Category: Devotions

TUESDAY February 27^th

1 Corinthians 15:51–53

‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.’

As we continue in these verses, Paul informs us that immediately that the trumpet has sounded and instantaneously in the split second after the cry has been given, we will be changed!

Sorry ladies, there will no fitting rooms where you can take your time! There will be no need for sitting around and waiting men! In a twinkle of an eye we will be changed, transformed, immediately ready to leave this world behind, fitted out and kitted out to enable us to be in the presence of Almighty God. Notice it says ‘raised imperishable’ you cannot get more immediate or quicker than that!

I have recently watched a couple of YouTube clips showing the launching of space craft, and it is incredible the amount of power that is required to enable the lift off, let alone to enable the space craft to break through the atmosphere of the earth and out into space. And when you watch a blast off, it is amazing how fast and how far the space craft can get in just a few seconds. But the power attached to the space craft pales into insignificance when we consider the power of God that will be at work on the day of his coming.

Power to raise, power to transform, power to transport, power to bring us into the presence of God.

Think of it again:

Power to raise  – It doesn’t matter how long ago the believer died, whether one of  the first believers such as Stephen the martyr, way back over 2000 years ago, or the last believer that may have only been buried on the morning when this momentous event takes place, they could have been buried with just a shallow grave or with large slabs of concrete or marble upon the spot, but nothing will stop the power of God, and can I add, even cremation cannot stop the power of God, nor burial at sea, his power is such that he can cause the elements of what we were to be suddenly transformed into what we are going to be! Such is the power of Almighty God.

Power to transform – I quote again from Philippians 3:20-21 ‘But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.’

Power to transport – no time lag, no slow motion, no spluttering, instantly out of the grave and into heaven. This resurrection chapter is so wonderful, it is no wonder it is my favourite chapter, it is no wonder I love to preach from it, it is no wonder I have ended up spending so many devotions going through it—and there are still some verses left, it is no wonder because it is full of wonder. Oh, what a glorious day waits for each one of us who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

MONDAY February 26^th

1 Corinthians 15:51–53

‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.’

We have already considered verse 51 when I was looking at the various ‘mystery’ verses in Paul’s letters, but it is such an incredible statement that it is worth looking at again with the few verses that follow.

What a glorious moment this is going to be when the dead in Christ will be raised and along with the believers who are alive at the time will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

Paul mentions here the sound of the last trumpet which will sound to herald this event, in 1 Thessalonians he expands further by also mentioning the Lord himself descending from heaven with a cry of command as well.

Back in John 14, Jesus had told his disciples that he was going to be leaving them, he would return to his Father and would begin to prepare a place for all who believe on him, and then he said he would come again to take them to be where he was. In Acts when Luke records the ascension of Jesus, he says that two men appeared in white apparel, they were obviously angels from heaven, who said to the disciples that ‘This Jesus’ who they had seen being taken up into heaven, would come again. I recall one writer in a book I read saying something like this: That as Jesus was going up into heaven, he would have passed the angels making their way down to earth as they came to speak to the gazing disciples!

And Jesus will be true to his word, he is coming again, he will come again and the signal that he is about to come to call the Church, those who have died in Christ and the living believers to be with himself will be the trumpet blast and the cry of command.

Back in my time growing up on the farm, one of the things we would do when it was time to feed the animals, especially in the winter months was to get to the gate and call out to them and to make a noise with the food bag and soon the animals would come because they have heard the voice and the noise.

Well, the good Shepherd is going to come to the gate of heaven, he is going to give a good shout out to the Church, and he is going to make a noise with the trumpet and instantly we are going to respond and be found in his presence.

Revelation 1:7 says ‘Behold. He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.’

As you read this devotion, are you ready for when Jesus comes again, have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, and if you have, are you living and looking with anticipation for his coming?

FRIDAY February 23rd

1 Corinthians 15:50

‘I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.’

Paul is making this statement to the believers, and in doing so he is reaffirming what he has just written to them concerning the resurrection body.

Now, although he writes it to the ‘brothers’, it needs also to be said to the unbelieving world. ‘Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the imperishable inherit the imperishable’.

People need reminding that there is only way to enter the kingdom of God, it is not through our own effort, it is not through works, it is not even possible through any other religion, it is only possible through accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, he is the one that made open the way, to give us access into the presence of God. And he made the way possible by coming into this world as a man and he alone has died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day, he alone can forgive sin, he alone can grant eternal life, he alone is coming again for those who have believed in him and he alone is going to raise by the power of the Spirit all those who have died with a personal faith in him. NO one else and no other way.

So anyone who is trusting in anyone but Jesus, anything but Jesus and anything they have done instead of Jesus will never ever know what it is to be raised imperishable, raised in glory, raised in power, and raised a spiritual body, and be found eternally in the presence of God, instead they will be raised to stand before the great white throne, and the verdict will be that they will face the second death, the lake of fire, from which there will never ever be any respite or hope of recovery.

This is serious, and yet sadly so many consider it as foolishness or nonsense, they reject the gospel, they reject the good news of salvation, they reject the only way to make peace with God, they choose to continue in sin and will never unless they repent enjoy all that God has prepared for those that love him.

To all who read the devotions, or listen to the audio version, where do you stand regarding these things? It was to Nicodemus that Jesus said ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’

THURSDAY February 22^nd

1 Corinthians 15:42

‘So is it with the resurrection of the dead.’

Continuing from the previous devotion we come to the fourth point that Paul has made concerning the resurrected body in verses 42-44, ‘it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body’.

Remember the phrase, ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’ this demonstrates to us that the flesh is that which is earthly and because of the fall of mankind and the entrance of sin into the world, the flesh has always been weak, and perpetually holds us back in that which we want to do in spirit, but after the resurrection, the flesh will no longer be, for as Paul later says in this chapter ‘flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God’ v50, therefore the power of the resurrection is such that we are raised with a spiritual body, no longer to be held back with the constraints of the flesh and no longer susceptible to the weakness of the flesh.

In verses 45-49 we read ‘Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.’

Paul is reminding us that the flesh is to do with first Adam, who became a living-being and the spirit is to do with Jesus who became the second Adam. The first Adam was of the flesh, but the second Adam was from heaven.

The wonder of the incarnation and the redemption story is that Christ came from heaven and took on flesh, so that we who are born of the flesh can one day be raised not in the same flesh but raised by the Spirit with a new spiritual body. And just as in the natural we are like the first Adam, in the spirit we will be like the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our human ancestry is from the line of the first Adam, but our spiritual ancestry is through the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, that is of course if you have been born again by the Spirit of God into this wonderful family.

WEDNESDAY February 21^st

1 Corinthians 15:42

‘So is it with the resurrection of the dead.’

Remember Paul was answering the questions that he presupposed would be asked considering the resurrection, ‘How are the dead raised?’ With what kind of body do they come?’ I suppose I would answer this second question this way, ‘The same but different!’ But why?

Well if we look back at the resurrection of Jesus, it was a bodily resurrection, it was the dead body that was taken down off the cross and buried in the tomb that was raised, he was identifiable, he was able to show his scars in his hands and feet and the mark from the spear in his side, and yet it was different, for he no longer had to turn the door handle to open a door to enter a room, he could just appear! John tells us that as the disciples were in a locked room, for fear of the Jews, Jesus suddenly stood among them!

Paul says regarding our bodies that they will be sown as perishable; but raised as imperishable. See the decaying process crept into our bodies as soon as we were born, and the process increases the older we get until we finally die, that is the result of sin, but because of what Christ accomplished at Calvary the power of the resurrection is such that because the sting of death which is sin has been dealt with, we will be raised to the power of an endless life, no longer perishable but imperishable, after the resurrection, death nor decay will have any hold upon us!

So don’t worry about the wrinkles! One day we will all be wrinkle free, why spend vast amounts of money on all the beauty products and treatments that are peddled to suggest we can look better for longer when Jesus has provided something far better for us and it is free! Life everlasting and imperishable!

The second point Paul makes is that we are sown in dishonour, and we will be raised in glory. This is what Paul had written to the Philippian Church in 3:20-21 ‘But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.’

The body that will be buried will have been ravaged and restricted because of sin, but it will be raised in glory, untainted, never to be limited in any way.

The third point is that the body will be sown because of weakness, but it will be raised in power! Wow, it is all good news, imagine never feeling weak, tired, or lethargic again, never succumbing to the weaknesses of the flesh and the temptation of sin again, that will all be gone, and we will have been raised in power.

We will look at the fourth point in the next devotion.

TUESDAY February 20^th

1 Corinthians 15:35

‘But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”’

When I worked in the motor trade as a painter and refinisher, I also did accident recovery, going either to the scene of an accident to recover the vehicles or to fetch and deliver cars that needed repairing or had been repaired. Often it took up my evenings, and if I was going on a lengthy journey, maybe up to two or three hours away, I would ring home and arrange to pick up one of our three sons who loved to come in the lorry with me. But there was a problem, I suppose I would say a good problem, but it could get a little wearing, he loved to talk and ask question after question after question! And I would have to try to answer them. (We used to have to play at being at church as well—we would sing songs and I would have to preach and often a testimony given!)

Well in our verses today Paul is presupposing that someone would now ask a question and they would want it answered. So, he gives the questions and then over the remaining verses he gives the answers.

What is the first question—‘How are the dead raised?’ Well, I am glad I don’t have to answer it, Paul has done that for us, but it is a good question, and he uses logic in verses 36-41 describing what happens in the natural, and then explains it regarding the spiritual, the resurrection in verses 42-49.

Those of us who are regular gardeners always marvel (well I do) at the way that we can place what looks to all intents and purposes a shrivelled up, dead, seemingly useless seed into the soil and then a few days or weeks later, it pushes some shoots up through the ground and eventually becomes a flower or vegetable with a body of its own.

How often have we gone to a funeral and watched the coffin lowered into the ground, and you recall the individual, they may have been elderly or old, they had wrinkled and were perhaps a shadow of what they had been in their younger years and yet the miracle of the resurrection is that the same God who gives life to the seed that I have planted in the soil will also give life to the believer who has been planted into the ground, and what an amazing body it will be on that resurrection day, no longer the old perishable body, but one that will be imperishable. We don’t have to understand it all, remember Paul calls it a mystery, but what is important is that we believe it! Remember that after Jesus had told Martha that he was the resurrection and the life and that all who believed in him would be raised, he said to her ‘Do you believe this?’  Do you?

Romans 8:11 puts it this way, ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.’

MONDAY February 19^th

1 Corinthians 15:32–34

‘What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.’

My few days looking at 1 Corinthians 15 have now taken us into a third week, but hey, it is my favourite chapter, so I’m enjoying myself!

In our verses today Paul makes a quick reference back to the subject of ‘if the dead are not raised’ suggesting that if that is the case, he has fought with beasts for no reason! And he could have made this a much longer chapter by adding everything else that he had suffered for the gospel. ‘Why would I have done all these things if the dead are not raised’.

But he has a reason for mentioning it again, for he uses it to call the Corinthian believers to get serious, to wake up, he wants to give them a good shaking, he would say to them, ‘the dead will be raised, therefore stop messing about and get serious about the things of God. It is eternity that matters not your getting involved with trivial and temporal matters.’

He says, ‘If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.’ In other words ‘if the dead are not raised, do whatever you like’, but the fact that the dead are raised, means that we do not spend our time eating and drinking, we do not spend our time doing whatever we like, for even though we will die, because there will also be a resurrection, we will have to face the judgement seat of Christ.

He obviously has heard or maybe even witnessed among the Corinthian believers those who were half-hearted in their faith, those who were trying to live in the world, possibly involved in immoral behaviour (he tackles this throughout his letters to Corinth) while trying to identify with the Church and Paul says this should not be so, ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’.

Wake up he says, do not go on sinning. In his letter to Ephesus, Paul says to them ‘Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is’ (5:15-17)

May we stay awake and be alert to the tactics of the devil who would love to detract us and to divert us from the things that really matter, our walk with God, our being instructed from his word and of our being in regular prayer and fellowship with other believers.

We need to ensure that we stay away from corrupt company and spend time with those who walk the same road that we are walking, the road that yes, is narrow, but at least it leads to life everlasting.

‘Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night’ Psalm 1:1-2.

FRIDAY February 16^th

1 Corinthians 15:24–28

‘Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.’

How often have we heard those who push the climate change agenda predict how much time is left for this world if we keep going on as we are. At this moment when I am preparing this devotion it is at least minus 5 degrees, and feels even colder, so global warming hasn’t reach Stanley yet! I am not saying we shouldn’t be concerned about the pollution etc, but I want to reassure us that the end of the world is not in the hands of the climate change activists, it is in the hands of the One who created it!

The verses today tell us that the end will come when God has decreed it will be, which will be at the time when he will wrap up his programme for this world, which has been and is being and will continue to be outworked through his incredible plan of redemption.

The end will be when Christ has destroyed every rule, authority and power, that is once Christ has put all his enemies under his feet with the last enemy being that of death. When will that be? Well in Revelation 20 we read that it will be at the same time when all whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire, so also Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire, this is the moment when death, the last enemy will be destroyed, and then it continues in Revelation 21 to say that John ‘saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.’

The activists can throw as much orange paint as they want to, they will not change a single thing, God is control. He created all things; he sustains all things, and he has determined when the end of all things will be. Rather then being activists for climate change, it would be far better taking the time to make sure that one is ready, not so much for this life, but rather eternity, the need is urgent to be right and ready for the life that is to come, by placing faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some other verses that help us understand that God is in control are found in 2 Peter 3, verse 5 tells us that by the word of God the earth was formed and in verse 7 that it is by the same word, that is the word of God the heavens and the earth are being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly.

THURSDAY February 15^th

1 Corinthians 15:23

‘But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.’

Here, Paul lets us know about the resurrection order, we know when the resurrection of Jesus as the firstfruit took place, it was on the third day after his death and his burial, and then it will be the resurrection of those who have come to faith in Christ and have died, this will take place at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Although Paul introduces this for us here, he spends the best part of the rest of this chapter explaining what this resurrection of the believers will be like.

But what about the believers who are alive when Jesus comes again? Well, Paul covers this for us in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica, chapter 4:14-17, where he says this ‘For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.’

At the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the dead in Christ are raised, the living believers will be raptured and together we will be changed. Paul says this later in 1 Corinthians 15 ‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.’ (v51). We will look at what takes place in this momentous moment as we continue going through this chapter.

But what about those who have died as unbelievers? Scripture tells us that they too will be raised at a later time, at the end of the millennial reign of Christ upon the earth, but whereas believers will have been raised to enter into eternal life, unbelievers will be raised to face the judgment at the great white throne and the outcome will be the same for each one of them, they will be cast into the lake of fire, the place that has been reserved for the devil and all his angels, forever separated from the presence of God. (See Revelation 20:7-15)

So for us who are believers, that is those who are ‘in Christ’, the resurrection or the rapture is going to lead to something that is exceptional, and exciting, and eternity, which is out of this world, it will be to be found in the eternal presence of God, but, for unbelievers the news is terrifying, troubling and should cause any who read this devotion that has not yet come to faith to seek to put their lives right with God while there is still time.

There’s going to be a meeting in the air,

In the sweet, sweet by and by,

I’m going to meet you, meet you over there, (That is if you have come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ)

In the home beyond the sky,

Such music there will be never heard by human ear,

‘Twill be glorious I do declare,

For God’s own Son, will be the leading one,

In the meeting in the air!

WEDNESDAY February 14^th

1 Corinthians 15:20–23

‘But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.’

Before we get into the text today, let’s remind ourselves as to why Jesus came into this world, yes, it is as I have been emphasising on a Sunday evening from 1 Timothy 1:15, to save sinners, but what was it that motivated Jesus for want of a better word, to come in this world to save sinners? It was the love that the triune God had for mankind. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16)

It was because of the love of God for fallen humanity that Jesus was willing to come into this world, to live, then to die, to be buried and to rise again, and on this Valentines Day in which the world goes crazy celebrating love, how much more wonderful would it be to celebrate the incredible love of God toward each one of us. Loving us even though we were utterly depraved because of our sinfulness and wretchedness, loving us despite us never having loved him. Loving us enough to step out of the glory of heaven into this sin sick, dark and evil world, loving us enough to bear our sins and our sorrows and to suffer alone at Calvary, loving us enough that he waits to welcome each sinner that repents into his family and because of the resurrection, into his eternal presence.

Our text confirms for us that Christ was the firstfruit of the resurrection, a firstfruit indicating that more fruit would follow, that is because Jesus was raised, all those who have placed their hope in him will one day also be raised, remember the words that Jesus spoke to Martha on the occasion of the death of her brother Lazurus, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’ John 11:25-26.

Yes, because of Adam we will all die, but we do not all need to die in our sin, for Christ has dealt with the sting of death, which is sin, therefore because of Christ we (that is all who believe) will all be made alive again.