If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We'll start at verse 19. We'll
read this verse. It will be my text. The Apostle Paul says, If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, We are of all men most
miserable, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become
the firstfruits of them that slept. The title of my message
this evening is, Our Hope in Christ's Resurrection. Our confidence Our hope, our
assurance, that we as believers in Christ shall endure to the
end and shall be saved is this. Christ is risen from the dead. Christ's resurrection is our
confidence of these things. Now, this life, this life. Paul is preaching here to this
church at Corinth concerning the resurrection of the dead.
If you look in verse 12, he says, Now, if Christ be preached that
He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is
no resurrection of the dead? Some men had come in, and they
had heard the gospel, and they had professed to believe the
gospel of Jesus Christ, but now they were preaching that there
is no resurrection from the dead, or that the resurrection of the
dead had already taken place. And so then, they were saying
in this life, when the believer's life ends, that that's all there
is. That's all there is. Now, they may have believed that
the spirit goes to God, that the soul goes to God. And that's the truth. Paul said,
being absent from the body is what? to be present with the
Lord. All those saints that have died,
we know this, they are now in their spirit with the Lord. They are with the Lord. So, that
they may have believed. But they, like the Jewish sect
of the Sadducees, they believed that there wasn't any resurrection
of the body. But see how easily this lie is
exposed by simply listening to the gospel. This lie is easily
exposed by the preaching of the gospel. Paul said, I preach the
gospel. He said, now if Christ be preached that He rose from
the dead, how in the world can you say He's not? How can you
say there's no resurrection? This gospel that Paul preached,
He said, look, in verse 1, he said, Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which you also received
wherein you stand, by which you are saved, if you keep in memory
what I have preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. This gospel was preached to them,
and they received it, and they believed it. And listen, he says
this, if you continue to believe, this is every one of you who
believe the gospel. You're saved by this gospel.
And what's the evidence that you've been saved by this gospel?
It's your faith. Faith is the evidence and faith,
true faith, always continues. And so what then is this gospel
that he preached? Look in verse 3, "...for I delivered
unto you." First of all, that which I also received, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He
was buried, and that He rose again the third day according
to the Scriptures. This is the gospel that Paul
preached, and this is the gospel we preach. First of all, this,
that our gospel, our gospel we preached and you received by
faith, by which you are saved if you continue, is, listen,
according to the Scriptures. This gospel we preach is according... It's not a fable. It's not a
myth. It's not the opinion of man. Now I know most men are preaching
opinions. They say, well the tradition
said this. What is a tradition? It's nothing more than a man's
opinion. That they just did it for so long that they adopt it
to be truth. Now that doesn't make anything
true just because you traditionally do it. So that's not what we
do. We don't follow vain traditions
of men. But what's the source of our
gospel? Listen, it is according to the
Word of God. The immutable, infallible, changeless
decree of God. God's Word. And this gospel that
we preach, this gospel of God, declares to us that Jesus is
the promised Savior according to the Scriptures. Jesus Christ
is the promised Savior of all the elect of God according to
the Scriptures. According to the Word of God,
He was from the beginning. Remember the first prophecy.
What was the first prophecy? The seed of the woman. Now who else in all of history
was the seed of the woman? There is no seed of... We were
seeds of our Father. None of us were seeds of the
woman except this one, Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman. And what was His work? He was
to crush the head of the serpent. He was to cast out the accuser
of the brethren and clothe us in the righteousness of God.
That was what was pictured there in the garden. When He said that,
He will crush the head of the serpent. How? By the bruising
of His heel. This is speaking of His crucifixion.
And you remember what happened after that. God killed that animal. The first sacrifice was offered
by God. He killed that animal and He
clothed their nakedness. What a picture of Christ that
was. That was the Gospel according to the Scriptures. And you go
a little bit further in the Scriptures, in Exodus, and what do you see?
You see this man Jesus pictured by the Passover Lamb. The children
of Israel in bondage to Egypt. God says, I'm going to deliver
you. Sends all those plagues and none of those plagues deliver
them except this one. It was the Passover lamb, and
this pictured the work of Jesus Christ. Remember that Passover
lamb? They applied the blood to the
door, and everyone who had the blood, the firstborn in that
house was saved, was delivered. And it was by that that they
went out from Egypt. They were redeemed. Jesus Christ
is the Passover, according to the Scriptures. According to
the Scriptures, He's the fulfillment of that Passover Lamb. And all
who have the blood of Jesus Christ applied by the Spirit of God
in regeneration and faith have this promise. That same promise
that was given to Israel is given to you. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. That's a sovereign determination,
isn't it? That's God determining to do something. And God says
this, when I see the blood on your heart, Sprinkled by the
Spirit of God to faith in Christ, I know this, God will pass over
you. How do you know that? It's according
to the Scriptures. That's what we preach. Believer,
you who have received this Gospel, you should keep this awful close.
You should keep this as near to you and dear to your hearts,
very close to your heart. And what you should do then is
set all your hope on it. Set all your confidence on it. Set all your faith upon the blood
of Christ. This was always God's way of
saving. You know, God never intended or even thought that salvation
should come by the law. Never in this book does salvation
come by the law. Nowhere. Paul said, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. We know this, that the law, it
manifests sin, it exposes sin, but it has no remedy for sin.
God never intended man be saved by his works or by his free will. Nor did he intend that there
be a mixture. You can't mix works and grace. Either salvation is
all of works or it's all of grace. For God, according to the Scriptures,
promised eternal life. And when did He promise that?
When did God promise? According to the Scriptures.
Now, we're not asking any other opinion. It's not my opinion
when God promised eternal life. God promised eternal life before
the world began. That's when God promised it.
In 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9, Paul says,
God who hath saved us. Who does the saving? God does. God saved us and called us with
an holy calling. For what reason? Not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus. When was this given us? Salvation
and calling and everything was given to us when? Before the
world began. but is now made manifest by the
appearing of Christ. You see, God's purpose and grace
was given us freely, without merit, without price, and without
cost to us, for we had nothing with which to purchase this salvation. We had nothing to merit this
salvation. All we are by nature is sin,
and all we have done from the womb is lie. We came forth from
the womb according to the Scriptures. Now listen to this. According
to the Scriptures. We came forth from the womb speaking
lies. I don't know about you. My children
are not honest. They're not honest because their
father is not honest. Nobody taught us to lie because
we were liars from the womb. At no time did we ever seek after
God. At no time did we ever do any
good. At no time were we ever righteous. None of us without exception. Paul tells us this in Romans
chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 is very clear
what Paul says. Romans chapter 3 and verse 10. It says, "...as it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. They are all together gone
out of the way. They are all together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one." Without exception,
all of us are like this. None of us could merit the righteousness
of God. But behold, the grace of God
to save us and call us with an holy calling was what? Not according
to our works, which we have done. But according to His grace which
was given us in Christ before the world began. And this is
what? All I'm preaching to you tonight
is what? According to the Scriptures. This is not my opinion. And if
you have an opinion opposite of this, you should throw it
away. Because your opinion is not according to the Scriptures.
Paul says, we preached according to the Scriptures. The Scriptures. You remember Jesus said this
about Himself when He met those disciples on the road to Emmaus.
He said, You fools and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets had said. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and entered into His glory? Ought not Christ to
have died and rose again according to the Scriptures? And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures things concerning Himself. Christ was always purposed
of God to suffer for the sins of His elect. He always was.
Therefore, we preach to you not as men preach. We don't preach a Christ who
is a victim of death. We preach Christ who is the conqueror
of death. We don't preach Jesus that made
salvation possible. But we preach Christ, through
His death, accomplished redemption for every one of God's elect. The Scriptures are clear. The
reproaches of them that reproach thee hath fallen on me. all of
the blasphemy, all of the guilt, all of the shame that His people
committed, God imputed to His Son at Calvary and made Him to
be sin for us who knew no sin, that we, His elect, might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Go to Romans chapter 8. Look at this. I've got this underlined. Verse 29, "...For whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom
He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" He that spared
not His Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him freely give us all things? Who are those He foreknew? Who are those He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son? Who are those that
He predestinated, called, justified, and glorified? Who are the us
that He spared not His Son for? Well, look at the very next verse.
Verse 33, "...who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect."
That's who the us is. That's all He had foreknown.
Those ones that were His elect. That's the ones Christ died for
according to the Scriptures. According to the Scriptures.
to prove, to manifest His success. How do we know that Christ died
according to the Scriptures for the sins of His elect? How do
we know He was successful? The Scriptures tell us He will
be. He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. That's what the Scriptures tell
us. But how do we know? What's the manifestation that
His death was successful? That's what Paul is dealing with
in here, the importance of the hope of Christ's resurrection.
The resurrection is the manifestation that God was satisfied, that
justice was satisfied in His death. He was manifestly satisfied
because He raised Him from the dead. And this, my friends, was
no accident either. Just as much as the Scripture
speaks of Christ's death for the sins of His people, it also
speaks of His burial and His resurrection. His resurrection
from the dead. Go to Psalm chapter 2. Psalm
chapter 2. Look at what God says in verse
7. I will declare the decree. You
see, this thing I'm talking about is a decree. It's God's Word.
I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me. and I will give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for
thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron, thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter's
vessel." The eternal Son of God, friend, was made flesh. His deity
took union with His humanity to make one new man, the God-man. the God-man, the seed of the
woman. And by His death He has redeemed
all of His elect people, but in His resurrection from the
dead, He has inherited all that God promised Him. He
said, I'm going to give you the heathen for your heritage. Now
then listen, if He's dead, how is He going to inherit the kingdom,
the heathen for His heritage? He only did that at His resurrection. After his death, you remember,
his soul went to be with God. He said, Father, into Thy hands
commend my spirit. And you remember that body of
Christ lay in that grave for three days. Three days. Jesus told the Jews, He says,
As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. You know, all those believers
right now that have died and went on, our brother Don recently,
his body was committed to that grave. It's still there. The body of our brother is still
there, in the grave. Many of our loved ones that have
gone on before us, their bodies are still in the ground. But
remember, that's exactly what Christ experienced, wasn't it?
He experienced the same as those brethren. His body lay in the ground for
three days and three nights. Even so, Jesus Christ, according
to the Scriptures, He died for the sins of His people, according
to the Scriptures, and was buried according to the Scriptures.
And listen, He rose again according to the Scriptures. And now has
Christ Jesus, the God-man in the flesh, risen from the dead. You know why? because he couldn't
be holden by it. You know why my brothers and
sisters are still in the ground? Because they're holden by it.
Until the day God releases their bodies and raises them incorruptible,
they're holden by it. They all see corruption. You
and I, if we die, our bodies will see corruption. But his body saw no corruption.
Why? Because he had no sin left. You
see, He was made sin for us on the tree, but when God exacted
all the punishment for our sin, there was no more sin left. And
if there's no sin, there's no what? Corruption. His body saw
no corruption. And death could not hold Him.
Acts 2 tells us this, "...Him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you were taken by wicked
hands and crucified and slain." whom God hath raised up, having
loose from the pains of death, because it was not possible that
he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning
him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he was He
was on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh
shall rest in hope, because thou shalt not leave my soul in the
grave, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to seek corruption.
And Peter makes us understand David is not talking about himself.
David, remember, he's in the grave too. David's still in the
ground. Verse 31 of that chapter says,
seeing he spake of the resurrection of Christ, this Jesus God raised
and exalted to his right hand. Therefore, we preach boldly,
we preach plainly, we preach constantly, and we preach out
of necessity. Because it is according to the
Scriptures that Christ died, and was buried, and rose again
according to the Scriptures. And now He is ascended. This
crucified one, this one that died, is now ascended and is
both Lord and Christ. You know, you hear that, preachers
of... I got this from somebody else, really good, but... You
know, everybody was saying, make Jesus your Lord. One preacher
said, God beat you to it. Jesus is your Lord. You should
bow to Him. You should believe on Him. But
He's already Lord. God made Him so. Lord and Christ. This is the gospel we preach.
And now He is who is risen, has sent His Spirit into the world
to call His children. all of His redeemed to life and
faith in Him through this means, preaching the Gospel, that Christ
died according to the Scriptures, Christ rose again according to
the Scriptures. This is the heart, soul, and
foundation of the Gospel, and the foundation of our confidence,
the foundation of our hope, the foundation of our eternal life,
the foundation of our forgiveness of sins, and pardon, and redemption,
and justification. This is the foundation of it.
It's that Christ died, that Christ was buried, that Christ rose
again, and now has sent His Spirit into the world to save His people
from their sin. This is the gospel we preach.
Paul reminds us that this message that the messengers are not important. Look at verse 11 in your text.
Go in there and look at this. Paul said, look, you know, Christ,
He rose again. He was seen of me and of all
the apostles. And lastly, He saw of me. But
he says in verse 11, Therefore whether it are they or we, so
we preach. It doesn't matter who preaches.
You got that? It doesn't matter. The messengers
are nothing. It doesn't matter who preaches this as long as
we preach this. This is our hope. This is our
message. The messengers aren't important.
What's important? The message. The message. Whether it's me or anyone else
preaching this message to you. Because that's what we're sent
to do. You know preachers have one thing to do? That's good.
We're not intelligent men. We're not here because of our
intelligence. Matter of fact, God chooses the base things of
the world to confound the things that are mighty. We're the base
things. We're the men that most men wouldn't
have walk their dog, I imagine. But does it matter, does it?
No, God sent us to do one thing, to preach the Word, to preach
the Gospel. We preach it without compromise
and without apology, to preach Christ, The Christ of the Scriptures,
who has died, is buried, and now is reigning and ruling forevermore,
ever living to make intercession for us, and to make all His people
know Him, to save all of His people. In Romans 4.16 it says,
Therefore it is of faith, and that by grace. For this end,
to this end, to this purpose, that the promise might be sure,
steadfast, immutably sure, eternal to all the seed, to all the elect. We who preach the Gospel according
to the Scriptures, we preach this Gospel to you
according to the Scriptures and believers in Christ, we know
nothing of a Christ that did not accomplish redemption. Do
you know of a Christ like that? We don't know anything of the
modern Christ that died and redeemed everyone, but saved no one. We
don't know of a Christ who loves all men and wants all men to
be saved, but is so weak he can't even get them to make a decision.
Nor do we know of a Christ who left His sovereignty to man's
will. No, that's not the Christ we
preach. Why? We preach the Christ according
to the Scriptures. We believe and have received
the gospel of God's free grace in Christ that according to the
Scriptures, salvation is given to men by God's free grace as
it was obtained by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ,
and salvation was manifested by the resurrection of Christ
from the dead, His ascension to the right hand of God, where
Christ now rules over all flesh to give eternal life to as many
as the Father, has given Him. That's the gospel we preach. That's the gospel you receive. Therefore, how could anyone who
professes faith in Christ refuse to believe in the resurrection? Seeing that Christ's resurrection
is the foundation and evidence of our acceptance with God, you
can't have any hope if Christ is not raised from the dead.
And the only reason that you have any hope at all is because
He is raised from the dead. He is ever-living, making intercession. He is now ruling over all things
to save His people. And now Paul in verse 12, he
begins a bunch of hypotheticals here. You'll see this, if then,
if then, if then. He says this, now if we preach
Christ that rose from the dead, now how is it that some of you
say there's no resurrection? But if there be no resurrection
from the dead, listen, then Christ is not raised. Oh boy, you're
starting down a dark road if that's what you're believing.
And if Christ be not risen, then listen, our preaching is in vain.
And your faith is in vain. Yea, we have found false witnesses
of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ.
Whom He raised not up, if so be the dead are not raised. And listen to this, for if the
dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins. Then
they which were fallen asleep in Christ are perished. Those
that already died, they're gone. There's no hope for them, if
that's true. And so then, verse 19, if in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable. Behold the necessity then of
the resurrection. It's the linchpin of everything. It holds the whole
thing together. Without the resurrection of Christ
from the dead, there is no gospel, but only a fearful looking of
God's indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Paul
said, look, if He's not raised and there's no resurrection,
you are yet in your sins and we are false preachers. The resurrection
of Christ from the dead is the evidence there, therefore, of
the successful atonement of Christ. It is the evidence of our acceptance
with God, seeing that we are in union with Him. Isn't that
right, you believer? We are in union with Christ.
God put us in union with Christ before the foundation of the
world. You are in Christ Jesus. And so when Christ came into
the world, listen, He was our representative. And so when He
lived in righteousness, we lived in righteousness. When He died
for sin, so we died in Him. Now listen, if that's it, we've
got no hope. If Christ is still in the grave,
we've got no hope. But we know this, that when He
was risen, Paul said, we are also risen with Him. We're risen
with Him. But if Christ be not raised,
then we're not risen. We have no hope. Why do you suppose
so much effort is put forth by men in disproving the resurrection? You ever wonder why? People out
there looking for that tomb? They're looking for a body, aren't
they? Why are they looking so hard for a body? Because they
know this, if Christ is risen from the dead and ascended to
the throne of God, then men are faced with the truth of His deity. They're faced with the truth
that they must and they will bow to Jesus Christ. If that tomb is empty, they must
bow. Because that proves everything
he said to be true. That proves all of the scripture
that had gone before spoke of him. I tell you what, we preach this,
the tomb is empty. The tomb is empty. And if the tomb is full, what's
it for us? Paul said, if that's true, we
are of all men most miserable. Why? Because all our hope is
in this life. All we have to hope for, all
we have to anticipate is this life. Then we are of all men
most miserable. Consider what Paul is saying
in our text, if in this life we have only, we have hope in
Christ, then we are of all men most miserable. How many in our
day profess in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, yet who desire
and are mindful of this life only? Have you considered that?
How many profess to believe in Christ? They profess to believe
in the resurrection, and yet their whole focus is on this
life. How miserable is that? That's miserable. So many preachers,
so called, are preaching how to live. How to live in this
life. All their attention is on the
law and the traditions of men. They teach how Jesus desires
you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy. Where? In this life. So many profess to believe. Professing
believers. have all their hearts and minds
set on making this life the object of their joys and set all their
love and affection on earthly things. These worldlings seek
only hope in Christ to help to save them or to help them to
live a more pleasurable life. They are busy trying to merit
God's salvation and yet, I tell you this, they are most of all
men most miserable. Anyone who has hope in this life
only is miserable. It's miserable. Why? Because the only things
in this life are pain, hurt, sadness and disappointment. The
joys and pleasures of this life are fleeting. The treasures of
this life are corruptible and decaying. Consider, believer,
this is what our Savior promised us, isn't it? In this world you
shall have tribulation. He told us the world will hate
you. Consider this, all who would
be a Christian, all who would be a Christian, all who would
believe on Christ as all their salvation, Christ said, count
the cost. Count the cost. What will it
cost you to believe on Christ? I want you to understand this.
Whatever cost you pay has nothing to do with salvation. To believe
on Christ is to believe He paid all of the cost of salvation.
But yet know this, if you are His, You will lose and you must
lose everything. You must suffer. Philippians
1.29 says, For unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ
not only to believe. You have faith. Isn't that a
gift of God's grace? You still believe? Why? It's
a gift of God's grace. But listen, it is not only given
to you to believe. but also to suffer for his namesake. Only a nominal sinner sees Christ's
salvation as an option. And thus, when suffering He sees
this as much a gift as faith. He'll be like palatable. Remember
in Pilgrim's Progress? That man that walked along with
Christian there for a little while, and they talked about
the kingdom, and all the joys of heaven, and all the king,
he'll love you. All the king will receive you.
Oh, you'll live in eternal paradise. And palatable, as long as he
heard that, he was fine until when? Until he fell in the slough
of despond. And he said when he fell in that
slew of despondency, enough of this Christian stuff. And he
left. He went back. But you know what? Christian couldn't go back. Christian
knew there was no hope back there. He knew the only hope was to
get to Christ. The only way to relieve himself
of the burden was to go to Christ. Those who are only nominal sinners,
by and by, when they are troubled, when they suffer in this life,
they return. But true faith in Christ cannot
and will not turn back. True faith in Christ. Like Peter says this, Lord to
whom shall we go? So in this life, it is miserable. And we know this, our hope is
not in this life. If we have hope only in this
life, we are all men most miserable, because there is no hope in this
life. Our hope is in what? In Christ,
who died according to the Scriptures, and is who is raised according
to the Scriptures. Now listen, if you believe in
Christ, I tell you, it will cost you everything. If any man hate
not His Father, and His Mother, and His Sister, and His Brother,
and His Wife, and His Children, and His own life also. He cannot,
now you listen to that word, He cannot be my disciple. Why? My disciples, they will
give up everything for me. Why? Because salvation is only
in Him. I have no confidence in whatever
I give up. If I give up everything, you
know what, does that save me? No. I give up everything because
He's my salvation. And I know this, if my hope is
in this world, I am of all men most miserable. Jesus said, take up your cross
and follow me, therefore, A sinner that sees Christ not as an option,
but a necessity. We say, I must have Him or I
die. I must be found in Him, no matter
the cost. And so then, if there is no resurrection,
if there is no resurrection, we are of all people most miserable.
even because all our desire and affection is set on Christ, even
because Christ is all our hope, and if He be not raised, then
we have no hope at all. But here's my hope. My hope is
not in this world. My hope is not in this life only.
Look at verse 20, but now. It said, look, if then, if then,
if then, if Christ be not raised, and we're false preachers, if
Christ be not raised, you're dead in your sins. If Christ
be not raised, we're of all people more miserable. But, listen,
none of that's true. None of that, that's just a bunch
of ifs. Why? But now Christ is risen from
the dead. He is risen from the dead. This
is the joy of our hearts and the encouragement of our souls
that our life is hid with Christ in God, who was dead, but is
now alive forevermore. Brother Scott Richardson used
to say, life begins with a slap on the butt and ends with dirt
in the face. And he said, all along the way
in between is nothing but sorrow and grief and pain. That's what
you got to look forward to in this life. That doesn't sound too encouraging,
does it? It's just truth. But what gives
believers hope, what gives us comfort, what gives us joy in
the midst of this life is this, our hope extends beyond this
life. Our hope extends into heaven
where Christ was raised from the dead and is now seated in
eternity, seated at the right hand of God. Our hope is in Christ
and extends far above this life which is so full of grief and
trouble and sorrow and tears. Now let me be clear. I want you
to understand this. If you've not been given spiritual
life, you are of all men most miserable. For there's no life, if there's
no spiritual life, then after this life there will only be
death. You know that's all you unbelievers
got to look forward to? Eternal death. But for us, seeing
this life is not all there is. We have been given spiritual
life, which is manifest by faith in Christ alone, not produced
by our faith, but faith that embraces Christ. We are of all
people most happy. We are of all people most happy.
Why? Christ is now risen from the dead. And listen, become
the first fruits of them that slept, them that died. Verse 21, For since by man came
death, by man also came the resurrection. We were, as in a representative
Adam, we all died. But listen, because Christ is
risen from the dead, all His people are made what? Alive.
They are made alive. We've been raised from the dead.
Listen, we have been raised from the dead spiritually. But we
also have something to look forward to because we shall be raised
from the dead bodily. Spiritually and bodily. We who
have experienced the resurrection from the dead in our hearts,
we now believe on Christ alone and all our righteousness, all
our salvation, eternal life is in Him. And He sits on the throne
of God. ever living to make intercession
for us. You know how I know I'm going to make it through this
life into glory? Because He is constantly interceding
for me. Constantly His wounds plead for
me. Constantly He is forgiving me
of all my sin. Constantly He is cleansing me
every single day of every sin in thought, in word, in deed. He can do that because He had
already paid for it. He can intercede and say, Father,
I've already paid. Father, I've already paid. That's
what His wounds say everyday. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. But our Lord has also, by His death, showed us, His
followers, the way that we must go to God. How did He go to God? By His death. How shall you and
I, believer, go to God? Listen. Through death. Through death. We must go by
the way of the grave. Believer, our life in this world
is very short, and every day it's getting shorter. You agree? Obvious, isn't it? So then, Seeing
you and I have been bought with the precious blood of Christ,
and the time is short, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6, Glorify God,
listen, with your body and spirit, which are God's. Look at chapter 15 again, our
text in verse 34. Paul says this, Awake to righteousness. and sin not. For some have not
the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. How
many believers say, How many people, now I want us to examine
ourselves here, seeing what the Scriptures tell us, seeing that
we believe the Word of God according to the Scriptures, Christ died
for our sins, rose again for our justification, seeing now
that we have more hope than anything in this life, our hope extends
beyond this life, how then do we walk in this world? Seeing
that the grave is the only way to go to God, how shall we walk
in this world? He said, listen, awake to righteousness
and sin not. How many believers Say, well,
I glorify God in my spirit, but I reserve my body for myself. I reserve my family to myself.
I reserve the pleasures of this life to myself. I worship God
in the inner man, but with the outer man I just do what I want
to. Is that how a believer is to live in this world? No. By
no means. For Christ bought you body, soul,
and spirit. Therefore, as we walk in this
world having hope of eternal life, we should walk glorifying
God with our body, our soul, and our spirit. Therefore, while
we live in this body, let us, as grace has taught us, live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believer, though we suffer
in this life, our joy rests in hope that there is a day appointed
that we shall die. But when we die, we are not to
sorrow as others who have no hope, because, believer, when
we die, this body will be changed. When we die, we lay this body
in the ground in hopes of this. One day it will be changed. You
know why you've got to go through the grave? Because you can't
go to heaven the way you are right now. This body could not
inherit heaven as it is. This body cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, therefore we must be changed. Look at verse
36 of your text here. That which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou
sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, that it may
chance of wheat, or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body,
as it hath pleased Him, to every seed His own body. And what he's saying is this,
look, when you put a piece of seed in the ground, a wheat seed,
it's not going to come up a wheat seed. It's going to come up a
different body. It's going to come up a stalk.
That seed must die and then what is in the seed comes out. And
he said that's what happens when you die. That body lays in the
ground. But it's not going to be the same when it comes out.
It's going to be changed when it comes out. Even so, the body
is sown in corruption, but it shall be raised in incorruption. When it is raised from the dead,
we shall have a body like unto Christ's body. But until then,
we shall continue. The gospel will continue to be
preached, and Christ will build His church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it, which includes the physical
death of this body. For we shall be raised from the
dead." Who? All of us. All of us. Jesus said this, none of them
that the Father gave me shall be lost. None of them. I will
not lose any of them, but raise them up at the last day. When is Christ coming? When is
this going to take place? When the last elect person is
saved. You know why this world continues?
Because God has a people. And when that last one is brought
in, we know this, then comes the end. Then comes the end. Look at verse 23. It says, But every man his own
order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ
at His coming. Then cometh the end. when He
shall be delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
He shall put down all rule and all authority and power. When
Christ comes, guess what? He's not going to come set up
another kingdom and do a bunch of other stuff. When He comes,
the end. When Christ cometh, the end.
It comes when He comes again. This world will not be able to
know it until He does. They won't be able to predict
when He's coming. He says, as in the days of Noah, so shall
it be when the coming of the Son of Man. They'll be eating
and drinking and giving in marriage. Why? They're not going to expect
anything. And one day, He's just going to come. He's going to come. And it's
not going to be like it was before. He came in somewhat shroud. He came in very obscure birth,
didn't He? In a manger out in a cave somewhere. And He grew up and He was preaching
only in that little villages there in Judea. But when He comes
again, the Scripture says the whole world will see Him at one
time when He comes. The elements shall melt with
fervent heat And the Scripture says, the dead in Christ shall
rise first. That's going to be a sight, isn't
it? It's not going to be secret, is it? When all those graves
open up and the bodies of those saints come out glorified, everyone's
going to know it. And we which are alive and remain,
Paul says, shall be caught up together with Him and meet Him
in the air. And listen, so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Whatever Christ is now, we will
be. Wherever Christ is now, we will
be in that day. And this is our hope. Therefore,
believer, look to the resurrection of Christ and behold Him as He
is seated on the throne ruling all things right now. Set your
affection on things above and not on the things of earth. For
Jesus is our life, He is our hope, not only now, but for all
eternity, that we are redeemed and accepted of God, and shall
be redeemed and accepted of God into eternity, body, soul, and
spirit. Therefore, stand fast, looking
to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, and consider that
He who is raised from the dead now leads us. He leads us. He leadeth me, O blessed thought,
Words with heavenly comfort wrought. Sometimes, mid deepest gloom,
Sometimes, where Eden-bowers bloom, By waters calm or troubled
sea, Still tis His hand that leadeth me. Lord, I would clasp
thy hand in mine, Nor ever murmur nor repine, Content whatever
lot I see, Since tis my God that leadeth me. And when my task
on earth is done, when by God's grace the victory is won, even
in death's cold wave I will not flee. Why? Since God through
Jordan leadeth me. Believer, our hope, consider
our hope tonight is what? In the resurrection of Christ.
That He died according to the Scriptures. That He's paid for
our sin. That He rose again according
to the Scriptures. This is what we preach. This
is what you receive. And listen. If Christ be not raised, we're
of all men most miserable, aren't we? But He is risen. Therefore, we are of all men
to be most joyful. Because we have hope that extends
far beyond this life. Our hope is in Christ. And some
day soon, we may die. Sure. Our spirit may ascend to
be with the Father for a time. But because He is risen, we have
this hope that this body that you possess right now shall also
be raised incorruptible and be likened to His glorious body.
May God give us comfort in this. I'm so thankful this life's not
all there is, aren't you? What a misery that would be.
But because He's raised from the dead, I know there's hope
because He lives I live.