October 2007 - Volume 3, Issue 5

In this issue...
-- The Resurrection Body of Christ the Lord (Part 9)
-- Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
-- Ministries contributing generously for Fourth Annual Day with WMI
-- Record month, new milestone on SermonAudio.com

The Resurrection Body of Christ the Lord (Part 9)
By Dr. John C. Whitcomb

"All Israel" shall see their Lord and Savior, first by faith (in response to the preaching of the two witnesses of Revelation 11), and then (more than three years later), by physical sight at His second coming. Soon after that, they will behold Him serving them at the inaugural kingdom banquet! Our Lord told the Jews: "(Be) like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them" (Luke 12:36-37).

Amazingly, the Lord Jesus will do this when He possesses a glorified body, just as He did with His apostles in the upper room before He experienced resurrection glory (John 13:4-5). "The devout German scholar Bengel regarded Luke 12:37 as the greatest promise in all God's Word" (William MacDonald, "Believer's Bible Commentary" [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995], p. 1421).

Just before the glorious second coming of Christ, and the establishment of His long-awaited kingdom on the earth, "the marriage (supper) of the Lamb" will have taken place in heaven (Rev. 19:7-9). This order of events will be patterned after Jewish weddings in Bible times, which occurred in two parts: a celebration in the home of the bride, and then a celebration and consummation in the home of the bridegroom.

Heaven is the home of the bride of Christ, the true church: "Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20). But the earth will be the center of government for the bridegroom: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Three thousand years ago our Lord was told by His Father: "Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession" (Ps. 2:8).

At the great marriage supper in heaven, the bride (the church) will be seen in a new light. All "the hidden things of darkness" will have been brought to light, and our Lord will "make manifest the counsels of the hearts" (1 Cor. 4:5) at the culmination of "the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 14:10; 1 Pet. 4:17-18). "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it" (1 Cor. 3:13).

A voice from heaven will exclaim: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7). How will she do this? "To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. 19:8).

This represents a marvelous synergism (a working together) of God's grace and the believer's obedience. As the apostle Paul explained it: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:12, 13).

Seeing Him in all His glory at the marriage supper is a powerful motivation for godly living now! Paul represented all true Christians as he was "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Tit. 2:13, 14).

To Be Continued...

Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
The leaves are turning their colors this month, and Dr. Whitcomb is getting a chance to see many of them, as his travels this fall, before it is over, will have taken him from New York to Minnesota, and from Maryland to Ohio and Wisconsin. Please pray for his continued safety, health and strength in all of these endeavors.

From Sunday, Nov. 4, to Tuesday, November 6, Dr. Whitcomb will teach at the Trinity Baptist Church and School in Fond du Lac, Wis. For more information, call Pastor Dan Leeds at 920-922-9044, or visit www.trinityfdl.net.

On Wednesday, Nov. 7, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the Immanuel Bible Church in Sheboygan, Wis. For more information, call Julie Nyhuis at 920-458-4979, or visit www.delightintheword.org.

On Friday, Nov. 9, Dr. Whitcomb will be the guest on the "Crosstalk" radio program on the VCY America radio network. For more information, or to listen live or through the archives online, visit www.vcyamerica.org or www.crosstalkamerica.com.

On Saturday, Nov. 10, Dr. Whitcomb will speak for the Fourth Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries, which will be held at the Calvary Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, Wis. For more information, call Paul or Lynnette Scharf at 920-623-0257, or click on "Events" at www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.

On Sunday, Nov. 11, Dr. Whitcomb will preach at the Calvary Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, Wis. For more information, call Pastor Mark Brooks at 262-251-0320, or visit www.calvarytoday.org.

On Monday, Nov. 12, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the Calvary Baptist Christian School in Menomonee Falls, Wis. For more information, call Pastor Mark Brooks at 262-251-0320, or visit www.calvarytoday.org.

From Friday, Nov. 16, to Sunday, Nov. 18, Dr. Whitcomb will preach on creationism at the Heritage Bible Fellowship in Hope Mills, N.C. For more information, call Pastor Boyd Dellinger at 910-717-8172, or visit www.hbffnc.org.

From Sunday, Nov. 25, to Tuesday, Nov. 27, Dr. Whitcomb will speak on creationism at the Lakeland Conservative Grace Brethren Church in Warsaw, Ind. For more information, call Dr. Russell Simpson at 574-268-0458 or 574-267-4808.

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, Dr. Whitcomb will address the Pre-Trib Study Group in Irving, Tex. For more information, call 972-929-8400.

For additional details about these events, please visit our web pages at www.whitcombministries.org and www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.

(*Answers in Genesis-sponsored event. For more information on these conferences, visit www.answersingenesis.org/events.)

Ministries contributing generously for Fourth Annual Day with WMI
Several ministries have graciously contributed materials for the registration packets for the Fourth Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., at the facilities of the Calvary Baptist Church (Main Campus), in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

To name just a few of them, Back to the Bible has given us a supply of their beautiful 2008 Scripture Text Calendars, and Zola Levitt Ministries has added musical cassettes. Still more ministries have given us their recent newsletters or other informative literature. There will also be at least one coupon to a local restaurant in each packet.

Only those who pre-register will be guaranteed to receive a conference registration packet. However, anyone may register for free via telephone, mail, e-mail or the Internet. Online registration is available at www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb, where you can register simply by clicking on "Events."

While there is no cost to attend this conference, a freewill offering will be received during the day to help offset the costs of this high quality event. The theme this year will be, "The Bible: The Christian's Essential Foundation."

For more information, or to request a brochure, call 920-623-0257, e-mail conference@whitcombministries.org, or visit our web pages.

Seating is limited, but registration will remain open until the capacity is filled.

Calvary Baptist Church's Main Campus is located at N84 W16971 Menomonee Ave. For further directions, visit their website at www.calvarytoday.org.

Record month, new milestone on SermonAudio.com
Every day it seems that there is more to praise God for on our pages at SermonAudio.com/Whitcomb.

We recently passed another new milestone - 140,000 sermons listened to or downloaded since broadcasting began there more than four years ago. By God's grace, in 2007 we should also easily break our old record of 45,537 sermons listened to in a year. That mark was set just last year in 2006.

In case you are interested, these statistics are updated each month under "God's Gracious Workings - News and Notes" on our website.

July of this year was a record month for our broadcasts on SermonAudio.com, with 5,198 sermons listened to or downloaded. This surpasses the previous record of 5,135 in November of 2006.

"We realize that the numbers are not of utmost importance," said WMI ministry assistant Paul Scharf. "However, it is wonderful that so many people are hungry for the high quality Bible teaching that we are privileged to broadcast from Dr. Whitcomb and the other speakers."

We now have more than 360 sermons for you to listen to online. They are free and available at all times. We encourage you to make use of these messages in any way that you can.

Please praise God with us for the great response that we are seeing through this Internet outreach.