Well, thanks to Paul and to our musicians this morning for a wonderful celebration of
Easter. Would you like just to say thank you to them?
Thank you.
And now I invite you to open your Bible with me to the book of 1 Corinthians, the 15th
chapter. On Easter Sunday mornings we give extra time to music because it allows all
of us to celebrate in such a wonderful, united way the resurrection of Christ. As we turn
now to the Word of God, we see one of the many texts dealing with the truth of the resurrection.
I'm going to read 26 verses. I'm going to begin with verse 1, 1 Corinthians 15.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received
and in which you stand, by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which
I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all
that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. After that he was seen by over five
hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have
fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all
he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles,
who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored
more abundantly than they all, yet not I but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore,
whether it was I or they, so we preach, and you believed.
Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you
say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain, and
your faith is also vain. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified
of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not
rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,
your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then also those who have fallen asleep
in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men
the most pitiable.
Now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own
order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. Then comes
the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule
and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
There are two questions I want to pose this morning as we think about the resurrection.
The first is, is it true? And then secondly, what does it mean to you and me? What if it's
not true? Have you ever allowed that question to be raised in your own heart? Most thinking
people have at some point in their lives had that question at least cross the mind. What
if it's not true? What are the consequences of Christ not being raised from the dead?
What if it isn't true? Paul in an outline fashion really gives us at least seven consequences
that come to the human race if the resurrection did not occur. The first is that Christ, the
human faith, is in vain. We have believed a fairy tale. Our faith is in vain and we
are still in our sins, he says. That's consequence number one.
Number two, the New Testament, which testifies that Christ was raised from the dead, was
written by liars, people who are false witnesses. Number three, if Christ is not raised, then
the dead have perished and they will never be seen again. They will not be raised.
Fourth, if Christ is not raised, then this life is all there is. There is no reason to
suffer as a Christian. And as he suggests later in the chapter, what we ought to do
is to eat and drink and live life to its fullest because there's nothing beyond this. If Christ
is not raised, verse 23 he suggests that if Christ is not raised then there surely will
not be a return of Christ. We need not think about his coming again.
Number six, Christ's kingdom will never come. Not only will he not come to the earth, but
there will never be a kingdom of Christ upon the earth. And finally, if Christ be not raised,
he tells us that evil has no final disposition. There is no final reckoning of rights and
wrongs that have occurred in the history of the world.
I think you would agree with me that those consequences would make life in this kind
of a world intolerable and unbearable. One man tells about his first year in seminary
in which he took a course called the resurrection narratives. As a part of the course, they
studied the text of the Bible, the scholarly books written about those texts, and various
essays on the resurrection and what we should believe about it. And then one day he said
our professor came into class quite shaken. His closest friend had died that afternoon
of a heart attack. And he said, brothers and sisters, after all the arguments and debates
are over, I believe in the resurrection because without it life makes no sense. And that's
true. But do we believe in the resurrection only because without it life makes no sense?
Or because life would be unbearable if Christ were not raised? Is there any historical evidence
to point to the resurrection? Well, the answer to that of course is yes. There is in the
first place the empty tomb that cannot be accounted for. His body could not be found.
And had the enemies of Jesus taken his body and secretly hidden it somewhere else, they
surely would have brought it out when the notion of his resurrection began to be talked
about. And then Paul in this chapter lists for us the numerous appearances of Christ.
He catalogues them for us as it were. And says that hundreds of people saw him on one
occasion at least. And that many of those people when he wrote this book 20 years later
were still alive and talking about having seen Jesus Christ after he had been crucified.
Then there was the supernatural confirmation of the angels who spoke to various individuals
on that Easter Sunday and said, He is not here, he is risen as he said. Go and tell
his disciples. And then we have the proof of his transformed apostles who at the end
of Good Friday were hiding in fear for their lives. But who after the first day of the
week, the day of his resurrection, were absolutely changed men and women. Because they had seen
him, he was alive, they were different forever. If the historical record is honestly examined,
then the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only logical explanation for
these evidences that we have talked about. It is true. But what is the meaning to us?
Let me suggest four that arise out of the text in 1 Corinthians 15.
Because it is true that Christ is risen, you have a gospel that will save your soul. The
word gospel means good news. There is good news for us today, the race of Adam. It is
the news that we can be saved. Paul writes to these believers in Corinth and he says
to them, by this gospel you are saved. This gospel. There is only one by the way. It is
God's gospel. It is the good news that he has brought to us of his love and saving grace
through Jesus Christ his son. There is no other gospel in the world that will save but this
one. It is God's. There was a certain man who wanted to destroy Christianity and to
replace it with a religious system of his own. But he failed to interest anyone in following
him. He complained about that to one statesman in his nation in France. And asked how he
might be able to create such a religion and the man replied, go and be crucified and then
raise yourself from the grave the third day. That is how to do it. Jesus Christ was crucified,
buried and rose again from the dead according to the scriptures and all of this for our
sin. You and I have a gospel that can save our souls when we believe it.
Paul uses several other words here to help us understand what it means to believe. He
says it means to receive it. To take it to yourself alongside of yourself. To make it
something authoritative to you. He says further that it is the same as standing. He says you
stand in this gospel. When you stand on something you believe it is going to hold you. I stand
on this platform today because I believe it is going to hold me. So when we believe the
gospel of Jesus Christ we are willing to place our weight on it. We are willing to entrust
our souls to it. What does it mean that Christ is risen? It means that you have a gospel
that will save your soul. Secondly, it means that you have a purpose that will fulfill
your life. Paul speaks about his past. Candidly he says I persecuted the church of God. I
am not worthy to be even called an apostle. He says by the grace of God I am what I am.
Because Christ is risen from the dead he is able to take the wreck, the ruin of our past
lives, to transform us and to give us a brand new purpose in this world. For Paul it was
the purpose of being an apostle. One who would go out and declare the gospel to others who
had never heard. While we may not be called to be apostles. The fact is that because Christ
is risen from the dead God calls us to a purpose in life. There is meaning to it all. There
is sense to life. There is a reason for living. We have the mighty working of the Holy Spirit
to change us inwardly and to empower us. There is a great word that is popular these days.
It is one of the buzz words. To empower people. God has empowered us by the Holy Spirit. We
have the calling and the purpose of God and his spirit within us because Christ is risen.
What does the resurrection mean to you? Thirdly, it means that you have a hope that will transform
your body. Paul says Christ is the first fruits. Now that is a biblical term. Meaning that
he is the first of many to follow. He is the prototype as it were. He is the first fruits.
And he says that those who are Christ are going to be like him one day. As in Adam we
all died. He says so in Christ we will be made alive. Resurrected. He describes it later
in this chapter in more detail. Much more detail. Talking about the kind of body it
will be. And the fact that not all of us will die before we get that kind of body. Because
he is risen you have a hope that will transform your body. For most of us that is pretty good
news because we are beginning to realize that these bodies aren't going to make it out
of this world alive like they are now. They are falling apart. They are dying slowly.
All of us are terminal. Did you know that? But the fact is that because Jesus is risen
we have a hope that will transform our bodies. Benjamin Franklin may have been a deist but
he had some belief in the resurrection. He wrote his own epitaph and penned these words.
The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer. Like the cover of an old book, its contents worn
out lies here food for the worms. But the work shall not be lost for it will, as he
believes, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition revised and corrected by its
author. How different is the last statement of Socrates who when he was dying was asked
by his friends, shall we live again? This great philosopher could only reply, I hope
so. Sir Walter Raleigh was a wonderful Christian and was beheaded for his convictions. In his
Bible the night before he was executed he wrote these words, from this earth, this grave,
this dust, my God shall raise me up. Because Christ is risen you too have a hope that will
transform your body. Because he has been raised you will be raised to be like him forever.
And finally for this morning, because Christ is risen you have an assurance that will preserve
your patience. Do you ever get almost overwhelmed by what you hear in the news? Do you ever
get to the point of becoming almost discouraged because it seems that wrong is forever on
the throne and truth is on the scaffold? You and I, because Christ is risen, have an assurance.
An assurance that preserves our patience in this world to live godly lives. That assurance
is that one day there is going to be a final reckoning and all of the injustices, oppressions
and cruelties that go unanswered in this world will be set right. Jesus Christ will reign
until all his enemies have been put down. And it says the very last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. You can read about it in Revelation. You and I have an assurance
that one day, because Christ has risen from the dead, one day there is going to be judgment.
And on that day those who have been the cruel abusers in this world and have gotten away
with it are going to give answer. Indeed the scriptures tell us that every one of us shall
give account of himself to God. It says that we will give answer for the works of our lives
which are written as it were in books that will be brought out at the judgment before
God. How do we know that will happen? Because God has raised Christ from the dead. Paul
in declaring that truth on the hill of Athens at the think tank in that city was jeered
and whistled at because he said that Christ has been raised from the dead and by that
God has given assurance that he will judge all men. And they could hardly accept that.
But it's true. And it's as true today as it was when he proclaimed that in Athens
back in the fifth decade A.D. We celebrate an event in history today which has more relevance
than anything that has happened in your life since birth. It is the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. And his resurrection affects how you will live this life and where you will spend
eternity. The story is told about a godly man who was dying. He had three sons. Two
of them were Christians. One had not come to faith in Christ. He called all three of
them to his bedside as he was dying. And he said to them, goodbye my sons, to the two
of them, goodbye my sons, I'll see you in the morning. And then he turned to his third
son who wasn't a Christian and he said to him with a note of finality, goodbye son.
The young man was deeply disturbed by his father's comment. He said, why did you say
that? Why didn't you tell me that you would see me in the morning too? His father said,
son, it's because you've never received Jesus Christ as your Savior. That's what grieves
me the most as I leave you. That I'll never see you again. The son knew what he had to
do to become a Christian and began to weep at that point. And his father said to him,
my son, if you will put your faith in Christ, then someday our family will be complete in
eternity. And there at that bedside his son kneeled and received Jesus Christ as his Lord
and Savior. Will your family be complete in heaven my friend? Will you be there? He said,
I believe in God. So does the devil. He's not going to be in heaven. In fact he believes
in God so much that he trembles at the very name of God. But he won't be in the pearly
gates, the golden streets. See it's more than just intellectually understanding there's
a God. It's making that commitment. It's standing up on this truth. It's receiving
it to yourself as an authoritative word. It's believing. If you've not done that, will
you do it today on this day of the resurrection and allow this living Christ whom we worship
and celebrate today to come into your life, to change you for now and forever. Let's
pray. With our heads bowed, if that's the desire of your heart, would you pray something
like this, Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that you died for my sins and rose again from the
dead and I receive you into my life right now. I ask you to come in and to be my Lord
and my Savior. To forgive my sins and to give me eternal life.
My friend, if that is the prayer of your heart, God never ever hears that prayer without answering
it. He says if you will believe on his son, he will give you eternal life. Trust him today.
Father, we rejoice in the one who is the King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We rejoice
in your son. I pray today that each of us will go from this place with hearts overflowing
in the joy of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and rejoicing in him as the King
and the Sovereign, not only of the world one day but of our lives right now. Amen.
As we leave this hour of celebration this morning, let's sing together from our hymnals
number 228, Rejoice the Lord is King. Number 228. We'll sing verses 1 and 4. Let's stand
together please as we sing.
Rejoice the Lord is King, the Lord and King of Lords. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for
all that they know. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all that they know. Rejoice, in praise
of Satan, for all that they know. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all that they know.
Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all that they know. Rejoice, in praise of Satan, for all
that they know.
All the Lord Jesus Christ is King.
God bless you. We're dismissed.
Thank you.
You