Would you turn first Corinthians
15? Beginning in verse 12 now. If
Christ be preached. That he rose from the dead. How
say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen? And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain? And your faith is also vain.
Yea, and we're found false witnesses of God because we've testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up. If so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins. Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we're of all men most miserable. One Friday nearly 2,000 years
ago, Something very remarkable took
place. The sun quit shining. It was not an overcast day. It
was not a solar eclipse. The sun literally stopped shining
for three hours. You see, the Son of God was brutally
nailed to a cross, and the sun refused to shine in protest as
it beheld its creator nailed to a cross. Now, I believe our
Lord's reason for causing the sun to cease from shining is
to let us know that there's just so much regarding the cross that
is beyond our comprehension. a whole lot. There's some things
we can understand, but even what we understand, we understand
just a little bit. God shut the lights off. You see, when the Lord Jesus
walked on this earth, he did so as a hated and a despised
man. Men hated Jesus Christ. And mankind demonstrated how
they really felt about Christ by crucifying Him and nailing
Him to a tree. And when I'm talking about the
crucifixion of Christ, I'm not trying to stir up pity. I'm not
trying to evoke certain emotions. You know, the Son of God saw
some women weeping as He was carrying His cross on the way
to be crucified. And He said, daughters of Jerusalem,
don't weep for Me. Weep for yourselves and for your
children. You see, the Son of God does
not need our pity. Now, His last words from the
cross were, It is finished. I suppose those might be my three
favorite words. It is finished. Even now, I receive
such joy from knowing that He finished whatever it was the
Father gave Him to do. And the scripture says he bowed
his head and he yielded up the ghost. He is the only one to
ever do that. He said to death, I'm giving
you permission to come and take me. It couldn't take him until
he gave it permission. And he was taken down from that
cross, a lifeless corpse. Dead. And a Roman soldier had
thrust a spear through his side just for good measure. Joseph
of Arimathea and Nicodemus and some women prepared his body
for the burial, and they placed him in a tomb. And the stone
is rolled over the opening, and he is enclosed in the tomb, dead. Graveyard dead. A lifeless, cold
corpse. But three days later, just as
He said He would, He was raised from the dead. On at least three
different occasions, He told His disciples that He would be
crucified and He would be raised from the dead. I think it's...
I shouldn't say I think it's amazing. No, I understand their
unbelief because I understand myself. But you'd think they
would have been waiting there by the tomb. Three days later,
waiting for him to come out, he said he would. Even his enemies
knew about this. Turn to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. Verse 62. Now the next day that followed
the day of the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees
came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, We remember that that deceiver
said while he was yet alive, after three days, I'll rise again. They even knew about this. Command,
therefore, that the sepulcher be made sure into the third day,
lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say into
the people, he's risen from the dead. So the last error shall
be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have
a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. And they
did make it as sure as they could, didn't they? But could anything prevent him
from rising from the dead? No, they made it as sure as they
could. But that wasn't very sure, was it? Why seek ye him who lives
among the dead? He is no longer here, he's risen.
Now that body lay in darkness of that tomb, three days dead,
then he opened his eyes. I love to think about that. There
that body is in that tomb, no light laying there. bound in
grave clothes and all of a sudden he opened his eyes. He removes
the napkin from his face and he folds it up and he walks out
of that tomb alive. He is no longer dead. And as Luke said in Acts chapter
1 verse 3, he showed himself alive after his passion by many
infallible proofs. being seen of them forty days."
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it wonderful
to think of Him living? You know, people say, Jesus is
alive. No, that's wrong. He's not alive. He's life. I'm
alive. He is life. Why seek ye Him who
liveth among the dead? Now, somehow, in the Corinthian
church, an error had been spawned. Turn back to I Corinthians chapter
15, verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached that
He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is
no resurrection of the dead? Now, this is the theme of our
preaching, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're
going to be talking more about that in a few moments. And I
am sure the people in Corinth were not saying that Christ was
never raised from the dead. They were simply saying there
will be no future resurrection. There will be no bodily resurrection
of the believer. They believed in the resurrection
of Christ. They believed it took place. But they were saying there
will be no other resurrection. There will be no bodily resurrection. Now, Paul is saying, if there's
no resurrection of the dead, verse 13, then Christ is not
risen. Here is the implication, the
necessary consequence of what you're saying. Now, this was
a true church. And look at the error that crept in here. You
had people actually saying that there's no resurrection. And
this is a true gospel church. Now this tells us how far off
we can go apart from the grace of God. May the Lord keep us
and preserve us because there's no error that we won't fall into
apart from the grace of God. Now, he says, if there is no
resurrection, if there's no bodily resurrection, wait a minute,
there's a real problem with that because Christ had a bodily resurrection. And if you say there's no bodily
resurrection, then Christ was never raised from the dead. And
he goes on to give some fearful implications of what will take
place if Christ didn't rise from the dead. Now, first he says,
If Christ be not risen, verse 13, but if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, empty, meaningless, to no purpose. You see, if Christ is not risen,
all we say is meaningless. If all He did was die, and He
wasn't raised from the dead, then we've got no gospel. We've
got no message of redemption. We've got no good news. You see,
the good news is that He paid for sins and the proof that He
did it was God raised Him from the dead. That's what proves
God accepted what He did. And if He's not raised from the
dead, our preaching is utterly vain. There's nothing to it. We don't have a message to preach
in the first place. If He was not raised from the
dead, Look what he says next in verse 14. If Christ be not
risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain, empty, worthless, and meaningless. Now my hope is salvation. And
this is what I believe. You want to know what I believe?
Here it is. I believe that when Jesus Christ was raised from
the dead, every one of God's elect were saved. Their salvation
was accomplished. Do you believe that? When He
said, it is finished, you know what? It was finished. What sweet
words. And when He was raised from the
dead, Romans 4, well, let me back this up with the Scriptures.
Turn back a few pages to Romans 4. Verse 23, now it was not written
for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also
to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. I was justified
when he was raised from the dead. Now understand this regarding
God's justification. And this is the gospel. This
is the gospel. Justification means not guilty. All of God's elect were justified
eternally in the mind and purpose of God when He decreed the salvation
of His people. They were justified. I was justified
when Christ was raised from the dead. That's what it says. I
was justified. I was cleared of all guilt. I
was declared to be not guilty when Christ was raised from the
dead. I'm justified when I believe. And my justification really won't
be seen until I stand in glory and it'll be seen that I really
am not guilty. Now, all four of those things
are true. But my hope, here's what I'm resting in right now,
this is what I believe. I believe that when Christ was
raised from the dead, He was raised for our justification. Isn't that wonderful? Now, if
Christ wasn't raised from the dead, you take away my hope.
That is my hope. My hope isn't in anything that
I do. My hope is in what He has done. He lived for me. He died
for me. He was raised for me. And if
the dead aren't raised, then my faith is vain and meaningless. Look at what he says next in
verse 15. And we are found false witnesses
of God, because we've testified of God that He raised up Christ
whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. Now,
Paul is saying if the dead rise not, then Christ is not raised.
And I'm saying He was raised, and that would make me a false
witness of God. I'm not telling the truth. I may claim to be
a preacher, but I'm nothing more than a false witness if Christ
was not raised from the dead. Look what he says in verse 16
and 17. And if Christ be not raised,
verse 16, for if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, and you're
yet in your sins. Now that's a horrible thought,
to think that I'm still in my sins. Now, if Christ was not
raised from the dead, I am still in my sins because His resurrection
tells me that I'm not in my sins anymore. You see, my sins were
charged to Him. They became His. He became guilty
on the cross. He put away my sins. God killed
Him. The reason God killed Him on
the cross is because He was guilty. My sin was placed upon Him. It
was His. He was guilty. but he satisfied
the justice of God. He did something that you and
I can never do. He actually satisfied all that God requires, and God
raised him from the dead, and that means I'm not in my sins.
My sins are gone. They're washed away. I have no
sin if Christ is raised from the dead. But if He wasn't raised
from the dead, then I'm still in my sins, and I'm going to
have to give an account of them before God. And look what he
says next, verse 18. Then they also, which are asleep
in Christ, are perished. Those who died believers, thinking
that they would be in heaven, are in for a surprise the moment
they close their eyes they woke up in hell, if Christ didn't
rise from the dead. And then he says, in verse 19,
if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all
men most miserable. Now, that doesn't mean that we're
just real miserable here. You know, we're not. I'm thankful
for the life the Lord's given me. And I'm a happy person. I'm thankful for His grace. This
is not talking about, oh, I'm miserable and I'm just waiting
to get out of here. It's not talking about that at all. But
I tell you what, if you take away my hope in Christ, I am
of all men most miserable. I'm miserable. To think that
I'm going to be with my sin the rest of my, for eternity? I can't
bear the thought of it. To think that I'm not going to
stand justified before God? To think that Christ didn't actually
accomplish what He set out to do? If that's the case, I am
of all men most miserable. But, verse 20, but now is Christ
risen from the dead. and become the first fruits of
them that slept. Christ is risen from the dead.
This is a great fact. And he is the guarantee that
we will all be raised from the dead. Now, since he is risen,
the opposite of those things are true. First of all, our preaching
is not made. I mean, I feel like it is a lot
of times. Preaching is hard. It's just
flat out hard. And if God doesn't bless it, it's
to no purpose. But if Christ is raised from
the dead, I'm speaking as a true witness of God. I'm telling the
truth. And God is going to bless His
Word. Preaching is not vain if Christ is risen from the dead.
What we're doing right now is the what God uses to bring people
to a knowledge of Himself. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them to believe. Now, Christ is risen
from the dead and He is. Our preaching is not in vain
and our faith is not in vain. I'm relying on Him who is dead
and He lives. He's Almighty God and I'm persuaded
He's able to keep that which I've committed to Him against
that day. You see, I trust the living Christ. I trust Him who liveth. I trust
Him who is right now seated at the right hand of the Father
representing me. I trust the living Christ, Him
who is God. God raised Him from the dead. I'm trusting a person,
a living person. I'm not trusting a doctrine.
I'm not trusting a dogma. I'm trusting Him who lives. That's who I rest in. That's
my faith. I believe that He is able. to
keep that which I've committed to Him against that day." Well,
what have you committed to Him? The salvation of my mortal soul. Hands off! It's not me, it's
Him. I'm trusting Him to save me.
Our faith, if He's raised from the dead, our faith, our reliance
upon His precious person is not in vain. And next, not only is
our faith not vain, we're not false witnesses of God, but we're
true witnesses. Look at verse 15. It says, You
were found false witnesses of God if He didn't raise Him from
the dead. But because He did raise Him from the dead, we're
true witnesses. Now, I got to thinking about this. I'm a witness. I'm preaching that which I know,
that which I have experienced. I've seen the Lord. Somebody
says, Well, I don't believe you. You know, that doesn't shake
me at all. It doesn't shake me. I've seen Him. Have you seen
Him physically? No, I haven't, but I've seen
Him in a clearer way than that. I've seen Him in His Word. I've
seen Him as my only hope, my all-sufficient hope of salvation.
I've seen Him in that light, and I'm bearing witness to what
I've seen. I'm not just giving second-hand
information. I'm preaching Him whom I've seen. I'm a true witness of God. You know, if you don't have something
to witness, sit down. I don't want to hear somebody
that's giving second-hand information. I want to hear somebody who's
telling the truth as an actual witness of God. And when I preach
the gospel, if Christ is raised from the dead, I'm preaching
that which I've witnessed and I'm bearing witness to. And here's a blessed thought.
He says in Verse 17, if Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain, you're yet in your sins. Here's a blessed thought. If
Christ is raised from the dead, you know what? I'm not in my
sins. Turn with me to Romans 8 for
just a moment. Verse 31, what shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Now, if God justified me, you
know what? I'm justified. Who is he that condemneth? What about the law of God? Let's
call someone to a witness stand. What about the law of God? Can
the law of God condemn me? No, the law of God looks at me
and says he has no guilt. What about my own conscience?
You know, I've heard people say I never feel guilty. I never
feel guilty. I'll be honest with you, I feel
guilty all the time. As a matter of fact, I don't
know if there's a time when I don't feel guilty about something.
But you know, when the Lord gives me grace to really believe the
blood of Christ, do you know it cleanses my conscience? And
I really believe that I've got nothing to feel guilty about.
I'm perfect in God's sight. His blood washed away my sins.
I'm justified before God. There's nobody to condemn me.
Who is he that can condemn? How does Paul answer that? It's
Christ that died, yea rather, is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Now,
is that enough to give you assurance? It's Christ that died. What else
do you need? Yea rather, he's risen again, and he's even at
the right hand of God, and I am not in my sins. He said in verse, back to our
text in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 18, Then they also which
are fallen asleep in Christ are perished if Christ didn't rise
from the dead. But blessed be God, He did rise
from the dead, and those who died in Him are with Him in glory. We just buried our dear sister
Donna, and I think I've thought about this about every day. I've
thought about what she's doing right now. She's in the very
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, worshiping Him. Isn't that wonderful? If Christ was raised from the
dead, those which have fallen asleep in Christ, they're in
the very presence of Christ. And if Christ is raised from
the dead, we are of all men most happy. You see, when peace like a river
attends my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever
my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with
my soul. Though Satan should buffet the
trials or flow, let this blessed assurance control that Christ
has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed his own blood for
my soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
thought, my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross,
and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul. And, Lord, haste the day when
my faith will be turned to sight, the clouds be rolled back as
a scroll, the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even
so it is well with my soul. You know, we're of all men most
happy. I'm a happy camper. I truly am. I'm so happy that
the Lord was raised from the dead and accomplished salvation
for me. Now, you see, this is the theme
of true preaching. If Christ be preached, that he It was raised from the dead.
This was the keynote of the apostles when they preached. Let me show
you that in the Scriptures. Turn to Acts chapter 1. If you would look
for a word that would summarize the preaching of the apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it would be the resurrection of
Christ. Now this is when Peter was looking
for someone to take Judas' place and he It was when they picked
out Matthias. But he says this in verse 21,
Wherefore, of these men which have accompanied with us at the
time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from
the baptism of John unto the same day that he was taken from
us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. Acts chapter 2 verse 23. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken him by wicked
hands of crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it." Look at Acts chapter 4 verse 2. Verse 1, And as they spake unto
the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the
Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the
people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the
dead. Look in Acts 4, verse 29, And
now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that
with all boldness they may speak thy word by stretching forth
thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders might be done
by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed,
the place was shaken, while they were assembled together, and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the
word of God with boldness, And a multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul, neither had any of them
ought of the things which he possessed was his own, but they
had all things in common, and with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And great
grace was upon them." I want that great grace to be upon me,
don't you? To bear witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, the resurrection of Christ,
Not only is it the theme of our preaching, it's the actual content
of the gospel. I've already quoted this scripture.
He was delivered for our offenses and He was raised again for our
justification. Now, is that the content of the
gospel? That's gospel to me. My salvation was accomplished
by what He did outside of my personal subjective experience.
You know what that does for my personal subjective experience?
That makes me happy. That makes me glad. That makes
me rest. That makes me rejoice. That doesn't
mean we don't have an experience. We flat have an experience, but
it's because our salvation was accomplished wholly by what He
did. That's the actual content of the Gospel. And this is actually
the object of our faith. Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter 10? Romans chapter 10. Verse 6, but the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above. Don't say what can I do to get Christ to come down
here and save me. Just quit talking that way. Or
who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ from
the dead. Don't say what can I do to make what He did work
for me. Just get works out of your thinking. But what saith
it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we
preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." Now this means more than just believing it happened.
There's a lot of folks who would say, oh, I believe Christ was
raised from the dead. This means more than believing it happened.
With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Now here's
what I believe with my heart, and that means with my understanding,
with my affections, I'm glad of this way, with my will, this
is the way I want it to be. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, I believe that when Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead, my salvation was accomplished. Do you believe that? That's the object of our faith.
What Christ did, who he is and what he did when he was raised
from the dead, my salvation was accomplished. You see, this is
the great desire of every believer to understand something about
his resurrection. Now turn to Philippians chapter
3. Philippians chapter 3. Verse 8, Yea, doubtless. No doubt
about this, I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may
win Christ and be found in him. Hold on for a second. You know,
somebody said to me recently, they said, you know, you have
to sacrifice for Christ. Well, you've got to deny all
to follow him. I won't deny that. But do you
feel like you've sacrificed anything for Christ? I really don't. I count whatever it is. If you've
lost dung, it's not much of a loss, is it? All you've sacrificed
is dung. That's it. That's what he says.
Now he says, He says, I've suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I might know Him and the power of His
resurrection. Do you want to know the power
of His resurrection? I want to know. I want to be intimately
acquainted with. I want to enter in to the power
of His resurrection. Now, that means several things.
It means, first of all, I want to know the justifying power
of His resurrection. Isn't it wonderful to believe you really
are justified? That when Christ was raised from
the dead, my justification before the thrice holy God was accomplished. That's wonderful. I want to know
the justifying power of His resurrection. But I also want to know the life-giving
power of His resurrection. You see, the same power that
was exerted in raising Christ from the dead. You think of what
power that is. I mean, I can't even imagine what power was exerted
by God in raising His Son from the dead. That same power that
was exerted in raising Christ from the dead is exerted in raising
up every believer to life in Christ. and you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins." I want to have spiritual
life. I want to know the life-giving power. We were talking with somebody
after the service this morning, talking about that fellow who
was half-dead in the Lord's parable, half-dead. And somebody helped
me on this because I just said, well, that represents you know,
dead in sins. But you know, an unbeliever is
half, just half dead. He's got corporal life, he's
got physical life, but he's dead spiritually. So that's a really
good way to say that, half dead. But I want to be fully alive.
I don't want to be half dead anymore. I want spiritual life.
I want to live before God. All that that means, I want to
live before God. I want to know the life-giving
power of His resurrection. Our Lord said, The hour is coming,
yea, now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. I want to know the faith-giving
power of His resurrection. I believe in my heart that God
raised Him from the dead. Now, to believe that in your
heart, That's not just some kind of ooey-gooey, touchy-feely,
sentimental thing, although it is ooey-gooey and touchy-feely
in the sense of it rejoices your heart, it feels good. But to
believe with the heart means to believe with the understanding.
I understand that my acceptance before God is because God raised
Him from the dead. But it also means to believe
with the affections. I love being saved by Jesus Christ. And it means to be saved in this
sense. The heart is the understanding,
it's the affections, it's the will. Ask me how I want to be
saved, and I'll say, this is the way I choose to be saved
by Christ. I don't want to be saved any
other way. I want to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I want to know the faith-giving power of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to know something
about the preaching power. of his resurrection. I'm not
so much preaching opinions. I'm not preaching facts. I'm
not preaching dogmas. I'm not preaching doctrines.
I'm not preaching philosophies. I'm not preaching propositions.
I preach a person. He who lives. And I know him. And I've been
saved by him. And I trust him. And we preach,
I want to preach what Martin Luther said. Martin Luther said,
I preach as though Christ died yesterday, was raised from the
dead today, and is coming back tomorrow. That's the only way
to preach, isn't it? We preach the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, I want to know
the comforting power of His resurrection. When God gives you some view
of your sins, Your sinful nature, your sinful actions. Isn't it comforting to know that
when Christ was raised from the dead, all your sin was washed
away? Isn't that wonderful? When you're discouraged, somebody once said that's the
hazard of humanity. discouragement. When you're discouraged,
remember this, He is Lord, He is Lord. He is risen from the
dead and He is Lord. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do you fear death? He went before you. He died and
He is risen. I want to know the power of his
resurrection. You know, as we're getting ready
to observe the Lord's table. We. Are doing this in remembrance
of him, we. Consider the broken body, the
wrath he endured, that's what we consider when we take the
bread. We consider in drinking the wine
the forgiveness, the complete salvation He procured. But this
is behind everything we're rejoicing in as we rejoice to take the
Lord's table together. He's risen. He's risen. And we're rejoicing
in that. If you then be risen with Christ.
Now, is He risen? Then I am too. Colossians 3. One, if you then be risen in
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above and not on things beneath, for you are dead. Good place
to be, isn't it? And your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you appear with Him also in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Let's
pray together.