Biola Broadcaster - 1973-11

PHIL1PPIANS the Lord (I Corinthians 15:58). One more important thought is the fact that the resurrection is go­ ing to bring an ultimate victory over iniquity and sin. While still in this mortal flesh we are still liable to yield to temptations of many vari­ eties. The liability to sin is always present, and will be until Christ comes again. So certain is this final triumph that it is regarded as al­ ready accomplished in Scripture (Romans 8:30). In that wonderful coming hour there will be no appe­ tite which will cause us to sin. The bitter struggle and agonizing hu­ miliation of wickedness down here will no longer be experienced. We shall be ever free in righteousness (I Corinthians 15:56, 57). Today we are still in the state of expectant im­ perfection. We await the day when Cod will finish His work and bring in the consummation of His great purpose in Christ (I John 3:2). The future, which alone holds the ful­ fillment of all our hopes, is guaran­ teed to us by the resurrection day. That day will be glorious when we see Him (Philippians 3:20, 21). Physical death has always raised tremendous problems for the searching mind of man. Such is uni­ versally regarded as a fearful reality. There is no topic about which peo­ ple are so reticent to speak as that of death. How frequent it is that many people try to evade thinking or talking about death lest in so doing it somehow superstitiously overtakes them or, at least, draws a little closer. No one can postpone his eternal destiny. It is a very dan­ gerous position to assume that we can. From all of the available records there have been only two persons who have gone from this world to

the next without passing through the experience of physical death. They were Enoch and Elijah. The only thing we know about the for­ mer is that he walked with Cod so closely that one day the Lord took him (Genesis 5:24). He had proph­ esied concerning the coming of Christ to execute judgment upon the ungodly (Jude 14, 15). On the other hand much is written about Elijah the prophet. When John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea it was thought that he was Elijah risen from the dead. Later Elijah did appear in per­ son atthe Mount of Transfiguration. He was recognized in body and in person by Peter who wanted to build a tabernacle in honor of the occasion. Elijah represented those who will not pass through death because of the Rapture of believers in a coming hour. Those at this blissful occasion will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (I Corinthians 15:51, 52). Cer­ tainly death is a personal experi­ ence none will escape unless the Lord comes. To the believer, death is certainly not a terrible enemy to contem­ plate but a victorious entry into a new and exciting life of fulfillment which shall never end. It is far more than simply a means of removing us from the distressing experiences which cannot be disposed of in any other way. Yes, there is far more to man's death than simply the work­ ing out of natural law. To consider death as being no more than physi­ cal disillusion is to share the heath­ en view that man is no more than an offspring from the animals. When man appeared on the earth he was something new in the world. Here was a rational and an account-

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