THE SOCIETY OF THE GLORIFIED SAINTS
PHILIPPIANS 1:21
Introduction:
This is the second message based on Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” While the message dealt with living for Christ here and at the death of the believer there is great gain, this message deals with part of what he will experience in Heaven.
This is the second message based on Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” While the message dealt with living for Christ here and at the death of the believer there is great gain, this message deals with part of what he will experience in Heaven.
I. THE DELIGHT OF FREEDOM
A. Freedom from sinful corruption that scars us here such as…
1. Pride, Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22- Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23- All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
2. Envy, James 3:16, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion [Gr., tumult, unquietness] and every evil work.”
3. Censoriousness [to blame or condemn others], II Corinthians 12:20, “For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:”
B. Freedom to know and understand as we are known and understood,
1. To know the love of Christ perfectly, Ephesians 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
2. To know the Lord Jesus face to face, 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
3. To know Jesus face to face, 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
II. THE DELIGHT OF THE RECOGNITION OF OTHERS
A. Peter knew Moses and Elias {Elijah], Matthew 17:3-4, And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4- Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”
B. We will fellowship with the saints of all ages, Matthew 8:11, “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”
III. THE DELIGHT OF PERFECT HOLINESS
A. We will receive the redemption of our body, Romans 8:23, “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 wit, the redemption of our body.”
1. Christ was the firstfruits of the dead, I Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
2. We will follow at His coming, 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23- But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
B. Our body will be fashioned like His glorified body, Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
C. There we find endless comfort.
1. The Believer leaves a wilderness to enter into paradise, the garden of the Lord, Genesis 2:8, “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
2. The Believer changes his complaint into thanksgiving, Psalm 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
3. The Believer leaves his sorrows behind and enters into the joy of the Lord, Jude 24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”
a. Without fault, Revelation 14:4-5, “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5- And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
b. With exceeding joy, 1 Peter 4:13, “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”