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Our hearts are reminded of the facts of the gospel, our Lord's death, His burial, His

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resurrection for our sins and according to the Scripture, and that He appeared and was

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seen by those who were His followers.

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We are reminded that He ascended then to heaven and there He is at your right hand at this

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very moment and we worship.

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Lord speak to us today as we think together regarding this marvelous truth of the resurrection.

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Amen.

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July 20, 1969.

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In fact we'll make a little more specific.

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How about 1054 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time?

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Will you translate that into wherever you were?

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What were you doing?

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This is our, most of us, maybe 90 plus percent of us who are old enough to remember the date

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were in front of a television set because on July 20, 1969 there were words beamed back

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to the earth from the moon that said Houston Tranquility Base, the eagle has landed.

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At 1054 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Neil Armstrong stepped down off of that lunar module onto

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the surface of the moon and for the first time in all of history a human footprint was

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left on the moon.

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One small step for a man.

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One giant leap for mankind.

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That was a thrilling moment and if you were in fact old enough to remember it, I dare

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say that you'll never forget it as long as you live.

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I remember there were some who said that was the greatest event in all of history.

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But I want you to know as spectacular and as memorial as that event is, memorable as

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that event is, it is not the greatest event in all of history.

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I want to propose and assert this morning that the greatest event in all of history

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was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

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Now there are other things about his life that we remember and which are crucial.

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We remember his coming into the world, what we call the incarnation.

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That means when he became flesh, when God became man, and we celebrate Christmas remembering

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the incarnation.

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The incarnation is absolutely crucial.

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Nothing like it had ever occurred before nor can it ever occur again.

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But apart from the resurrection, the incarnation means nothing.

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When we might think about his cross death, his suffering, never before had anyone suffered

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as he suffered.

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Oh, there were thousands who were crucified.

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But never had anyone who was innocent and sinless been crucified and who became sin

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and bore the sin of all humankind in his body as he suffered and died.

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Apart from that sacrifice and the shedding of his blood, there is no salvation.

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But I believe that the resurrection even outshines the cross death of Christ.

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Because if it weren't for the resurrection, the cross death would have no meaning.

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Now in truth we cannot separate those events.

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But I believe above all of those events in the life of Christ that we remember that the

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resurrection is the greatest of them all.

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And it is in fact the greatest event in all of human history.

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If Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be, and if his death accomplished what he said it

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would, then his being raised from the realm of death to live forever is the single most

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important event in the history of the world.

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In 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle tells us that if there were no resurrection, there would

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be certain undeniable results.

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I will begin reading in 1 Corinthians 15-12 where he says this, Now if Christ is preached

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that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection

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of the dead?

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Paul was writing to correct a certain heresy or false teaching that had crept into the

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church in Corinth apparently.

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There were some who were saying there was no resurrection of the dead.

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Paul writes to refute that.

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He says if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.

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And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain.

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Your faith also is vain.

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Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that

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he raised Christ whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.

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For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been

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raised, your faith is worthless.

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You are still in your sins.

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Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

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If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men, most to be pitied.

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The apostle tells us if there is no resurrection, then there are certain undeniable results

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that you and I have to face up to who call ourselves Christians.

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In the first place in verse 14, he tells us that our faith is vain.

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That is, it is empty.

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It is hollow.

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There is nothing to it.

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He says in verse 17, not only is it vain, it is worthless.

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That is, nothing that has been promised as a part of our faith will come to pass.

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He suggests that Christianity is only, if there is no resurrection, a state of mind,

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and it has no reality to it.

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Furthermore, he tells us that if there is no resurrection, we are still in our sins,

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verse 17.

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And if we are still in our sins, that means that we are alienated from God.

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It means that what Jesus claimed to be and to do is invalidated, and we are still in

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our bondage to our sin if there is no resurrection.

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In verse 18, he says that another result of no resurrection is that those who have died

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as believers are gone forever.

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That there is no hope for them.

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That they have perished.

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And finally, in verse 19, he says, if there is no resurrection, this is a result.

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Those who are living as believers, as Christians now, are pitiable fools.

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The pagan is right if there is no resurrection.

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The one who lives for the pleasure of the moment is the wise one if there is no resurrection.

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How tragic, futile, and miserable life would be apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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But he was raised from the dead.

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He was raised from the dead, unlike any before him.

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There were those before him who were brought back to life.

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In fact, Jesus himself brought others back to life, but there was none who was resurrected

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like he was.

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He is one of a kind.

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He is totally unique.

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As he rose from the dead, he was in a new type of body.

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We do not understand the details of that, but there were certain chemical and molecular

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changes in his body.

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Physical and material, and yet supernatural, able to pass through solid objects as we know

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them, able to cover distances in an instant of time, fitted not only to exist in this

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world but in the realm of the spiritual as well.

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Jesus is the only body like that in all of the universe now.

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His body is no longer limited to the realm of the material.

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His body is not subject to death.

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His body is what we call glorified.

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That does not mean unreal.

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If he were here today, you could touch him if you wished.

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If you were to take a photograph of Jesus, he would show up on the photograph.

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It is a real body, but it's a glorified body.

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It is composed of tangible matter, and yet it is able to defy the laws of physics as

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we understand them.

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It is a supernatural body.

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The truth of this, the greatest event in the history of the world, makes the following

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statements possible.

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If you will notice, what I'm simply going to do is restate in the positive the negatives

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that we've already looked at in 1 Corinthians 15.

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The following statements can be made because of the truth of this, the greatest event in

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the history of the world.

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Statement number one, we have a gospel with power to it.

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Is our preaching, our witnessing in vain?

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The answer is a resounding no.

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We have a gospel, a message with power to it.

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It is not empty.

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It is not hollow, but substantive.

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Our preaching of it is not futile, but it's meaningful and it's productive.

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This message is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who responds to it in genuine

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faith.

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The apostle Paul wrote, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for

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salvation to everyone who believes.

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For in it, a righteousness provided by God is revealed from faith to faith.

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He furthermore wrote, for the word, the message of the cross is to those who are perishing

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foolishness.

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To us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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We have a gospel with power to it.

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It does bring forgiveness of sin.

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It does bring freedom from guilt.

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It does provide sense and purpose to living.

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It does transform the life.

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I would invite you to turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 2.

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Notice what Paul writes to these dear children in the Lord as he recalls his ministry among

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them.

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1 Thessalonians 2.13, and for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you

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receive from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but

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for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

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Notice that.

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Our message, our gospel is one that works.

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There is power to it.

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And to share it with others is not a futile act, though you may not see immediately the

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result you would like to see.

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When you witness to someone else, when you share this message with someone else, it plants

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a living truth inside of them.

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And they cannot escape it.

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It is powerful.

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And it does its work when someone believes it.

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What is that work?

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Well, in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians, he summarizes it in verse 9 when he says,

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For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you

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turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from

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heaven whom he raised from the dead.

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What was the work that the gospel produced?

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It was a turning in the lives of those people to God, away from their idols, their empty

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religion and what they had trusted in the past.

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The gospel worked in them to turn them toward God, that then they might serve him who is

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living and who is true, and that they might wait with anticipation for the coming of his

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Son whom he raised from the dead.

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And that gospel will do its work today in anyone who believes.

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It is a powerful message because Jesus rose from the dead.

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There's a second statement we can make because of his resurrection, and that is that our

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faith rests solidly on historical fact and spiritual truth.

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Is our faith in vain?

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The answer is no.

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Peter writes, we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power

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and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

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Because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, our faith rests solidly on historical

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fact and spiritual truth.

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To become a Christian is not to take a blind leap into the dark.

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Rather it is a reasonable step of trust in a trustworthy God who has made certain promises.

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One does not have to throw away his mind to become a Christian.

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The truthfulness, the veracity of the Bible can stand the closest test of its severest

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critic who will honestly look.

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Such a man was Frank Morrison, an agnostic journalist.

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He was determined to write a book refuting the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Therefore he investigated all that he could about this historic event.

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And his opinion changed.

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He became a believer in Jesus Christ.

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This is how he describes it in his own words.

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This study is in some ways so unusual and provocative that the writer thinks it desirable

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to state here very briefly how the book came to take its present form.

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He continues, in one sense it could have taken no other, for it is essentially a confession.

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The inner story of a man who originally set out to write one kind of book and found himself

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compelled by the sheer force of circumstances to write another.

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That was in the preface of his book entitled Who Moved the Stone.

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A man who will honestly look at the facts must be convinced of the truthfulness of this

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event.

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He may not believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, as did this man, but he will have to admit

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that there is no fact in all of history about which we know more in the ancient world than

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those events surrounding the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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A Christian never has to be ashamed to confess that he believes what the Bible teaches.

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Skeptics and critics over and over have been embarrassed as additional facts have come

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to light perhaps through the archaeologist regarding what the Bible says.

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And they find that the claims that they had against the Bible were undermined and collapsed.

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That has happened over and over and over again.

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No one who comes to the Bible and confesses what it says will ever need to be ashamed

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because our faith rests solidly on historical fact and spiritual truth.

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In contrast to the other religions of the world, which are based many times upon historical

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fallacies and spiritual deceit.

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There is a third statement we can make because of the resurrection of Christ, and that is

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we are delivered from our sins.

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Are we still in our sins?

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Praise God, we are not.

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Sins are those deeds, words, or thoughts which expose the heart problem of every human being.

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That is the predisposition to do what is morally wrong in the eyes of God.

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When we say we are sinners, we are not saying that a man may not do some act that is in

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a relative sense a good act or a kind act.

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But the heart of every human being is predisposed to do what is wrong.

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All of us are sinners, the Bible says, by birth as well as by choice.

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We inherited a sinful nature which expresses itself as early in life as we can exercise

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our will.

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The Bible says, Behold, I was brought forth in sin, and in iniquity my mother conceived

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me.

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He is saying when he was yet within the womb of his mother, he was a sinner.

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And like all of the rest of us, when he was old enough to express that sin within him,

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he did.

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We have all sinned.

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And our sins bring upon us judgment from God, our Creator.

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For God the Creator is holy and righteous, and He is justly offended by our sins.

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The Bible says that our sins alienate us from God.

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They leave us separated and living with an inner vacuum.

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We are cut off from the one who is the very source of life.

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Our sin brings us to death, both physical and spiritual.

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Roman 623, the wages of sin is death.

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Therefore, how wonderful it is that we can state that by faith in Jesus Christ and because

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of His resurrection from the dead, we have been delivered from our sins.

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We have been delivered from their penalty at the cross because He paid the penalty for

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us.

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He was delivered over for our transgressions, Paul writes to the Romans, and was raised

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again on account of our justification.

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In other words, when He died on the cross, God delivered Him over to death to die in

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our place as our substitute, to bear our penalty.

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And then God raised Him from the dead to prove that His work on the cross had been sufficient

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for us and that now we can be declared righteous in the eyes of God, the sight of God.

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That is good news, my friend, for every one of us who recognizes that He's a sinner.

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For that is not good news for the self-righteous, but it is good news for the one who understands

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His sinfulness because it means that He can be delivered from that condition in which

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He lives because of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

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Not only have we been delivered from the penalty of our sins, but because of the resurrection,

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we have been delivered from its power too.

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For when Jesus Christ died on the cross, God identified us with His death.

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And when He was buried in the ground, God identified us with His burial.

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And when He rose from the dead on that first resurrection day, God identified us with Him

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in His resurrection so that now we have been raised from the dead, we who have trusted

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Christ so that we might walk in newness of life.

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We have died to sin.

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We are no longer its helpless subjects and slaves.

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We may still choose to obey sin, but we are not its slaves.

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We can choose to walk after Jesus Christ in obedience because of the resurrection.

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We have been delivered from our sins, and that is good news.

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Friend of mine who pastors a large Presbyterian church in the St. Louis area in his bulletin

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this morning had these words which I appreciate.

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After the dark sorrow filled pain of Good Friday comes the bright celebration of Easter.

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Death could never hold Jesus captive.

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In glorious fashion, a movement which seemed shattered and in a heap of dust rose again

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with Him.

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Discouraged disciples became ecstatic.

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Hope was reborn in the glorious colors of the rainbow.

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Jesus Christ was risen and so were their lives and their futures.

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The story rings true for us today nearly 2,000 years later.

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Then He says this, what I especially like, we are a resurrection people.

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We are a resurrection people whose past, no matter how dark, has been forgiven.

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The present takes on new meaning, and the future is one of great anticipation.

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That's what I'm saying when I say we have been delivered from our sins.

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Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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There is a fourth statement that we can make.

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Because He rose from the dead.

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That is those who have died as believers are secure.

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They are safe.

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Have those who have fallen asleep in Christ perished?

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Never have they perished.

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They are not lost.

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They are absent from the body.

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But they are very much present with the Lord.

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And we will once again enjoy their company as we have in the past.

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In the future resurrection.

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We have turned to 1 Thessalonians.

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I invite you to look in the fourth chapter with me of this great book.

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Beginning in verse 13 where the apostle writes, we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren,

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about those who are asleep.

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That is those who died as believers.

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That you may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

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Because He doesn't say we are not to grieve.

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But He says we are not to grieve like those who have no hope.

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There is a difference in the way people grieve.

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One can grieve with hope.

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For if we believe, or better since we believe, that Jesus died and rose again, even so God

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will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

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Are they today in their grave?

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Their body is in a grave, but they are not.

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They themselves are with the Lord.

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Notice it says God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

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He goes on to explain, this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive

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and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

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The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,

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and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

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Notice He is talking now about their bodies being raised.

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He is bringing them back from heaven with Him.

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Their bodies will be raised.

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And somewhere between there and there they are going to be united again to new bodies.

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And then He says, verse 17, we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with

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them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the

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Lord.

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I don't know about you who have lost loved ones who are with Christ, but I still weep.

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I still mourn from time to time.

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And I don't mourn because my loved ones are in heaven.

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How could one mourn for that?

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But I mourn because of the separation.

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That's what I don't like.

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I don't like not being able to talk with them.

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I don't like not being able to see them smile and be able to embrace them.

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I don't like that separation.

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Dear friend, I want to tell you something.

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Our loved ones who are dead in Christ, who are asleep in Christ, are safe and secure.

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And one day, one day we are going to be with them again.

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And there won't be any more separation.

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There's not going to be any more longing after one another because we will be together and

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with the Lord.

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And we can say that with assurance because Jesus has been raised from the dead.

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That brings me to the last statement that I want to make from our text today.

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It is this, we who live for Christ in this world are wise.

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Are we of all men to be pitied, as he suggests, if Christ has not been raised?

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Hardly are we to be pitied.

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We who live for Christ in this world are wise.

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Those who live life apart from the resurrected Lord are the ones to be pitied.

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It is tragic to live a futile life or even a fruitful life as the world may define that.

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Only then to go to hell and to lose one's soul forever.

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Now that is pitiful.

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If there is anything that should cause mercy to well up within our hearts, to cause compassion

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to come to our lips for the lost, it is the fact that not only are they living life now

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apart from our Lord, but they face an eternity apart from him.

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No, it is we who live for Christ in this world who are the wise ones.

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You remember that statement that's been made at least a generation ago when I heard it

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for the first time.

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Only one life will soon be passed.

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Only what's done for Christ will last.

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Every deed done in his name, every word spoken for his sake, every sacrifice that we willingly

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and joyfully make for his work, every pain, every persecution endured in his place will

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one day be rewarded.

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We who live for Christ in this world are the wise ones.

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I invite you to turn to 2 Corinthians 5 as Paul writes to the same group of people as

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he wrote the first book of Corinthians.

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But in his next letter he says in verse 10, we must all appear before the judgment seat

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of Christ.

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2 Corinthians 5, 10, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according

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to what he has done, whether good or bad.

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He is not talking here about unbelievers.

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He is talking about Christians before the judgment seat of Christ.

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The purpose for this examination is rewards.

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And we may have gain or we may suffer loss of rewards on that occasion.

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And that causes Paul to be moved to some fear in verse 11.

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Then in verse 14 he says, the love of Christ controls us.

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Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died.

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And he died for all that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him

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who died and rose again on their behalf.

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Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Savior died for us all.

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Not so that then we might be able to live for ourselves in this world, but that we might

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live for him who died for us and rose again.

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And when you and I purpose to live that way and we make decisions in life indicating that

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we are choosing to live for him in this world, we are wise.

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We are not those to be pitied.

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We are making the best possible use of the brief years that we have in this world.

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These are statements that we can confidently make because Jesus is alive today.

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However one looks at history, whatever barometer you may use, if you are honest and you include

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the historical life of Jesus Christ in your measurement, I believe that you must agree

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with me that the greatest event in the history of the world is his resurrection from the

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dead.

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I can tell you what the second greatest event in the history of the world would be for you.

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That would be the day when you open your heart and receive him as your Savior in life.

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You can go back and compare the man on the moon.

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You can go back to the discovery of atomic power.

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You can go back to the Reformation if you are a historian.

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You can go back to the flood in Noah's day.

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That was a historical event of unparalleled proportion.

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But I want you to know the second greatest event in the history of the world for you

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will be that day when you trust the Savior.

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I know that many of you have done that, but others of you have not.

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Some of you know you should.

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You thought about it.

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You've struggled with that.

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You've been convicted in your heart that you ought to, but you've not done it.

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Some of you perhaps have never really thought about it.

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Maybe today for the first time God has put that thought in your heart that that's your

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need.

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This day, this Easter Sunday of 1989, could be the second greatest historical event in

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your life if you would trust the Savior.

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Whoever we are here today, we are inseparably linked to his resurrection.

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In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul writes, as in Adam, our first father, as in Adam all

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die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

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The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that every person who has ever lived will one day

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be resurrected to stand before God.

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Some will stand before him to enter into life and his kingdom, and others will stand before

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him in the resurrection for death and eternal separation.

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You and I can know we can choose today when we will stand before God.

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We come to Jesus Christ.

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It means that we stand before him in the resurrection into life, our past forgiven, our future assured.

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I hope you will be there with us.

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Let's pray.

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Just as surely as the resurrection of Christ is an historical event, so is the resurrection

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of you in the future.

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I don't know when that will be, but it will come.

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One day every one of us will give account of himself to God.

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I hope that you can stand before him knowing that because of Jesus Christ the record of

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your sins has been cleansed.

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You stand before him righteous, justified, legally declared right with God.

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Say how can I know that?

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How can I prepare for that by trusting Jesus Christ today, right now as your Lord and Savior?

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I want to give you an opportunity to do that in the closing moments of this service.

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As we sit here quietly, I wonder where you are seated.

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In your own heart you would invite Jesus Christ to enter your life to be your Savior, to be

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your Lord.

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If you will turn from your sin and trust in him.

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There is a difference between knowing about him and trusting him.

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Trusting him involves a submission to him.

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Will you do that today?

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Tell him so.

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For Jesus, the eyes of all of us have never seen you, yet we have believed, most of us.

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I trust that there are some here who in these quiet moments are choosing now to believe

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in a saving way.

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May your Holy Spirit work in their hearts enabling them to do that.

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With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I wonder if there is someone or several who

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would say, at this moment, on this Easter Sunday, I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord

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and Savior.

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To indicate that, I lift my hand.

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Is there one or several who would say, today that is my decision.

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I want to trust the Savior, young or old.

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God bless you, sir.

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Is there another?

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Will you stand before him for life or for judgment?

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Make your decision now if you have not done it before.

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Is there someone else?

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Father in heaven, we thank you for the promise.

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Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

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Saved from sin, saved from hell, saved from death, saved for certain.

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We worship you on this Resurrection Sunday because of the affirmations of our faith that

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the resurrection brings.

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I pray that we, your children, will live life wisely by living it for you.

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May we enter into every day saying that because Jesus lives, I can live today and I can face

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tomorrow.

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May our hearts each day fellowship with you, our living Lord.

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May our faith be more than just a creed that we confess, but a vital living relationship

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with you that truly saves.

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We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.