This morning we'll be looking
at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The book of 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Now, the church which sponsors
this program does not celebrate this day which is commonly called
Easter. nor does any other local assembly
that we are united with by a common faith. God's Word is clear. It is the clear rule for the
people of God to order their worship services by. And nowhere
in the Scriptures are we told to commemorate or celebrate any
day above any other. Not the day of Christ's birth,
death, or resurrection. No day is any more holy than
another, just as no land is rightly called the holy land. True believers, our Lord said,
worship in spirit and truth. And they worship God in Christ
every day of the week. Every day is the Lord's day,
which scripture says we are to rejoice and be glad in it. Every day, the true believer
continually walks in a spirit and attitude of worship and praise
and thanksgiving to his God and to Christ and walks by the Spirit. not just one day of the year,
two days, or one day of the week. However, on this day, which is
commonly called Easter, since most have their minds on this
day, on the event which allegedly took place on this day, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Since most have their minds on that
today, then I'm going to talk about it today from 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15. Now, I want to
talk about the resurrection of Christ. This is what Paul spoke
of most frequently everywhere he went preaching throughout
the book of Acts, as recorded in that book. He mentioned the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached the resurrection
of Christ. Now, he addresses some here at
Corinth, or a letter to Corinth. There were some who denied the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he writes in verses
12 and 13, if Christ be preached, I'm reading from the Scripture,
If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there be no resurrection
of the dead, then Christ is not risen." Now, Paul says, if Christ
is not risen, and he says many things here in this chapter,
if Christ is not risen, all the prophets years and years before
him, All the prophets were liars, those who testified of the coming
Messiah, that He would be God manifest in the flesh, the Ancient
of Days, the Eternal One. If He didn't rise from the grave,
He's certainly not eternal. He's certainly not God if He
died and stayed dead. All the prophets before were
liars, and they also prophesied that He would come, live, die,
and rise again. Well, they're all liars if Jesus
of Nazareth did not rise from the grave. And all of the apostles
who testified that he did indeed rise from that grave, they are
all liars. In verse 15, Paul says, yes,
we are found 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. So Paul says we are false witnesses
if we have testified that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the grave
and he didn't rise. Now a false witness, a false
witness usually has an evil motive behind his lies and behind his
false witness. Usually it is money behind it.
Someone has paid him or her to bear false witness, as in the
case with our Lord being tried before that kangaroo court. They
hired many false witnesses to say things against him for money,
that is. And usually it's for fame or
notoriety. Many like to get their names
in the papers, and they'll say or do just about anything to
do so. But these men, these eleven, apostles, they gained nothing. Yea, twelve, counting the apostle
Paul. These twelve gained nothing by
testifying of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
rather, to the contrary, they lost everything for testifying
of Christ's rising from the grave. They lost it all, including their
lives. Yea, they insisted on bearing
witness at every opportunity, even though threatened by their
accusers and by their tormentors and torturers. They were threatened
with bodily harm and even death for testifying of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that did not deter them,
nor did they consider death, and were fearful of it. But they continued, they insisted
upon it. Now, so if the dead rise not,
these are false witnesses. And if Christ be not risen, then
chiefly, Jesus Christ himself is a liar, the biggest liar who
ever lived, the greatest imposter the world has ever known. More
persons have followed this man than any other public figure
since the world began. And if he did not rise from the
grave, then there are more ignorant and foolish people than ever before who followed
another man. Now, he said he was God. In John
8, verse 24, he said, If you believe not that I am, you will
die in your sin. Well, they said, Who are you?
And he said, before Abraham was, I am. I am the Father, our One. He said he was God. Many today
reject the fact that Christ said he was God. Well, but he said
he was God very clearly throughout the book of John. He said he
was Lord. He said he was Lord. He said,
you call me Lord and Master and you say, well, for so I am. That
is, I am the sovereign, absolute ruler and controller of all things
over all flesh. That's what he said. If he didn't
rise from the grave, then he's an absolute liar. He said he
came from above. In one place he said, you're
from beneath. I'm from above. I came. The Father sent me. He said he was sent by God that
he came from another place to this planet. If not, if he didn't
rise, then he's a liar. He said, no man taketh my life
from me. I lay it down. of myself, and
he said, I take it up again. I have this power God gave to
me to lay down my life as I please, to die when I please, and to
rise from the grave when I please. Now, if he did not, then he is
the greatest liar, and we are the biggest fools for believing
it. He said, in three days I'll rise again. Now, if Christ did
not rise, In verse 14, Paul says, If Christ be not risen, our preaching
is vain, and your faith is also vain. If this Jesus of Nazareth,
whom we believe is the Christ, if he didn't rise from the grave,
then our preaching is vain. What I am doing right now is
the most useless thing known to man. The occupation of preacher
is the most useless occupation on earth. And let me say this,
most who claim to be so are indeed useless. But true preachers now,
if this is true, if Christ did rise and he has his witnesses
whom he sends, whom the scripture says he gave gifts to men, some
prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers and so forth
for the perfecting of the saints. If they are sent by God, then
they are true men, and they are the most valuable men on earth.
But if Christ did not rise, they are the most useless on earth,
declaring this man who was but a mere man, and we still take
our time up talking about him. He said in verse 14, your faith
is also vain if he did not rise. All those who believe him are
deceived. All who trust this Jesus Christ are deceived. All
those who say that they believe him and that he's coming back
someday to receive them, take them to the Father, they're absolute
fools. Verse 17 says, if Christ is not
raised, your faith is vain. You're yet in your sins. In verse 19, he goes on, he says,
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, this Christ,
if He did not rise, and all our hope, all our eggs are in one
basket, all of our hopes, all of our future, we base upon this
One. And everything He said, we believe. And we absolutely commit our
lives to Him, to knowing Him, studying Him, worshiping Him,
waiting for Him, then if this is all a lie, we are of all men
most miserable. What miserable people we are. And he said down in verse 32,
if Christ didn't rise, why do I suffer persecution? Why am
I suffering what I'm suffering? And Paul suffered as no other
man did. Persecution for preaching the
gospel. And as do all who preach the truth. suffer persecution. I mean those who truly declare
God to be as He is and Christ who He is, a sovereign Lord and
sovereign Christ and holy, just and sovereign God of the universe
who does what He will with whom He will and elects whom He will
and saves them completely and eternally by the particular death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who preach the truth will
be persecuted for the truth. Well, but if Christ didn't rise,
this is all a lie, and why do we suffer persecution? He says
in verse 32, why don't we just eat and drink? Tomorrow we die.
We die like a dog, and there's no resurrection of the dead.
Then let's just eat and drink, let's live it up, let's grab
all the gusto we can get. If it feels good, do it. But I read verse 20, which is
the good news. Verse 20, the Apostle Paul declares,
but now, yes, right now, is Christ risen from the dead and become
the first fruits of them that slept. He is risen from the dead,
and he was seen by the apostles, and verses 5 and 6 declare it,
that all of the apostles saw him. That's one of the qualifications
for an apostle, and henceforth there are no more apostles today,
no matter what men call themselves. The apostle was one who had to
see the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Christ, in person. And
verse 6 says, over 500 persons saw Him at one time, seen and
heard by countless persons. Peter said in 2 Peter 1, he said,
we haven't followed cunningly devised fables when we've made
known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. No, we saw Him. We handled Him, John said. We
heard Him. And since Christ is risen from
the grave, Godhood is proven. Yes, he's declared to be the
Son of God, Romans said, by the spirit of resurrection. His sovereignty
is proven. Romans 14, 9 says, to this end,
Christ both died, rose, and revived that he might be Lord of the
dead and the living. Our justification hangs upon
it. We're justified by the risen and seated and ascended Lord
Jesus Christ. Our regeneration depends upon
it. Peter said that. We are begotten
again by the resurrected Christ, and our resurrection, our meeting
with Him someday, depends upon it. He said to the Thessalonians
that He was coming again to receive us unto Himself. And so since
Christ did rise, believers have a sure hope. And it means that
He is all He said He was, and He did all He did, and Scripture
said He did. And since Christ rose, believers
have a sure hope, and those who reject this, all unbelievers,
are in real trouble. I hope the Lord will make Himself
known to you. Until next Sunday. Amen.