Fellowship Sweden it is A couple of announcements before
we begin Robert is having his knee replacement surgery in the
morning So Lord enables you to pray for him. I know he would
appreciate that they hate not being here, but he's Afraid he
might fall before he gets his surgery and needs to needs to
have that done. So, uh, second thing is next
Sunday, we're going to have lunch together after service. So come,
uh, prepared for that. I just want to read a passage
before we begin from Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28. beginning at verse 1, in the
end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day
of the week, came Mary Magdalene. Remember Mary Magdalene? The
Lord cast seven demons out of her. That means she was completely
under the control of demonic forces and influences. She's
the first one. First one to the tomb. To whom
much is forgiven, much love, much love. How much has God forgiven
you? And the other Mary, to see the
sepulcher. And behold, there was a great
earthquake. Might God shake the foundation
of our lives, causing us to look to that which cannot be shaken.
Behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended
from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it. His countenance was like the
lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him,
the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered
and said unto the women, fear not, ye. Don't you be afraid. They have
reason to be afraid, but don't you be afraid. They're under
the flying scroll. You're under grace. Fear not ye, for I know that
you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here for he is risen. As he said, come see the place
where the Lord lay. He's risen. Tom's going to come
lead us in number 37 in your spiral hymnal. Would you stand
please? Number 37. Approach, my soul, the throne
of grace in every time of need. There's mercy for the needy one
who Jesus' name shall plead. Though I'm a weak and sinful
wretch, I will approach the throne. I'll lean upon Christ's mighty
arm and plead His blood alone. The blood, the precious blood
of Christ has opened up the way by which I can draw near to God
and to my Father pray. Though Satan tempts my heart
to sin, I'll call upon my God. And if I fall, He'll lift me
up and cleanse me in the blood. The way is open, God will hear
my groans and cries of grief. Nothing can keep me from His
throne but mine own unbelief. O Lord, my unbelief remove, and
turn my heart, my grace. Come, tell me to approach your
throne, and there spread out my case. Please be seated. Good morning. Would you turn
to the book of Galatians chapter 3? We're going to read in verse
8. The Lord wants us to read this again,
so I was telling Greg I didn't know that this was going to be
covered, but it is needful that we read it again. Verse 8, chapter
3, Galatians. And the Scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham saying in thee shall all nations be
blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. Verse 10, for as many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written Cursed
is everyone that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not a faith, but
the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. That
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner
of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed,
no man disannulleth or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as
of many, but as of one, the oneness of Christ, and to thy seed, which
is Christ. That's why we're here. Let's
pray. Father, words are so inadequate
to express back to thee, but we're thankful for the scriptures,
for your words. that we can recite it back to
you what you have promised in your son. Oh, how we desire this morning
to hear from you. Lord, as she said to Mary, peace
be with you. Lord, we ask this morning right
now that you would speak to our hearts by name. Peace be with
you. Lord, we have that opportunity
because your gospel is going to be preached once again. The
very message you place in our brother's heart for us to hear
this morning as you gathered us, Lord, that you've purpose
in eternity's past, would you bless now your word and enable
us to worship you and to believe you. Lord, forgive us of our sins,
our unbelief. So thankful. We give you all
the thanks and praise that truly salvation is of the Lord. And there's nothing we can do
other than to cry out for mercy. Would you have mercy on us now,
this very morning? For we ask it in the name of
thy dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin. I bless the Christ of God I rest
on love divine And with unfaltering lip and heart I call the Savior
mine His cross dispels each doubt I bury in His tomb Each thought
of unbelief and fear, Each lingering shade of blue. I praise the God
of peace. I trust his truth and might. He calls me his. I call him mine. My God, my joy,
my light. In him is only good. In me is only ill. My Ilma draws his goodness forth,
And me he loveth still. "'Tis He who saveth me, and freely
pardon gives. I love because He loveth me,
I live because He lives. My life with him is hid. My death has passed away. My clouds have melted into light. My midnight into day. Please be seated. We open your Bibles with me to
First Corinthians chapter 15, please. First Corinthians chapter
15. I've titled this message, The
Prize for Those Who Finish. The Prize for Those Who Finish. Several years ago, I think probably
20 Three, 24 years ago, Trish and I went to Kona, Hawaii. And we arrived there the day
after the Ironman competition. And we didn't really know that
that had been going on, but we rented a car and began to drive
around the island. And we saw a man. stumbling to put one foot before
the other 26, 28 hours after the race had started
the day before. He had numbers written on his,
on his arm and on his thigh. I didn't think much about it. Didn't, couldn't put it together.
We drove a little further and saw another one and then another
one. At the time, I didn't think much
of it. We realized that these were,
these were the runners from the Ironman competition that were
still struggling to get to the finish line. And I thought, you
know, the cameras have all gone home. Crowds have dispersed. The winner's already been crowned. And part of me thought, you know,
why don't you just give up? Well, got a little more age on
me now, a little more experience. If I had that experience happen
to me today, I would have stopped my car and I'd have got out and
I'd have walked alongside that man. And I'd say, keep going,
keep going. You can do it. Just put one foot
before the other, because the goal is not to win. The goal is to finish. It's to
finish the race. Time and troubles, temptations
and trials have taken their toll. in years, and perhaps at one
time those runners, when they started, had visions of winning. But now they were just struggling
to get one foot in front of the other that they might make it
to the finish line. I want to come along beside you
and say to you, I've seen runners fall away. I've seen them quit. I've seen them go home. I've
seen them give up on the gospel. My hope at this stage in my life
is to finish the race because everybody that finishes gets
the prize. What is the prize? It's the hope
of the resurrection. It's the hope of seeing him as
he is and being made like him. And without the hope of the resurrection,
there is no hope for anything. Anything. Without the hope of
the resurrection, everything that we're experiencing in this
world is all for less than nothing. Less than nothing. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter
4, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." There's our hope, brethren. Without
that hope, there's no hope for anything. Without the resurrection, read about the saints mentioned
in Hebrews chapter 11. And then in Hebrews chapter 12
at verse 1, the Lord says, seeing, seeing therefore that we also
are compassed about with such a great cloud of witnesses, let
us lay aside every sin, every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us. What is the sin that doth so
easily beset every child of God? It's the cause of every sin that
we struggle with. It's the sin of unbelief. The faithfulness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is seen in His dying breath, when though He was forsaken
of His Father, and though that scroll flying had cut off all
the light of hope, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. He believed his father would
reward him as the father had promised by raising him from
the dead. That was his hope. His hope was
the resurrection. Lay aside every weight. and the
sin that doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, who is the
author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before Him, What was the joy that was set before Him as He
endured the sufferings of the cross? What was the joy that
was set before Him? It was His resurrection. It was
the promise of His Father to raise Him from the dead. For
the Father to be completely satisfied with His work of redemption.
That was the joy that was set before Him. He endured the cross. despising its shame and is now
sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. That was
his reward. And that's the hope. That's the
hope that everyone who finishes the race has. When you're young and ambitious,
you have grandeur visions of winning the race. Get a little experience. You
just want to finish. Or just give me the grace to
finish. Don't, don't leave me to myself. Don't take your hand
off of me. Give me the grace and the strength
to put one step in front of the other for the hope. that is set before me. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. There
were some in the church who were saying that there is no resurrection
from the dead. And the Lord gives us this strong
argument when he says, if they're not raised from the dead, then
Christ is not raised from the dead. And if Christ is not raised
from the dead, then your faith is in vain and you are still
in your sins. And I never understood that passage
until preparing for this message. But that is exactly what is being
said in religion today. It is exactly what's being said
in religion today. That Christ died for everybody,
but the majority of people for whom he died are not going to
enjoy the resurrection. It's what they're saying. They're
going to die in their sins, though Christ died for them. And the
Lord is saying to us, if they be not raised, if everyone that
the Lord Jesus Christ died for is not raised from the dead,
then Christ died in vain. And your faith is in vain. and
you're still in your sins. And if there is no resurrection,
this passage of scripture tells us, if there is no resurrection
and there's no hope of eternal life for those who finish the
race, then we are of all men most miserable. In other words,
shame on us for being such fools. And the Lord goes on to say,
I've heard people say in their self-righteous piety, I've heard
people who call themselves Christians say, well, you know, if there
was no life after death, I'd still want to live for Jesus.
That's not what this passage of scripture says. This passage
of scripture says if there's no resurrection, if there's no
hope of life after death, then let us all eat, drink, and be
merry for tomorrow we shall die. Indulge yourself in all the pleasures
of this world because it's all you got. It's all you got. What's the Lord saying? All of
our hopes is in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ finished
His race. He finished His race. When He
died, His dying breath, He finished His race. He said, Father, the
work that Thou hast given Me to do I have finished. And just before he said, Father
into thy hands, I commend my spirit. He said, it's finished.
It's been, I finished my course. I've been faithful to the father
and the father is obligated. Now, according to the covenant
of grace that he made with me before Adam was ever created,
before sin ever entered into the world, the father promised
to reward me with a resurrection and ascend me back to my rightful
place. And that promise that God made
to Christ is for all those that are in Christ. Oh Lord, give
us the grace to finish the race. I told the man this morning,
I don't think in 20 years I've preached on the resurrection
on this particular Sunday. And I've done it purposely in
order to avoid all the foolishness that's in religion. But the Lord's put this on my
heart and I pray that he will give us the grace to understand
this day for what it really is. Now first of all I will say that
believers celebrate The resurrection every day. Every day. And every time they come together.
We celebrate. The fact that God raised the
Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and his resurrection is the hope
of our resurrection. Everybody that calls themselves
Christian is celebrating today the resurrection of Christ. They call it Easter. Easter. Now, the word Easter is actually
found in the scriptures, but it doesn't belong there. You
say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You calling the word of
God into question, preacher? No, no. You can look it up. In
Acts chapter 12, when Herod arrested James and had him put to death,
he saw that it pleased the Jews, and so he arrested the ringleader,
Peter, and brought him into prison. And the scripture says that after
Easter, he intended to put Peter to death in order to get more
credibility with the Jews. Well, that word Easter is translated
Passover everywhere else it's used in the New Testament. But
the translators back in the 1600s decided to use a word that was
popular among men in that day. It's the word Passover. Passover. Now, I'm not here to squabble
over words. and I'm not here to to make a big issue out of
whatever men want to observe on this day but I am here I am
here to fulfill my God-given responsibility to do what Abraham
did in Genesis chapter 15 when he took that sacrifice as the
Passover lamb sacrifice. He divided the sacrifice and
the scripture says that the fowls of the air came down and began
to peck on the sacrifice and Abraham had to chase off the
fowls of the air. That's every gospel preacher's
responsibility to chase off the fowls of the air that would pick
away at the sacrifice and to reveal the truth about what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
as our Passover lamb. So, turn with me to Romans chapter
14. Romans chapter 14. People say sometimes that we
are judgmental. The scripture says that we're
to make righteous judgments, we're to make judgments about
what's true and what's not true, lest men believe a lie to the
damnation of their souls. We're to preach the truth, but
we don't stand in judgment of men. How can the chief of all
sinners stand in judgment of another man? How can he look
down his self-righteous nose and believe someone else to be
beneath him? We don't do that. So the Lord
tells us in Romans chapter 14 and verse 4, Who art thou that
judges another man's servant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above
another, and another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man
be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day
regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth it not the
day to the Lord, he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth
to the Lord, and he that giveth God thanks. And he that eateth
not to the Lord, he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. In other
words, each man has to stand by himself in the presence of
God and be judged according to God's standards. But we're not
here to cast aspersions or make judgments about individuals.
We are here to make judgments about the gospel. You have your Bibles open, if
you will, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. The gospel. Now that word declare
means to explain. Explain the gospel. And that's
what we have the joy and pleasure and duty to do. Explain the gospel. Explain how
it is that God, in His sovereign purpose of His own will, chose
a people before the foundation of the world to have mercy on. Explain how it is that God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit entered into
a promise. That's what a covenant is. It's
a promise. And God the Father promised to give His Son a bride. God the Son promised to His Father
to lay down His life for His sheep, to shed His blood, to
satisfy God's divine justice and to fulfill the requirements
of God's holy law. God the Holy Spirit entered into
that covenant promise and promise to come in the power of the Spirit
of God and open the eyes of those whom God chose, those whom Christ
died for, and give to them the miracle of faith that they might
rest the hope of their salvation not on their works of the law,
not on their will, not on their works, not on their wisdom, but
on the finished, accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it's good news. That's what
the word gospel means. It's good news. Nothing that
we can do to add to it, nothing we can do to take away from it. It's a message of salvation that
gives to God all the glory. And Paul says I declare I explain
unto you. And he's going to say according
to the scriptures from the Word of God. I say anything that can't
be backed up with scripture. I want somebody to challenge
me. I want somebody to correct me. We speak. According to the scriptures.
The scriptures support what we believe or we don't believe it.
We don't believe it. The scripture says when Paul
went to Berea, he said the Bereans were more noble than those in
Thessalonica for they searched, they heard him gladly and they
searched the scriptures daily to see if what he said was true.
That's what I want. That's what I want from you.
I want you to hear the explanation of the gospel gladly and search
the scriptures to see if what we're saying is not true. The
final, the final arbiter of truth can be answered with one question. What sayeth the scriptures? What's God say about it? That's
all I want to know. I don't care what this denomination believes
or this church holds to. What does God say in his word?
That's why we spend so much time in this book, isn't it? Just
want to know what God says about it. Thus saith the Lord. We're
not here to debate it. We're here to declare it, explain
it. I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you. This gospel is to be heralded. You know, one thing I've heard
a lot about in our culture is this word conversation. Everything's
a conversation, isn't it? Everybody wants to get together
and put their two cents worth into, and most things, you know,
maybe conversation is what's necessary, but the gospel's not
a conversation. You know, preaching has fallen
on hard times. Preaching has been, the pulpit
has been replaced with a stage. And preaching has fallen to small
group Bible studies where everybody gets together and pools their
ignorance to try to figure out what everybody believes. You
know, that's, Paul said this gospel is to be preached. When
I'm listening, I just want somebody to tell me, what does God say?
Don't give me anything to debate. Don't give me any input. Just
tell me what God says. And that's what preaching is.
Preaching is heralding the truth of the gospel. Declaring what
God says. And preaching demands, demands
that the hearer believe. Why is it that God says faith
comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God? Nobody's
asking you for your input right now, are they? We don't do small
group Bible studies where we get together and everybody, you
know, can massage their ego by feeling like they've had some
input into things. No, listening is completely passive. You don't have anything to say
about it. You either believe what God says or you don't believe
what God says. Either I'm preaching what God says or I'm not preaching
what God says. It's just that simple. It's black
and white. There's no gray area to it. So
Paul says, I came to you and I preached to you, I herald to
you, I declared to you the gospel, the gospel, the good news that
salvation is of the Lord. Look what else he says in verse,
which also you have Received. Received. Now that means it's
not rejected. That means that you have received
the message as your own. That means you believe it. That
means that you have said, as we said earlier, Amen. Amen and Amen. I believe what
God has said. That's the only response necessary
for faith. It's just to say Amen. Amen. And, where in you stand,
stand. Those poor, worn out racers at
the Ironman competition were still on their feet. Struggling to stand, but they
were still standing. As you received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in Him. How did you receive Him? You
received Him as a sinner, a mercy beggar. Job said that he was saved by
the skin of his teeth. Yeah, that's a biblical phrase. You ever feel like that? I'm
just being saved by the skin of my teeth. By which also you are saved.
Don't hear much about sin, salvation, sovereignty of God. Don't hear
much about that today in Christianity. It's all about community. It's all about family. Church
buildings are all about providing every pleasure of the flesh without
any concern for the need of men's souls. The truth is that you
and I are sinners. And if God doesn't have mercy
on us, we will. We will be separated from God
for all eternity. That's it. Let the, let the world
provide you with the entertainment that you need. Church is not
here to entertain. Church is here to declare the
gospel of God's grace for the saving of your soul, saving of
your soul. Verse 2, by which you are saved,
if you keep in memory that which I preached unto you, unless you
believed in vain. Lord was pleased about 20, three years ago, something like
that to make himself known to me. And over those years, I've
watched many runners quit the race, quit the race. Some of them, a lot better men
than me. Yet they quit the race. They
went home. The Lord says, if you quit, it's
because you never believed. Not to the saving of your soul.
You may have heard the propositions of the gospel. You may have even
liked them. You may have even thought, well, that's interesting.
And I agree with that because it's all supported by scripture
and it's all logical. How can God be sovereign and
man have a free will at the same time? That doesn't make sense.
That's nonsense. You can't make sense out of nonsense. And religion is convoluted. It's
confusing. They say we're saved by grace,
but you're measured by works. They mix it all together. You
can't make sense of it. And when the gospel is preached
clearly and simply, it makes sense. It does. But I fear, well, I know it's
true, to those who have been able to walk away, that's all
it was to them. It's all it was to them. It's
just a logical proposition of truths without the knowledge
of the truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the truth is that
you and I are never gonna see ourselves as hell-deserving sinners
until the Lord is pleased to make Himself known. We see Him
in His glory, in His righteousness, in His holiness, in His atoning
grace and sacrificial love, in His faithfulness to His Father,
until we see Him and we stand in His presence. We sang that
hymn earlier this morning, Holy, Holy, Holy. And that hymn was
written from Isaiah chapter six, when Isaiah was caught up into
heaven and he saw the Lord Jesus Christ seated. on his throne,
and his train filled the temple, and the seraphim, with two wings
they covered their eyes, they could not look upon his holiness,
with two they covered their feet, covering up their creatureness,
and with two they did fly, anxious to serve, crying, holy, holy,
holy, as the Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth is filled with
his glory. And what's the first words out
of Isaiah's mouth? First words out of his mouth.
Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I live among a people of unclean
lips. There's nobody that can help me. I've seen the king and
I'm a dead man. I'm a dead man. until the Lord
sent an angel to take a coal from off the altar and took that
hot coal and touched it on Isaiah's lips. Now, what's that a picture
of? It's the fiery wrath of God's
justice that fell from heaven on the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary's
cross that takes away our sin. And the Lord purged him of his
sin, took it away. made an end of sin, established
everlasting righteousness. That's what Christ did. But some,
those who fall away, number one, they've never seen the Lord Jesus
Christ. They've never believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ. They've never been given true
saving faith and consequently they've never seen themselves
for what they are. And so they They lose sight,
and they lose interest. Paul said, I delivered unto you
first of all that which I also received. You see that in our
text in verse 3? And in Galatians chapter 1, he
tells us about his experience with the Lord. Remember when
the Lord knocked him off his high horse? The Lord spoke to
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
And then Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 1 that he did not confer
with flesh and blood. He did not, after that experience
with Christ, he did not go to the apostles to learn the gospel.
The Lord himself took the Apostle Paul into Arabia and for three
years taught him the gospel. And then he came back to Damascus
and he met with the apostles and then he compared what God
had taught him with what the Lord had taught the other apostles
and they were in agreement. So now he's saying, I delivered unto you that which
I also received. I got this straight from God.
Now either Paul's a deluded fool Or he's a prophet of God who's
speaking the truth. There's no in between. The man
says, I've got a message from God. He's either deluded or he's
been given a message from God. You can't, you can't come to
any other conclusion. There's plenty of folks today
who believe they've gotten a message from God and they're crazy. So that's our choice, isn't it? We've got to conclude that, you
see, if this gospel's true, if it's true, it is of infinite
importance. If what God has said is true,
our souls hang in the balance on believing this. If it's not true, hey, let's
all go home. We are of all men most miserable. We're a bunch of fools who are
wasting our time. But you cannot have a position
in between those two extremes. It can't be moderately important.
It can't be, well, you know, I could use it here and not use
it. No, it's either everything or it's nothing. That's it. Paul says, I received this from
God, I preached it unto you, I declared unto you. What did
I preach? How that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures. Everything in the Old Testament
told us about the Lord Jesus Christ as Lamb of God that would
take away the sins of the world as the scapegoat. as the city
of refuge, all these types and pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ
as the rock that follow the children of Israel through the wilderness.
Everything in the volume of the book, it is written of me. For lo, I have come to do thy
will, O God. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
said about himself. He said, everything in this book
is about me. And that's what Paul is saying, it's all about
me. It's not about you. What are we hearing in religion
today? Oh, it's all about you. We're going to teach you how
to live a better life. We're going to teach you how
to get along with your wife and how to raise your kids and how
to do this and how to do that. Are those things important? Yeah,
they are. Are they eternally significant? No. No. Truth is, the Lord never reveals
Christ to us. We'll figure those other things
out. I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received how, that Christ died according
to the Scriptures. Now here's the gospel. The gospel
is in the why, not the what. Everybody who calls themselves
a Christian is meeting today in religious meeting houses all
over the world and they are declaring what happened 2,000 years ago
without any understanding as to why it happened. And they
will tell you that the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they can't tell you why he
died. They cannot tell you why he was buried. They cannot tell
you why he was raised from the dead. Why did the Lord Jesus
Christ die? He died bearing the guilt and
sins of his people and successfully put them away once and for all. Why was he buried? Those sins
had to be put away. They had to be put away. The
Lord Jesus Christ went into the grave in order to show that death
has been conquered. Why was he raised from the dead?
Because God Almighty was satisfied with what the Lord Jesus Christ
did. He was satisfied. And he raised him from the dead. because he had promised to do
that. He was buried. He rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures. According to the
Scriptures. God the Father accepted the offer
that Christ made of himself to the Father as an atoning sacrifice
for the sins of God's elect. And as Christ kept His promise
to redeem His people, the Father kept His promise to raise Him
and all that died in Him from the dead. The resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ is our resurrection. We were crucified with Christ. God's people were. We died with
the Lord Jesus Christ. God's people were raised with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse five. And that he was seen of Cephas,
that's Peter, then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above
five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some have fallen asleep. And after that
he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of
all he was seen of me also as one born out of due time." These
are the eyewitnesses. Five hundred believers, including
the apostles, all declaring the same testimony. What sort of
credibility would that have in a court of law? Everybody, Adam,
how sure would you be that your client would win that case? You
had that many witnesses to testify the same thing. Paul says in verse nine, for
I am least of the apostles. I'm not made to be called an
apostle because I persecuted the Church of God." Later on in the Apostle Paul's
life, he made this statement. He said, I am the least of the
saints. The least of the saints. And
then, like that Runner in the Ironman competition. Putting
one foot before the other. He made this statement. I am
the chief of all centers. Chief of all centers. Now that's
growth in grace. Growth in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not the self-righteous pride that
you see in man-made, free-will, works religion where everybody's
trying to compete with one another and impress one another about
how holy and righteous they are. It's seeing more and more of
your need for Christ. It's having more and more of
your sin made known to you. It's becoming more and more dependent
upon him. And Paul said, but by the grace
of God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with
me. It is God that worketh in us,
causing us to will and to do of his good pleasure. He gets
all the glory for everything. Therefore, whether it were I
or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now, if Christ
be preached that he raised from the dead, everybody believed
that Christ was raised from the dead. All these witnesses and
all these testimonies confirmed that Christ had been raised from
the dead. and there was no one in the church
of Corinth that didn't believe that Christ was raised from the
dead. So Paul is making this assumption. If Christ be raised
from the dead, how say some among you that there
is no resurrection of the dead? How can you say that some for
whom Christ died are not going to be raised from the dead? Now
that's exactly what's being said in free will religion today.
they, they're all celebrating the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ this morning. And yet not knowing why he died,
they are also believing that many for whom he died are not
going to be raised from the dead. But if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen,
then our preaching vain, and your faith also vain. If everyone
that the Lord Jesus Christ died for was not raised with him,
and if everyone that he died for doesn't have the hope that
his resurrection is their resurrection, then it's all in vain. Don't
say Christ was raised from the dead and then suggest or even
come right out and say that many that he was raised for are not
going to be raised. It doesn't make sense. Yea, And we are found false witnesses
of God because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ,
whom He raised not, if so be that the dead rise not. If there
be any for whom Christ died that are not going to raise from the
dead, then we're a bunch of liars. We're a bunch of liars. And you
ought not to believe a word we say. And if Christ be not raised, you see, if everyone that Christ
died for is not raised from the dead, then Christ is not raised
from the dead. And if Christ is not raised from
the dead, then your faith is in vain and you're still in your
sins. Because God didn't reward him for what he accomplished. Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. We're a bunch of fools who are
bought into a pack of lies. But now, is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep. For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of
the dead. For as in Adam all died, so in
Christ shall all be made alive." You see, you and I were in the
loins of our father Adam when he sinned way back there in the
garden. And God charged all that are
in Adam with the sin of Adam. God says in Adam all died. When
Adam died, you died. Adam lied, Adam stole, Adam robbed
from God, and Adam died and we died in Adam. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to accomplish, well, he came to restore. He said,
I restored that which I took not away. I didn't take it away,
Adam took it away. Oh, and so much more. As in Adam
all died, so in Christ, so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order,
Christ the firstfruits, and afterwards they that are Christ at his coming. So we'll say, Bible says Christ
died for everybody. No, understand that Christ died
for everybody, everybody's saved. Christ died for everybody, then
we're all going to, because God's satisfied. Unless you think you're going
to add something to what Christ has done. Verse 24, Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the
Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority
and all power. All the supremacy and the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to put down all rebellion. For he must reign. He must reign. Till he hath put all enemies
under his feet, and the last enemy that he shall destroy is
death. Death. That's why he died. He died to destroy death. What
do they say? Two things you can't avoid, death
and taxes. Well, a lot of folks have avoided taxes. I avoid them every chance I can.
You do too, don't you? Some folks have never paid a
dime in taxes. They got away with it. I don't recommend it. But I guarantee you, not one
single person has ever, has ever escaped death. Not one. Christ has put all things or
the father has put all things under his feet. Verse 27, but
when he say, if all things are put under his feet, it is manifest
that he is exempted. which did put all things under
him. In other words, the father is not under the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is answering
to the father and he says, when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the son also himself be subject unto him,
the father, that put all things under him, that God might be
all in all. Now, God might be all in all. That's the purpose of the resurrection.
The purpose of the resurrection is that God might be all in all. All in salvation, all in life,
all in glory. God keep us from being thieves
and liars, robbing from Christ, his glory, speaking things that
aren't true about him, about ourselves and about salvation. Let's pray. Our merciful heavenly
father. We rejoice in knowing that our
Savior, thy dear son, was faithful, faithful to his promises, faithful
to his work of redemption. And Father, that you were faithful. We confess to you, Lord, that
our faithfulness Well, Lord, we have no faithfulness
in and of ourselves. We pray that you would enable
us now to. To rest our hope. In the accomplished work of thy
dear son. That we might have the. Hope of the resurrection. Knowing that. Those who finish the race. Will
be rewarded. But we ask it in Christ name. Amen. 133 let's stand together. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. The strife is o'er, the battle
done. The victory of life is won. The song of triumph has begun. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! The powers of death have done
their worst, but Christ their legions hath dispersed. Let shouts of holy joy outburst. Alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. The three sad days have quickly
spread. He rises glorious from the dead. All glory to our risen head. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. He closed the yawning gates of
hell. The bars from heaven's high portals
fell. Let hymns of praise his triumphs
tell. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Lord, by the stripes which wounded
Thee, from death's dread sting Thy servants free, that we may
live and sing to Thee. Alleluia. That's it. Okay.