1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,880 Well, good morning, everybody. It's so good to see you all this 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,480 morning. If you have your Bibles with 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,040 you, please turn with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:25,260 First Corinthians chapter 15. And our subject to this morning 5 00:00:25,260 --> 00:00:29,460 is the evidence for the resurrection of Christ. 6 00:00:29,580 --> 00:00:33,380 The evidence for the resurrection of Christ. 7 00:00:33,380 --> 00:00:38,760 First Corinthians chapter 15. And we'll begin reading from 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:44,560 verse one. Now I want to remind you, 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,120 brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,720 received, in which you stand, and by which you are being 11 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,480 saved. If you hold fast to the Word I 12 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:57,160 preached to you, unless you believed in vain, For I 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,960 delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, 14 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,160 that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,920 and that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,560 accordance with the Scriptures. And he appeared to Cephas, then 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,240 to the 12th. Then He appeared to more than 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,320 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though 19 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,960 some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, and 20 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:29,560 then all to all the apostles. Last of all, as to 1 untimely 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,600 born, He appeared also to me, where I'm also the least of the 22 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,320 apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted 23 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,520 the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am 24 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,320 what I am, and on His grace towards me was not in vain. 25 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:52,080 On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was 26 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:57,120 not I, but the grace of God that is with me, whether then it was 27 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,360 I or they. So we preach. 28 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:05,000 So you believed our gracious Lord. 29 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:12,560 We do once more come before you this morning, on this day to 30 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:18,600 which we remember the resurrection of our Lord Jesus 31 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:26,560 Christ as you remember his victory over the grave, as the 32 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,840 one who will ultimately satisfy the right of the wrath of God, 33 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,840 the one who will ultimately pay the penalty that we rightly 34 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,800 devour. And so, God, as we approach your 35 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:48,320 word this morning, I pray for humility, I pray for wisdom. 36 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,320 I pray for clarity. I ask Lordy that you will come 37 00:02:54,280 --> 00:03:01,560 and speak to us. Some of you may be perhaps 38 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:06,720 familiar with Lee Strobel. But before I get there, I do 39 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:10,240 want to just quickly recommend to you, let's put it up if we 40 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,120 have that, I do want to recommend to you this book. 41 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,360 Some of you may be familiar with the writings of Doctor John 42 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:17,840 Stott. He was an extraordinary 43 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,680 theologian and writer and wrote to this classic. 44 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,400 This is one of the classic, it's called The Cross of Christ by 45 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,480 Doctor John Stott. And so if you're looking for a 46 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,160 helpful book as you think about the cross and what the cross 47 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,120 means, I would recommend that book to you. 48 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,680 He simplifies all of the difficult theological terms and 49 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,600 he really makes it easy for one to follow his argument on the 50 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,920 cross of Christ. So I would like to recommend 51 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,560 that book to you. And I think this place in 52 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,680 Claremont, I forgot what it's called now, has the book, forgot 53 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:53,040 the name. I'll remember. 54 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,440 Or you can buy it on Amazon as well. 55 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,760 Christian book discounters. It's called Christian Book 56 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,600 discounters right here in Clemont. 57 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,120 They do have, they do have this book. 58 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,040 Some of you may be familiar with Lee Strobel. 59 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:14,040 He is an investigative journalist. 60 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:20,680 Years ago, his wife had converted to Christianity and 61 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,320 she was an agnostic. And Lee Strobel, of course, he 62 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,960 is an atheist. And because his wife had come to 63 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,720 faith and converted to Christianity, this bothered Lee 64 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,640 Strobel very much. He was not happy about this. 65 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,160 And then he decided to do something radical. 66 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,840 He said to his wife, I'm going to investigate the validity of, 67 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,240 of, of Christianity. More importantly, I'm going to 68 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,200 focus on the resurrection of Christ because I want to prove 69 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,120 to you that the resurrection of Christ, it is a myth. 70 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,840 It is a legend. In other words, it never took 71 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,960 place. That's all this trouble said to 72 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,240 his wife. I bet you in two days I will be 73 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:07,960 able to disprove the resurrection. 74 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,680 Of course, this is an investigative journalist. 75 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:16,680 He also has a legal background and he started to investigate. 76 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,080 Now this is what he wrote after the investigation. 77 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,200 Please bear with me. This is a bit of a long quote. 78 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,920 He writes the following after having done his investigation. 79 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,960 He says the following. Even as an atheist, I understood 80 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:36,480 one thing about Christianity. It rises or falls on the 81 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:41,400 resurrection of Jesus. After all, anyone can claim to 82 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,960 be divine as Jesus did, directly or indirectly. 83 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,080 Yet if Jesus predicted he would die and rise again three days 84 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:54,400 later and then did it, that would be pretty good evidence he 85 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,440 was telling the truth about his identity. 86 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,040 In other words, Easter is then the ball game. 87 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,720 He says as they law trained the journalist at the Chicago 88 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,120 Tribune, I also knew something else. 89 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:14,000 Dead bodies stay dead. I have seen lots of cops during 90 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,360 my career as a reporter, and none of them ever regained life, 91 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:24,320 especially after three days. So I figured it would be easy to 92 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:29,480 disprove the resurrection and thus liberate my wife from the 93 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:35,040 newfound faith in Jesus. Give me a weekend, I told her. 94 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,600 I can shred Christianity's central claim. 95 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:47,440 Well, it wasn't that easy. Maybe I thought Jesus never 96 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,440 really died on the cross as the four Gospels claim. 97 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,480 But unfortunately for me, the evidence of Jesus execution was 98 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,600 so extensive that even the atheist New Testament scholar 99 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:07,560 heard calls it undisputable. That's because we not only have 100 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,800 multiple other accounts of Jesus death in the New Testament, but 101 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,640 we've also got 5 ancient sources outside the Bible that confirms 102 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:24,680 its execution. Finally I reach my verdict, the 103 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,440 resurrection. The evidence for the 104 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,520 resurrection of Jesus was clear and convincing. 105 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:38,280 That is why I repented of my sin received in him as my forgiver 106 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:49,040 and leader in November 1981. Ultimately, I would see my 107 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:54,360 morality, my worldview, my marriage, even my career 108 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:59,480 transformed as a result. Isn't this amazing? 109 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,760 A man who would say, I'm on a journey to investigate the 110 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,920 validity of Christianity. I want to prove to my wife that 111 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:15,640 she's wrong, and yet God would use that to convert him. 112 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:26,160 And so as we consider the story of Lee Strobel, there are others 113 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,760 on the other side again, who do not affirm the resurrection of 114 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,880 Jesus Christ, including many theologians and scholars. 115 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:38,240 Some of them do not affirm the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 116 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,280 I've voted to you one Gert Ludeman, who is an atheist 117 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,000 scholar. He calls himself that anyway. 118 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:47,720 He's given himself that title that he is a an atheist. 119 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:52,160 New Testament scholar Richard Dawkins, who's also an atheist, 120 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:54,600 writes the following. Presumably what happened to 121 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,880 Jesus was what happens to all of us when we die. 122 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,840 We decompose. Accounts of Jesus resurrection 123 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,560 and ascension are about a well documented as Jack and the 124 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:06,760 Beanstalk. In other words, they are a fairy 125 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,000 tale. That's all he's saying there. 126 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,240 But Bellman, also an scholar, writes the following. 127 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,200 While Jesus likely existed, A maritalized resurrection is a 128 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:19,040 matter of faith, not historical fact. 129 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,080 And noting that historians cannot argue for a supernatural 130 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:28,440 explanation of the Mt 2 and so others still argue today that in 131 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:33,920 fact there is no resurrection. Can I say even in the biblical 132 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:38,160 text we still find those kind of people who did not believe in 133 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,400 the resurrection? There were a set and sect of the 134 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,640 of the Jews in the biblical text that also did not affirm the 135 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,080 resurrection. They were known as the Sadduces 136 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,840 infected. The Sadduces were a wealthy kind 137 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,240 of Jewish leaders. They were in powerful positions 138 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,360 including high priest as well as the the chief priest as well. 139 00:09:58,360 --> 00:09:59,760 They were ruling in the Saint Harbro. 140 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,120 In other words, they had about 70 seats in the Jewish council 141 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,040 and yet they denied the resurrection. 142 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,560 In Matthew 22 verse 23, it says the same day the Sadducees came 143 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:15,240 to him who say there is no resurrection. 144 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:19,560 So Jesus himself encountered people in his own day who did 145 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:24,280 not believe in the in the resurrection church. 146 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,200 The resurrection is the most thing, most important truth that 147 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:36,600 you will ever hear, because the resurrection changes everything. 148 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:43,360 Without the resurrection of Christ, we have no gospel, we 149 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:49,080 have no salvation, we have no hope, we have no eternal life. 150 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,960 Without the resurrection, there is no reason for us to gather 151 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,680 this morning here. We ought to close shop and go 152 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,320 home. Without the resurrection of 153 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:04,720 Christ we will face the wrath of God, because the death of Christ 154 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,800 did not satisfy the wrath of God. 155 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:13,240 The propitiation was simply not enough. 156 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,440 Without the resurrection we have no Holy Spirit, for He must go 157 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,760 and the Holy Spirit must come. So without the resurrection we 158 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:25,520 have no Holy Spirit, and without the resurrection we have no High 159 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:31,120 Priest who prays on our behalf. Without the resurrection, 160 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,960 Christianity is simply a dead and cold religion. 161 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:41,440 The implications of the resurrection are massive for the 162 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,520 Church of God. Without the resurrection, we are 163 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,840 simply wasting our time and I should not be standing behind 164 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:55,760 this pulpit. The reason for that is if Christ 165 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,200 has not been raised, we are simply worshipping a dead hero. 166 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:08,560 But the Apostle Paul is going to argue as to why the resurrection 167 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,200 is imported. In other words, what is Paul's 168 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,040 attitude towards that? What would Paul say to the 169 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:20,520 people of his day who also some of them doubted because we read 170 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:22,960 in verse 12 of First Corinthians 15. 171 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,560 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can 172 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:30,040 some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 173 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:33,600 In other words, there are others at church at Corinth who are 174 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:38,280 doubting the resurrection of Christ and of course likely 175 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,000 being influenced by the many philosophies and the religious 176 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,400 myth of the day within the Greek culture. 177 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,840 And because of that, they also denied the afterlife. 178 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,600 And the apostle Paul is going to give a well structured A 179 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:58,400 detailed argument as to why we ought to affirm the bodily 180 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:03,120 resurrection, but also its implication for our 181 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,320 glorification. And that's what he's going to do 182 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:11,160 in this few verses. And he's going to do that under 183 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:16,960 for headings or for ways in which he argues for this, not 184 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,200 just the first argument the Apostle Paul gives as to why we 185 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:21,680 ought to believe in the resurrection. 186 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,160 He does that in verses 1, verses 2, and verses 3. 187 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,560 And, and, and, and, and I love this because the first thing the 188 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:32,480 Apostle Paul does, before he addresses the actual 189 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:36,720 resurrection, the first thing he does, he shows us that the 190 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,000 resurrection itself is part of the Gospel. 191 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,480 He says, Now I remind you, brothers, the Gospel I priest to 192 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,360 you which you have received, in which you stand, by which you 193 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,840 are being saved, and you hold fast to the word I priest you 194 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,720 unless you believe in vain. And he concludes in verse 4A he 195 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,360 was raised on the third day. And so the argument of the 196 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,080 apostle Paul is that the the resurrection is part of the 197 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,440 gospel. In other words, there is no 198 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:08,560 regeneration, there is no conversion, there is no 199 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,280 salvation without the resurrection. 200 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,880 That's his point today that man cannot be saved if Christ 201 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:20,720 remains in the grave. So you cannot separate then the 202 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,280 our conversion from the resurrection. 203 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,920 First Peter one in fact the Zorba ready this passage this 204 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,360 morning in our prayer meeting. First Peter 1/3 Praise be to the 205 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,080 God the Father follow Jesus Christ in his great mercy. 206 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,200 He has given us new birth into a living hope through the 207 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,640 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 208 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:46,400 Again, the author connects the resurrection of Christ to our 209 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:53,080 salvation or to our conversion. Because through the resurrection 210 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,960 only Jesus Christ gives us new life. 211 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,880 Not only new life, He gives us New Hope. 212 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,560 And so if one claims to be a Christian, they ought to affirm 213 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:09,000 the resurrection. Why? 214 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,240 Because you cannot be saved without it. 215 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,320 If there is no resurrection, you are remaining in your sins this 216 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,000 morning. Without the resurrection, we are 217 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,240 all dead, doomed, and we are all damned. 218 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,120 And so the apostle Paul says, I want you to know that your 219 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:33,720 conversion story is because of the resurrection. 220 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:35,960 The second thing it says to them. 221 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,120 For I delivered to you of first importance what I also received, 222 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:44,320 that Christ died your sins in accordance to the Scriptures. 223 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,280 Not as the apostle Paul is going to argue for the resurrection, 224 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,440 but he argued for the resurrection by first showing 225 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:56,960 that Jesus indeed did die. Because if Jesus did not die, 226 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,520 you cannot argue for the resurrection because he simply 227 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,040 did not die. But the Apostle Paul wants to 228 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,560 argue that Jesus did die. Jesus, as you know, the story in 229 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:10,880 the Gospels, he went through flogging, he was beaten 230 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:15,840 brutally, his flesh was removed, He was bleeding profusely, He 231 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,840 was hungry, he was dehydrated. They spat on him, they 232 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:24,160 blasphemed him. And as you know, as he is on the 233 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,320 cross, they have a a professional executioner to be 234 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,280 there to ensure that Jesus is declared dead. 235 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,080 They want to make sure, and that's why they have that 236 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,040 particular individual there who will have a spear. 237 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:43,760 And the biblical text tells us that they did put a spear on his 238 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,000 side. Blood and water came out which 239 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,880 punctured his heart to, to, to guarantee beyond the shadow of a 240 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:59,120 doubt that indeed Jesus is dead. They wanted to make sure that he 241 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,120 is dead. It was a painful death. 242 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:09,079 It was a form of humiliation and Jesus breathed his last breath 243 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:14,319 and he would say to the Father fuck to you I commit my spirit. 244 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:19,520 Isaiah 700 years before Christ, he would prophesied that, but he 245 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:21,760 was pierced for our transgressions. 246 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:23,880 He was crossed for our iniquities. 247 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,319 The punishment that brought us peace was on him. 248 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:33,840 By his wounds we are healed and that prophecy is fulfilled. 249 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,960 Matthew 27 verse 50. And when Jesus had cried out 250 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,840 with a loud voice, he yelled up his spirit. 251 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,160 John 1930 When Jesus had received the Summer Wine, he 252 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,400 said it is finished. He bowed his head and gave his 253 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:51,920 spirit. Church Paul wants us to know 254 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:56,360 Jesus died. John Piper puts it this way. 255 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,680 Commenting on the cross of Christ, he writes the following. 256 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:04,840 Not just death, death by betrayal, death by abandonment, 257 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,840 death by denial, and death by torture. 258 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:14,520 Jesus died. Therefore, suppose said, I want 259 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:21,280 to prove to you that indeed Jesus died, and then he tells us 260 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,600 the reason as well. He did not just that he died and 261 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,160 there's a reason why he died. He tells us what's the reason he 262 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:33,160 died for your sins, for your sins. 263 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,520 It would be our sin that would take the Son of Man to the cross 264 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,720 and that he would face the wrath of God on our behalf. 265 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,600 It is because our sin is waiting. 266 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,960 The justice of God must be satisfied, and the only way to 267 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,560 satisfy the justice of God was through a perfect lamp. 268 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,200 And Jesus becomes that lamp that will meet all of the 269 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,280 requirements of the Old Testament sacrifice, that 270 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,680 shadow, that picture of a perfect and unblamished Lamb. 271 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,960 He would become that on our behalf. 272 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,560 So the apostle Paul said, I want you to know that Christ died, 273 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:17,120 but he died as a substitute, taking upon himself what we 274 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:21,920 rightly deserved. He grounds his argument that the 275 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:28,840 gospel, that the gospel is, is is faved or grounded in the 276 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,840 resurrection of Christ #2 He reminds us that Jesus died. 277 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:38,280 Thirdly, he not only died, the Apostle Paul says not just verse 278 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:42,920 four, he says he was buried and he was raised on the third day. 279 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:48,560 According with the Scriptures as you know as you read the Gospel 280 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,360 that Jesus is taken off the cross and they take his body to 281 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:57,840 be prepared for the burial. Matthew 2627 writes the 282 00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,920 following. In the evening approach there 283 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:04,400 came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph who was who had 284 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,080 himself become the disciple of Jesus going to pilot. 285 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,600 He asked for Jesus body and pilot ordered that he be given 286 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,280 to him. Now Matthew gave us a detail 287 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,960 that Mark. Perhaps he does not give but 288 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,560 gives a different one. The first thing Matthew give 289 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,360 tells us is that he was the disciple of Jesus Christ, but 290 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:25,840 also he was of course a rich and a wealthy guy. 291 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,000 Mark gives us another detail which I think is important. 292 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,720 Mark gives this detail that Joseph Aramathea respected 293 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,200 member of the council. In other words, he was part of 294 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,080 the Saint Hunter and he was part of the perhaps had one of the 70 295 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,600 seats in the council, but who was himself looking for the 296 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,960 Kingdom of God, took courage and went to pilot and asked for the 297 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:51,280 body of Jesus. So this man who is a prominent 298 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,800 member of the council, this man who is rich, who is well known, 299 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,000 perhaps someone who is well known in the 1st century, is the 300 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,280 one who takes the body of Jesus Christ to show that indeed Jesus 301 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:06,160 again is dead, but also that Jesus will be buried. 302 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:12,520 He's not only dead, but Jesus will be buried, theologian and 303 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,920 medical doctor Martin Lord Jones writes the following. 304 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:20,880 You may look at a body that appears to be dead, but if there 305 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:25,640 is no doubt or query, you do not bury it until we are absolutely 306 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,120 certain that death has taken place. 307 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:36,800 The reason Jesus must be buried is because he is dead, and so 308 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,440 he's not only dead, but also he is buried. 309 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:45,840 Burial in the sense is the absolute proof and evidence that 310 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,480 Jesus is dead in the fullest sense of the term. 311 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:55,000 It is not merely a suspension of life, but death itself. 312 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,120 So this is proof that indeed Jesus had died. 313 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:04,920 So the apostle Paul says he had died, but also he was buried as 314 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,360 well. And the third, the other thing 315 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:10,640 Paul is going to show, it says I want to prove to you again that 316 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,000 Jesus has been raised to life. He's saying, I want to give you 317 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:17,880 another evidence from verse 5 to verse 8. 318 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,680 And the kind of evidence that the apostle Paul is going to 319 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,520 give here is the whole historical account of the 320 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:28,440 witnesses to the resurrection. Notice the first person who has 321 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:33,960 been called up, it is Cephas. In other words, it is Peter. 322 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:38,120 It's going to be. Now I want you not to be 323 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,240 confused. And often, you know, we call him 324 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,880 Peter and we call him Cephas. But Cephas mainly is, is in 325 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,440 Aramaic. But when talk about Peter that 326 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,600 often is in Greek. So it's called here Cephas using 327 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,480 the Aramaic that is dead. But we also have to 1st ask the 328 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:57,320 question here as we look at Cephas, but also as we look at 329 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,600 the 12th. Now there are a few questions we 330 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:04,400 ought to ask here because at this point in time Judas had 331 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,440 died. Judas is dead and yet the 332 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,400 apostle Paul is saying he appeared to the 12th. 333 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:13,160 So who is the 12th? Because Judas is dead. 334 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,880 And we know that Matthias is only chosen after the after the 335 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,080 ascension of Christ. So why would the apostle Paul 336 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,640 says 12 or not 11? Because at this point there are 337 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,720 only 11 disciples, not 12 disciples. 338 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,200 Judas is gone. Matthias has not been chosen as 339 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,720 yet. And yet the apostle Peter Paul 340 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,240 rather says we appeared to the 12 disciples. 341 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,240 It is often important to note the words in the Bible. 342 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,000 Now we must always understand that the word 12 in the Bible, 343 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,480 sometimes it simply means a designated title, not a 344 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,080 numerical number or a numerical count. 345 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,880 So when the apostle P Paul here is saying 12, it doesn't mean 346 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,760 literally that there are 12 disciples that Jesus appears to 347 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,720 you because there are only 11, but rather a title that was 348 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,480 given to a designated group. And in this case, the disciples 349 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,760 were known as the 12. So even if you were to see 10 350 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,680 disciples, people would say, hey, this one is part of the 12 351 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,400 even though there's only 10 disciples. 352 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,520 So 12 does not mean 12 in this case because there are only 11 353 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,840 disciples. So there is example in first in 354 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:28,360 in John 2024 where it says, but Thomas one of the 12. 355 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,000 So the 12 does not mean that there are 12, but it just means 356 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,480 that it is a a designated title that is given to a specific 357 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,480 group and it's given to the disciples. 358 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,440 But there are only 11 of them at this point in time because we 359 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,800 know from Mark 16 for Jesus appeared to the E to the 11 as 360 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,520 they were eating. He rebuked them for their lack 361 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,600 of faith and their stubbornness, refusal to believe those who had 362 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:57,320 seen him after he had risen. But the apostle Paul chooses 363 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,720 simply to use a designated type. But also then he appears to 364 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,720 Peter. He appears to Cephas as well, 365 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:10,000 the one who denied him. And he said Jesus appeared to 366 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,800 him. What a way, or it's such a 367 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,840 beautiful way. God shows his grace and love to 368 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,720 the one who has denied him, and he appears to him. 369 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,280 And so Paul says, I wanted to show you that there are those 370 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:31,840 who have seen Jesus after the resurrection. 371 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:37,080 He says Cephas saw him, the 12 saw him. 372 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,440 In other words, the 11 saw him. But he says that's not enough. 373 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,960 I also want to show you that he appeared to more people as well 374 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,080 and not just in verse 6, he says, and then he appeared to 375 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:53,960 more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still 376 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,840 alive. Jesus is life on earth after the 377 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,080 resurrection. We know it was about 40 days. 378 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,840 And the apostle Paul says, I want to prove to you that indeed 379 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,360 he was raised to life. He appeared to more than 500 380 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:08,760 people. He appeared to large crowd. 381 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,040 Jesus was not hiding. And he says to them, listen, 382 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,200 some of them are dead, that some of them are alive. 383 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,960 You can go in and ask them about the resurrection. 384 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,840 They will indeed testify that Jesus has been raised from the 385 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,560 dead. What wonderful evidence is that? 386 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,120 I think you can dispute it. Maybe if it's one or two people, 387 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,400 I don't know if you can, you can dispute. 388 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,560 I don't know how many were still alive at this point in time, but 389 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:33,800 surely perhaps because a lot of them were still alive. 390 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:36,000 And poster Paul says go and ask them. 391 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:40,600 They will tell you he is raised from the dead. 392 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:42,480 Says that's, that's that's the evidence. 393 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,160 What else do you need? He appeared to see this. 394 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:50,680 He appeared to the 12th. He appeared to 500 people. 395 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,080 And the apostle says maybe that's not enough for you. 396 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:57,240 I'll give you more evidence to show you this resurrection of 397 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:01,200 Jesus Christ. He says he also appeared to 398 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:06,680 James and to all the apostles. Quite interesting. 399 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,160 Quite interesting that in verse 6. 400 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,080 So in verse 5 he uses the word that he appeared to the 12. 401 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,360 But in verse 7 he said he appeared to all the apostles. 402 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,600 I love the language there because it does mean something 403 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,320 slightly different. But also he appeared to James. 404 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:27,040 Now James is the half brother of Jesus. 405 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,320 Jesus had four brothers. So Jesus was not just James 406 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:33,120 Jesus according to the scriptures he had about four 407 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,560 brothers. But really we know two of his 408 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,720 brothers James. And who knows? 409 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:48,520 And who was other Jesus brother? Was Jude was his brother Jude 410 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,320 the one who writes the book of Judah's Jesus brother? 411 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,880 So James and Jude are Jesus brother. 412 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,360 And we also know according to the biblical text, that Jesus 413 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:00,600 also had sisters. He had brothers, four brothers. 414 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,720 We know they were four. We also know he had sisters. 415 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,040 I'm not going to tell you the number because the number of the 416 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:07,400 sister doesn't come from the text. 417 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,600 It comes from reading other additional sources. 418 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,560 So I won't give you that because it's not in the Bible. 419 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,560 But he had about four brothers, Jude and George. 420 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,920 The interesting thing about Jude and James, it says here he 421 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:26,360 appeared to James, is that James and Jude, we assume that did not 422 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:29,680 believe in the resurrection. In other words, when Jesus was 423 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,960 still on earth, they did not affirm his divinity. 424 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,840 They did not affirm that he was God or he was the Saviour, the 425 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:41,640 anointed one. For it says, I want to read to 426 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:47,880 you in Matthew 7, verse three, he says, so his brothers said to 427 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:53,400 him, leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see 428 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,000 the words that you're doing Now verse 7, verse 5 says this is 429 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,960 important. Not even his brothers believed 430 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:03,520 in Him. So we know in Jesus's earthly 431 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:08,000 ministry, his brothers did not affirm His divinity, nor affirm 432 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,680 that indeed He was the anointed one. 433 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,880 In fact, as you read other passages, it seems that some of 434 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:19,240 his family was annoyed by him and what Jesus was doing. 435 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,560 They did not believe his rose from the dead. 436 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:26,120 They did not believe He was God or He was the Messiah. 437 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:34,760 But yet we read in the biblical text that now Jesus appears to 438 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:40,000 his own half brother. He appears to James. 439 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,200 I'm not sure how many of you would worship your own brother. 440 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,840 You definitely have to be convinced of the evidence that 441 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:53,080 he is what he says he is for you to give your life to your own 442 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,440 brother. Obviously Jesus was the older 443 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,440 brother. We know that probably James. 444 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,840 George was the younger brother, but James is convinced to such 445 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:06,600 an extent, they are convinced of this resurrection, that James 446 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,320 and Jude become church leaders. They lead churches, both of 447 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:12,360 them. They write books in the New 448 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,120 Testament, the book of James and the book of Jude. 449 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,920 They become prominent leaders in the early church and pastoring A 450 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,920 prominent church in Jerusalem. We know that from the book of 451 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:26,360 Acts and the apostle Paul says, do you want evidence that this 452 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,400 guy has been been raised to life? 453 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,360 I want you to know that his own brother and his own family 454 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:35,320 actually worships him. Now, when Jude opens up his 455 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:39,960 book, he writes the following Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ 456 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:45,640 and brother of James to those who are called beloved in God 457 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,520 the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. 458 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,320 What a wonderful way for James to open up that book. 459 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,560 He's not only my brother, but in fact I am a servant of my 460 00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:00,680 brother because indeed my brother has been raised to life. 461 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,960 The King of kings, Lord of Lords, seated at the right hand 462 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,680 of the father. The half brother worships the 463 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:12,480 Big Brother because the Big Brother is divine and he is who 464 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:18,240 he claims he is. And so the apostle forces, I'll 465 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,840 give you that evidence. His own family worships him, he 466 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,920 says. Lastly, I want to give you the 467 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:25,760 last evidence in verse 8 and verse 9. 468 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,360 Last of all, as to untimely born. 469 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:33,480 He appeared also to me, for I am the least of the apostles 470 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:39,120 unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church 471 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:44,920 of God. Paul, who was a persecutor of 472 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:52,840 the church, radically, radically transformed by the grace of God. 473 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:59,560 For we know in Acts 9 verse 9, it says, so why are you 474 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:04,600 persecuting me? Why are you persecuting me? 475 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,960 Because whoever persecutes my people is persecuting me so. 476 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:14,640 So why are you persecuting me? And when the eyes of Paul, the 477 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:19,320 spiritual eyes of Paul, are open to this truth, this realization 478 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:24,440 that the Savior is speaking to him, and the Savior tells him to 479 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,440 go, He is commanded to go. He says, but rise and enter the 480 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,280 city, and you'll be told what you ought to do. 481 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,880 And I love the words of the apostle Paul that I am least of 482 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,440 the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle. 483 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:44,400 That's the power of the resurrection. 484 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:50,920 It looks for unworthy people. Paul, one who persecuted the 485 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,280 church that perhaps would have been written off by many people 486 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,400 as one who would not come to fight. 487 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:01,800 And yet he's the one who received the grace of God. 488 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,200 Church, No one is beyond the grace of God. 489 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:11,720 No one is beyond salvation. Moses as a murderer was not 490 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:17,080 beyond salvation. Gideon as a coward was not 491 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,320 passed by by the grace of God. He received the grace of God. 492 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,480 The grace of God is for unworthy people. 493 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:30,840 All of us, as we stand here this morning singing those wonderful 494 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,200 songs and, and sitting here this morning, we ought to remind 495 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,560 ourselves that when we came to Jesus, we came as unworthy 496 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,760 beings. For there was nothing good in 497 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,240 us. There was nothing attractive in 498 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,520 us. We are wretched sinners. 499 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,880 That's what we are. And yet just like the apostle 500 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,400 Paul, we have received the grace of God. 501 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,640 We did nothing to deserve it. We did nothing to earn it. 502 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:05,000 And yet God gave us this wonderful grace drew us to 503 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:09,320 himself and we experienced that resurrection power to such an 504 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:14,040 extent that the apostle Paul as he shares his resume in in 505 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,880 Philippians chapter 3 saying from the tribe of Benjamin, from 506 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,520 a Hebrew of Hebrews, according to the law, a Pharisee, He says, 507 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,440 now I, I have gained Christ. I consider all of those things 508 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:32,440 rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Christ order to 509 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:37,000 experience the very resurrection of Christ. 510 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:42,040 The resurrection of Christ is for unworthy people. 511 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:48,320 And so the Apostle Paul as he gives his resume, he says I too 512 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:55,320 was not worthy and yet I experience the grace of God 513 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:59,960 towards me. And so the apostle Paul's point 514 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:05,920 is this, as he shows this argument, he's saying if you 515 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:08,640 don't believe exhibit one, maybe you may believe 2. 516 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:10,840 If you don't believe 2, maybe you may believe three. 517 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:15,080 He gave this argument to shows that indeed Jesus has been 518 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:20,160 raised from the dead. But he argues then furthermore 519 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,200 that if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, they are 520 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:28,840 dire implications. Notice those implications from 521 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,160 verse 14 to verse 19. And if Christ has not been 522 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:35,680 raised from the dead, then our preaching is in vain and your 523 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,480 faith is futile. And if we even found to be 524 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:43,360 misrepresenting God because we testify about God that he had 525 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:47,320 been, that he raised Christ whom he did not raise. 526 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,000 If it is true that the dead are not raised, and if Christ has 527 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,840 not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your 528 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,440 sins. Verse 18, then those who have 529 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,880 fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 530 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:08,680 Verse 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life, we are all 531 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:12,360 people mostly to repeated. So he's saying if Christ has not 532 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,320 been raised, that's what's going on. 533 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:19,640 In other words, if Christ has not been raised from the dead, 534 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,280 you are still in your sins. You do not hope. 535 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,280 We don't do not have hope for the final resurrection. 536 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:31,080 Our preaching is useless and our preaching is in vain, and our 537 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,520 preaching is futile. He says if Christ has not been 538 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:38,280 raised, those who have fallen asleep will are not sharing 539 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:43,160 eternity with him. But because Christ is raised, 540 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:49,600 your preaching is not futile. So I want to say to us in 541 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:55,160 closing this morning as we consider and process and reflect 542 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,960 on this resurrection, what it means to us. 543 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:02,160 And so this morning, if you're feeling weary as a Christian, if 544 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:04,480 you're feeling exhausted as a Christian, when I say to you, 545 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:09,280 Christ, he is risen. If you are grieving this morning 546 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,600 and morning, this morning I want to say he is reason. 547 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,480 If you're feeling lonely this morning, He is reason. 548 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,240 If you're feeling unsure about tomorrow and doubting your 549 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:25,520 faith, He is reason. If you doubt His love this 550 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:28,200 morning, if you doubt His Shepherd in care this morning, 551 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,680 he is reason. To the one who is weak, to the 552 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:37,080 one who is weary, to the one who is discouraged this morning, He 553 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:42,040 is reason. And because of that, we have 554 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:48,600 hope, eternal hope of victory over sin and death. 555 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:57,440 We remember that wonderful old hymn sung by the Methodist 556 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,160 Church. Nothing in my hand I bring 557 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:08,600 simply to thy cross I cling. Our gracious Lord, we come 558 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:14,640 before you this morning to thank you for the resurrection power, 559 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:18,880 to thank you, Lord, for the evidence that the apostle Paul 560 00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:24,160 gives us, the evidence that you appeared, that you were not 561 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:28,320 hiding, but you appeared. You appeared to Cephas, you 562 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:32,640 appeared to the 12th, you appeared to James, you appear to 563 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:36,680 all the apostles of God. They, the wider group of 564 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:41,360 apostles, you appeared to them, but also, Lord, you appeared to 565 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:46,760 the 500, perhaps even less. We're not sure, our Lord, we 566 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:49,960 know that you appeared, but we are also grateful that you 567 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:53,560 appeared to the apostle Paul himself, who through your 568 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:58,040 appearance experienced a radical transformation in his life. 569 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:01,000 And so, Lord, we pray this morning, appear to some of us 570 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:05,760 here this morning, save those who are far away from you. 571 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:10,360 Lord God, may they see you. May they know that you are one 572 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:17,000 who is alive, the one who's reigning and ruling, the one we 573 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:21,160 love to serve, the one we have given our lives to. 574 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,400 And so, Lord, we pray that appear to those this morning who 575 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:29,400 may be doubting, who may be seeking, We say, please Holy 576 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,120 Spirit, appear to them as well.