Sermon Transcript — September 23, 2006
I think Trumpets is one of my favorite holy days. I don't know about you, but it has such great and significant meaning for all of us in so many ways, in fact I was beginning to count how can the day of Trumpets be talked about? It is many, many ways. There are many, many fulfillments, ranges we've already heard from the return of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the kingdom of God, rule over the nations, change in governments, judicial systems, other systems that we have. There are many, many dramatic changes that we will have in the future, and probably none so great as the change we, ourselves, will experience.
I'd like to share with all of you the story of a citizen of the town of Boston, where I used to live. We lived in Boston many, many years ago. His name was Doctor Samuel Gridley Howe. Some of you may, or may not, have heard of Doctor Howe, but I found his life to be interesting from several different points of view, but particularly in light of this holy day. He was born on November 10, 1801 in Boston. He was educated in Boston's private Latin school. He attended Brown University during the early part of the nineteenth century, 1818-1821.
At that time, Brown University was a Sabbath-keeping school. And many of the graduates went into the ministry, as well as into honorable professions like medical doctor. Doctor Samuel Gridley Howe studied medicine, pre-med at Brown University. He went on to Harvard University where he earned his Doctor of Medicine in 1824. I believe, and maybe this will be shown as we go through his life very briefly, that he did pick up some very interesting principles while he attended Brown University during those important days when the Sabbatarians were very strong in Rhode Island.
He set up practice for a short while in Boston, and then he got very interested as a result of one of his patients in the Greek plight. The Greeks were in a war for independence from the monarchy, and he began to show a great deal of interest in what they were doing, and when he saw and heard about the suffering that was taking place there from his Greek friend, he decided to travel to Greece and see first hand what was going on there. He was a young doctor. He was a bit idealistic, so when he went to Greece, he discovered that there was a great need to tend to the wounded on the battlefield. So he established in Europe the first ambulance corp. He became a doctor, of course, serving the needs of many of those wounded people in the struggle for independence for the Greek people. He became, of course, a surgeon, as he was trained. He worked very hard for about three and a half years before he returned back to Boston. He had a special place in his heart for people who were hurting.
From Boston, as he began to resume his practice, he talked to a lot of his doctor friends, people with means and wealth, and from the East coast of the United States, they began to support the Greek effort. They began to send money, not only for the revolutionary war but particularly for hospitals and clinics to help those people who were less fortunate.
In 1830, he went back to Greece, and he began to build schools, churches before returning to Boston to the people there, in fact, he particularly zeroed in on the island of Corinth, which I thought was pretty interesting, and he built a hospital in Corinth, on the island of Corinth, particularly for those people who'd been exiled, the revolutionaries.
When he came back to the United States, his reputation had gone out as a very compassionate man, a man who was willing to give of his time and energy and effort, and he was asked to head up to be the director of a brand new school starting in Boston. It was named, originally, the New England Asylum for the Blind. He set up this school, but prior to opening its doors, he traveled for a year around Europe looking at all of the schools that had been raised up to help the blind. Most of the cultures in Europe up until then had assigned blind and deaf people to asylums thinking it was some form of demonism.
He discovered several ways that these people could learn and had learned in Europe, and so he came back to the United States in 1832, and he began his hard work as director for the New England Asylum for the Blind. His goal was to give the pupils an education as good as students everywhere, and to prepare them to live completely independent lives. Dr. Howe became a leader in the printing of books for the blind, and he helped develop in the United States the use of raised or what is commonly called, Boston Line Type. Today we call it Braille. Through his efforts, the first Bible in the United States in Braille, an eight-volume edition, was created. And the Bible was now made available to the blind through his efforts.
Shortly after school began, a very prominent colonel, retired colonel, saw his efforts. His name was Colonel Perkins, and he decided to leave his fortune to the school, and today, the school is called the Perkins School for the Blind, and still exists in Boston today. Doctor Howe's legacy remains even after over two hundred years.
His special project at the beginning of the school was an eight-year-old girl named Laura Bridgman. Laura was blind and deaf, and he was determined to develop teaching methods that would help this young lady succeed and be able to lead an independent life. As a result, Laura Bridgman became the first American, the first deaf and blind American child in history to get a full education all the way through the university level. In the process of teaching her, he taught her finger-spelling, which was the finger in the palm, and developed American sign language.
What is ironic about all of Doctor Howe's methods is that as he grew old, and older, in his life, he himself began to grow dim of sight, and finally in his last days, or toward the last decade of his life, he grew almost totally blind. Prior to his blindness he married a young woman, an American writer by the name of Julia Ward. They married in 1843. Julia Ward supported her husband in his work, and they became a famous couple in the Boston area. In fact, Julia wrote a song, I should say a poem, that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862.
If you'll turn to page 156 in your hymnals, that poem was matched with an old folk melody, and it created a song entitled, "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Now Julia Howe was related to Samuel Ward who was the first Sabbatarian governor of the state of Rhode Island. So I think we begin to see, as I'm now speculating, because I searched and couldn't find anywhere where Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe or his wife, Julia Howe were Sabbatarians, but they certainly had that influence, having attended Brown University, and having been related to those early Sabbatarians in Rhode Island. But I'd like you to notice the first verse of page 156, the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Now think about this. Julia wrote this for her husband, who was growing dim, who had worked with all of the blind people in this Perkins School for the Blind. "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." When you understand the significance of the poem, and the writer, and her history, I think it, to me, it adds so much more meaning to this hymn. "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Her husband had seen so much suffering in his life; he'd dedicated his life to the handicapped. He'd dedicated his life to those less fortunate all of his life. And yet even as his life grew towards its dimming years, he himself grew blind, and his wife encouraging him said, "Remember, my husband, your eyes have seen the glory of the coming Lord."
Let's turn to Romans 8. This day has a great deal to do with the glory of the coming of the Lord. And it's not just the glory of the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, it is the glory that we will receive at His coming. And I want to talk about it. And I believe that Julia Ward was trying to encourage her husband with these words in the form of a verse or a poem to remind him of such. That poem matched with that hymn became so famous in the United States of America that it was adopted as, if you will, the unofficial anthem for the Union army during the Civil War. It's a song we're all familiar with. I certainly hope it will have more meaning to all of us now that we know a little bit about the history of that song. Let's go to Romans 8:16.
Romans 8:16 – I'd like to examine a little more closely today the vision that is this window through which we must view our role in the Feast of Trumpets and beyond. The knowledge of the return of Christ and what that would bring has motivated many, many thousands upon thousands of people throughout history. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Wow, what a statement. We are children of God.
Verse 17 – and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. . . This is very critical to our examination today about the meaning of this holy day and glorification, the glory of Christ because we are joint heirs with Christ. I'm going to pursue that today a little bit in our study of the scriptures. What does that mean to us? Joint heirs with Christ. What doles it mean to us personally? What was it that inspired Julia Howe in the those encouraging words to her husband. What was it that inspired him to keep going and serving people, sometimes without remuneration. . . .heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. The Greek word for "glorified" is interesting. It's sundoxazo, which literally means to exalt in the company of many, to be raised up and exalted. Most of us probably haven't been to a banquet where we're going to be honored. That's the comparison the commentator used. He said if we were invited to a banquet, and we were the guest of honor, and we were to be honored, brought up to the head table, put in the middle of the head table, deeply respected and honored, that's what this word means. We will be honored together with Christ
Verse 18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And that's the glory I believe that Julia Ward Howe was talking about when she wrote that poem for her husband.
Verse 19 – For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Like I said, this is one of my favorite holy days because I look forward to the time when my destiny will be revealed, when your destiny will be revealed. When the destiny of all saints who have ever lived will be revealed, all those that God has ever called and worked with beginning with Abel until today. That's what Trumpets means, it's going to be the revelation of the glory of the change that we'll experience at the return of Jesus Christ.
Verse 20 – For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope. Everything around us in our creation is constantly deteriorating, isn't it? Constantly going through its cycle of life. That's one thing that my wife and I had not planned on when we first moved here. We were moving from Southern California to Ohio, and we were amazed that you could buy properties with land here. In California, you're six feet away from your neighbor, and you build high fences to keep him out, try to keep your privacy. For years I lived in California, my neighbor's phone would ring, and I would pick up my phone. We were that close. So when we had the opportunity to move to Ohio, we said, "YES! We're going to be able to get a little more land, a little more space." So we bought a piece of property that's nearly an acre. Big mistake. Big mistake. We do have privacy, but what we've noticed about Ohio is things grow much faster here than they do in California, and we feel like we're in a constant battle to beat away the jungle that keeps trying to encroach from our neighbor's yard onto ours, from our backyard that we thought was so beautiful. It's just teaming with life, and it keeps moving up, and it recycles, doesn't it? Plants grow, and then they fall over and die, and that creates fertilizer for the next plant, and it grows. It's just this constant mess, and like I said, we feel a little like the lion tamer out there with my chair and whip beating off the jungle, going out there with my clippers to clip again and trim again, keep the jungle away otherwise, it would just keep growing and growing into our house and join us. So, I'm getting smarter as I live here in Ohio, thinking about moving into a condominium now. Somebody else can battle the jungle.
But when you look at creation around you, even if it's something as simple as our backyards, we recognize this cycle of decay that takes place. Things are constantly living and then dying, living and dying. But it was subjected in hope, it says at the end of verse 20. The hope of what? What we've been talking about, the hope of glory. The hope of the resurrection. The hope of a world where things DON'T live and die, live and die..
Verse 21 – because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption. . . bondage of that dying. We see that cycle played out in our own lives, in our own families, don't we?
I visited my father this past week who had a minor stroke. He's doing well. He's improving. Earlier this month, he just turned eighty-six, and my mother and I sat down and had a serious conversation about death and dying, the cycle comes, plays through, we grow older. I think eighty-six is a very full life. I told my dad I hope I can live as long as you and be as bright as you and still have that same sense of humor that the Registers have. I hope that can happen to me at eighty-six. But we all know that eventually we will die. If Christ doesn't return in our lifetime, we will die. Our parents will die. I talk to my peers and we're in that cycle of life where our parents are dying. The cycle continues. We're subject to corruption, and when we see our parents die, even though it's sad, I think we're reminded of the cycle that we too will go through. Nobody's been able to escape it yet. . . .from the bondage of corruption. . . The cycle of life and death. . . .into the glorious liberty of the children of God. By contrast, what is going to happen when Christ returns? We're going to be born into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Verse 22 – For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Verse 23 – Not only that, but we also (who) have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, that is the redemption of our body. Today reminds us how eagerly we should look forward to that day. And as we get older, the more eager we are, I've noticed. It seems like several times a year my friends, who are also growing older, like the McCradys, send us things on the internet to remind us of our aging, and they're usually the old stuff, but this came through and I hadn't read it before. It reminded me again of my aging, the cycle of aging. I thought I would share some of it with you.
Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, "How old was your husband?"
"Ninety-Eight," she replied. "Two years older than me."
"So you're ninety-six," the undertaker commented.
She responded, "Hardly worth going home, isn't it?" (Laughter from the audience.)
Reporters interviewing a hundred and four-year-old woman said, "And what do you think is the best thing about being a hundred and four?"
She simply replied, "No peer pressure." (Laughter from the audience.)
"I've gotten very old. I've had two by-pass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine. I take forty different medications that make me dizzy, winded and subject to blackouts. I have bouts with dementia. I have poor circulation, hardly feel my hands and feet anymore, can't remember if I'm eighty-five or ninety-two, have lost all my friends, but thank God, I still have my driver's license! (Laughter from the audience.) Well, think about that when you go out of here today and get in your cars.
"I feel like my body's gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour, but by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over. (Laughter from the audience.)
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be, also my memory's not as sharp as it used to be. (More laughter.)
And finally, these days, about half of the stuff in my shopping carts says, "For fast relief."
We're all reminded constantly of the cycle, aren't we? We're all getting older, aren't we? Let's drop down to Romans 8:28.
Romans 8:28 – For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. . . We know that God's got something special for us, even though we are growing older. Even though we hear about prayer requests. Even though we know that none of us will escape what is eventually the end of all man. . . .to those who are called according to His purpose.
Verse 29 – For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son. . . this is interesting word image here, in the Greek, it's eikon, from which we get the word, icon which means "likeness." We're going to be changed into the likeness of His Son, . . .that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. We are the children of God. We will be changed into the likeness of His Son. That's what I would like to pursue a little bit today in the time that I have remaining is, what will it be like to be born into the likeness of Jesus Christ, into the glory of the family of God?
This vision should motivate us; it should inspire us; it should encourage us as it has so many in the past to keep on going and remaining loyal to God. Let's go to I Corinthians 15. This is of course, the resurrection chapter. One of three, Revelation 20, I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15. I'd like to begin reading in I Corinthians 15:35.
I Corinthians 15:35 - But someone will say. . . This is one of the questions that I've had. . . ."How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" And that's the question I want to address today – what will our glorified body be like? As I said, we just read several hints from the book of Romans that we're going to be in the image of Christ, eikon. We're children of God. We're going to be joint heirs with Christ. Let's begin reading here, and then we're going to go to some of the gospels and see how Christ was in His glorified state, and we'll learn something about the characteristics that our glorified bodies will possess. Let's drop down to I Corinthians 15:41.
I Corinthians 15:41 - There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
Verse 42 – So also is the resurrection of the dead. . . Of course, Paul here is describing different resurrections, some to spirit, some to physical. The first resurrection is for us, and it will be a spiritual resurrection. The body is sown in corruption. . .We just read about that and described it. . . . and it is raised in incorruption.
Verse 43 – It is sown in dishonor, . . . It doesn't take long for a body to deteriorate, does it? . . . it is raised in glory. And this is the same word we talked about before, sundoxazo, which means to be esteemed among our brethren. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
I sat at the bedside of Mrs. Dolores Dennis a couple of years ago, a matriarch of the Los Angeles church. She was a hundred and two. She had gotten sick and recovered many times, of course, like all of us, but at a hundred and two, I was sitting beside her bedside, and she looked at me and she said, "You know, Mr. Register, I'm just getting tired. And I feel weak. And I don't want to fight anymore."
And I said, "I can understand that. And at a hundred and two, it's okay to feel weak and tired." And later that day, she died after a hundred and two years. It is sown in weakness, but it (is) will be raised in power.
Verse 44 – It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. We're beginning to get into characteristics of the glorified body. In fact, I have narrowed it down, just for my purposes because I like lists, to fifteen characteristics we're going to go through today. Fifteen characteristics of the glorified body, what it will be like to be born into the family of God.
Characteristic #1 we read over here in I Corinthians 15:42 is incorruptible. Again, I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the day that my body will stop deteriorating. Stop being subject to corruption, when I won't have to worry about gray hair coming, or the loss of hair. I won't have to worry about my waist starting to swell, even though when I was thirty-five, up until I was thirty-five, I couldn't seem to gain weight. And now I can't seem to keep it off. I see a lot of you out there nodding. It's too early in the day to go to sleep, you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you? I'm looking forward to an incorruptible body, one that is not subject to the corruption of decay of this life.
Secondarily, again we read this word "glory" in I Corinthians 15:43. As the sons and daughters of God, we will be glorified, which means lifted up and honored and given great respect for the trials we endured, for the character we've built, for the acts of pure religion that God's spirit inspired us to perform. We will be lifted up and honored and respected among our peers, glorified, exalted. Verse 43 also talks about power. We will have power, and God is testing our character now to see what we will do with that unlimited power that comes, and we're going to see some examples of that in just a moment when we get into the gospels. We will be given power. I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel powerless.
Oftentimes as a minister, when I'm called to someone's bedside, and they're suffering from a chronic disease, perhaps a terminal disease, I pray and wish many times that I had the power to just say, "Rise up and walk, be healed of that problem, that malady, that discouraging debilitating disease." Power can be used in a very positive way, or a negative way, and God is testing us now to see how we will react to having power, true power, again, we'll get into that a little bit later.
Verse 44 – It is sown a natural body, but (it is) raised a spiritual body. . . Changed from physical to spirit; that is immortal. Sometimes, hard for us to wrap our minds around that.
Verse 45 – And so it is written,"The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam that is Christ . . .(became) being a life-giving spirit. John 6:40, I won't turn there, Christ says that God had given Him power to resurrect, and He would resurrect at the last day. When Christ returns, one of the greatest acts that He's promised to do is to resurrect and to give eternal life to His sons and daughters.
Verse 46 – However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. We all have to go through this physical life first.
Verse 47 – The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
Verse 48 – As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as (is) the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. Again, we're going to be in the eikon, the image, we're going to follow in the pattern of the glorification of our elder Brother, and the One with whom we share as fellow-heir, Jesus Christ.
Verse 49 – And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Speaking, of course, of Christ. Let's go back to Luke 24, as I said. Let's look at a few of these examples.
Luke 24:13 – Remember, we're going to be looking for characteristics of what the glorified body, Christ has now been resurrected. He's been glorified by the Father. He's now returned to spend some time with His disciples, who are all physical. So, He's the glorified body who's now returning to the physical world, and I think by reading some of these gospel accounts we're able to glean some characteristics of what the glorified body will actually be like. So far, we know it's going to be incorruptible. It's going to be glorified. We're going to have unlimited power, to do good things, and it's a spiritual body; it's not a physical body, but it can be viewed as though it were a physical body as we shall see here. Let's begin in Verse 13:
Luke 24:13 – Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
Verse 14 – And they talked together of all these things which had happened. Again, speaking about the death and the resurrection of the Savior.
Verse 15 – And So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
Verse 16 – But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know who He was....didn't know Him. What does that mean? Well, I believe that as Christ had the power to personify Himself into physical form, He could have presented Himself in a form that didn't look like He looked when He lived on the earth. We would have that kind of power.
Verse 17 – And He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that (you have) you're having (with one) one with another as you walk and talk (are sad)? And why are you so sad?"
Verse 18 - And one said (Then the one) whose name was called Cleopas. . ."Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem. . ." Like, on what earth have you been? Where have You been that You didn't know what's happened here in the last few days.
Verse 19 – And He said to them, "What things?" And so they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.
Verse 20 – "and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
Verse 21 – "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel." We thought He was going to be the promised king. We thought He wasn't going to have to come back twice for a second coming to be the king we were looking for. "( Indeed, besides all this,) and today now is the third day or after three days since these things happened.
Verse 22 – "Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
Verse 23 – " And When they did not find His body, they came saying that they (had also) also had seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.
Verse 24 – "And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women (had) said; but Him they did not see."
Verse 25 – And (Then) He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Verse 26 – "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" Here's that word again. Important to note, I think.
Verse 27 – And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Verse 28 – And (Then) they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.
Verse 29 – But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And so He went (in) to stay with them.
Verse 30 – (Now) And it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, and (that) He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Verse 31 – (Then) their eyes were opened and they knew Him. . . He transfigured Himself to a form that they could recognize because they were disciples of His. . . .and then He vanished from their sight.
Verse 32 – And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
Verse 33 – So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered there (together).
Verse 34 – saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
Verse 35 – And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. So there's other characteristics, we're going to add to our list of four.
Number 5 is the glorified body can change appearance.
How might this be an advantage? I can think of several. But one for sure I can think of is, I'm looking forward to a second resurrection, I don't know about you, because of family and friends that have been lost. In 1965 my younger brother died. He was twelve at the time. When he died, and when he's resurrected, I should say, he will remember me as a seventeen-year-old sibling. I don't know about you, but I don't look like I'm seventeen today. I look like I've got a little hard mileage and hung up wet, as they say, since I looked at seventeen.
During the time of the second resurrection, I would like to be able to personify myself to my younger brother as a seventeen-year-old Dave Register so that he could recognize me and be able to relate to me. I think you can begin to see there are advantages to being able to change your appearance. And we will have that power as a glorified being.
We see here that He talks, eats and drinks with his disciples. Have you ever wondered if a spirit being can eat, and if he eats, what is it like? Does he put something in his mouth, chew on it and it falls on the ground? Maybe you hadn't thought about it before. I don't know. But a spirit being has the ability to eat, and to drink and to converse with physical human beings and other spirit beings, obviously. We're looking forward to a wedding supper where Christ has prepared some incredibly wonderful wine to share with us. Because He said, "I will not drink of the vine until that day." I don't know about you, but I've tasted some pretty nice wines. But they will not even begin to compare with that wine we will enjoy at the wedding supper. And as a spirit being, I dare say, you and I will be able to enjoy it. To really enjoy it, to enjoy a fine meal. There are other scriptures where Christ met with His disciples on the seashore and prepared a meal for them, and ate with them as a spirit being.
So, number six, we see that spirit beings can talk and eat and drink.
Number seven, they can appear and disappear at will. It says in Luke 24:31, He vanished. He could appear and disappear at will. I can see definitely some advantages in that; can't you? Especially working with people. I think of Isaiah where it records in the millennial context that a voice will appear behind them saying, "No, don't go that way. This is the way. Go this way." And if the spirit being can appear and disappear, and we can appear suddenly and save someone from making a dastardly, horrible mistake in their lives. Could we not? As a glorified being, we can appear and disappear at will. Because if you're spirit, you have that power, and there's no radar gun that can trace your speed because it can be done instantaneously at a thought. All it takes is a thought. All it will take is a thought.
And we see here that Christ was teaching. We will be able to teach and reach people where they are. As I've been studying education more and more the last several months, I realize that teaching is really a very difficult challenge in so many arenas because so many people learn at different levels and in different ways.
Christ had the ability as a physical human being and certainly as a spirit being to be able to teach in a way that it could get to people that they would understand it and receive it. We will have that ability as spirit beings to be able to teach in a way that people will understand, not just hear but understand. Let's go down to Luke 24:36. We'll pick up a few more characteristics.
Luke 24:36 – And Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them. . ." He appears suddenly again, out of nowhere, and says, ". . .Peace to you."
Verse 37 – But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.
Verse 38 – And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do you doubt (doubts arise in your hearts)?
Verse 39 – "Behold My hands and My feet that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. " He says, "Look, a ghost wouldn't have this."
Verse 40 – And (When) He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
Verse 41 – And (But) while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Do you Have (you) any food here?"
Verse 42 - And (So) they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.
Verse 43 – And He took it and ate it in their presence.
Verse 45 – And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. More characteristics of the glorified body.
Number Nine, as I'm reading it here. The glorified body can be recognized by others, or if you want it to be recognized by others, they will recognize us as we were, perhaps even with scars and moles and birthmarks, if that would be helpful in them identifying you. The glorified body can be recognized by others. The glorified body can be felt and touched if the glorified body so desires. And the glorified body has the power to open minds to understand. This, in my opinion, is one of the most wonderful miracles that the glorified body will possess. As sons and daughters of God, we will be able to open people's minds so that they can understand. Notice Verse 49.
Verse 49 – "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, but stay awhile (tarry) in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with that power from on high."
Verse 50 – And He led them out as far as Bethany and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
Verse 51 – And Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into the heavens.
Verse 52 – And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Verse 53 – and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.
Characteristic number twelve, we see here, the glorified body can rise into heaven and descend back to earth with lightning speed, with lightning speed, I might add. Again, it only takes a thought. Let's go to John 20, back just a few pages. Read another example, and see some other characteristics here, John 20:26. Again, the account is after Christ had been resurrected and glorified. It says:
John 20:26 – (And) after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you." They had shut and locked the doors, but suddenly He appears in the middle of their presence. "Peace to you."
Verse 27 – And (Then) He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. And Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
Verse 28 – (And) Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
Verse 29 – And Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Which includes you and me. We believe in His divinity based on faith.
Verse 30 – And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book.
Verse 31 – but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. So once again, we see very clearly that the glorified body has the power to perform miracles and signs. We have the power; we will have the power to perform miracles and signs. And again, I don't know about you, but I would love nothing more than to be able to perform miracles and signs for the good of people.
I want to share with you the story of a good friend of mine, who lived in Boston for many years. His wife was not a member of the church, and I used to go visit him at work. We'd oftentimes visit in the lunchroom at work. He worked at the Polaroid Corporation in Boston. He was in his late forties when I used to visit him at work. One Sabbath as the opening song service was beginning, my friend, his name is Rod, had a massive stroke. He actually collapsed at the beginning of our song service one Sabbath morning.
We called an ambulance. The ambulance took him to the hospital, and I followed to the hospital. There, his wife had been called, and she met me at the door. He was in the examining room, and the doctor came out and said that he'd had a massive stroke. They had a new drug that could break up the clot that had jammed in his junction box of all the nerves at the back of his brain. It was an experimental drug, and he told Rod's wife that if the drug worked, the clot would be broken up and then it would go into hundreds of little clots into the brain, and they wouldn't know the extent of the damage, but his life might be spared. If she decided that the drug should not be administered, he would die. He was basically a dead man laying on the table. And they only had moments before this decision had to be made. She asked me what I thought. I said, "You know, I really don't know." And I tried to explain to her what Rod's view of death and the resurrection was.
Well, she decided to have the drug administered after we had prayed about it, and Rod survived. The clot broke up, and the little clots went into his brain, and to make a long story short, he ended up being up what is called, "locked in." The little strokes that happened in his brain rendered him totally paralyzed and unable to move any limbs, unable to move anything except his eyelids. He was called in a "locked in" state. In other words, his mind worked fine; it's just that his body didn't function any more. It took them several months, the doctors testing him to find out that his mind was indeed intact because, of course, he couldn't respond. He couldn't respond verbally, couldn't respond with his hands, or his arms, or his fingers, the only response he had was to blink once for "yes," two for "no." They even had to train him through physical therapy to do that.
And I used to visit Rod on a regular basis, once I learned how to communicate with him because it was very challenging to be able to phrase questions so that there was a "yes" or a "no" answer because he couldn't answer any other way. And even in the crisis of 1995, Rod made it obvious that he wanted to be a part of the United Church of God. He had his stroke in about 92, as I believe, if I'm remembering it correctly.
And I once asked Rod, I said, "Rod, if you had the choice to make yourself, and you could go back to 1992, when you had that stroke, would you have chosen to die then? Because he lived another nine years in that state of being "locked in." I asked him, "Would you have preferred to die nine years ago, or prefer to live these nine years?"
And he told me he would have preferred to live. He's glad she made that decision. I found that remarkable, because I think at that point, I might just like to die, you know. Who wants to live for nine years in a "locked in" state?
He still could experience pain. One time, his arm fell off the bed onto a radiator. His arm burned. He was still in pain, but he couldn't yell out. Couldn't respond in any way. The nurses finally smelled him burning. They came and rescued him. Every year he lived through the agony of pneumonia because he was on his back. He lived through bed sores. All of which were causing pain, but he couldn't even express himself. He couldn't cry out. He couldn't give a hand signal. He was "locked in."
Well, I tried to phrase questions to ask him. Why would he want to do this? Why would he want to continue in this state? And I went through all the different, you know – could it be this – could it be that, you know, trying to get a "yes" or a "no" answer out of him. And I finally realized that he felt he was still building character and preparing himself for the family of God, which he needed to do. He didn't feel like he'd been ready nine years earlier. He still felt as though he was building character and preparing himself to be glorified as one of the children of God, those nine years that he was "locked in." He was a loyal member to the church. His wife was very loyal to him all those nine years, came to visit him every day in the hospital. His son, who at the time of his stroke was eleven, saw his dad all the way through his advanced teenaged years. He was able to maintain that relationship, again, in a "locked in" state, which many of us probably wouldn't want to live through. I am sure Rod . . . is looking forward to the time when his body will be changed in match with that character that he's developed, even those nine years in that "locked in" state here on earth.
So we learn from John 20 that the glorified can perform miracles and signs. In John 21 we read of more miracles of the fish, the food, creating fire, providing for human needs. Let's go back to Psalm 16. I really want to wind down, Psalm 16, when I realize that I'm the only thing standing between you and lunch right now. I believe here we see that these are the words penned by King David, the final thoughts of Jesus Christ, perhaps even while he was eking out his last breaths as a human being on the stake.
Psalm 16:9 – Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.
Verse 10 – For You will not leave my soul in Sheol (or the grave) nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
Verse 11 – You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; and at Your right hand are pleasures evermore (forevermore).
Characteristic Number fifteen of the glorified body is that it will allow us to experience pleasures evermore and fullness of joy. We have times in our lives when we're full of joy. We're very joyful. We're very happy, but I believe that we will not receive fullness of joy and know what fullness of joy and true happiness and pleasures evermore are really all about until we have our glorified bodies at the return of Jesus Christ and at the first resurrection. Let's go to Philippians 3 to conclude this morning, or this afternoon, now.
Philippians 3:20 – For our citizenship is in heaven. . . which is why we do not get involved in the politics of our world. We do not join the ranks of the military in our world, because our citizenship is in heaven. We're looking forward to something much greater. . . . from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 21 – who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. I hope we can truly say as we're reminded this day as Julia Ward Howe wrote for her husband in that poem. "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Brethren, may God give us the vision of the hope of glorification. That is the window that will allow us to serve God and humanity for all eternity.