whenever i approach the subject of the resurrection
as though god were somehow saying take off thy
shoes from off thy feet for the ground whereon
thou standest is holy ground and i bow with uncovered
head in the presence of a subject that is so
wrapped round about with such divine glory, such
majesty, something that is so solemn, so soul
-moving that the greatest minds that the world
has ever known has never been able to fathom
it. its full depth. The glorious resurrection
of the very Son of the living God. And remember,
everything hinges on the personal resurrection
of Jesus Christ. For the Bible says, if Christ
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and
your faith is vain. But believe me, beloved,
I give you the fact upon the authority of God's
word. Jesus did come forth from out of that tomb.
God did raise him from the dead. All we want
to know today is why did God raise him? For what
purpose? What was the reason? Consider with me
the first. He did it to make good the word of
his blessed son. Jesus said that he would come
forth again. If they crucified him, he would
come forth alive. He would be raised from the
dead. And God had to raise him from the dead
to make good the word. of His precious Son, and
to establish once and for all, and beyond all
doubt, to establish the truth of His glorious
divinity. Read it in Romans, the first chapter,
the fourth verse. Christ was declared to be the
Son of God with power by the resurrection from
the dead. If, as the English poet says, the Syrian
stars look down every night upon his grave, how
are you going to explain his repeated claim that
he would rise on the third day except that he
was a liar or a lunatic? If Jesus had not been
raised from the dead, he would have been a liar.
He would have been considered a lunatic. hub
to raise him from the dead, to make good his
precious word. He asked the Jews why they were
stoning him. And they replied, Because you being
a man claim to be God, and you're a blasphemer.
He did claim it. And if he was in his right mind,
it was either so, or it was the very rankest
of all blasphemy. And Jesus said He would prove
it by His resurrection. And God had to raise
Him to make good His Word and so prove Him to
be exactly what He claimed that He was, the very
Son of the living God. And His resurrection proved
that beyond a shade of a doubt. Secondly, He
did it to furnish every believer the God -given
assurance that that believer is justified in
Christ Jesus. That's what the word means when
it says in the fourth chapter of Romans that
Jesus was raised for our justification, your
justification, and my justification. You know,
Jesus said, He came to offer his life as a ransom
for many. That he would die to make atonement,
and he did. But if God had not raised him from
the dead, we never would have known that the
atonement was accepted. And so, he was raised
for our justification. And it doesn't make any
difference how much you have sinned in the past.
You may have broken every commandment. You may
have broken every law. You may be the greatest
sinner in the whole world this very hour. God
will count you righteous for Christ's sake if
you want him to. But there's no way to escape
the damnation of hell. If you turn your back
on Jesus Christ, for your justification must
be in Jesus Christ, the very Son of the living
God. There is no other justification. There is
no other forgiveness for your sin. Therefore,
God had to raise Jesus from the dead to furnish
every believer the God -given assurance that
He is justified in Christ Jesus. Let's go a little
further. He did it to let men know that there
isn't any doubt about the judgment to come. It
was Paul who wrote, God hath appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by Christ Jesus, whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead. had to raise Jesus from the dead to
let men know that there isn't any doubt whatsoever
about the judgment to come. You know, Jesus said
the hour was coming when the dead would hear
his voice and rise. They that had done good unto
the resurrection of life and they that had done
evil unto the resurrection of judgment. Ah, they
laughed. They called him a fool. And God put
his own seal on the claim by raising his son
from the dead. There's nothing more certain in
God's universe today than that there is is a
judgment day ahead. That is one reason why God
had to raise His Son from the dead to do away
with all doubt in the minds of any human being
about the judgment to come. Let's go one step
further. He did it so that everyone united to
Christ Jesus by faith may know that they also
are going to be raised from the dead. Oh, to
me, that's thrilling. Easter means something
that's glorious. I cannot begin to tell you what
I feel this very hour. I wouldn't exchange what
I have in my heart this moment for a title deed
to the whole world. I mean that. I know beyond
a shade of a doubt that because Christ was raised
from the dead, that I too shall live one day
beyond the grave. The grave is not the end. The
death of this old physical body is not the end.
When my old heart will take its last beat, that
will not be the end. It's only the end of chapter
one. The rest of the book is written beyond the
grave. My future is bright. My future is glorious.
The future of God's children living today is
marvelous. And believe me when I tell you, in
this day, the only person living who has a glorious
future, who has a bright future, is the man or
the woman who is God's child who has had that
new birth experience. Do you remember what Paul
said regarding the resurrection? Christ the first
fruits. Afterwards, they that are Christ at his
coming. Do you want to know something? Everything
depends on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Everything. That's the cornerstone upon which
the whole superstructure of Christianity rises.
Undermine it and the whole business drops. The
bottom just falls out. It's the keystone of the
arch. Knock it out and the whole thing falls
with a crash. And it's just like that. If Jesus
Christ did not rise from the dead, how do I know
that he is the way, the truth, and the life?
How do I know that he that believeth on the Lord
Jesus Christ shall be saved? How do I know that
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all
sin? How do I know? that he has gone to prepare
a place for me and that he will come again and
receive me unto himself. How do I know that death
has lost its sting and the grave has been swallowed
up in victory? How do I know that the Spirit
of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead
shall also quicken my mortal body? How do I know?
that when he shall appear I shall be like him.
How do I know that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in me? How do that the
promises of this book are worth any more than
the ink that it took to print them or the paper
that it takes to hold them. If Jesus Christ did
not rise from the dead, then I have nothing to
do but to take a chisel and a hammer and go out
to the grave of my loved ones and chisel away
the beautiful words, I am the resurrection and
the life. and cut in their place the cold, icy,
and heartbreaking words, I do not know. I have
no way to tell. If Christ be not risen, Paul
says, our preaching is in vain, and your faith
is vain also. And of all men are we most miserable.
he did rise they sealed his tomb but it couldn't
hold him he lay there cold and dead in the grave
all earth had given up hope but all heaven knew
better i think gabriel must have said to the
great celestial choir hold your breath a minute
now just a minute you'll need it And as the minutes
of the world's mightiest miracle ticked off,
the breath of God swept through the sleeping
clay, and like a flash of light, his glorious
sun was on his feet again, while heaven's angelic
choir rose tear upon tear and row upon row and
shouted, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Christ is risen.
The Son of God is alive.