Did you hold your place in 1
Corinthians 15? Our text will be taken from this
chapter. It's not necessary for me to
point this out, but I will nonetheless. Today is one of the two religious
holidays most observed throughout the world. Christmas, of course,
being the other. TV networks, major TV networks
will broadcast the idolatry from Rome. They've been doing so all
week with his unholiness the Pope. And along with most churches
in our country, there'll be a lot of festivity. Some have had already
all around the country, perhaps the world, I suppose, a sunrise
service. I've known of churches that even
had their sunrise service in a cemetery. I'm reminded of the
words of the angel to the women that morning, why do you seek
the living among the dead? And the world will be mesmerized
by all of that religious activity, all of that glitter, It's pretty. It's flowery. Some people are
impressed by that. Just the other night, I think
it was Monday night, this past Monday, I was going into Walmart,
and it was cold. It had turned cold. It was windy.
And just as I got to the door, the entrance, there were two
ladies there going in at the same time. We were all hurrying
to get out of the cold. One of them said, man, I didn't
move to Alabama from Kentucky for this weather. It's supposed
to be warmer. And I glanced over and said,
you're from Kentucky? Yeah. I said, well, so am I. And we began to chat. And I invited
them to church. They mentioned looking for a
church. I invited them to come here. And one of them said to
me, well, I'm from an old-fashioned southern Pentecostal background. What do you do at your church?
And I thought to myself, this is not what she's going to want
to hear. And I simply looked at her and
said, preach the gospel. We preached the gospel. She wanted
more than that. And I could tell by the expression
on her face that wasn't the answer she wanted. being from a Southern
Pentecostal background. But that's the sort of thing
I'm talking about. Glitter, hoopla, religion. There's an article in the bulletin
by Donny Vail, Be Still, from Psalm 46. Be still and know that
I am God. Even the Apostle John, turn if
you will to Revelation chapter 17, even the Apostle John was momentarily
caught up when he gazed upon a picture of worldly, man-centered,
will-worshipping religion. This is what John looked at.
This is what, rather, it represented. And even John, was impressed
by it, and the elder, the angel, had to sort of shake him out
of it. Revelation chapter 17, verse
4. And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet collar and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornification. And upon her forehead was the
name written, Mystery Babylon, the great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. That's a picture. This represents
worldly religion. And I saw the woman. This is
John speaking. And I saw the woman drunken with
the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Even the
Apostle John confessed, I wondered, I stood there and marveled at
her. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore
dost thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery
of the woman and of the beast that carryeth her, which hath
the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was
and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and
go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder, marvel, mesmerize, captivated, taken in. whose names
were not written, there's an exception, not everyone, whose
names were not written in the book of life from the foundation
of the world, those whose names are there will not be deceived.
When they behold the beast that was not, or rather that was and
is not and yet is. You remember when the Apostle
Paul waited for Timothy and Silas, I think it was, in the book of
Acts, in Athens. And we read there in Acts 17
that Paul's spirit was stirred within him when he saw the whole
city given over to idolatry. And Paul preached to them. He
preached to them what we just read up in 1 Corinthians 15,
how that Christ died and rose again. And we're told that the
philosophers and the Stoics and the Epicureans, they said, well,
he sets forth a new doctrine. Something strange has come to
our ears. Let's make an appointment for
him to come to Mars Hill and tell us more about this. And
in Acts 17, we're told, because they spent their time in nothing
else but either to hear or to tell some new thing. So Paul
goes to Mars Hill, and all the philosophers and these different
sects are gathered there. And Paul said, as I ascended
Mars Hill and observed all your monuments, you had one there
with this inscription, to the unknown God. to the unknown God,
just in case they missed one, I suppose. I mean, Mars was to
a God. Mars here was dedicated to one
of their pagan gods, Mars. But Paul said, him therefore
that ye ignorantly worship, you confess you don't know who he
is, let me declare him unto you. Paul took advantage of that confession
to the unknown God. Likewise, if God enables me,
I'll take advantage of this day to preach what Paul preached,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as December 25th is not
important as the date of Christ's birth, today is not important
as the date of His resurrection. It's not important to know a
date. It's not the date that's important, but the blessed fact
of the event. The blessed fact of it. He was
born. I don't need to know the day.
I don't need to attach a date to that. The very fact that Jesus
Christ came into this world is what I rejoice in. Likewise,
his resurrection. need to know the date, the day,
although I know it was on the Lord's day, the first day of
the week, Sunday. Oh, but the fact that he arose
again from the dead, that's what Paul rejoices in. That's what
he directs their attention back to. But now is Christ risen from
the dead. This is what the psalmist spoke
of, David, in Psalm 118. The stone which was set at night
of you builders, you religious leaders, you Pharisees, you Sadducees. Well, said it not of you builders,
the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that
the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. Believers celebrate and rejoice
in their Lord's resurrection every day, don't we? Every day. Remember what he told his disciples
just before they left the upper room and went to the garden where
he was betrayed? He said, because I live, ye shall
live also. We rejoice in He who is the resurrection
and the life from whom we derive our life, spiritual life as divine
to the branches, eternal life. We rejoice in that every day.
And today, as we said, Sunday, is the Lord's day, the day on
which He arose. And it's not a Christian Sabbath.
There's no such thing as a Christian Sabbath. The Old Testament Sabbath,
was on the sixth day, rather the seventh day. But we worship
on the first day. Remember when the ladies came
to the tomb to finish preparing his body for burial? They were
restricted from doing that because the Sabbath grew on. So they
come back. And we're told in Matthew 28
and 1, at the end of the Sabbath, at the end of the Sabbath, Oh,
take that literal. It was the end of the Sabbath.
Christ had fulfilled all the law for his people. He had honored
it in life, satisfied it by his death, so now it's the end of
the Sabbath, and our great physician arises with healing in his wings. Oh, yes, we rejoice in his resurrection
every day. Our text, as you may have guessed,
is verse 20. These words. But now is Christ
risen. Now is Christ risen. I've thought
about that all week. Now is Christ risen. Consider
the importance of that to Christ himself. Then consider it as
important to God. And then to the saved, the believers.
and also to the lost, those who don't know him. First, the resurrection
of Jesus of Nazareth, remember, is the greatest event in this
world's history. That's so. It's the greatest
event in the history of this world. Without this, his birth,
his incarnation, his life, his death would be meaningless without
the resurrection. I'm pausing to Let that soak
in. Let me say that again. Without
his resurrection, his incarnation, his life, his death would be
meaningless. That's how important his resurrection
is. The apostle sets forth the consequences. in the verses we read a moment
ago, he sets forth the consequences if Christ did not raise from
the dead as some in the church were teaching. Look what he says
in verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, how say some among you, some among you,
some in the church at Corinth, that there is no resurrection
from the dead? If Christ be not raised, our
hope is a delusion. It's a fairy tale, like the Easter
bunny. It's just a fable. If Christ
be not raised. Look what Paul says in verse
19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable. Our hope reaches beyond this
world. It reaches beyond this life to
the world to come, to eternity, to be with Christ forever. But if He didn't arise from death,
that means we'll not see Him. We'll not see Him whom our soul
delights in. We'll not see Him who loved us
and gave Himself for us. That's our ambition. That's what
we're looking forward to. That's the glory of glory. That's
our heaven of heaven. And if Christ be not raised,
we won't see that. We won't see Him. No wonder Paul
says, we would be of all men most miserable. Our religion,
if Christ be not raised, is no better than any other religion. Look what Paul says again in
verses 13 and 14. If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain? And your faith is also vain.
It means nothing at all. Verse 15, Paul says, we're false
witnesses of God, because we preach that Christ rose from
the dead. Verse 16, Paul said, if the dead
rise not, then is not Christ raised. Christ was a fraud. Paul was saying, if he didn't
rise from the dead, remember, he told the religious leaders,
destroy this temple. They thought he was talking about
that temple in Jerusalem, but he said he was talking about
the temple, his body. He said, destroy this temple,
and in three days, I'll raise it up again. And they had some
idea of the importance of that claim of him rising again from
the dead, because after he was crucified, they went to Pilate
and said, give us some soldiers. seal the tomb and guard it. Because
we remember that that deceiver said that he would rise from
the dead in three days. And what we're afraid of is his
disciples will come, and they'll steal the body, and then they'll
claim he rose from the dead like he said he would, then all of
our efforts will be for nothing. They remembered that because
the resurrection of Jesus Christ verifies everything he claimed
about himself. It proves that it was so. In
verse 17, Paul says, if the object of faith is not raised, then
your faith is worthless, you're not saved. If Christ be not raised,
listen to this, ye are yet in your sins. That's why I say without the
resurrection the death of Christ would be meaningless. It's a
risen Savior that saves. It's a living Savior that forgives
sinners. It's Jesus Christ Himself to
whom we must come to experience the sweet forgiveness of our
sins and find grace in Him. And in verse 18 he said, of those
who had already died as believers, they've perished. They perished
if Christ be not raised. See how important it is? The
truth of the gospel stands or falls on this, Christ's resurrection. Other religions, they can survive
without their founder being yet alive. It's not necessary, but
not so concerning Christianity. Christ must raise, and he did. Christ must reign, and he did. Otherwise, we are yet in our
sins, because if Christ did not raise, you know what that means. If Christ didn't rise from the
dead, and by the way, our Lord's resurrection is attributed to
the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It speaks of
the Father raising Him. It speaks of the Son raising
Himself. It speaks of the Holy Spirit quickening and raising
Him. But if Christ be not raised,
that means, you know what that means? That redemption was not
accomplished. Without redemption, there's no
remission of sin. It means justice must not have
been satisfied. If God didn't raise his son from
the dead, it means he wasn't satisfied with what Christ did. And that means we're still under
God's wrath. His resurrection proves this. His words, upon this rock, I
will build my church. himself. But without this rock,
there's no foundation. There's no church. Because we're
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Peter said, to whom
coming as unto a living stone. A living stone. But without a
living Savior, that means there can be no living sinners. Without
a living Savior to quicken us and to give us life, there can
be no such thing as salvation from Him. Oh, but look. Look again at verse 20. Enough
of that. Enough of that. Paul shows them
in verses 12 through 19 the consequences of what some were saying, if
Christ be not raised, and then he seemed to say, enough of that.
And I'm glad to join with him in saying, enough of that. But
now is Christ risen from the dead. That glorious proclamation
echoes in glory. He is risen, Joe. He is risen. Christ arose. It resounds throughout
eternity. Angels. Angels haven't gotten
over that yet. He arose. He arose. And they never will. They know
something about the value of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Revelation chapter 5, we read
as much. In Revelation 5, verse 11, and
behold, and I beheld, brethren, I heard the voice of many angels
round about the throne and the beast and the elders, and the
number of them were ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
of thousands. Ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands. And they unite as if they were
only one voice. in perfect agreement, saying
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive
power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory
and blessing. Verse 14, And the four beasts
said, Amen. We agree. So it is. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped him that what? That liveth forever
and ever. Turn back a few pages to chapter
one of Revelation. John saw him. John saw him and
heard him. John in verse 17 it says, And
when I saw him, I strutted my stuff. When I saw the king of
glory, when I saw the exalted Lord, when I saw that man who
is himself God, I pranced about like a peacock and said, give
me what I deserve. That's insane. That's insane. No. When I saw Him, I did what
any sinner, any redeemed sinner does in the presence of such
majesty, such glory, such worth, such sovereignty. And I'll tell
you what, if you ever see Him, you'll do the same thing. You'll
do the same thing. When I saw Him, I fell at His
feet as dead. John did the same thing Isaiah
did. Isaiah said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw another king that never dies. I saw him
in glory, where he always is, sitting on his throne. What did
you do, Isaiah? I said, woe is me. Because if
I ever get a glimpse, just a glimpse, of his glory and his majesty,
you know what it'll do to me? It'll bow me down in the dust,
Louis. That's where I belong. That's where I belong. And that's
where I'll find mercy, like the publican. And when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, fear not, fear not. I am the first and
the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and death. I am he that liveth and was dead
and behold I'm alive forevermore and I have the keys of hell and
death. It doesn't sound like a Jesus
that can't have his way. Do you see that there? Is there
any hint of that? A Jesus that's trying to do something
but just can't get it done because man's puny will is stronger than
his mighty will. Do you see that there? No. He's the mighty God. And because
He's the mighty God. and the Prince of Peace and the
Everlasting Father. Because He is a Prince and a
Savior, He's mighty to save. You can trust Him. You can fall
down on Him. You can come to Him. The vilest
offender that truly believes that comes to Him, that very
moment of full, free, gracious pardon receives because He's
the King. He's the King. Approach Him as
the sinner you are. Fall down before Him and cry,
if you will, you can. You can do it. You can make me
clean. And the sweetest words that a
sinner ever heard will come from his gracious lips, I will. I will. Thy sins. Thy sins. Bless his name. Thy sins are all forgiven thee. They're gone. They're gone. And they'll never be found. They'll
never be brought up. Thy sins are all forgiven thee. He liveth now. Paul says, now is Christ risen
from the dead. This is an eternal now. with eternal consequences. And
it merits eternal praise. That will be the subject of the
whole population of heaven. Worthy, worthy. And it'll never
grow old. How quickly we become bored in
this life, don't we? Got to have something new. Hard
to hold folks' attention. Like those people on Mars Hill,
they spend all their time telling us something new. Tickle our
ears with something new. Oh, but this, this will never
go. This blessed truth of our risen
Lord, it will occupy our mind, our hearts, our entire soul. Our being will be occupied, will
wander at, will never get over the marvel in glory. He loved me. He loved me. Man,
what's it going to be? What's it going to be when I
see Him? What will it be when I see Him
that and gave himself for when I see him for myself. Oh, and never, never will that
vision be clouded by any sin. That will be glory for me. Christ
left on the cross, or Christ left in the tomb, or Christ left
in the manger, saves nobody. It's only the mighty living Savior
that saves to the uttermost. That's what we read in Hebrews
7. He's able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him
because He ever liveth. Liveth. Now is Christ risen. Do you hear that, child of God?
Did you come in here this morning with your heart just breaking?
a burden that you've not even shared with anyone else. Hear
these words. Now is Christ risen. Your Redeemer,
your high priest, can be touched. Your pastor can. Your husband
can, perhaps, or your wife or your children, or your closest
friend. But your high priest, he knows exactly what you're
going through. He can be touched. He can identify
with that burden, that heartache, because he experienced the same.
All points, just like you are. The importance of the resurrection
of Christ to himself, it proved, it gave the final finishing touch
to everything he claimed to be. Everything he claimed to be,
and all that he came to do, it proved the certainty of it. It
proved the certainty of these blessed words of the prophet,
who 700 years before, prophesied. He shall see of the
reveal of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. His resurrection proves that
that's so. Rising from the dead proves he
shall save his people from their sins. It proves that when He
had by Himself purged our sins, He arose and sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high. His resurrection proves
that He must have entered one time into the holy place and
obtained eternal redemption for us. It proves beyond a doubt
the truth of those blessed words that he uttered from the cross
when he said, it's finished. It's finished. Redemption's work
is finished. And his resurrection proved it. That's what we celebrate in the
Lord's Supper. That's what we rejoice in. We
celebrate that sin has been put away by Christ. We celebrate
that glorious truth of our Redeemer, that He was made sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. The apostles, read the book of Acts, and you'll find
that the apostles didn't go out preaching a doctrine of resurrection. But they went out preaching a
risen, exalted, reigning Savior. They all did. Peter did on the
day of Pentecost. Him whom you crucified, God raised
from the dead. He did the same thing before
the Sanhedrin. Paul did on Mars Hill. They all did. Because our risen
Lord is proof that He paid it all. That's what we're saying,
don't we? Jesus paid it all, and God accepted
the payment. God accepted the payment. How
do we know that? How do we know that God was satisfied? with the ransom that his son
made. How do we know that he accepted
it? How do we know that? Because God raised him from the
dead. That was God's eternal amen to
the death of his son. And it spoke eternal, everlasting
satisfaction to the justice of this triune God. Now is Christ risen from the
dead. He was buried for our offenses,
Romans 4 and 25, but he was raised again because of our justification. Pilate, in Matthew 27, when they
came to him and said, give us a guard, seal the tomb. Remember
what he said? You remember Pilate's words to
them, those religious leaders? Go ahead. Make it as sure as
you can. Make it as sure as you can. I'll
give you the guard. I'll seal the tomb. Make it as
sure as you can. And they did. They did. What a waste of time. What a
waste of time. Because now is Christ risen from
the grave. Up from the grave he arose. From the grave He arose with
a mighty triumph over His foes. He arose a victor from the dark
domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose,
He arose, hallelujah! Christ arose. Christ arose and
He lives now. He rules now. He reigns now. Christ's sacrifice didn't make
God willing to show mercy. No, don't think that way. God
in mercy, because of His mercy, sent forth His Son. God commendeth
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. But Christ's death enabled God
to bestow mercy with no violation of His justice. When it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, when God made his soul an offering
for sin, justice cried, that's enough. That's enough. I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. In a few moments, when we take
the bread representing his body and eat it, and take the wine
representing his blood, that was shed for all his own, and
drink it. May God help us to remember that.
He's satisfied. It's enough. God himself says,
I require no more. And he proved it by raising his
son from the dead. God highly exalted him. and gave him a name above every
name. Listen, everybody here this morning
has got an interest in this, should have an interest in this,
because they have a part in this. Giving him a name above every
name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every
tongue confess. Well, you mean that's for Christians?
That's for everybody. That's for everybody. That's
for every man who ever breathed air, they shall bow. Before they hear him say, depart
from me, I never knew you, they shall bow before the Son of God
and exclaim, he's Lord, he's Lord. to the glory of God the
Father. Notice what Paul says in verse
20. He became the firstfruits of them that slept. The firstfruits,
that which is ripened first. That which is reaped and gathered
into the barns first. That which is offered to God
first. The guarantee of the harvest
that's to come. Our Lord's resurrection guarantees
the resurrection of all his people. because he was the firstborn
of many brethren, that in all things he might have the preeminence. Christ had entered in one time
to appear in the presence of God, what? For us. For us. Let me read you a verse
along this line from Isaiah chapter 51. Listen to this blessed verse
of scripture. Therefore, the redeemed of the
Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion and everlasting
joy shall be upon their head. This is Isaiah 51 and 11. They shall obtain gladness and
joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Sorrow and mourning shall just
flee away. On wings, they shall just fly
away and never come back to roost. Never. The redeemed of the Lord
shall return and come with singing under Zion. everlasting joy shall
be on their heads." Remember when he appeared to those women
at the tomb? He said, go tell my brethren,
go tell my brethren. Lord, were you talking about
those eleven that deserted you in the garden? Surely you don't mean Peter?
He cursed, cursed vehemently. He wouldn't even mention your
name. Don't know the man? And they
all forsook you and fled. And they're still your brethren?
Yeah. You go tell my brethren. I think
Mark says, and Peter. Special emphasis on Peter. None of the consequences that
Paul mentions in the verses above our text are true, are they? Preaching is not vain. Our faith
is not vain. We're not yet in our sins. No,
they're gone. And those believers who have
fallen asleep in Christ have not perished. No, they're more
alive than we are. Those who have gone on to be
with the Lord, They're beholding the King and His beauty right
now, right now. It's been a few months ago, I
put a story about Mr. Spurgeon in the bulletin. He
was preaching somewhere and he said there was a lady sitting
there just obviously just soaking up all he said. And then he glanced
over a short time later and noticed and said to someone that was
sitting by, I think our dear sister is gone. And sure enough,
sitting there listening to Spurgeon preach about the Redeemer, she
left to behold Him with her own eyes. And Spurgeon said, while
I was in my feeble way trying to preach about Christ, she went
and was beholding Him and knew more than I would ever learn
until I get there and behold Him. Oh, yes, those that fall
asleep in Christ have not perished. Now, last of all, I mentioned
the importance of this concerning those who are lost, unbelievers. Now is Christ risen. What does
that mean? Now is Christ risen from the
dead. This is what it means, that right now, you're in his
hand. Say, I don't like to think about
that. I know you don't. If I was a rebel against God,
I wouldn't want to think about it either. But the truth is,
you're in His hand right now. And it's up to Him. It's entirely
up to Him to save you or not. To have mercy upon you or not. It's up to Him. Our Lord was
talking to the Pharisees in John 8. And He told them, if you believe
not, that I am He, you'll die in your sins." He said, you can't
come where I am if you don't believe that I am He. You're
going to die in your sins. You've probably heard me say
this before, and I think this is one of the reasons Paul cried
out concerning the preaching of the gospel, being a saver
of life to some and a saver of death to others. Who's sufficient
for these things? Because I very well may have tried to
preach the gospel to somebody this morning that's going to
die in their sins. If you're here this morning and
don't know Christ, listen. May God enable you to do this. Kiss the Son. Bow down before
Him. Kiss the Son lest He be angry.
And you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. He delights to show mercy. He
delights to show mercy. He finds joy in forgiving sinners
of all their sins. May God give you grace to look
to him. Old John Newton wrote many hymns. One of them said this, often
as the bell with solemn toll speaks of the departure of a
soul, that each one ask of himself, am I prepared? Should I be called
to die? Only this frail and fleeting
breath preserves me from the jaws of death. Soon as it fails,
at once I'm gone and plunged into a world unknown. Lord Jesus,
help me. Lord Jesus, help me now to flee
and seek my hope alone in thee. Apply thy blood, thy spirit give. Subdue my sin and let me live. Then, when the solemn bell I
hear, say from guilt I need not fear. Nor will the thought distressing
be, perhaps it next may toll for me. Rather my spirit will
rejoice, and long and wish to hear thy voice. Glad when it
bids me earth resign, secure of heaven for thou art mine. Amen.