Pray with me, please. Graceful, merciful God, our Father,
Lord, You have sent Your Son to save us from our sin. We praise
You, Lord, for Jesus Christ, our Savior, because it is in
His resurrection that we are assured of life in Him. How glorious
is our Almighty Jesus, dear Father. who has indeed declared himself
to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of truth
and holiness by your resurrection of him from the dead. You have
not just redeemed our souls, Lord, which were dead in trespasses
and sin, but you have promised that in Christ's resurrection
our bodies will be raised from the graves too. O gracious Father,
you have shown us with a marvelous demonstration of your love because
You died for us. Because You were raised again,
Your people will live too. And by Christ's resurrection,
You have secured our resurrection. Because Christ Jesus, Your Son,
is the firstfruits of those that have slept. And so we praise
You, Lord, for Your great and glorious name by which our sins
are pardoned. Justice is now satisfied. The
law is fulfilled. Satan is conquered. Hell is subdued
and heaven is open to all who look to Christ, believing and
trusting in Him in whose name we have come to worship you today.
In whose name we pray. Amen. Open your Bibles, please,
to 2 Corinthians 15. We're looking this morning at
verses 13-20. And in this text, we find what Robert Harker calls
a word of words. The doctrine in this Word of
Words and the eventful consequences of those words involves all of
our high hopes and great expectations of happiness in this life and
in that life which is to come. Because it deals with the resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ has confirmed our resurrection in
Him. Nothing is more important to a child of God than Jesus
Christ. And the Scriptures are all about
Christ. But if there is no resurrection,
there is no salvation in Christ. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone
of the Church. But I would suggest that the
doctrine of the resurrection must be the keystone and the
arch of the Christian faith. Because as the Apostle Paul strongly
reasons in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 13 and 14, that if there
be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And
if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and our
faith is also vain. And then in verse 15, the Apostle
exclaims, yea, Yea, he says, as if vain preaching and vain
faith aren't the worst things that could happen if the doctrine
of the resurrection isn't true. Because if the resurrection isn't
true, then yea, and we are found to be false witnesses of God
because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ
whom He raised not up. If so, be that the dead rise
not. For if the dead rise not, is Christ not raised. And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, and ye are yet in your
sins. Then all they that are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished. And if in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Paul is
writing to the church in Corinth, and it appears very clear from
what the Apostle says here, that there were some people in the
Corinth church who denied the resurrection of the dead because
Paul asked them in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 12, How
say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
And so it wasn't just the men of Corinth who weren't part of
the church that were denying the resurrection of the dead,
but it was the people of the church as well. They, in the
church, were denying the resurrection of the dead. Now, we could probably
understand it if Jews, especially the Sadducees, who didn't believe
in the resurrection, if the Sadducees in Corinth and the Gentiles outside
of the church, if they didn't accept the truth of the resurrection
of Christ, we could probably understand that. But evidently
those people in the church at Corinth, those people who had
professed at least a general belief in Christ, were denying
the resurrection of all men. And in that, by denying the resurrection
of all men, they were denying the resurrection of Christ too.
That's not to say that all of the people who were in the Corinthian
church denied the resurrection of men. But Ball's concern is
that some of them did deny the resurrection of men. And such
a basic part of the Gospel, if it isn't understood and believed,
can cause serious problems and divisions in any church. And
also problems with the understanding of the other basic doctrines
of Christ, including specifically this doctrine of Christ's resurrection. We must always remember, oh,
I pray that you can remember, that it isn't knowledge that
saves us. It isn't the knowledge of Christ that saves us. It's
Jesus Christ who saves, and believing Christ is the evidence of salvation. But if there is gross error in
what a person believes, then it is probably an indication
that that person has not been taught the things of Christ by
the Holy Spirit. With gross errors, false doctrines
could spring up, and as a result, a false Christ might be preached.
We can constantly praise God for the Holy Spirit who teaches
us all that we need to know of Christ. How important it is that
we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. I have often been impressed
as we have our Bible conferences, and of course you know that we're
going to have one. It will be our eighth Bible conference that
we'll have in May. But the Gospel preachers which
we invite to preach All preach the same Christ. There's hardly any difference,
any difference at all in what they preach. And what they preach
is Jesus Christ. I don't tell them what to preach.
And I'm sure that they don't get together in advance and decide
among themselves what they're going to preach. They all just preach the Jesus
Christ that they've been taught by the Holy Spirit. Turn please
to John 16 and verses 12 to 14. Why is it, why is it, do you
think, that all Gospel preachers and all true believers believe
the same truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with very little
difference in what they believe? It's because all believers are
all taught these same truths, just as Paul was taught these
truths. All believers, all true believers, are taught the same
things of Christ. Every truly born-again child
of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and we are all
taught the things of God by that Holy Spirit. The result is that
we all believe the same things about Christ. And if we disagree
about anything, it's probably going to be only very minor points. And those minor points will usually
be agreed on after we study them a little bit in the Scriptures.
And the reason for that is that we have Christ in common and
we're each taught of Christ by the Spirit of Truth. And so we
praise God for sending us a Comforter who teaches us and leads us and
guides us into all truth. Shortly before Christ went to
the cross, John 16, verses 12-14 tells us that our Lord and Savior
said, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you can't
bear them now Albeit when He, albeit when the Spirit of Truth
is come, He will guide you into all truth. And He shall not speak
of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will show you things to
come. He shall glorify Me and He shall receive of Mine and
shall show it unto you." Now turn to 2 Timothy 1 and verse
15, please. This doesn't mean that we're
all taught so well that we never make any mistakes in our doctrine.
It doesn't mean that we're taught so well that we understand all
things perfectly. After all, we're sinners. But
a child of God is taught by God the things of God. And as he
studies the Word of God and as he listens to the faithful preaching
of the Word of God, with the Holy Spirit as His teacher, the
result is always going to be that there will be very little
disagreement among us about the things of God that the Holy Spirit
has taught us. But even Paul had his problems.
He had problems with those in the church who apparently were
either so young in the faith or else they were not taught
by the Spirit of God. Because in 2 Timothy 1 verse
15, Paul writes, This thou knowest, that all they
which are in Asia..." And of course, Corinth is in Asia. "...all those that were in Asia
be turned away from Me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes."
And skipping then to verses 17 and 18, continuing on in 2 Timothy
1, 17 and 18, he says, "...and their word will eat as does a cancer, of
whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have
erred, saying the resurrection is past already, and overthrow
the faith of some." Now turn to 1 John 2 and verses 18 and
19, please. In every church, there will be
people who come not seeking to learn of Christ, But they come
seeking to impose their own ideas, their own thoughts, their own
reasonings for their own glory. These are those who are not taught
by the Holy Spirit. We preach the gospel to everyone.
We preach the gospel praying that God will save some. And
we know that we may not always be perfect in what we preach.
And so we encourage everyone to compare that, what we preach,
to the Scriptures. But some people will not learn
of Christ because they are not taught of God. They read the
Scriptures with their own reasoning. They try to come to truth by
their own understanding. Our experience here in Acomba
is that some visitors come fairly often. Some stay for only a short
while and others stay for longer periods of time. But eventually,
those who don't believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ that's preached
here, they leave. I pray it's the Gospel that is
an offense to them and it's not us, but they leave for whatever
reason. In 1 John 2, verses 18 and 19,
the Apostle says, little children, it is the last time He's saying
that we're living in the end times. He says, it's the last
time, and as ye have heard, that the Antichrist shall come. Even
now, there are many Antichrists where we know that it is the
last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest, that they might be revealed,
that they were not of us. I'll turn to Jude, that one chapter
book, Jude, in verse 12. As I say, we preach the gospel
of Christ to everyone who comes here. We welcome them no matter
who they are and we pray that God will teach them the things
of Christ to the salvation and comfort of their souls. And if
God is their teacher, He will give them the faith of Christ
and they will learn of Him. But many, as we have experienced,
move on for their own reasons. We always hurt when they leave.
I cry whenever Lassie goes over the hill, but I have shed many
tears over people who have left us, especially if they've been
here for a while. But as Jude verse 12 says, these
are spots in our feasts of charity. These are spots in our feasts
of love. when they feast with you, feeding themselves without
fear. Clouds they are without water,
carried about of winds and trees whose fruit wherewith, without
fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots." And skipping to
verse 18 of Jude, it says, how that they told you there should
be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own godly
lusts. after their own thoughts and
reasonings, after that which seemed right to them. And so
Paul is writing to the Corinthian church because there are those
individuals there who deny the very basic doctrine of the resurrection. The subject of the resurrection
is infinitely important. By God's grace, the apostle was
enabled to place this doctrine in the clearest possible light.
Paul has been enabled to reduce the doctrine of the resurrection
to this one single point. If Christ be not risen, then
there is no resurrection of the dead. But if Christ be Himself
risen, then is He become the firstfruits of them that slept.
He says that in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20. Because when Christ
was resurrected from the grave, God our Father was giving us
full proof of the truth of all of the doctrines that Jesus Christ
taught. And because Christ declared Himself
to be the resurrection and the life, and because He promised
that whosoever lived and believed in Him, He would raise up at
the last day, so in confirmation of it, Christ was risen. Therefore, it must undeniably
follow that our resurrection is involved and secured in Christ's
resurrection. Didn't Christ say Himself in
John 14, verse 9, that because I live, you shall live also?
In John 11, verses 25 and 26, Jesus said unto Martha, I am
the resurrection and the life. And he that believeth in Me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth
and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? And
in John 5, verse 21, Jesus said, For as the Father raises up the
dead and quickeneth them, Even so, the Son quickeneth whom He
will." Don't you admire the way the Holy Spirit does things?
He has taken Paul. And by inspiration, the Spirit
has breathed into Paul's mind not only the truth of the doctrine
of resurrection, but the Spirit has breathed into Paul a beautiful
chain of reasoning which Paul then uses to prepare the minds
of the Corinthians to receive the Holy Spirit from the Holy
Spirit this glorious foundation truth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, this glorious truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and that all who are in Christ will be resurrected in Him. Let's
look at what the Holy Spirit did through Paul. Paul uses a
very brilliant technique of admitting what men know to be wrong in
order to more fully prove a truth to them from it. which we then
have to conclude is right, and so we are convinced of the truth
that Paul is presenting to us. Let me show you what I mean.
Probably most of the Corinthians were convinced that Jesus Christ
was raised from the dead. But they weren't convinced that
we should be raised from the dead. I hope I don't need to
convince any of you that Christ was raised from the dead. It's
a fact that nearly all people today accept The resurrection
of Christ may be the single truth that is most testified to in
all of the Bible. And although it wouldn't be true
of everyone, this is Easter Sunday. And nearly every man, woman,
and child in the street is going to tell you, if you ask them,
that if they know anything about Christ, they're going to tell
you that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Whether they believe
in Christ or not, they know that fact. Though I suppose there are some
rebellious people who would even deny that they knew that. Well, that was true of the Corinthians
too. To them and to us, the resurrection of Christ has been uniformly
preached. And it seems to me it's a fact that is believed
by almost everybody. Is there anybody here that can
hear my voice that doesn't believe in the resurrection of Christ?
Even those who preach a false, free-will, works religion preach
that Christ was raised from the grave. But even though this is
something that almost everyone believes, what they believe to
be true about the head of the body, many don't believe that
it is also true of the members of the body. The members of the
body, and that body is Christ's church. And that was true in
the Corinthian church too. They didn't believe that the
members of the body would be raised from the dead. Or at least
some of them didn't. And so that's why Paul is writing
this letter to them. He is telling them that not only
was Christ raised from the grave, but because Christ was raised
from the grave, we will be raised from our graves too. So the Apostle
Paul begins in verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 15. by taking the objections of those
unbelievers, and he asked them, but if there is no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen? The thing that is thought
to be impossible or unbelievable is that all men are raised from
the dead. But if Christ is raised from the dead, can all men be
raised too? That's the way that Paul puts
it. And he's being taught by the Holy Spirit. to do exactly
that. Jesus Christ is the head of the
body, is risen from the dead, and therefore what is true of
the head must also be true of the body. The church must be
resurrected too. If the head of the church is
resurrected, the church must be resurrected too. That's a
pretty convincing argument, isn't it? And Paul will use that simple
example He'll use that argument all through the chapter of 1
Corinthians 15. And so Christ's resurrection
becomes the proof. Christ's resurrection becomes
the promise and the hope of our resurrection, which is doubly
true because Christ died as the substitute for His people. But
now, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 20, is Christ risen from the
dead and become the first fruits of them that slept? the great
object and purpose of God taking on the form of a man, the very
object of our Savior's birth, His suffering, His obedience
in His death, and most important, His resurrection, had this one
great purpose. It all forms one complete act
of God insofar as believers are concerned. And it was all done
to save God's people from their sin. And if you take one single
link out of that chain of God's work of salvation, then all is
lost. If Christ isn't raised from the
grave, then all preaching is in vain. And there can be no
faith in Christ because the preaching of Christ's salvation is vain
too without Christ's resurrection. But this isn't all because there
are worse consequences, if that were possible, if God didn't
raise Christ from the dead. What about those who were eyewitnesses
to Christ's resurrection? If those that God chose to be
witnesses to the resurrection of His Son didn't witness what
they said that they saw, then they were false witnesses of
God. And there were many who said that they saw and they spoke
to a resurrected Christ. Even John. And it means that
John who said that he saw Christ seated at the right hand of God, If he didn't see a resurrected
Christ sitting at the hand of God, then John was a liar. And
you can't believe anything that he says. If they have lied about the resurrection,
you cannot believe anything that they say. And if God didn't raise
His Son from the grave, and if God didn't exalt Christ as a
Prince and a Savior to sit at His right hand on the majesty
on high, then we have no Savior to save us. What has happened to our sin
if we have no Savior to save us? And neither was Christ justified
in the Spirit. And unless it is true that Christ
arose, then Christ is not the shepherd of His sheep through
the everlasting covenant. Let's turn to Romans 1, verses
3 and 4, please, and let me read to you some Scripture And as
I read, I'd like for you to think of the consequences of Christ
not being resurrected. The consequences of there being
no resurrection for God's people in Christ. There'd be no resurrection for
the church either. In Romans 1, verses 3 and 4,
Paul said, And he's talking about his Son Jesus Christ our Lord
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
Paul said, "...and declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead." And in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 14 Paul says, "...and God has
both raised up the Lord and He will also raise up us by His
own power." And in 1 Timothy 3.16, Paul said about the resurrection
of Christ, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, and received up into glory. Received up into glory. Christ
was resurrected. Then in Hebrews 13 verse 20,
this benediction is pronounced. Paul says, Now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that greatest
Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will,
working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through
Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. In that benediction,
Paul says that Jesus Christ was brought again from the dead to
be with the Father. And in Revelation 1-5, the Apostle
says that he received this revelation from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, the Prince
of the kings of the earth, and unto Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood. And continuing to verses 17 and
18, he says, And when I saw him, I fell at his feet. And he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first
and the last, and I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold,
I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death." But to sum up Paul's technique of arguing the
truth from what isn't believed to the truth that is believed,
if Christ is not raised, Your faith is vain, and you are yet
in your sins. And they which have fallen asleep
in Christ, that is, those that have died triumphantly in Christ,
with full assurance that they would rise again in Christ and
by Christ at the last day, they are all lost. They have died
and they'll never rise again. Yet the resurrection is not true. And what all these witnesses
say of Christ is not true. If Christ wasn't raised from
the grave, it is all untrue. So if Christ isn't raised, all
of our hopes of immortality and glory and the presence of God
in the land are done away and gone forever, and we are the
most miserable of creatures because we have no Savior. But praise
God. Praise God because Christ is
risen. He isn't dead. He is risen. Christ sits this very moment
at the right hand of God. The New Testament is full of
the interesting details of Christ's resurrection, and the truth of
it is so strongly confirmed by the innumerable witnesses, both
of the living and of the dead, and God Himself has given His
own testimony to the truth of it. So I'm going to continue
to assume that you know and you believe that Christ is risen
from the dead. And because you believe that Christ is risen
from the dead, then you must believe also, as Paul argued,
that all who die in Christ are also raised from the dead. So
let me give you some scripture, which naturally comes out of
this glorious truth, that as Christ is indeed risen from the
dead, he arose not as a private person, but as the public head
of his church, which is his body, and thereby Christ became the
firstfruits of them that are lost. than that slept. The first view of Christ's resurrection,
as it connects with our resurrection, is that Christ's resurrection
brought with it the full assurance that Christ had paid the full
debt of our sin. When Christ, as our surety, died
in our place for our sin, it fully paid the debt that we owed,
because surely never would the prison doors of the grave have
been thrown open And Christ let out if both the law of God and
the justice of God had not been fully satisfied. Turn to John
2 in verses 18 to 22, please. John chapter 2, verses 18 to
22. In that glorious moment when
Christ arose from the dead, He proved the whole truth of what
He had taught as He walked here on this earth. In John 2, verses
18-20, it tells us that the disciples remembered that the Jews had
said to Him, What signs showest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou
dost these things? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up. Then the Jews said, and I think they were incredulous about what He had
just told them, Then said the Jews, forty and six years was
this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three
days? But Jesus spoke of the temple
of His body. When therefore He was risen from
the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this unto them,
and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had
said." The next view of Christ's resurrection as we are included
in it is that just as the man Jesus Christ arose, so assuredly
must the bodies of all that is redeemed be raised too. Turn please to Exodus 10 and
verse 26. Exodus 10 and verse 26. What
Moses said to Pharaoh concerning Israel's deliverance from Egypt,
I believe should also be applied to God's church. Moses said,
not a hoof shall be left behind. So it may also be said of Israel's
seed, not a hair of their head shall perish, much less the humblest
and the least of Christ's mystical body shall be lost in the ruins
of the world, which at the resurrection is then to be burned. The world
is going to be burned. See if Exodus 10.26 doesn't apply
to God's church too. Moses said to Pharaoh, Our cattle
also shall go with us." Talking about the exodus out of Egypt.
Our cattle also shall go with us. And there shall not be a
hoof left behind. For thereof must we take to serve
the Lord our God and we know not what we must serve the Lord
until we come nither. Now turn to Romans 8 and verse
11 please. This resurrection of the bodies
of Christ's members is secured by virtue of their union. It's
secured by their oneness with a glorious Head, Jesus Christ. Because that is what is indicated
by the covenant of God's grace. As Paul said in Romans 8 verse
11, But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, talking about the Holy Spirit, if the Spirit
of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Now turn to Isaiah 26
and verse 19. Isn't that a sweet thought? That every believer who trusts
Christ, that because Christ was raised up, all of the members
of His body are going to be raised up too? Isn't that something
that brings joy to your heart? Each of us may truly say, I will
arise, not simply by the sovereign power of that voice that raises
the dead, but I will be raised up by His Spirit, that same Holy
Spirit which unites me to come to Christ now and which will
then quicken me to a new life in Christ forever. And I think
this must be the meaning of that blessed promise of God the Father
to the Son that we see in Isaiah 26 verse 19. In this promise, the Father says
to the Son about those that He had given to Him, those elect
of God that He had given to Christ to die for. He says, thy dead
men, the Father says to the Son, thy dead men shall live. And
then the Lord Jesus, in answer to His Father, and in a way I
think that confirms what's going on, Together with
my dead body shall they rise, Jesus says. Then comes the Lord's
call to his church. Jesus says, Awake and sing ye
that dwell in the dust. For thy dew is as the dew of
the herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead. When I saw
that talking there about the dew, I wondered, what's the dew
of the herbs that's being talked about there? Do you have an idea?
Don't turn away from Isaiah 26.19, please, because I think I found
something here that will be very interesting to you. What is this
dew that is like the dew of the herb? What's he talking about? In the
last part of Isaiah 26.19, he calls his church from death.
He gives them this effectual call, and He says,
Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust. For the dew is as
the dew of the herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead.
Keep your finger there, but turn to Psalm 110 and verse 3, please. Because I think this is very
interesting and I pray that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher.
I think most of you are familiar with Psalm 110 verse 3 because
we quote it all the time. God says to His Son, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of
the holiness from the womb of the morning. Thou hast the dew
of Thy youth. Have you ever wondered what that
dew is? What's that dew of Christ's youth? Well, it must be the same
dew that's in the herbs or on the plants which raises them
and gives them life. That dew, which Christ is talking
about here in Psalm 110, and He's also talking about it here
in Isaiah 26, verse 19, is the warm, life-giving dew of the
resurrected Jesus Christ. Our Savior was resurrected to
glory. In the power of His resurrection,
He was resurrected to glory. Because in Psalm 110, verse 3,
that dew is mentioned as the regenerating power of God's grace
from the womb of the morning into which Christ had the dew
of His youth. Christ's resurrection is the
womb of the morning. It's the dawning of new life
in Christ and the power of Christ's resurrection is the dew of His
youth. What a beautiful picture this
is to a believer's heart. The dew of the morning falls
and revives those plants which appear to be dead All through
the winter, they look like they're dead. Like the leaves on the
trees, they look like sticks. Dead, lifeless, dry sticks. No
leaves on them. They just look dead. But the
resurrection of Christ is the assurance that there is life
in Christ. Son of man, can these sticks
live? Such will be Christ's due to
the bodies of His people. Oh, precious Jesus. The power
of our resurrection, the power of Christ's resurrection, revives
us like the dew of the morning and gives us life in Christ. Turn to Philippians 3 and verse
21. Let me give you just one more
thought on this subject of Christ's resurrection and of His church
being so highly interested in it. Just as the resurrection
of Jesus Christ is the assurance of our resurrection, which Christ
Himself accomplished by His Holy Spirit dwelling in us. So also
the blessedness of our resurrection is that as Christ's identical
body arose, so shall ours be raised from the dead. As it says
in Philippians 3, verse 21, and it's talking about Christ, who
shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto
His glorious body. according to the working whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Now turn
please to Job. Job chapter 19 and verses 25
to 27. Robert Hawker says about our
resurrected bodies, and I'm quoting him, "...change it will be from
what it was sown in weakness because it will be raised in
power, but its identity, consciousness, and reality will be the same. We are going to be raised. God's
children, God's saved, elect children are going to be raised,
and their bodies are going to be the same in terms
of their identity, their consciousness, and their reality according to
Robert Hawker, but I think he's backed up with Scripture. I feel
constrained to cry out, O precious Lord, blessed be Your name. We will be resurrected in Christ. We will look like Christ. That's
what Job did. He cried out. In Job 19, verses
25-27, he cried out with joy at the thought of his resurrection
in Christ. He said, and look at his words
carefully, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, or as the words
actually are if you look in the footnotes, I know that my kinsman
Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth. Talk about Christ. And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold Christ for myself, and
not another, though my reins be consumed within me." Praise
God. Because Christ was raised from
the dead. We also, because Christ was raised from the dead, will
be raised also. We will be made like our glorious
Savior. What a glorious doctrine this
is. We shall be like Christ. Well, I've tried to bring you
the Word of God as concerning not only Christ's resurrection,
but your resurrection from the dead too, if you are found in
Christ. I have tried to show you this
doctrine of the resurrection and the unanswerable testimonies
on which it is founded, on the Scripture that it is based on.
Now my prayer is that the Lord might strengthen all of His people
in the faith of it, saying that only by the resurrection of the
Lord are they begotten to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you, you who are
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time. Now may the Holy Spirit bless
the preaching of the gospel of Christ. May it be blessed to
the comfort and salvation of your souls. For it is in Christ's
name that His gospel has been preached to you. It's in His
name that you have been brought to this place to worship and
to sing His praises. And to you who have trusted Christ,
I pray that you'll rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Because death no longer has its sting, as Romans 8.2 says, for
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free
from the law of sin and death. So that passage which is through
the grave of your death is only the valley of the shadow of death.
because the substance of death has been done away with. It's
been done away with by Christ for those who believe and trust
Christ. And so, because of Christ, because
it's been verified by His resurrection, you can know and you can be assured
that death no longer has any power over you, because you will
be resurrected in Christ if you're in Christ. It's from your death
that you are made able to see the city of the living God, And
when you are there, you will see that God has made you to
be like Christ. And so, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant
mercy has made us undo this lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Blessed be the Son, who is the
resurrection of the life of His people. Blessed be God the Holy
Ghost, who by the washing of regeneration, which He has shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, and who has
made us partakers of the divine nature, that being justified
by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life in Him. Amen.