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Well, thanks to Paul and to our musicians this morning for a wonderful celebration of

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Easter. Would you like just to say thank you to them?

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Thank you.

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And now I invite you to open your Bible with me to the book of 1 Corinthians, the 15th

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chapter. On Easter Sunday mornings we give extra time to music because it allows all

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of us to celebrate in such a wonderful, united way the resurrection of Christ. As we turn

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now to the Word of God, we see one of the many texts dealing with the truth of the resurrection.

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I'm going to read 26 verses. I'm going to begin with verse 1, 1 Corinthians 15.

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Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received

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and in which you stand, by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which

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I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all

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that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

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and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

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and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. After that he was seen by over five

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hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have

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fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all

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he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles,

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who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But

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by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored

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more abundantly than they all, yet not I but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore,

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whether it was I or they, so we preach, and you believed.

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Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you

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say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead,

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then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, and

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your faith is also vain. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified

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of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not

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rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,

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your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep

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in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men

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the most pitiable.

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Now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen

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asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For

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as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own

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order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. Then comes

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the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule

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and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.

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The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

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There are two questions I want to pose this morning as we think about the resurrection.

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The first is, is it true? And then secondly, what does it mean to you and me? What if it's

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not true? Have you ever allowed that question to be raised in your own heart? Most thinking

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people have at some point in their lives had that question at least cross the mind. What

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if it's not true? What are the consequences of Christ not being raised from the dead?

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What if it isn't true? Paul in an outline fashion really gives us at least seven consequences

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that come to the human race if the resurrection did not occur. The first is that Christ, the

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human faith, is in vain. We have believed a fairy tale. Our faith is in vain and we

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are still in our sins, he says. That's consequence number one.

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Number two, the New Testament, which testifies that Christ was raised from the dead, was

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written by liars, people who are false witnesses. Number three, if Christ is not raised, then

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the dead have perished and they will never be seen again. They will not be raised.

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Fourth, if Christ is not raised, then this life is all there is. There is no reason to

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suffer as a Christian. And as he suggests later in the chapter, what we ought to do

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is to eat and drink and live life to its fullest because there's nothing beyond this. If Christ

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is not raised, verse 23 he suggests that if Christ is not raised then there surely will

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not be a return of Christ. We need not think about his coming again.

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Number six, Christ's kingdom will never come. Not only will he not come to the earth, but

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there will never be a kingdom of Christ upon the earth. And finally, if Christ be not raised,

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he tells us that evil has no final disposition. There is no final reckoning of rights and

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wrongs that have occurred in the history of the world.

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I think you would agree with me that those consequences would make life in this kind

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of a world intolerable and unbearable. One man tells about his first year in seminary

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in which he took a course called the resurrection narratives. As a part of the course, they

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studied the text of the Bible, the scholarly books written about those texts, and various

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essays on the resurrection and what we should believe about it. And then one day he said

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our professor came into class quite shaken. His closest friend had died that afternoon

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of a heart attack. And he said, brothers and sisters, after all the arguments and debates

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are over, I believe in the resurrection because without it life makes no sense. And that's

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true. But do we believe in the resurrection only because without it life makes no sense?

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Or because life would be unbearable if Christ were not raised? Is there any historical evidence

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to point to the resurrection? Well, the answer to that of course is yes. There is in the

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first place the empty tomb that cannot be accounted for. His body could not be found.

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And had the enemies of Jesus taken his body and secretly hidden it somewhere else, they

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surely would have brought it out when the notion of his resurrection began to be talked

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about. And then Paul in this chapter lists for us the numerous appearances of Christ.

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He catalogues them for us as it were. And says that hundreds of people saw him on one

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occasion at least. And that many of those people when he wrote this book 20 years later

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were still alive and talking about having seen Jesus Christ after he had been crucified.

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Then there was the supernatural confirmation of the angels who spoke to various individuals

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on that Easter Sunday and said, He is not here, he is risen as he said. Go and tell

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his disciples. And then we have the proof of his transformed apostles who at the end

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of Good Friday were hiding in fear for their lives. But who after the first day of the

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week, the day of his resurrection, were absolutely changed men and women. Because they had seen

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him, he was alive, they were different forever. If the historical record is honestly examined,

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then the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only logical explanation for

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these evidences that we have talked about. It is true. But what is the meaning to us?

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Let me suggest four that arise out of the text in 1 Corinthians 15.

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Because it is true that Christ is risen, you have a gospel that will save your soul. The

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word gospel means good news. There is good news for us today, the race of Adam. It is

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the news that we can be saved. Paul writes to these believers in Corinth and he says

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to them, by this gospel you are saved. This gospel. There is only one by the way. It is

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God's gospel. It is the good news that he has brought to us of his love and saving grace

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through Jesus Christ his son. There is no other gospel in the world that will save but this

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one. It is God's. There was a certain man who wanted to destroy Christianity and to

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replace it with a religious system of his own. But he failed to interest anyone in following

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him. He complained about that to one statesman in his nation in France. And asked how he

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might be able to create such a religion and the man replied, go and be crucified and then

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raise yourself from the grave the third day. That is how to do it. Jesus Christ was crucified,

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buried and rose again from the dead according to the scriptures and all of this for our

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sin. You and I have a gospel that can save our souls when we believe it.

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Paul uses several other words here to help us understand what it means to believe. He

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says it means to receive it. To take it to yourself alongside of yourself. To make it

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something authoritative to you. He says further that it is the same as standing. He says you

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stand in this gospel. When you stand on something you believe it is going to hold you. I stand

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on this platform today because I believe it is going to hold me. So when we believe the

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gospel of Jesus Christ we are willing to place our weight on it. We are willing to entrust

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our souls to it. What does it mean that Christ is risen? It means that you have a gospel

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that will save your soul. Secondly, it means that you have a purpose that will fulfill

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your life. Paul speaks about his past. Candidly he says I persecuted the church of God. I

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am not worthy to be even called an apostle. He says by the grace of God I am what I am.

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Because Christ is risen from the dead he is able to take the wreck, the ruin of our past

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lives, to transform us and to give us a brand new purpose in this world. For Paul it was

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the purpose of being an apostle. One who would go out and declare the gospel to others who

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had never heard. While we may not be called to be apostles. The fact is that because Christ

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is risen from the dead God calls us to a purpose in life. There is meaning to it all. There

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is sense to life. There is a reason for living. We have the mighty working of the Holy Spirit

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to change us inwardly and to empower us. There is a great word that is popular these days.

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It is one of the buzz words. To empower people. God has empowered us by the Holy Spirit. We

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have the calling and the purpose of God and his spirit within us because Christ is risen.

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What does the resurrection mean to you? Thirdly, it means that you have a hope that will transform

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your body. Paul says Christ is the first fruits. Now that is a biblical term. Meaning that

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he is the first of many to follow. He is the prototype as it were. He is the first fruits.

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And he says that those who are Christ are going to be like him one day. As in Adam we

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all died. He says so in Christ we will be made alive. Resurrected. He describes it later

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in this chapter in more detail. Much more detail. Talking about the kind of body it

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will be. And the fact that not all of us will die before we get that kind of body. Because

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he is risen you have a hope that will transform your body. For most of us that is pretty good

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news because we are beginning to realize that these bodies aren't going to make it out

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of this world alive like they are now. They are falling apart. They are dying slowly.

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All of us are terminal. Did you know that? But the fact is that because Jesus is risen

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we have a hope that will transform our bodies. Benjamin Franklin may have been a deist but

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he had some belief in the resurrection. He wrote his own epitaph and penned these words.

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The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer. Like the cover of an old book, its contents worn

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out lies here food for the worms. But the work shall not be lost for it will, as he

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believes, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition revised and corrected by its

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author. How different is the last statement of Socrates who when he was dying was asked

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by his friends, shall we live again? This great philosopher could only reply, I hope

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so. Sir Walter Raleigh was a wonderful Christian and was beheaded for his convictions. In his

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Bible the night before he was executed he wrote these words, from this earth, this grave,

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this dust, my God shall raise me up. Because Christ is risen you too have a hope that will

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transform your body. Because he has been raised you will be raised to be like him forever.

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And finally for this morning, because Christ is risen you have an assurance that will preserve

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your patience. Do you ever get almost overwhelmed by what you hear in the news? Do you ever

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get to the point of becoming almost discouraged because it seems that wrong is forever on

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the throne and truth is on the scaffold? You and I, because Christ is risen, have an assurance.

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An assurance that preserves our patience in this world to live godly lives. That assurance

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is that one day there is going to be a final reckoning and all of the injustices, oppressions

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and cruelties that go unanswered in this world will be set right. Jesus Christ will reign

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until all his enemies have been put down. And it says the very last enemy that shall

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be destroyed is death. You can read about it in Revelation. You and I have an assurance

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that one day, because Christ has risen from the dead, one day there is going to be judgment.

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And on that day those who have been the cruel abusers in this world and have gotten away

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with it are going to give answer. Indeed the scriptures tell us that every one of us shall

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give account of himself to God. It says that we will give answer for the works of our lives

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which are written as it were in books that will be brought out at the judgment before

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God. How do we know that will happen? Because God has raised Christ from the dead. Paul

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in declaring that truth on the hill of Athens at the think tank in that city was jeered

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and whistled at because he said that Christ has been raised from the dead and by that

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God has given assurance that he will judge all men. And they could hardly accept that.

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But it's true. And it's as true today as it was when he proclaimed that in Athens

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back in the fifth decade A.D. We celebrate an event in history today which has more relevance

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than anything that has happened in your life since birth. It is the resurrection of Jesus

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Christ. And his resurrection affects how you will live this life and where you will spend

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eternity. The story is told about a godly man who was dying. He had three sons. Two

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of them were Christians. One had not come to faith in Christ. He called all three of

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them to his bedside as he was dying. And he said to them, goodbye my sons, to the two

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of them, goodbye my sons, I'll see you in the morning. And then he turned to his third

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son who wasn't a Christian and he said to him with a note of finality, goodbye son.

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The young man was deeply disturbed by his father's comment. He said, why did you say

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that? Why didn't you tell me that you would see me in the morning too? His father said,

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son, it's because you've never received Jesus Christ as your Savior. That's what grieves

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me the most as I leave you. That I'll never see you again. The son knew what he had to

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do to become a Christian and began to weep at that point. And his father said to him,

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my son, if you will put your faith in Christ, then someday our family will be complete in

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eternity. And there at that bedside his son kneeled and received Jesus Christ as his Lord

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and Savior. Will your family be complete in heaven my friend? Will you be there? He said,

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I believe in God. So does the devil. He's not going to be in heaven. In fact he believes

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in God so much that he trembles at the very name of God. But he won't be in the pearly

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gates, the golden streets. See it's more than just intellectually understanding there's

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a God. It's making that commitment. It's standing up on this truth. It's receiving

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it to yourself as an authoritative word. It's believing. If you've not done that, will

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you do it today on this day of the resurrection and allow this living Christ whom we worship

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and celebrate today to come into your life, to change you for now and forever. Let's

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pray. With our heads bowed, if that's the desire of your heart, would you pray something

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like this, Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that you died for my sins and rose again from the

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dead and I receive you into my life right now. I ask you to come in and to be my Lord

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and my Savior. To forgive my sins and to give me eternal life.

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My friend, if that is the prayer of your heart, God never ever hears that prayer without answering

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it. He says if you will believe on his son, he will give you eternal life. Trust him today.

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Father, we rejoice in the one who is the King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We rejoice

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in your son. I pray today that each of us will go from this place with hearts overflowing

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in the joy of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and rejoicing in him as the King

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and the Sovereign, not only of the world one day but of our lives right now. Amen.

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As we leave this hour of celebration this morning, let's sing together from our hymnals

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number 228, Rejoice the Lord is King. Number 228. We'll sing verses 1 and 4. Let's stand

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together please as we sing.

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Rejoice the Lord is King, the Lord and King of Lords. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for

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all that they know. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all that they know. Rejoice, in praise

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of Satan, for all that they know. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all that they know.

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Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all that they know. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all

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that they know.

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All the Lord Jesus Christ is King.

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God bless you. We're dismissed.

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Thank you.

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You