“He Must Reign”

"He Must Reign"

(No. 2940)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1905.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 18, 1875.

"For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet" 1
Corinthians 15:25.

"HE must reign." Here was another, "must," which His disciples were
very slow to learn. Very much of our Lord's teaching to His Apostles
was concerning the necessity that He must suffer. That doctrine seemed
so strange to them that at first they could scarcely catch the idea.
When they perceived that Christ really meant it, they could not bear
the thought of it. One of them even began to rebuke his Lord, but He
sharply stopped him. The notion that Christ must suffer could not be
drilled into the Apostles–their very spirits seemed to revolt against
it. And do you wonder? If you had lived with that dear and blessed Lord
and had seen the perfection of His Character, the liberality of His
gifts and the tenderness of His heart and if you had known, as they
did, in a measure–the Glory of His Nature and the marvel of His
person–could you have endured the thought that He must be despitefully
used, spit upon and nailed like a felon to a cross? No, even Christ
Himself might have found it difficult to get that thought into your
mind. It was such a cruel, "must"–that He must die! Why, even after He
had died and all the prophecies concerning His death had been
fulfilled, it was still a bewilderment to His disciples! The two who
walked to Emmaus with Christ were in a maze concerning it and He had to
say to them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
Prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered those things
and to enter into His glory?"

That first, "must," cost the people of God much before they learned it,
but we know right well that the price of pardon for us was Christ's
suffering and death. We understand that there was no other way of
access for us but by the Atonement–no other method by which the lost
inheritance could come back except by that ransom price which was found
in the pierced heart of Christ! And now there is another, "must,"
which, I think, is almost as difficult for us to learn. The shadow of
the Cross has fallen upon us and we live so much in its shade that it
is not easy for us to catch the gleam of that necessity which comes
from His Throne–"He must reign." The Cross, too, is on our shoulder.
It is not merely that we live under the shadow of the Cross, but the
burden of the Cross has to be cheerfully endured from day to day. As we
bear it, it is not easy for us to feel that, "He must reign." O
Brothers, when you preach and no man gives heed to your message–when
you teach, but the children yield not their hearts to your Lord–when
you sojourn in Mesech and dwell in the tents of Kedar and meet with
hard and cold hearts in every place that thaw not even beneath the
sunbeams of the love of Jesus, you are very apt to say that it does not
appear that, "He must reign."

The long rebellion against Jehovah still continues! The dread revolt
against the majesty of Heaven seems as if it will never end and we
sometimes fear that the treason will last on to all eternity! It
appears impossible that the Crucified Christ shall yet be the universal
Conqueror, that the Man of Nazareth will yet mount His white horse and
lead His conquering armies to the last charge and to the final victory
and yet, as surely as it was true that He must suffer, so surely, "He
must reign"! And it becomes us to open our hearts to this predestinated
necessity ordained of the Most High. Jesus must reign! His defeat is
not to be thought of for a moment! Delay there may be, but the victory
must come! "He must reign." Let Heaven ring with the anticipation of
it! "He must reign." Let earth resound with the prophecy of it! "He
must reign." Let Hell's darkest cavern hear the tidings of that
imperative necessity! "He must reign." And let each Christian feel
revived and quickened by the joyful sound! He who had to die must
surely reign! The second necessity shall be as certainly fulfilled as
was the first–"He must reign." Let me try to ring that bell, or to
sound that trumpet.

I. There is, first, A FACT WHICH IS A SORT OF PRELUDE OR ACCOMPANIMENT
TO THE NECESSITY IN ITS GREATER FULFILLMENT.

The fact is that He does now reign–that is in our text. It says, "He
must reign, till He has put all enemies under His feet." Jesus is
reigning even now in Heaven. No shame can approach Him there and no
scorn can even be whispered at His feet. He reigns there with
undisputed sway. It would not be possible for me to fully depict the
royal state in which Emmanuel sits enthroned above, but I would like
your faith to endeavor to realize it. You may even venture to call in
your sanctified imagination to aid you to sketch the scene where He
reigns in Glory. There is no province of the celestial domain which
does not acknowledge His sway and not one individual of all the happy
tribes that dwell in Glory is not glad to call Him, King! The holy
angels, whom He has made to be as flames of fire, delight to do His
commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word. All the various
orders of cherubim and seraphim yield Him their loyal homage and all
the angels and principalities and powers in the Heavenly places
acknowledge Him as their Lord forever. His redeemed occupy the most
honorable place in Heaven. Nearest to the Throne you will find the 24
elders, the representatives of the Church. And then, in an outer ring,
stand the angels worshipping and adoring–and all the redeemed spirits,
as well they may, since they owe their glory to His blood–call Jesus
their Lord and King! He is no servant there! He washes no disciples'
feet there! He goes not from there to Pilate's Hall to be judged!
Absolute and supreme is He–King of kings, for they are all kings whom
He has redeemed–and Lord of lords, for they are all lordly ones over
whom He reigns! And He occupies the highest seat amidst the splendors
of the celestial realm!

But do not imagine that Christ's reign is limited to these gates of
pearl and streets of shining gold. Far from it, for Jesus reigns today
on earth. It did my ears and heart good, just now, to hear you sing,
"Crown Him Lord of All." I dared not hope that every heart here was
really crowning Him, but I did believe that there were thousands who,
in their inmost souls, were wishing Him all honor and glory and
delightedly confessing their allegiance to Him. O Jesus, You have still
on earth myriads whose highest joy is found in Your name and who find
their Heaven on earth as they think of You! In Your Church You are
still Lord and Master! And if there be churches that revolt against You
and play the harlot, You still have Your chaste spouse and You reign
over her in undisputed Sovereignty!

Nor is Christ's Kingdom limited to the Church in Heaven and the Church
on earth, for He reigns today over all things. "All power," said He,
"is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth." Providence is at the
disposal of the Nazarene! Let those doubt it who will, we believe that
every event which transpires–political, national, social, domestic–is
overruled by Him for the accomplishment of the grand designs of mercy
which He has for His own elect! Just as Joseph reigned in Egypt and all
had to come to him for food in the time of famine, so does Jesus reign
in the courts of earth for the good of His people. His cause must
prosper, for He is always at the helm! Yes, even where confusion seems
to rule, He is everywhere King, putting a bit into the mouth of the
tempest and riding upon the wings of the wind. Just as the seas
acknowledged His Presence when He was here Incarnate, so do they
acknowledge His Presence now. And just as the earth then felt His
footsteps, so does she feel them now, but it is no more the weary tramp
of the Son of Man, but the majestic footsteps of the Son of God! He
rules everywhere. "The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed
the dry land. In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the
strength of the hills is His, also."

He reigns, too, even in Hell itself. The devils bite their iron bands
in grim despair because He reigns. They tried to make this earth their
own, but now they know the prowess, the strong arm and the valiant
heart of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Highest and they must do His
bidding! "To here shall you come, but no further," is His command to
the grim and fierce spirits–and they are compelled to submit to Him,
however anxious they are to do still more mischief to the sons of man.
Yes, Jesus reigns from the bottomless gulf to the heights of Heaven!
Far off, where the sun now gilds the Western hills, and yonder in the
East, where we shall watch for its return tomorrow morning–over all
those regions Jesus reigns–

"Far as the eagle's pinion Or dove's light wing can soar."

He reigns today and let His people proclaim it without fear, "The Lord
is King." The fact that He is now reigning cheers our hearts–

"Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore. Mortals, give
thanks and sing,

And triumph evermore! Lift up the heart, lift up the voice, Rejoice
aloud, you saints, rejoice!"

II. But, to come still more closely to our text, we ring this bell
again and call your attention to THE NECESSITY FOR CHRIST'S REIGN. "He
must reign." It is not merely that He shall, He can, or He may, but He
must–"He must reign." Let us see why He must.

Well, the first and weakest argument of all, yet one that has much
force in it–all His servants say that He shall reign. Weak as the 12
Apostles and the immediate followers of Christ were, they said that,
"He must reign," and they meant it and they lived to make it true–and
almost all the nations on the earth heard of Jesus within a century
after He had been taken up to Heaven! Then came the kings of the earth
and set themselves against Him. And they said that He should not reign.
But the martyrs came and yielded up their lives with joy, each one
singing, "He must reign." While the amphitheatres ran with blood, other
champions came into the ring, each one uttering the watchword, "He must
reign." The kings of the earth mocked at the saints of God. "What are
these feeble Jews doing?" they said, just as Pharaoh might have said,
"The locusts, what can they do?" But the locusts might have answered,
"We are, each one of us, weak, but there are myriads of us and we will
come up and cover your land, and we will eat every green thing that is
left in the land!" And they did. It was very much the same with the
persecuted saints of God–each individual Believer was weak, but they
came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands–they came in countless shoals
till the kings threw away their swords and quenched their fires in
sheer despair–and they agreed that, nominally at least, Christ should
reign, for His disciples would have it so.

And now, today, it becomes us not to speak proudly, but, if persecuting
times should ever come again, many of those who say the least about it
would be among the first to go boldly to be burned at the stake, or to
submit their bodies to the torture of the rack for love of the Lord
Jesus Christ! When Mutius Scaevola put his right hand into the fire to
burn, he told the king that there were a thousand youths who had sworn
that they would be put to death rather than that their country should
fall into the king's hands–and the tyrant trembled. And there are
thousands now of Christians who only need the dire necessity to rise
again, and they would come forward with cheerfulness to yield their
lives for their Lord, declaring that, "He must reign," whatever might
become of them. We must never let His standard fall, or even tremble in
the day of battle! Forward, you sons of heroes, in the name of Him who
bled and died for you! Never let there be any question in your mind
whether "He must reign" or not. The sun may cease to shine and the moon
forget her nightly marches, but Jesus must reign! It must be so, for
His people declare it!

I said, however, that this was the weakest of reasons and there are
many far stronger ones. "He must reign," for He is Jehovah's Heir–the
"Heir of all things." Kings cannot always ensure the putting of their
crowns upon the heads of their sons. When they die, perhaps a rebellion
breaks out and overthrows the dynasty–but what power can overturn the
Divine dynasty and rob the Heir of God of His dominions?

"He must reign," for by Nature He is a King. He was borna King! You
might have seen something of Sovereignty in His eyes when He first
opened them upon earth's light. The Wise Men from the East brought
gifts which showed that they recognized the royalty of the newborn Babe
of Bethlehem. Every characteristic of the life of Christ is royal. He
is no tyrant king. He is the people's King, but a true King in every
part of His being! There is nothing mean, or low, or selfish, about
Him. Every motion of His hand is princely, as He feeds the multitudes,
or heals their sicknesses. And every glance of His eyes is kingly, as
He weeps over man's sin and fall, or as He rebukes man's transgression.

"He must reign," for He deserves that honor. You cannot see Him
voluntarily yielding up His soul unto death in order that He might
redeem His people by His blood–you cannot hear His cry, "My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?"–without feeling that if there is
justice in the courts of Heaven, the death of Christ upon the Cross
cannot be the end of Him! That terrible shame must be rewarded and how
can it be rewarded except by the brightest crown that can possibly be
conceived, or by something brighter, even, than that? Reign He must,
for He was so good, so generous, so self-sacrificing, so oblivious of
Himself in death! We would lose our faith in the Deity if we could lose
faith in the reign of Christ as the reward of all that He suffered upon
the Cross.

Besides, "He must reign," for who is to stop Him? In the olden days,
many tried to do so, but He defeated them all. The Prince of darkness
came to Him in the wilderness and offered Him a paltry bauble in the
place of His true crown, but

the tempter was repulsed by the sentence, "It is written." The Prince
of darkness came again and again, but he found nothing in Christ upon
which he could lay his hand and, before long, Christ will have the
great adversary beneath His foot and finally bruise his head. All the
evil forces upon the face of the earth cannot stand against Christ, for
if, upon the accursed tree, He defeated them in His weakness, He will
surely conquer them in the time of His strength! He trod them under His
feet when He died–how much more completely shall He vanquish them, now
that He is risen again? He scattered them like chaff before the wind
with His dying breath–how much more shall He do it, now, in the
fullness of His Resurrection Life? Rejoice, O Christians, in the fact
that there is nothing that can stand against Jesus!

"He must reign," for the best of all reasons–the Father has decreed it
"Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." God wills it and
that stands for us as a sufficient reason. And God is working it.
Omnipotence is on the side of Christ. We see Him not yet at the head of
His Heavenly armies, but He is there and He is even now going forth
conquering and to conquer–and everything that happens is working out
the decree that Christ must be King of kings, and Lord of lords!

III. Not only does Christ reign and must Christ reign, but THERE IS A
PROGRESS ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. It is growing. It becomes more and more
visible among the sons of men. I am not going into prophecies–I leave
them for wiser persons than I am. I am more at home in Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John than in the deeps of Revelation–but this one thing I do
know from the Word of the Lord, that, first of all, "He must reign"
lovingly over all His elect. Some of them are hard to bring in, but
they must come, sooner or later. Christ Himself said, "Other sheep I
have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring." Some of them
are with us now–they have long resisted Mercy's call, but they will
have to yield! Sovereign Grace has determined it, so yield they must.
The Lord says, "Compel them to come in," and come in they must, for,
"He must reign." He will not suffer one of the sheep He bought with His
blood to be lost in the mountains, or one single soul that He ransomed
from the enemy to abide forever in captivity. "He must reign" over them
and He will! And the day shall come when He shall pass all His sheep,
one by one, under the hand of Him that counts them–and they will all
be there, all with the blood mark upon them as they come through the
gate–and the count of the flock shall be complete, not one shall be
devoured by the wolf. The Shepherd shall say to His Father in that day,
"Those that You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost."

It also seems to me to be clear from the Scriptures that in future
ages, Jesus Christ will reign over all nations. I do not believe that
the great drama of the world's history will end till the Truth of God
is triumphant. I read, concerning the Messiah, "He also shall have
dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the
earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him; and His
enemies shall lick the dust." The North shall give up, and the South
shall no longer keep back, but they shall bring His sons from afar and
His daughters from the ends of the earth. I cannot help expecting a
period when "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Happy
day! Oh, that it might soon arrive! Push on with mercy's work, O
missionaries and evangelists! Toil on, preachers and teachers, for, "He
must reign." Ours is not a losing cause–Jesus must yet subdue the
nations and be acknowledged by them as Lord and God!

I also know that He must one day reign over all mankind, whether by
their willing consent, or in spite of their opposition, "for to Him
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"–

"He shall reign from pole to pole, With illimitable sway."

And over and above that, I look for a time when Jesus Christ will reign
upon this earth over all nature. When all His enemies being subdued,
the new Jerusalem shall come down out of Heaven upon the earth,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Read the Revelation and
you will find that much which we generally apply to Heaven is really a
description of what is to take place upon this earth. I hope it is not
mere poetic fancy that leads me to believe that the mists, which now
swathe this planet and make her dim in comparison with her sister
stars, will one day all be swept away and she shall shine out as bright
as in that pristine morning when the sons of God shouted for joy at the
sight of the new creation! I think it is no fiction to believe that the
day shall come when restored manhood, in connection with the personal
reign of Christ, shall have dominion over all the fowl of the air, the
fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the sea–and when
it shall not be a metaphor, but a realized fact that–"the leopard
shall lie down with the kid;

and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little
child shall lead them." When whispers of blasphemy shall not merely be
drowned in thunders of adoration, but shall not even be known–when the
last taint and trace of sin shall have disappeared and the earth shall
shine as if she had never been defiled, and the days of her mourning
shall be forever ended! And, "Glory, glory, glory," shall be the song
from sunrise to sunset and the night watches shall be kept with music
of praise, and angels shall go to and fro between the Throne above and
the Throne below, and the new Heavens and the new earth shall be seen,
wherein dwells righteousness–

"Hallelujah!–Hark! The sound

From the center to the skies

Wakes above, beneath, around,

All creation's harmonies!

See Jehovah's banner furled,

His sword sheathed! He speaks– 'tis done!

And the kingdoms of this world

Are the kingdoms of His Son!" Then comes the grand climax when He shall
"put all enemies under His feet"–not annihilate them, not exterminate
them, not convert them–but put them under His feet. There shall still
be a devil but He shall be a devil under Christ's feet. Lost spirits
there shall still be, but the great Conqueror shall hold them down
beneath His almighty heels. Death shall be destroyed–"The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death." We shall remember that men died. We
shall ourselves remember that we passed beneath the power of death, but
all the bitterness of death will be past as far as we are concerned.
Through Christ's death, eternal life has become ours. Oh, what a
prospect opens up before me! My time flies so nimbly, as it always does
when I have such a subject as this, so I must forbear to speak of it as
I gladly would. But let your faith project itself into the glorious
future of which I have been reminding you. It may be much nearer than
you have imagined. If you listen intently, you may hear the chariot
wheels of the coming King! Be ready to greet Him whenever He comes! It
may be that tonight, before the clock has sounded out the midnight
hour, the cry may be heard in Heaven and earth, "Behold, the Bridegroom
comes!" And starting from your beds, you will have to meet Him. Will
you be ready to hail Him joyfully as your long-expected King, or will
you have to meet Him dolefully and to be trod beneath His feet? "For He
must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet."

So I close with this question–let each one take it to heart as best he
may and may the Spirit of God send it home!– How do I stand in
relation to the great event thus predestinated?What is my connection
with the triumph of Christ? Am I one of His enemies? Suppose a gnat
should be able to plunge itself into the inconceivably fierce heat that
burns from the orb of day–its instant destruction must follow–and it
must be so with you, also, if you are opposed to Christ! You potsherd
of earth, strive with other potsherds like yourself! For you to strive
with Jesus is for a potsherd to strive against a rod of iron which will
break it in pieces! There is no hope of success for you, so give up the
hopeless enterprise. Your utter insignificance will make your
opposition to be contemptible in that day when the intelligences of the
universe shall judge things aright.

What then? Had we not better yield? I will not say because we must, but
because we ought. For, in this case, Christ's might is on the side of
right and it is no disgrace to a man to yield to might when it is
allied with right. "I yield to Christ" says one. How far do you yield?
Do you yield so far as to be saved by Him? "Yes," you say. Do you yield
so far as to be forgiven by Him? "Yes," you say. Do you yield so far as
to become His disciple? "Yes," you say. But do you yield that He should
reign over you–that you should do as He bids you and not do what He
forbids? Shall He be King over you? If you want to have Him on any
other terms than these, you cannot have Him at all, for, "He must
reign"–

"Yet know (nor of the terms complain) Where Jesus comes, He comes to
reign! To reign and with no partial sway– Thoughts must be slain that
disobey." Will you have Him to thus reign over you? This is the
all-important point! Alas, many say, "We will not have this Man to
reign over us." Be not you so senseless as this, but yield to Jesus
Christ and let Him be your Lord and King! If you will not do so, I must
again remind you of the dread alternative. You must either let Him
reign over you, or else you will have to lie beneath His feet! Have you
ever reckoned what will be the weight of the rejected love of God
Incarnate who died for sinners and yet is rejected by myriads despite
His unspeakable love? Take your pens and calculate that weight if you
can–Omnipotence indignant that Eternal Love was slighted! Omniscience
aroused to anger by the fact that Divine Compassion, such as could
never have been dreamt of, was trampled underfoot by impudent sons of
men! In the name of the God who made the Heavens and the earth and who
made each one of you, I entreat you to yield to that Christ who is your
rightful King! As sinners, yield yourselves by trusting in Him! As men,
yield yourselves to obey His commands! In the name of Him who will come
with sound of trumpet and with angel guards attending Him, swift to
judge and stern to punish, I implore you to bow before Him now! As
though I felt death's cold hand upon me and heard a voice saying to me,
"Speak out now, man, for the last time, and obey your King's command,"
so I speak in the name of Him who will make earth and Heaven reel
beneath His awful Presence when He comes to judge the quick and the
dead!

In the name of Him who will shut the gates of Mercy on all those who
reject His Gospel, I do not merely ask you, or beseech you, but I
command you, in His name, to repent and be converted! "He that believes
and is baptized shall be saved; but He that believes not shall be
damned." O God, acknowledge this message, for it is Your own Truth!
Prove it to be so, for Jesus sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1 CORINTHIANS 15.

Verses 1, 2. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I
preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand;
by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless you have believed in vain. What was this Gospel of which
Paul thought so highly and which he says is the means of our salvation?
Did it consist in sundry doctrinal statements? No, it contained
doctrinal statements, but it did not consist entirely of them. Here is
Paul's declaration concerning the Gospel.

3. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. This is
the solid basis of the Gospel.

4. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures. This is the very keystone of the Gospel
arch–the Christ who died on the Cross and was buried in Joseph's tomb,
"rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." This great
Truth of Christ's Resurrection is so important that Paul dwells upon it
at length.

5. And that He was seen of Cephas. Peter saw Him.

5, 6. Then of the twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred
brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present
day. When the Epistle was written.

6-8. But some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then
of all the Apostles. And last of all He was seen of me, also, as of one
born out of due time. There is no fact, in all history, that is so well
attested as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Whether
there ever was such a person as Julius Caesar might be contested,
though there were, doubtless, thousands of witnesses who saw him and
many who wrote about him. But as to whether Christ rose from the dead,
no candid mind can entertain a doubt! He was seen by great companies of
Believers and by various individuals who had long known Him most
intimately and who had many opportunities of judging whether they were
deceived or not. Christ's Resurrection is not only well attested, but
it is also the most important fact that ever happened in the history of
the world, as Paul goes on to show.

9-14. For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called
an Apostle, because Ipersecuted the Church of God. But by the Grace of
GodI am what I am: and His Grace which was bestowed upon me was not in
vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the
Grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so
we preach, and so you believed. Now if Christ is preached that He rose
from the dead, how say among you that there is no resurrection of the
dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen: and if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain. ' 'We are deceivers, and you are deceived, and the
whole Christian system crumbles into dust unless Christ did really rise
from the dead."

15. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have
testified of God that He raised up Christ: whom He raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not Between Christ and His people, there is a
union which can never be

broken, so that if He rose from the dead, they also must rise. If we
are one with Him, who shall separate us? And if we cannot be separated,
then we must share and share alike with Him.

16-19. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if
Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable. To have been quickened into a life which gives great pain
and sorrow would be a miserable thing if this were not compensated by
the hope of Glory which that life has brought to us! A man who has been
always poor can bear his poverty. But let him taste of wealth and
luxury for a while and then go back to poverty and how keen is the pang
he feels! And let a man be quickened to know God and to rejoice in the
new life–and then be told that there is no hereafter and he is,
indeed, "of all men most miserable."

20-22. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first
fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, byman came also
the resurrection ofthe dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shallall be made alive. All that were in Adam died in Adam–and all
that are in Christ live in Christ and shall rise in Christ!

23-26. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end,
when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father;
when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For
He must return till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Death is an enemy, but it is
the last one. And it is an enemy that shall be destroyed, but it shall
be destroyed last.

27, 28. For He has put all things under His feet. But when He says all
things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did
put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto
Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all
things under Him, that God may be All in all There will, one day, be an
end of the Mediatorial system. Christ shall have restored us to the
Father and then He, as our Head, and we, as making up the family of the
redeemed, shall rejoice in the God who is "All in all."

29-32. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the
dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? And why
stand we in jeopardy every hour? I affirm by your rejoicing which I
have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men
I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the
dead rise not? Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die. If there is
no resurrection, the philosophy of the Epicureans is a true one. If we
are to come an end when we die, let us enjoy life while we can. If it
is to be a short life, let it be a merry one. You see to what a
conclusion this theory would lead us, so let us start back from it with
horror! The logical consequence convicts the statement of falsehood.
There isa future state and there isto be a resurrection of the body.

33-35. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt goodmanner. Awake
to righteousness, andsin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I
speak this to your shame. But some man will say, How are the dead
raised up? And with what body do they come? You know the almost endless
questions that may be asked about this matter and you know the snares
into which a man may fall if he begins to pry curiously into this
mystery. Paul will have no prying into the mystery–and somewhat tartly
he answers.

36. You fool, that which you sow is not quickened, except it dies.
Would you take a seed into your hand and begin to argue, "How can that
little seed ever become a flower?" Could you guess, apart from
observation, what kind of flower would come out of such a seed as that?
You would make a hundred foolish guesses if you tried it! So is it
concerning the resurrection of the body–in due time we shall know and
we shall see–but until then, we must wait and trust.

37, 38. And that which you sow, you sow not that body that shall be,
but bare grain–perhaps wheat, or of some other grain: but God gives it
a body as it has pleased Him, and to every seed its own body. Every man
shall have his own body. There will be differences and peculiarities,
even as there are here–and we shall, therefore, know each other.

39-42. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh
of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of
birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the
glory of the celestial is one, and the glory ofthe terrestrial is
another. There is one glory ofthe sun, and another glory ofthe moon,
and another glory ofthe stars: for one star differs from another star
in glory. So also is the resurrection ofthe dead. It is sown in
corruption. You know all about that.

42. It is raised in incorruption. What an anticipation for us!

43. It is sown in dishonor. For with all the honor that we can pay to
our departed dear ones, it is a dishonor to them to have to lie encased
in a coffin, in the cold clay of the cemetery. 43. It is raised in
glory. Oh, the splendor of that resurrection!

43. It is sown in weakness. It is so weak that it cannot get into its
own last resting place, but must be tenderly laid there by others.

43, 44. It is raised in power: it is sown a natural body. A soulish
body, a body fitted for the human soul.

44. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there
is a spiritual body. A body fitted for the newborn spirit which is
given in regeneration.

45-48. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first
which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which
is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is
the Lord from Heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy. You and I have every evidence about us that we are earthy!

48. And as is the Heavenly, such are they also that are Heavenly. Glory
be to the name of Christ, we belong to Him and already the Heavenly
light begins to shine upon us! We are getting ready to soon put on the
garments of immortality!

49-51. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the Heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold I show you a mystery; We shall not all
sleep. For some will be here when Christ comes again to this earth.

51-58. But we shall all be changed 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
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is
your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin
and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
Brothers and Sisters, "Let us weep and lament"? Oh, no! That is not the
Apostle's inference. Therefore, let us throw down our weapons and say,
"It is no good to continue the fight, for we must all die"? Far from
it!

58. Be you steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the
lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
' 'You know," because Christ has risen and because you also shall rise
and because there is a reward of Grace laid up in store for you! The
Lord's people may die, but the Lord's Church never dies and the Lord
Himself, the Ever-Living One, it always with us, blessed be His holy
name!