I want to begin by reading you
a portion, just a sentence or two, of an email that Brother
Don Fortner sent out yesterday, I believe it was. He sent it
out to the church family, dear family is how he addresses it,
to his congregation that he has so faithfully pastored in Danville,
Kentucky for so many years, of which I was a member for 20 years
under Don. And I'm still on his mailing
list, that's why I get these messages. This morning, he's
in Nixa, Missouri. He preached there last night,
and this morning, that's where I was about a month ago. He sent
this from there. It says, Dear Family, it is my
earnest prayer that God will be pleased to speak to each of
you by his word, reveal the Lord Jesus Christ afresh to you, and
give you grace to worship our all-glorious, ever-gracious triune
God as you are gathered by Him in Christ's blessed name." And
I added this of my own, my prayer is the same, that God would reveal
Christ afresh to us, afresh to us. That's our greatest need,
child of God, and I hope we realize that. That's our greatest need. Oh, for a fresh glimpse of our
glorious Redeemer. This is how God himself described
him. Behold my servant whom I uphold. This is God speaking of his Son. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he
not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth, and this part especially. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged. He shall not fail. The title of my message this
morning is Our Successful Savior. How's that sound? Doesn't that
sound good to you, child of God? Our Successful Savior. Before I came here, as you all
know, I was employed by the University of Kentucky. As you probably also know, they're
sort of renowned for their basketball team. I mean, you would have
to be the proverbial ostrich and bury your head deep in the
sand not to be aware of that living there. And often people
will talk about the basketball team in these words. We won a
close one last night. Or we let that one get away from
us. And I found out when I moved
here, I heard the same sort of thing about football teams. Boy,
we really stomped on them. We showed them how to play the
game. Or, man, we shouldn't have lost
that one. But we weren't on the field.
They were. But we talk that way because
we feel that they represent us. That team represents us. That's
why we say roll tide or go Tigers. Go Tigers. They represent us. Look at verse 20 here in 1 Corinthians
15. Christ here represented his people. He represented his people. All
that he did, he did for his people. He did as their representative.
In his life, he represented them. He perfectly fulfilled God's
holy law and he did it for his people. And then going to the
cross, he suffered the curse of God's broken law again as
the substitute for his people. And he won. He won. Verse 20, but now, this is a
sweet, glorious proclamation that Christ won, that He was
successful. And the proof of it is exactly
this. Now is Christ risen from the
dead. Had He not won, had He not got
the job done, He would still be in the tomb, as Paul said
in these verses, proving himself to be a failure. But Christ said,
as we read in Isaiah 42 concerning his son, he shall not fail. Larry will fail. But Christ shall
not fail. My representative before God,
he shall not fail. I've got an interest in that.
But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first
fruits of them that slept. This past Friday, I think it
was, I was watching the national news, and the anchorman said,
the day is the most solemn day on the Christian's calendar.
And I thought, I know where he's going. He said, it's celebrated
by Christians all over the world. I said, really? I thought to
myself, really? Not Christians, not Christians.
And then, of course, they had a little segment concerning His
Unholiness the Pope. And they show Pope Francis walking
through the crowd and he's got that big oversized looking, I
don't know what it is, salt shaker or something, and he's trying
to sprinkle everybody with it. Good Friday, they say. It's good only if Christ did
what he came to do. Only if he did not fail. Otherwise,
there's nothing good about it, that day or any other. Last week's
message you may recall from John 10 verse 14, I am the good shepherd,
the good shepherd. He's the good shepherd only if
he succeeds. Is that right, John? He's the
good shepherd only if he succeeded in what he came to do. I came
down from heaven, he said, not to do my own will, but the will
of Him that sent me. And if he didn't do that completely,
then it's not good news, and he's not the good shepherd. If,
as David said in his most famous psalm, The Lord is my shepherd. I derive no comfort from that
if Jesus Christ did not succeed. The fact that he's my shepherd
has no comfort in my heart if in anything he came to do, he
did not accomplish. And by the way, every time he
spoke of what he came to do, he said, the Son of Man shall
accomplish. he shall accomplish. That night
in the garden, Father, Father, I've finished the work you gave
me to do. I've finished it in life. I've finished all you gave me
to do. And then, after offering himself
without spot, a sacrifice to the Lord God upon the cross,
again he says concerning that work of substitution, It is finished. Otherwise, having the Lord as
my shepherd is no comfort at all, if he should fail. David
followed that blessed statement with these words, the Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want, I shall not like. Translated,
I don't need anything. If the Lord is my shepherd, I
don't need anything. Again, that's not true unless
Jesus Christ was successful. Look again at our text in verse
20. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. Firstfruits. That is the first crop or produce. But what in the world does that
have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first crop? What does that have to do with
his resurrection? The first fruits were the first
that would spring from the earth and were the soonest to ripen
and to be reaped and gathered in and offered to the Lord. The
type that Paul is referring to as the firstfruits has reference
especially to that sheave that was laid way before the Lord. In Leviticus chapter 23, listen
to this, verses 9-11, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you be
coming to the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the
harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheath of the firstfruits
of your harvest unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheath
before the Lord to be accepted for you. On tomorrow after the
Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. And as the firstfruits were
what first sprang from the earth and ripened and reaped and were
gathered and offered unto the Lord. Paul tells us, so Christ
first rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven and presented
himself to God as the representative, the firstfruits of the harvest,
the multitude that should soon follow him there. He's the first
fruits of those that slept. Hebrews 9 and 24, for Christ
is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which
are the figures, the pictures, or types, just the shadows, of
the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us." His very presence before God is proof, Christ the
firstfruits, that the full harvest is bound to follow. That's why
Paul uses this type. There were others before the
resurrection of Christ who were raised from the dead before him,
But Christ was the first to be raised to immortal life. Those
others, like Lazarus and some others, they were raised from
death, but they died again. Oh, but Christ was raised to
die no more. He is the firstborn from the
dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. And Paul,
by referring to him as the firstfruits of them that slept, assures us
of our resurrection. Our resurrection is secured by
Him, our representative, our successful Savior. Without Him
first, there would be no second. That's kind of logical, isn't
it? Without the first, there's no second. And without the resurrection
of our head, there's no hope for the body. And the church
are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. The firstfruits sanctified the
rest of the harvest, and it represented the whole harvest, and gave it
the right to be gathered in, and assured that it would be.
Christ and his resurrection represented them of the text. The first fruits
of them that slept. They rose with him, in union
with him, and in him. And their resurrection is secured
by his. How about that? Their resurrection
is secured by his. It's guaranteed by His. Because He lives, they shall
live also. Live now and live forever. Just as He is the firstborn among
many brethren, Paul tells us in Hebrews 2, and the type, as
we read in Leviticus, is particularly to the sheave of the firstfruits
that was waved before the Lord. This is yours. This is typical. This is symbolical. of the coming
harvest that's bound to follow. Christ suffered on the Passover
and he rested in the grave on the seventh day Sabbath and on
the morrow after that he rose from the dead the very same day
that the firstfruits was offered to the Lord. That's our Redeemer. Matthew chapter 28 and 1, in
the end of the Sabbath The end of the Sabbath. Free from the
law, oh, happy condition. Jesus has bled and there is remission
at the end of the Sabbath, the finish of the Sabbath, the consummation
of the Sabbath, the fulfillment of the Sabbath by Jesus Christ
who is our Sabbath, our rest. In the end of the Sabbath, Paul
said in Romans 10, Christ is the end of the Sabbath for righteousness
to everyone that believes. In the end of the Sabbath, as
it began to dawn through the first day of the week, came Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. The angel
answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know you seek
Jesus, which was crucified." He was crucified, but he's not
here. Oh, glory to his name. He is
not here. He is risen as he said. Christ always does what he says.
He always does exactly what he says. Destroy this temple. Destroy this temple. Destroy
this temple. No man takes my life from me.
You couldn't touch me unless it was given to you of my father.
I have power to lay my life down and I've got the power to take
it up again. No man takes my life from me.
Destroy this temple and in three days I'm going to raise it up
again. He's not here. He is risen just
exactly like he said. Come see the place where the
Lord lay. And just as there was an interval
between the first fruits and the end gathering of the full
harvest. So there is a space of time between
the resurrection of Christ as the first fruits and the resurrection
of his people, which will be the full harvest. But it is absolutely
certain. It is absolutely certain. Did
Christ arise? Did our glorious head arise?
Then John, his body has got to follow. It's bound to follow. As we said a moment ago, his
very presence before God Almighty is proof and our guarantee that
we will be where he is. Hallelujah, Christ arose. 1 Thessalonians 4, for the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven. Notice the shells in these verses. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. There's no question about that.
then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, Paul says, comfort
one another with these words. My soul, they are, so to speak,
pregnant with comfort, overflowing with comfort. Louie, this sinner's
going to be with his Lord forever. My soul, in the light of that,
the best being yet to come, why are you cast down, O my soul? You shall be forever with the
Lord, and there's no question about that. Oh, Larry, don't
you think that's a little bit bold? After all, you don't know
for sure. I beg your pardon, I beg your pardon. Now, I know
in our day, people, if you can explain this to me, please do,
because I can't figure it out. But folks go around with their
head hung down. Oh, I just don't know. I mean,
I've known them all my life. I'm thinking of one in particular
now, but I've known many. They profess to know God, and
they look like they're sucking on lemons all the time. Oh, I just don't know. I don't
know if I'm going to make it or not. I'm just not sure. Oh,
whoa, whoa, whoa is me. Now, I know we all have our seasons
of darkness and doubt and so forth. But child of God, we don't
live there. We don't abide there. God Almighty,
by His mighty grace, has given us a good hope. Paul said, I
am what I am by the grace of God. I'm not worthy to be called
an apostle. I can't deny what I used to be. I was a persecutor. I don't deny
that. I'm ashamed of it. But bless
God, he said, I'm not like that anymore. Grace has made me to
differ. And I tell you what, if you profess
to know God, and God's grace has not made you to differ, if
it's not made you a new creation in Christ Jesus, and that's scripture
by the way, then it's not the true grace of God. It's not the
true grace of God. God's grace, like the Redeemer
from which it flows, is always successful. He shall not fail. Again, alluding to that Feast
of the Firstfruits, I'm sure our Lord had reference to that
when he spoke these words just a few days before the Passover.
He said, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except if corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone. Christ said, if I don't
die, I'll abide alone. I'll go back to heaven and I'll
be there alone. Oh, but if it dies, But if it
dies, if that corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it'll
bring forth a harvest. And Christ says, that's what
my death will do. It bringeth forth much fruit. John saw him in Revelation chapter,
or rather in the book of Revelation. We read that John turned to see
that voice, and it was the voice of the mighty God. the prince
of peace, Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the
first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the
earth, unto him that loved us and has washed us from our sins
in his own blood. Without him going first, there
would be no us to follow. But he said, my sheep hear my
voice. They know my voice. They follow
me. They follow me. They follow him
in life and glory to his name, they're going to follow him all
the way to glory. That where he is, there we may
be also. They follow me. You remember
that night that he told his disciples, just before he went to the garden
and said, here I am, take me to that angry mob led by the
traitor Judas? He said, I'm going away. And
it broke their hearts. What do we do without him? He's
going away because they still looked until after his resurrection. They still looked for him to
set up some sort of Jewish earthly kingdom. Didn't they, John? And
they had hopes of having a prominent place in that kingdom. They didn't
understand the mission of the Son of Man. So when he said,
I'm going away, it just stumped him. What? What? Going away?
And Peter said, Lord, I want to follow you. I want to go with
you. You remember what the Lord said
to him? Peter, you can't follow me now, but you're going to follow
me afterwards. Afterwards. Now, you can't follow
me now, Peter, because I'm going to do that which only I alone
can do. I'm going to trod the winepress
alone. There's none to help, none with
me. I alone shall be made sin for
my people, that they might be made the righteousness of God
in me. Peter, you can't go there. You
can't follow me now. But because of what I'm going
to do, you're going to follow me afterwards. Oh, bless his
name. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and he shall be satisfied. What satisfaction would it be
to the Son of God looking down from heaven and seeing one through
whom he suffered and died, perishing forever in hell? How in any logical
sense of the word would he ever be satisfied? That shall never
be. He shall see his soul by his
knowledge. Shall my righteous servant justify
many? This is my blood which is shed
for many? Because he shall bear their iniquities
and glory to his name he bore them so completely, affectionately
away that they can't be found. Isn't that good news? That's
worth hearing about, isn't it? Someone asked me just the other
day, Larry, what are y'all doing Sunday at your church? And I
knew what they meant. What are you doing there? What
are y'all doing special there? Because other places, they're
going to have Easter eggs and rabbits and plays and theater
and sunrise services and all kinds of stupid stuff. What are
you doing at your church? You tell me what those things
have to do with the resurrection of Christ. If you do those things,
you tell me what in the world does a collared egg, a dyed egg,
or an Easter rabbit have to do with the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. What are you doing there? And
I said, well, I'll tell you what. We're going to do what we do
every Sunday. What we do every Sunday. Preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Preach the glorious gospel of
the blessed God. And I could tell by their silence
on the other end of the phone that they weren't impressed with
that. And I felt sorry for them. Because there's nothing more
marvelous, nothing more wondrous, than that glorious gospel of
God about His Son. There's nothing better to hear.
There's nothing better to speak. There's nothing better to spread
around than that concerning God's Son. That's what we'll do. Nothing
more, nothing less, and nothing else. And I declare, if rabbits
and eggs and crosses are more attractive to anyone than the
gospel concerning God's Son, they're in bad shape. They're
in trouble. But if you're interested in knowing
this, if you're ever interested in knowing the answer to this
question, how can I, a dead dog, filthy, without one speck of
righteousness, Altogether nothing but sin in thought, in word,
in deed. That's just the truth. That's
what I am and that's what you are. That's what you are. Put
on those New Easter clothes, but that's still what you are. If you know yourself to be such
as one, as the publican said, I'm the sinner. That's what he
said. He didn't say, I'm a sinner.
He said, I'm the sinner. There's not another one like
me. Another one like, I'm the greatest sinner in the world.
If you really want to know how can a man be just with God, I'll tell you. I'll tell you. The gospel of God's grace answers
that question. Christ is my righteousness. He's my all in all. because God
made him to be sin for me who knew no sin with this sure and
certain consequence. With this sure and certain fruit
that I be made the righteousness of God in him. That's what God
clothes his people in. The robe of his son's perfect,
spotless righteousness. Man alive. That feels good. By the grace
of God, I can lie down tonight and my peace will not be derived
from looking back over the day and say, well, I did okay preaching
or I did this or I didn't do that, blah, blah, blah, blah.
No, no, then I'll say, woe is me, woe is me. or but lying there
and know, know by the grace of God that before Him, the omnipotent,
holy Lord God, I'm as accepted in His Son as His Son is. That makes me sleep. That gives
me sweet rest and assurance. In Ezekiel chapter 16, you remember
How mankind is pictured there as an aborted infant cast out
into the field to die. Nobody loved it. Just throw it
in the dumpster. That happens today, doesn't it?
Girls have babies and just throw them in the dumpster, put them
in the trash. This is the picture in Ezekiel 16. Thrown out into
the field till you're loathing. None I pity thee. Nobody washed
thee, nobody took thee, nobody cleaned you, just threw you out
there to die, polluted in your own blood. We read the chapter
and again and again we find these words. God speaking, he said,
I passed by. I'm not thinking about that deserted
infant right now. I'm thinking about that filthy,
loathing, sinner, named Larry Chris. That's what I'm thinking
of. Lost and undone without God or his son, and God said, but
I passed by. I came to where you were, and
I saw you, and I pitied you, and I loved you, and I made you
mine, and I clothed you, I clothed you, I decked you, And here's
the result of God's work. Thy renown went forth among the
heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect. How about that? This is what God says concerning
every believer. It's perfect. Through my comeliness,
which I put upon you, saith the Lord God. John said, the church
of God, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, adorned as
a bride for her husband, without spot or blemish or any such thing. Paul here, in 1 Corinthians 15,
as we mentioned in the reading, gives the consequences if Christ
be not raised. And just briefly, Notice those. He says in verses 14 through
19, if there be no resurrection from the dead, then Christ is
not risen. Christ became a man and he died
in the flesh and was buried. If men don't live again, then
he is not alive. If Christ is not risen, all our
preaching is useless. If Christ is not risen, our preaching
is vain. It amounts to nothing. And your
faith in God is devoid of truth, and likewise, it will profit
you nothing. If Christ be not raised, sell
this building. Sell it to somebody. Don't even
bother to meet here anymore if we don't come to worship a living
God and Savior. If Christ be not raised, Paul
said, we are of all men most miserable, meaning this. What
is your greatest ambition? What is your greatest goal? John
touched on it this morning. Though now we see through a glass
darkly, John said, it's not always going to be this way. It's not
always going to be this way, John. I'm not always going to
cry out, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? There's
not always going to be this struggle between the flesh and the spirit.
I'm not always going to be possessed by this old man dragging me down,
down, down. No, when I'm lifted up to be
like Christ, I'm no longer going to be looking through a glass
darkly. That's my ambition. That's my desire. As Job said,
I know that my Redeemer liveth and though I die and the skin
worms devour this flesh, yet in my flesh I shall see God. That's the believer's hope. And
Paul said if Christ be not raised, it's a false hope. We'll never
realize that what our heart pants after, to see him and to be like
him. But Christ, but rather Paul,
just sweeps it all away when he says, oh, but now, now, away
with all that. Now is Christ risen from the
dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. It's his
work that gives us peace. His work of grace in us that
gives us hope. It's not the labors of our hands.
I so much miss Bobby being here, and Lester, and others. Bobby's singing. She's never
satisfied with it, but it always blesses my heart. It's such an
important part of our service in our worship of God, but she
sang one hymn from time to time. With words like this, it says,
not what these hands have done can save this guilty soul. Not
what this toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole. Thy
work alone, my Savior, can ease this weight of sin. Thy blood
alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within. No other work
save thine no meaner blood will do. No strength, save that which
is divine, can bear me safely through. Thy grace alone, O God,
to me can pardon speak. Thy power alone, O Son of God,
can this sore bondage break. God, give me no rest. God, give me no rest or peace
of conscience. until you give it to me on the
merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Give me that peace that Christ
has made through the blood of His cross. Give me that. Don't allow me to be deceived
with a false peace and a false hope. Grant me that peace that
Christ made for me when He died upon the cross. Let me hear,
not from a preacher or a priest or the Baptist or the Catholic,
oh, but Son of God, bear witness with my spirit, from your spirit,
that I am one of your sons. Don't let me be satisfied with
nothing less. Let me hear from your sweet lips. Those words that that poor woman
in the house of that self-righteous Pharisee heard when the Lord
said, I say unto you, thy sins, thy sins, which are many, are
all forgiven thee. Woman, go in peace. Go in peace. Oh, the peace of
God, the peace of having forgiveness through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul says, but now is Christ
risen from the dead. And the sweet, sweet consequence
of that, because the resurrection of the Lord is vital to the gospel,
it was the dominant theme throughout the book of Acts. With great
power, we read, gave the apostles witness of the resurrection.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead was
God's public verification that everything His Son claimed and
taught and did upon the earth was absolutely true. It was the
sweet verification that God has accepted the sacrifice. When
Jesus Christ rose from the dead, it was God saying, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. God was saying,
it's enough. I need no more. I can demand
no more. Jesus paid it all. Therefore,
we're justified through the resurrection, the death resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Living in perfect obedience to
God as our representative and dying under the wrath of God
as our substitute, the Lord Jesus had made all for whom he died
acceptable to God. When he died under the wrath
of God, being our substitute, we died. When he was raised and
accepted again in heaven, so were we. He's the firstfruits
and he appears in the presence of God for us as our representative. Just as Christ was made sin for
me in the same way and to the same extent, I made the righteousness
of God in him. Christ was punished, justly so. When he was made sin for me,
God justly punished him. Away goes sword against the man
who is my fellow, smite the shepherd. My sin was made his, my substitute,
and even so I shall be justly rewarded with everlasting life
and glory for his righteousness that has been made mine. By His grace, is there any better
news than that? Elijah Hoffman wrote a hymn. It's on page 334 of our hymn
book. He wrote that hymn after visiting
a friend of his, an elderly believer who was going through all kinds
of difficulty. And when he met her, went to visit her in her
home, he said his heart just went out to her. She was just
grieving, just overwhelmed. And with tears in her eyes, she
looked at him and said, Brother Hoffman, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I don't
know what to do. And he looked at her and said,
oh sister, he said, the only one thing you can do, you must
tell Jesus. You must tell Jesus. You must
go to him. Take your burden to the Lord.
Go tell him. And he left her house and all
the way home he kept thinking those words to himself, I must
tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. And he sat
down when he got home and wrote that hymn. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. Because I
cannot bear these burdens alone. I must tell Jesus. I must tell
Jesus. Jesus can help me. and Jesus
alone, because now, now is Christ risen from the dead. Again, referring
to the news, last week one evening I was watching a broadcast, it
got my attention. It was the last story, the last
segment of the national news that evening. And they were telling
the story about a young man who was a professional baseball player
named Conrad Ruland. When he was a boy, he'd always
wanted to be a baseball player. And there was a fellow playing
at the time that this young man was just a boy named Ron Carew. And he met him. He met him. He said, man, I want to be a
baseball player like you. When he grew older, he became
what he wanted to be. One day, years after that, while
he was still a player, he was rushed to the hospital and discovered
to have an aneurysm on his brain. And he was in a coma. His mother
wouldn't leave his side, John. The last 24 hours of his life,
she sat next to his bed with a stethoscope, listening to his
heart, until it wouldn't beat anymore. He died. Not long before that,
he had signed his driver's license to be a donor. And his heart
was given to someone who was in desperate need of one. And they put into this man who
was to die soon without it, they put Conrad's heart into this
man's heart, in this man's body, rather. And you know who it was? You know who received his heart?
Ron Carew, that baseball player that was the idol of Conrad when
he was growing up. After some time, he contacted
Conrad's mother, Ron Carew did, and they were meeting at this
man's house who had her son's heart, the mother and the family. And he said to her, he held up
a stethoscope, and he said, would you like to hear your son's heartbeat
again? Man, would you like to hear your son's heartbeat again?
And she sat next to him on the couch, put that on, and the tears
just rolling down her cheeks. And I thought of this. I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I. But Christ liveth in me, and
the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." I said before the message that
I hoped we would leave here today with a fresh glimpse, appreciation
of our glorious Redeemer, and I pray that he allow us to do
that. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.