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Would you open your Bible please with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 as we think this

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morning regarding the drama of the resurrection.

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I'm going to begin reading in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 15.

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But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

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

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For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own

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order Christ the first fruits.

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After that those who are Christ at his coming, then comes the end when he delivers up the

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kingdom to the God and Father when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

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Occasionally an event occurs which is so dramatic, so significant, so historic that it changes

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everything from that point on.

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As you look back through human history there are a number of events that you might point

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to that would fit that description.

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Perhaps the invention of the wheel, whenever that was, would fit that description.

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Nothing has ever been the same since.

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Insurance rates have skyrocketed since the wheel was invented.

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Think of the invention of printing and what that means, communications and so on.

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Or for that matter the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945.

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Nothing in the world has been the same since then.

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Or you might look more recently to the launching of Sputnik in 1957, that Soviet satellite

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that revolutionized the way we think about space.

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Nothing can ever be the same again after events like these.

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It's like the mixing of paint pigments to make a desired color.

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Once those pigments have been mixed they cannot be unmixed, it's forever changed.

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Or you might compare it to an egg that has been cracked open, it can't be put together

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again.

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On a more personal level it's like the birth of a child.

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Nothing is ever the same in your family after the birth of a child.

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Or for that matter after the death of a loved one.

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It changes everything from that point on.

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Whether in the global or the personal realm, some events change everything from the moment

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which they occur.

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I would like for you to consider with me today how uniquely this applies to the resurrection

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of Jesus Christ.

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Resurrection is an event which splits history.

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Its results are so powerful that it has sent shockwaves that have reached to heaven and

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to hell.

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They have reached from the beginning of time to its end.

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Think with me today of the unfolding drama of the resurrection and how it affects every

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one of us this morning.

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The drama of the resurrection began on the first Easter 2,000 years ago.

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Jesus Christ's body had laid in the grave since being removed from the cross.

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Cold, silent, and stiff.

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It laid on that slab of stone, tightly wrapped in burial cloth with a separate piece covering

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his face.

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And then on that morning, the first day of the week, suddenly perhaps with a flash of

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blinding light and eternal energy, that body over which death had held sway for those three

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days and three nights was transformed into a new one of a kind resurrection body.

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The spirit and soul of the God man returned to eternally inhabit that glorified body of

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flesh and bone.

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A body which was unlike any that was seen before.

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And then he left the tomb in a blaze of dazzling radiance.

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An angel with the appearance of lightning and dressed, it is said, in snow-white garment,

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rolled away the stone from the grave and sat on that stone, causing the guards, the Roman

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guards who were there to shake with fear and to become like dead men.

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The angels announced to some women who had come with burial spices the good news of Jesus'

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resurrection.

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And later they repeated it to Peter and John.

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On that first Easter Sunday, Jesus himself appeared five times.

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The first time was to Mary Magdalene, quietly, personally, in the garden where she was weeping.

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She had returned to the sepulcher after reporting the disturbed grave to the disciples.

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And there she wept, wondering where the body of her Lord had been taken to.

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Everyone records that Jesus met her there in the garden.

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That was his first appearance as the resurrected Lord.

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And then he appeared once more to Mary, the mother of James, to Salomni, and Joanna as

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they returned to the city from the grave site.

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Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that appearance.

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Perhaps it was in the afternoon then that Jesus found Peter someplace alone.

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And there he appeared to Peter and restored him to fellowship.

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Luke and the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians records that appearance to Peter.

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And still later in the day, he appeared once more, this time to two of his disciples who

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had been from the city of Emmaus and were in the city of Jerusalem over the weekend

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for what had occurred.

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But now on the first day of the week, they walked discouraged back to their home village.

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And late in the afternoon, a stranger came and walked with them.

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That stranger was Jesus.

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And it was not until he broke bread with them at their evening meal that they recognized

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him and he vanished from their sight.

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But Mark and Luke record for us that appearance of our Lord.

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And then it was later that day, in the evening, when ten of the apostles were gathered together,

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that Jesus came into their midst.

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The doors being shut, he simply entered the room through the walls.

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And Mark, Luke, and John record for us his conversation with them on that occasion.

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Subsequent appearances occurred over the next 40 days.

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There were at least five of them.

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It was one week after Easter Sunday that Jesus appeared again, according to John and to Paul

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in 1 Corinthians 15.

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This time he came to his disciples, particularly to show himself to Thomas, who had missed

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that first meeting Easter Sunday night.

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And then again he appeared to the eleven on a Galilean mountain, where he gave to them

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what is called the Great Commission.

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That appearance is recorded in Matthew and Mark.

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John then tells us of yet another time when Jesus met with seven of his disciples by the

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Sea of Galilee.

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They were fishing there.

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He prepared a breakfast for them and invited them to come and dine with him.

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Then they recognized who it was and ate with him.

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It was on that occasion that Jesus spoke to Peter to feed his sheep.

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And then Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that there was yet another time when Jesus

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appeared to 500 believers at once.

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In fact, it was over 500 of them.

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And then we know of yet one final appearance when he seemingly appeared to James.

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And then all of the disciples, Acts 1 and 1 Corinthians 15, tell us of that appearance.

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It was then that he was lifted up from them into heaven in what is called his ascension.

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As we examine these appearances of our Lord in those 40 days following the first Easter,

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it is specified that at least 538 individuals saw him personally before he returned to heaven.

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After that, there were at least three others who saw him.

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Stephen saw him at the time of his martyrdom.

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Paul saw him on the road to Damascus and later in visions to encourage him.

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And then he appeared near the end of the first century to the Apostle John on the Isle of

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Patmos as he gave to John the great revelation, the apocalypse of Jesus Christ.

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As we think of the drama of that first resurrection, we remind ourselves that we have not followed

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a fairy tale.

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We have not followed a cunningly devised fable.

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But rather we today, 2,000 years later, are the recipients of a record of an event that

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has shaken the world in which we live.

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This gospel is the means of salvation for all who have accepted its facts of Christ's

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death, burial, and resurrection for our sins and who have trusted personally in the living

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Christ for salvation.

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Here in 1 Corinthians the Apostle begins this 15th chapter by saying,

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Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received,

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by which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which

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I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

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It is this gospel of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and faith not just

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in the content of the message but in the person of the message that saves the individual.

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On this Easter Sunday I may well be talking to some friend who is here.

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While you have heard of the resurrection, you have celebrated Good Friday perhaps many

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times in your life.

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Though you feel you have heard the gospel, I want to ask you in your heart, have you

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trusted in the living Savior, Jesus Christ, as your own Savior from sin?

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Are you relying upon Him alone today for the salvation of your soul?

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Salvation is by grace.

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It's a gift to us.

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And we receive it through faith.

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And we must be careful not to mix together with that faith works on our part in which

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we try to please God.

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Whether it be some religious work or some moral reformation trying to clean up our lives,

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or whatever it may be, we must lay works aside.

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And as the hymn writer has said, just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was

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shed for me, O Lamb of God, I come.

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I come.

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Have you come to Him today with that one plea, recognizing that His blood was shed for your

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sins, that He paid the price that you could never fully pay in suffering for your sins?

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Have you come to Him to receive the free gift?

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And is your reliance, your trust in this Christ whom we declare to you today in this message?

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The drama of the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that this gospel we preach is available

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to all who will receive it.

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Now the second thing I want to say to you this morning is this, that the drama of the

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resurrection continues to unfold each time a person does trust in Christ.

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The resurrection event occurred 2,000 years ago, but the drama of it continues yet today

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every time a single person in sin trusts the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Turn over with me to the book of Ephesians and notice the second chapter in the first

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verse where it says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins.

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And it goes on to say in verse 4, but God being rich in mercy because of His great love

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with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, our transgressions,

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made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with Him.

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By grace you have been saved, He says.

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My friend, the only way any of us is ever saved is by a personal and spiritual resurrection

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in the inner man.

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For by our natural birth into the world we are born dead.

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We are insensitive to God.

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We are estranged and cut off from God.

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We are without life.

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Even when we were dead in our trespasses, says the Word of God, we were quickened together

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with Christ.

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There was a resurrection of sorts on the inside of us.

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There was that resurrection that enabled us to believe on Christ and to answer His command,

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come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

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Be sure about it, there is no such thing as a self-resuscitation, just as that is impossible

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in the physical realm.

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And there have been those who were going to try it, you may recall.

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People who were going to try to come back from the dead or even communicate from the

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dead, but they cannot, it's impossible.

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Just as it cannot be that anyone would resuscitate himself, so we spiritually cannot make ourselves

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alive.

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It is that sovereign work of God touching us, enabling us to believe on Christ.

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My friend, when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a resurrection that takes

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place in you.

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It is a resurrection of your inner man.

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You are made a new person in Jesus Christ.

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The resurrection drama continues to unfold to this very day, every time an individual

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trusts in the Lord for salvation.

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But then think with me too, the fact that the resurrection drama unfolds as the believer

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in Christ is inwardly transformed to be like his Lord.

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The Christian life begins with that initial resurrection, that being made alive together

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with Christ that Paul talks about in Ephesians 2.5.

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But that's not the end of it.

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It's not intended to be the end of it.

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There is a resurrection drama that continues to unfold throughout the life experience of

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the Christian.

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Turn back with me to Romans chapter 6, where we have been studying on some Sunday evenings

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over the last few weeks.

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I don't have the time to go into the detail about the baptism here, but just remember

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that this is not water baptism he's talking about.

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Baptism means identification with, union with.

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He says in Romans 6.4, Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism unto death,

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in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we

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too might walk in newness of life.

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For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall

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also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified

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with him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that is rendered inoperative or

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powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

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So he says in verse 11, Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ

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Jesus.

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Therefore do not let sin reign as king in your mortal body, that you should obey its

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lusts.

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And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.

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But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments

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of righteousness to God.

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What are we talking about here?

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It is that drama of the resurrection that continues to unfold as the believer is transformed

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into the likeness of his Lord.

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As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3 and 18, it is from glory to glory that we are changed

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into the image of Jesus Christ.

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That is the resurrection power my friend, at work in your life as a Christian.

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It began with your resurrection from the dead to faith, but that resurrection drama continues

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because you have been raised from the dead to walk in newness of life, that is a life

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with a new quality, a new freshness about it.

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So that now you are dead to what you used to be, and you are alive to all of the potential

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in Jesus Christ.

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Therefore present all that you are, the members of your body, your potential, your abilities,

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your spiritual gifts, present everything you are, everything you can be to God as those

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who are alive from the dead in Christ.

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That is the resurrection drama as well.

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We sing the little chorus, oh to be like thee, oh to be like thee precious Redeemer, pure

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as thou art.

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That is the hard cry of the genuine Christian, and it is a cry that is being fulfilled in

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a progression of steps through a process called sanctification as we walk with Jesus Christ

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in yieldedness to his Lordship in our lives.

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That drama of the resurrection continues to unfold as we are changed into the image of

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him who was raised from the dead.

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Then think with me once more regarding this, that the drama of the resurrection will further

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unfold with the resurrection of the righteous.

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Let's go back to the text where we started in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

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What began 2000 years ago is not finished by any means.

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The apostle tells us in verse 22, as in Adam all die, that's why we are born dead in trespasses

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and sins, because we are the children of Adam.

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And in Adam we all die, and we all died with him in his sin.

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But even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

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I take that to mean the same all.

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Just as in Adam all died, so in Christ all will be made alive.

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But he says, each in his own order.

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The word order means a military rank.

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It might be a battalion in military terms.

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It is a grouping.

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He says everyone in his own place with his own group will be raised.

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And then he says Christ the first fruits, that's the beginning.

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Historically that has happened.

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The first fruits refers to that which is the first installment of more to come.

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The first fruits is the guarantee which represents all of the rest.

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So it began with a guarantee, Jesus Christ the first fruits, he was raised.

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Then he says after that, those who are Christ's at his coming, and we live in between those

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two phrases.

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He has not come again.

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That is what Paul has in mind.

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But he says that there will be a resurrection at the coming of Christ.

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Those who are his, I take that to mean those who are redeemed.

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Those who belong to him in that special peculiar sense being purchased with his precious blood

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from sin.

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Those who are Christ's at his coming will be changed to reflect the glories of Christ

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completely in the inner man and the outer man.

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The spirit and the soul and the physical body changed to be completely like him.

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He talks more about that later in the chapter in verse 50.

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He says, now I say this brethren, the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,

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nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

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You and I are never going to get out of this world the way we are now.

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It's impossible.

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Something has to happen to us because now we live in that which is perishable.

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We live in flesh and blood and that cannot inherit the kingdom of God because the kingdom

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of God is eternal and we are perishable.

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Something has to happen.

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So he says in verse 51, behold I tell you a mystery.

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That is something is going to be revealed now which has not previously been exposed.

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We shall not all sleep.

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That means die.

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It's a metaphor.

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But we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

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Identify that with his coming mentioned earlier.

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For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable.

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And we, assumption, we who are alive remaining, we shall be changed.

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For he says this perishable must put on imperishable and this mortal must put on immortality.

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And so the apostle tells us here of that future event that will take place at the coming of

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Christ.

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When we will be changed and made like him, the dead in Christ will be raised to be with

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him.

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And though Paul doesn't mention it in this very same context, that next phase of his

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coming that we sometimes call the second coming of Christ when he comes down to the earth

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to reign, at that time all of the rest of those who are his will be raised from the

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dead.

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In the event that is before us in 1 Corinthians 15, it's the resurrection or the rapture

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of the church, a unique and distinct body in this age.

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But when he comes back to the earth to reign, all of those who are Christ, from the time

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of Adam down through all of those centuries of the Old Testament, up through the end of

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the tribulation period, excluding the church of course, which has already been dealt with,

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already been resurrected, all who are Christ when he comes again to the earth will be raised.

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Those who are Christ will be raised at his coming.

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My point is this, that the resurrection drama will further unfold one day at his coming

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and we will be changed or resurrected and will inhabit bodies which are intended and

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made and created to last forever and to enter into the kingdom of God.

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But there is one final point that we have to make and that is that the resurrection

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drama will be consummated at the resurrection of the wicked.

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He says in verse 24, then, and notice that he is taking these in order, he says, each

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in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, after that, now he says in verse 24, then

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comes the end.

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That is the completion, the final installment of everything, the end.

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Some understand this to mean then come the end ones.

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What's his theme?

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What's he talking about?

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The resurrection of all.

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Well, who are these who are resurrected in the end?

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The end being described as when he delivers up the kingdom to the God enfothered.

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That refers to after his millennial reign has been completed.

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When the promises of the Abrahamic covenant have been fulfilled, the promises of the Davidic

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covenant have been fulfilled.

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When the son of David has reigned and reigned for that thousand years as the word of God

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predicts he will.

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And he then delivers the kingdom back to the father at the end of that.

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Then the end comes.

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And who are these who are resurrected at the end?

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It is all of those who have died in sin.

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It is the wicked.

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All outside of Jesus Christ, all of them, all of them will be raised from the dead.

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Jesus himself speaks to this in the fifth chapter of John if you want to look back there

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quickly with me.

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As we look down the whole way of time we are looking down to the very end of it now.

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Just before time stops and eternity emerges.

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Now in John 5 and verse 26 Jesus says, for just as the father has life in himself even

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so he gave to the son also to have life in himself.

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And he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.

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Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming.

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You see it's not here yet.

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It's coming.

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Remember we said last week an hour is an event.

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It's an occasion.

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It's not 60 minutes.

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He says an hour, an event is coming, a time is coming in which all who are in the tomb

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shall hear his voice and shall come forth those who did the good deeds to a resurrection

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of life and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

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Now if one were simply to take the words of Jesus here without the additional revelation

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that is given to us in the New Testament you might conclude that there is a general resurrection

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at the end of time when at one time, one occasion all people are resurrected.

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Because of what the New Testament continues to reveal about resurrection we know that

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is not the case.

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The resurrection to life or the resurrection of life is what I've described to you already.

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But now he comes to the resurrection of judgment.

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Those who have committed evil deeds, that is the wicked, they will be resurrected.

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That resurrection is described to us further in Revelation chapter 20 where it is described

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as the great white throne, judgment of God.

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When all the wicked dead are brought forth from their tombs and their graves from the

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sea, they are brought forth in bodies that will last for eternity where they will dwell.

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And they are brought before the throne of the living God and they are judged based upon

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the works of their lives.

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The books are opened it says.

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You're only beginning to understand how that kind of information can be kept.

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Some physicists say that locked into the blocks of this room, into the atomic structure of

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these blocks, there is the potential that every word that's ever been said in this room

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could be extracted.

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It's there.

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The record is there.

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It's everywhere.

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We're learning the miracle of the DNA which says that every cell in your body has that

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personal imprint of just you and there's no one else that is like you.

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You are absolutely unique in your makeup.

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This is becoming a tool for those who study forensics.

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It's more accurate than a fingerprint.

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Every cell in your body says one thing that you are you and you are no one else.

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And you as an individual will one day stand before God.

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You will stand with the redeemed to rejoice in salvation and to enter into the kingdom

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of God or you will stand with the condemned in this final consummating act of resurrection

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as the drama stops at the end of time.

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You will stand before a holy God to give account of your life and all of its works will be

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brought before you.

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The evidence, the proof will all be there.

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There will be no excuses, there is no escape and you will receive from God an eternal judgment

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fit exactly for you.

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And here are those awful words of the one who loved you and gave his life for you.

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Depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

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The drama of the resurrection ladies and gentlemen continues to this very morning.

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That drama is taking place in the hearts of some right here now who within the inner person

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lies lostness and guilt and fear.

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Fear of that day, hoping it isn't so, wanting to believe that the preacher is wrong, that

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Jesus didn't mean what he said.

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And yet nagging within is that conviction of sin and of judgment.

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And Jesus Christ the resurrected Lord holds out his arms to you and says, whosoever will

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may come.

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Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, he says.

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Will you come today and experience that resurrection of the inner man?

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Will you be quickened from your death and trespasses and sins never to die again?

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Will you come to him today?

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I submit to you that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant, the most dramatic

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event in the history of the world.

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And whoever you are this morning, you cannot escape that event.

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Because it does and it will impact you.

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Its implications are written on your life.

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Now you have the opportunity to receive him, to bow the knee before him, to give yourself

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to him in faith.

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One day you will have no choice.

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Do it now, it means salvation.

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Bow the knee then, it means condemnation.

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Which will it be?

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, may all of us hear today the words of Jesus and the words of Paul.

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And I pray that we will understand how the resurrection impacts us personally and directly.

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If there are those here today who at this point are headed toward the resurrection of

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the lost unto judgment, oh my prayer is that they today would give themselves to Jesus

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Christ, recognize him for who he is as the Lord of Heaven, and would trust in him for

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what he did for them at the cross, would embrace him who loved them and gave himself for them.

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May there be some today who would be brought from the dead spiritually to enter into eternal

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life.

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Then may all of us who know Jesus, all of us who belong to him, who are his and who

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anticipate his coming, Lord may we be living so that that drum of the resurrection is unfolded

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daily in our lives as we are transformed into your lovely likeness.

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Our heads bowed, our eyes closed.

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I wonder if there is someone here who would say, Pastor, God has spoken to my heart.

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And I recognize that today I need to trust the Savior.

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If I were to die now, my resurrection would be with the lost, the condemned.

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I want to change that.

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I want to trust in Christ today.

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By the uplifted hand, will you indicate that to be your decision, the desire of your heart,

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and say today I would trust Jesus Christ as my Savior?

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Is there one here who would say that?

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This will be my resurrection day from the dead of sins and transgressions.

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Would you stand together with me please?

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Father God, as we stand before you this morning, we do so with joy in our hearts because of

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this event, this drama that has unfolded and is unfolding and will continue to unfold until

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the end of time.

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We thank you that we are a part of that, we who are saved, and that we have a wonderful

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event to anticipate in the coming of the Savior on this Easter Sunday morning.

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We give ourselves a fresh to you.

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We pray that you would live your life through us Lord, to touch those around us.

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How desperate so many people are, how hungry they are, and how blind.

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May we be a light to them, a touch of Jesus' love.

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May they find in us that which would make them desire Jesus.

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God may we be the extension of your very life throughout our community this week.

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Live your resurrected life through us, your body we pray.

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Amen.

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God bless you, word is missed.