Just like my Redeemer liveth, I'm going to live again, when his body decays, when his
body dies.
He knew of the resurrection, even before the Old Testament days, all right?
He knew of Christ.
And this is, you know, it boggles my mind how these, not all dispensationalists, you
know, I've got to be careful, but the hyper dispensationalists, the Rachmanites, how they
mock, you know, because we say, hey, we're saved by looking back at Christ, what he did
for us on the cross, and we say the Old Testament saints, you know, were saved by looking forward
to Christ, by looking forward to the Redeemer, by looking forward to the Messiah.
They mock that.
They think that's a joke.
They think that's so stupid, but the Bible constantly telling us, no, they know of this
resurrection and Job, even before Moses, knew that Jesus would be offered as a sacrifice
and that he would live again.
This is clear as day for us in the Bible, and when it says there at the end of it, it
says, though my reigns be consumed within me, reigns are like intestines, your guts,
look, even when all that gets destroyed in the grave, I'm still going to be there once
again in the flesh, seeing my God.
I like how it starts to say, verse 27, whom I shall see for myself, right?
He's excited, looking forward to the day that he's going to see Christ.
That will happen, brethren, at the resurrection.
That will happen at the rapture.
You know, if you die before the rapture, you're going to see God, of course, in the spirit,
but then you'll see him at the rapture in your flesh, in that resurrected body.
You'll be able to lay eyes upon God in that sense.
All right.
Please go to Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26, verse 17.
I just want to show you another cryptic passage in the Bible here.
Isaiah 26, verse 17, Isaiah 26, 17, the Bible reads, like a woman with child, that draweth
near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs.
So have we been in thy sights, O Lord.
I want you to notice it's talking about a time of pain, you know, describing it like
a woman giving birth to a child.
Verse number 18, we have been with child.
We have been in pain.
We have, as it were, brought forth wind.
We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the
world fallen.
Look at this, thy dead men shall live.
Like thy, God's dead men, right?
God's dead men shall live.
Together with my dead body shall they arise.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust, for thy due is as the day of herbs, and the earth
shall cast out the dead.
So again, another passage in Isaiah of the resurrection, where the dead shall live, right?
The one that dwelt in dust will be able to sing in those new resurrected bodies.
But once you notice how it started off with the teaching there of the pain that, you know,
it's going through, like delivering a child.
And I couldn't help but think of the parallel in Romans 8-22, which says, for we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wits the redemption of
our body.
The redemption of our body.
I couldn't help but see that parallel there of how everything's just in pain there in
the earth.
And it's just, it's waiting for that resurrection.
It's waiting for the redemption of the body, okay?
Now please go to Luke 14, Luke 14.
So we've looked at how it's the same resurrection, Old Testament saints, New Testament saints.
We've looked at how they knew about it, these prophets.
We've looked at even how Job, before the Old Testament, knew about it.
What about the teachings of Jesus?
Of course they counted, why?
Because when Jesus was walking this earth, when Jesus was teaching, he was teaching in
Old Testament days, was it not?
You know Hebrews 9 16 says, for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death
of the testator, for a testament is a force after men are dead.
Otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth, whereupon neither the
first testament was dedicated without blood.
So we know the New Testament did not come into effect until the shedding of blood.
Until Christ shed his blood, that's when the New Testament came into effect.
So Christ's teaching prior to his crucifixion was in the Old Testament times, was it not?
Absolutely, right?
So if you look at Luke 14, these are teachings of Christ and his teaching during the Old
Testament days, all right?
Verse number 12, Luke 14 verse 12, then said he also to him that bade him.
And by the way, another crazy thing that I've heard is that Jesus never taught about the
rapture of the church.
Jesus' sensationalism will teach this because they think, you know, when we read about 1
Corinthians 15 where Paul says, I'll show you a mystery, so see, it was a mystery.
Only Paul knew about it.
You know, Jesus, how can you say it was a mystery?
You know, because if Jesus taught it before, he couldn't be called a mystery.
Well, the mystery is not the resurrection.
You know, the mystery is how our bodies will be changed, the incorruptible, so the corruptible
to the incorruptible, the mortal to the immortal.
That's the mystery.
The mystery is our bodies will be like Christ, that we're not just going to have a normal
resurrection.
It's not like my body will die and I'm going to come back in the same old body.
No, the mystery was that it's going to be a body like Christ.
That's the mystery.
Of course they knew about the resurrection, right?
Of course Jesus taught about the resurrection.
Luke 14, 12, then said he also to him that bade him, when thou makest a dinner or a supper,
call not thy friends nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors, lest they
also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, look at this,
and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed
at the resurrection of the just.
Did Jesus teach on the resurrection?
Of course he did.
And what's he saying?
At the resurrection of the just, you will be recompensed for what?
For inviting, what was it, the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind to the great feast.
Brethren, this is once again soul winning, all right?
We don't just care about our loved ones.
We don't just care about our friends.
The importance of going door to door is that you meet the strangers, is that you meet the
drunkards, is that you meet the maimed, is that you meet the fornicators, is that you
meet the adulterers, you meet the wicked of this world, and you go there and you bid them
entrance to the great feast, the great supper by preaching them the gospel, okay?
That's what's gonna, they're not gonna be recompense you, you're not gonna get anything
out of it on this world, brethren, but God promises, Jesus promises that we're gonna
be recompensed at the resurrection.
That's why he had mentioned in Daniel 12 how sun will shine as bright like the stars, right?
Because that had, you know, brought many into righteousness, as it said there in Daniel 12.
All right, so let's keep going, please go to Luke 20 now, Luke 20, 27, Luke 20, 27.
Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which denied that there is any resurrection.
Those are like the hyper dispensationalists.
No, not really.
They sort of believe in it, but they don't believe Jesus taught on it, right?
Anyway, and they asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, if any man's brother
die having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife and
raise up seed unto his brother.
There were therefore seven brethren, and the first took a wife and died without children,
and the second took her to wife, and he died childless, and the third took her, and in
fact, men of the seven also, and they left no children and died.
This is like all my boys, I've got seven boys right now, it's like Nicholas gets married
and he dies, so then Matthias marries her, and then he dies, then Christian marries her,
and he dies, and then Sebastian marries her, he dies, Jonathan marries her, he dies, when
we left Samuel marries her, you know, he dies, and then Adrian, I mean, she's gonna wait
a long time for him to get old enough to get married, but, you know, eventually Adrian
marries her, and he dies, right?
That's what's going on here in this story, so-called, by these Sadducees, and then it
says in verse number 32, last of all the woman died also, therefore in the resurrection,
whose wife of them is she, for seven had her to wife, and Jesus answering said unto them,
the children of this world marry, and are given in marriage, but they which are accounted
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given
in marriage, neither can they die anymore, for they are equal unto the angels, and are
the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
Now that the dead are raised, look at this, this is so important, this is so, don't miss
this from Jesus, okay, and the reason I'm saying this is so important is because this
teaching is also covered in Matthew and Mark, okay, so three of the gospel writers wrote
this same event, so it's really important for us to focus on, and it says this, now
that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, for he is not a God of the dead, but of the
living, for all live unto him, you know what Jesus is saying, he's saying look, you know
those that are saved are the children of the resurrection, alright, and what he's saying
is when Moses met a God in that burning bush, when God was referred to as the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, God is talking about being a God of the living, that Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob are alive, okay, and this is tied in to that resurrection, they're alive now because
they're going to go for that resurrection, alright, there's no such thing as soul sleep,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not sleeping in some grave, they're alive right now, waiting
for that resurrection, waiting to be children of the resurrection, so who else taught on
the resurrection, Moses, the very one who wrote down the Old Testament laws that God
used to bring in that old covenant to the nation of Israel, even he knew of the resurrection,
even he knew of the resurrection, now I'm going to read to you from Exodus 3, 4, Exodus
3, 4, it says here, and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, this is at the
burning bush, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses,
and he said, here am I, and he said, draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off
thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground, moreover he said, I am the
God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and Moses
hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God, I just read to you from Exodus 3, okay,
and God reveals himself to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph, yes he, I mean sorry,
Moses, yes he went through this, but he also wrote this, right, he's a writer of the first
five books of the Bible, he wrote this, and when Moses is writing this, he's knowing about
the resurrection, so when the Old Testament prophets are preaching out of the book of
Exodus, Exodus chapter 3, and they get to this part about God being a God of the living,
they're being taught about the resurrection, they're being taught that they're going to
be children of the resurrection, according to Jesus Christ, according to Jesus, he put
those things together, the reason they're alive now is because they're waiting for that
resurrection to come, alright, now please go to John chapter 5, John chapter 5, so what
I want to show you there brethren is Jesus is teaching in Old Testament days, and he
points to a very, very, very cryptic passage in the book of Exodus, and he says yeah, even
that was about the resurrection, alright, so here's the thing, what I'm saying to you
is that I'm showing you the clearest ones about the resurrection in the Old Testament,
but according to Jesus, probably a lot of teaching out there in the Old Testament about
the resurrection, but they're extremely cryptic, but they're there, they're there, and so you
know, I don't have the courage necessarily to find them all and to teach them, I like
to find things that are confirmed for us in the New Testament and teach them those things,
alright, anyway, John chapter 5 verse 21, John chapter 5 verse 21, these are all teachings
of Christ.
He's passed in life and shall not come into condemnation, but he's passed from death
unto life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live, for as the Father hath life
in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and have given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man, marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come
forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation.
Jesus is teaching about the resurrection, right, that we're all going to hear the voice
of Jesus one day, and all those that are damned, those that are going to be alive will
all come in those new resurrected bodies, new bodies, right, or to come.
And this is important for you to realize because, again, Jesus is showing that distinction,
which we saw in Daniel 12, the distinction between the two resurrections.
And so Jesus calls one the resurrection of life, he calls the other one resurrection
of damnation, okay, that's the resurrection of the dead.
That's the resurrection of the contempt.
And some have argued in verse number 29, look at this, and shall come forth, they that have
done good unto the resurrection of life.
I think I remember seeing like a Roman Catholic article once, quoting this passage, in showing
that you've got to do good works to be saved, right, and I say, see, those that have done
good will experience the resurrection of life.
But who are those that have done good, who are those that are going to experience resurrection
of life?
What does doing good mean in context of what we just read?
Again, look at verse number 24.
It's already been established for us, right, as we're reading this passage, verse number 24.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, hear that hear of my word, and believeth on him that
sent me hath everlasting life.
Who gets it, who gets the everlasting life?
The one that believes on Christ, the one that believes that God sent his son, and it says,
they shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
So when we read verse number 29, and it says, they that have done good unto the resurrection
of life, how do we do good?
By believing on the one that was sent, by believing on God who sent his son.
That's doing good, right?
That's a good thing to do, to place your faith on Christ, to place your faith on the gospel.
That's how you experience the resurrection.
That's how you receive everlasting life.
It's not doing good works, not as good deeds, good works are not in that.
It's just those that have done good, and it is good to believe on Christ, and it says,
and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of their nation.
Who does evil?
Those that have rejected Christ, those that have rejected the gospel.
That's what it, that's what it's saying, but I want to show you how Jesus Christ differentiates
the two resurrections to come.
Now please go to John 11 21.
We'll end on this one.
John 11 21, we'll end on this passage here.
Okay so the title was the resurrection in the Old Testament.
And here we have Martha, we have the story of Lazarus who's a good friend to Jesus, and
of course we know the story that he dies, and he gets resurrected as well.
So Martha is an Old Testament saint, right?
She got saved in the Old Testament days.
John 11 21, then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died, but I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again.
Martha said unto him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last
day.
Did Martha know about the resurrection?
Absolutely.
She's not a priest or a prophet, she's just a regular woman, just a regular family woman,
you know, just there living, believing in Christ, an Old Testament saint.
Even she knew of the resurrection, even she got taught these truths from the Bible.
Verse number 25, and Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Listen, her brother Lazarus died in the Old Testament days, did he not?
He died before Christ brought in the New Covenant, and he's saying that he is the resurrection.
He's saying that you can be resurrected by believing on him.
It's the same message that was in the Old Testament that is also in the New Testament.
The Old Testament saints just placed their faith on the Redeemer, they too will be saints.
Verse number 26, and whoso liveth and believeth in me shall never die, believeth thou this?
She said unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
should come into the world.
Martha was definitely saved, right?
She's definitely saved, she definitely understands that the resurrection will come on the last
day.
And some people make this a big issue about the last day, I'll cover that at some other
sermon as we go through this series.
But I think the great truth is here.
And all I want to end on Brevin is what we already know.
But in order for you to receive the resurrected bodies, in order for you to go through the
resurrection, the rapture, and be on the right side of the resurrection, by the way, be on
the right side to have everlasting life, to be one that is righteous is to of course believe
on Jesus Christ, to place your faith on him.
That is the only way to experience that resurrection.
If you reject Christ, if you reject the gospel, then you will be like those dead that we read
in Revelation 20, that were brought before the great white throne judgment of God and
cast into everlasting fire because the names were not found written in the book of the
Lamb.
So in summary, Brevin, in conclusion, number one, the Old Testament saints definitely knew
about the resurrection, definitely, okay, clear as day.
Number two, the resurrection they knew about is the same resurrection that the New Testament
saints would experience.
We're going to experience the same resurrection.
And number three, that there are two types of resurrection, one for the living who believed
on Christ and one for the dead which rejected Christ.
Okay, let's pray.