April 9, 2023 - Sunday Service

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood iconAscension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Good morning, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and welcome to the corporate worship of our
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God. Please stand. He is risen.
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Hallelujah. Hear God call you to worship today through his word. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, the
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God of my strength and whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge.
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My Savior, you saved me from violence. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall
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I be saved from my enemies. For who is God except the Lord? Who is a rock except our
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God? The Lord lives. Blessed be my rock. Let God be exalted, the rock of my salvation.
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Therefore, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name.
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Let us pray. Almighty God, who through your only begotten
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Son, Jesus Christ, overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life, grant that we who celebrate with joy the day of the
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Lord's resurrection may be raised from death of sin by your life -giving spirit through Jesus Christ, our
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Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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Amen. Amen. Please, kneel as you are able for the corporate confession of sin.
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Let us join together in confessing our sins. Almighty and most merciful
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Father, we are thankful that your mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings, deeper than all our sins, worthy of our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others, our envy of those who have more than you have, our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure, our indifference to the treasures of heaven, our neglect of your wise and gracious law.
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Help us to change our way of life for what is good, love what you love, and do what you demand, through Jesus Christ, our
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Lord. Amen. Please, stand for the assurance of pardon.
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Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.
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Though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.
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For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.
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Brothers and sisters in Christ, rejoice! Worship Christ, the risen
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King. Hymn 286. Please take out the insert, or one of them, that's labeled
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Psalm 16. Preserve me, O God, Psalm 16.
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For the public reading of God's word from Matthew 28.
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This is the reading of God's word. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn,
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Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the
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Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.
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His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
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But the angel answered and said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek
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Jesus who is crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come and see the place where the
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Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed, he is going before you into Galilee.
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There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb, with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.
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And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him.
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Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.
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The reading of God's word. Let us now join our voices together, confessing our common
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Christian faith in the singing of the Apostles' Creed. Please take up the insert titled,
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Now Let the Vault of Heaven Resound. It's listed as Hymn 65, and this is to the tune of all creatures of our
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God and King. Hymn 635, Now Let the Vault of Heaven Resound.
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Please take up the
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Hymnal one more time, and turn to Hymn 290.
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Please let us now make preparations for the prayers.
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Let us pray together. O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsel, and all just work.
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Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments, and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness, through the merits of Jesus Christ our
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Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever.
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Amen. For the church of Jesus Christ, that it may be filled with truth and love, and be found without fault at the day of your coming, we pray to you,
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O Lord. For all ministers, missionaries, and the mission of the church, that in faithful witness the gospel may be preached, we pray to you,
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O Lord. For those in positions of public trust, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you,
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O Lord. For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer, for refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger, that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you,
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O Lord. For this congregation, and for those who are present, and for those who are absent, that we may be delivered from hardness of heart, and show forth your glory in all that we do, we pray to you,
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O Lord. Be in agreement with all these things.
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We join our voices together and say, amen. Please stand and take up the insert once again, this one entitled
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Psalm 22. To all my brothers, I'll declare Psalm 22.
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Please open your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1
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Corinthians chapter 15, and we will be taking a look at the first 20 verses. Moreover, brethren,
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I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold fast that word which
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I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which
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I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, and then by the twelve.
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After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
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After that, he was seen by James, and then by all the apostles. Then, last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
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For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not
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I, but the grace of God which was within me. Therefore, whether it was
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I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
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But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty.
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Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise.
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For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.
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Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
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If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
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But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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Let us pray. Almighty and most merciful
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Father, we humbly submit ourselves and fall down before your majesty, asking you from the bottom of our hearts that the seed of your word now sown among us may take such deep root that neither the burning heat of persecution cause it to wither, or the thorny cares of this life choke it, but that as seed sown in good ground, it may bring forth thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold as your heavenly wisdom has appointed.
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We ask this in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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Amen. Please be seated. This particular chapter of Paul's letter to the
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Corinthians, his first letter to the Corinthians, is often referred to as the resurrection chapter.
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It contains a clear and concise, straightforward declaration of the gospel, and points to the central focus of the
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Christian faith, which is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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As one man said, the resurrection is not incidental, it is fundamental to the gospel and our faith.
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And on this Resurrection Sunday, it is fitting for us to consider the resurrection.
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But not just the fact of the resurrection, as is often done reviewing the historical accounts that includes the account that our brother read from Matthew 28.
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Discussing angels, or the women, or the response of Peter, or the disciples, or the men on the road to Emmaus.
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All this is right and good to do. But today, we will consider several things about the resurrection.
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And not just the historical fact, although we will touch on that also. As I was preparing for this message,
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I thought about the big events in our Lord's earthly ministry.
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Which of these events was of the most importance? The Incarnation?
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The Crucifixion? The Resurrection? Or the Ascension? In all of these major events in His earthly ministry, we might say the
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Incarnation is the most important, because it's first. Or the Crucifixion, because of the atoning works, the paying for our sins, the act of love that reconciles us to the
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Father. We could say also the Ascension is most important.
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For when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit came to the church and works today applying the atonement to sinners.
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But I believe that the Resurrection should be and must be considered the most important event, not only in Jesus' earthly ministry, but in the history of the world.
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Lord willing, we will consider that too. Today, we're going to take a look at several things about the
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Resurrection, several characteristics. First, the importance of the
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Resurrection. Second, the fact of the Resurrection. Then, the necessity of the
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Resurrection. And then lastly, the hope of the Resurrection.
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So let us take a look here now at the first four verses. And as we do so, we're going to notice that Paul is transitioning from one topic.
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His last topic was order in church meetings. That was the last thing he was writing about. And now, he switches to the topic of the
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Resurrection. He reminds his readers of the importance of this doctrine.
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So as we take a look at these first four verses here, and I know we're going to be leaving off in the middle of a sentence, but we'll just go through the fourth verse.
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Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which
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I preached to you, which you also received, and in which you stand.
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I'm going to pause for a moment here, just for a minute. Paul was in Corinth for a year and a half, which is a considerable time, considering most of Paul's journeys and what he had done.
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And you may remember earlier in this letter, he has noted, if you turn back just a few chapters to chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, you will notice that what was his preaching like?
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And he wrote this, and I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or with wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
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So when he references this, and he mentions preaching several times in these first four verses, he is talking about that.
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He is talking about that preaching. Moreover, brethren,
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I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, and in which you stand, by which you are also saved, if you hold fast that word which
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I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which
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I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the
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Scriptures. Now, Paul underscores the importance of this preaching, or of this message, of this gospel, of this doctrine, by noting here in verse 3, he says this, for I delivered to you, first of all, that which
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I have received. Now this doesn't necessarily imply that this was the first thing that Paul learned.
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What he is looking at here is the utmost importance of this message.
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The ESV translates this, for I delivered to you, of first importance.
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The Greek expresses that it is of primary importance. And we must remember, there can only be one primary thing.
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It is so important, the gospel. This is the gospel, he says, in which I preached to you.
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There are not other gospels. Turn with me for just a moment to Galatians chapter 1.
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We'll take a look at verses 6 through 9. You may remember this. It's a fairly well -known set of verses.
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This also underscores the importance of what Paul places on the gospel. He writes this,
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I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him, who called you to the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another.
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But there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you, than that which we preached to you, let him be accursed.
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This is how important Apostle Paul takes this message. That he is saying it doesn't matter who it is that preaches another gospel to you.
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They may have all sorts of degrees and all sorts of acclaim from other ecclesiastical groups.
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It could be us, he says, or an angel. But if anyone else preaches any other gospel than this,
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God's curse is upon him. That Greek word is anathema, which
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I think maybe vernacularly translated could be, God damn him straight to hell.
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That's how important Paul feels the gospel is. And he repeats it here in verse 9, and as we said before, so now
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I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you, than that which you have received, let him be accursed.
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He's turning back to our text. That is the primary importance.
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It is so important to the Christian life. There are many things which we can think of as important.
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And we must remember, this isn't going from unimportant to important.
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All of our doctrines are important. But this is of primary importance.
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This doctrine is the most important doctrine. Yes, we can talk about the doctrine of creation to eschatology, from Genesis to Revelation.
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Extremely important. But this is of utmost importance.
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Then Paul provides us with the context of the Resurrection.
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We might say this is the facts about, not the fact of, but the facts about the
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Resurrection. He said this is first and of utmost importance, and then he says that Christ died for our sins according to the
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Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the
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Scriptures. He first refers to the work of Christ on the cross.
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Three days ago, on what we call Good Friday, is the day that we commemorate that work.
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That sin -bearing, wrath -appeasing, reconciling of the work of Christ on the cross.
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You may be asking this question, so I'll ask it now. Why did the Son of God need to die for our sins?
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That comes up quite often. Well, the reason we know is found in Genesis chapter 3.
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When our first federal head, when our first father, our first representative,
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Adam, sinned, he transgressed the commandments of God.
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We're all familiar with the story. I'll paraphrase it rather than going back, but it's located in Genesis 3, 1 through 6.
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Yes, Eve is involved, but it's Adam's sin that plunges us into misery.
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God commanded him not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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The devil tempted Eve, and what was that temptation? It's the same temptation the devil plays even today.
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Has God really said? You can think of all other temptations, anything that we may be tempted to.
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All of them fall back to this. Has God really said? Has God really said that you should be sexually pure?
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Has God really said that you should be honest in all your dealings? Has God really said that you should worship him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself?
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And, of course, there was another temptation, one that is very much on evident today, that you will be as God.
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If you want to see what be as God looks like, open up any news site and look at the people that prayed across that every day.
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They think they're God. They believe that they can define not only good and evil, which is really what the knowledge of good and evil is, that they can define it, but they can define man and woman.
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They can define anything. That is the temptation, and Adam fell into it.
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And he plunged this world, created good. He plunged this world that was created for man and God to commune together.
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He plunged this world into sin and misery and death.
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We see corruption enter in, something that was not intended.
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And not only that, we see that the created image of God, as our brother Athanasius wrote, was washing out of existence, was fading away.
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In dying, you will die. And not only that, there was a debt incurred, a debt which he passed on to us, and a debt that we could not pay.
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And this debt was needed to be paid. It was a debt to death, the penalty of the transgression.
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We needed a champion. We needed a David to slay that Goliath.
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Our enemy, death, needed to be defeated. That's what's bound up in Christ died for our sins, the need for it.
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He also notes, according to the scriptures, he says that twice. And we can think of many scriptures that point to the life, death, burial, and resurrection of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. You may be thinking of some of these right now, Isaiah 53. I'll just touch on verses three through five.
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He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, that great suffering servant, and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him.
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He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
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He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
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The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.
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Regarding the resurrection, some other verses may come to mind. For example, Psalm 16 .10,
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Or perhaps even the importance of the third day, from Hosea 6 .2.
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That we may live in his sight. But there is one
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Old Testament scripture, and by the way, when Paul says the scriptures, he means the Old Testament. There is one
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Old Testament scripture I would like you to turn to, and that is Psalm 22. For both are mentioned here in Psalm 22, and this will be a slightly longer aside as we take a look at this psalm.
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It's very fitting that this psalm should be our psalm of the month, and this month of the resurrection.
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We'll begin at verse 1. Sound familiar?
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The very words which Jesus said upon the cross. His hearers would have known exactly what this meant.
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They would have memorized this, probably sang it frequently. They trusted in you and you delivered them.
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They cried to you and were delivered. They trusted in you and were not ashamed.
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But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people.
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All those who see me ridicule me. They shoot out the lip. They shake the head.
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He trusted in the Lord. Let him rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him.
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But you are he who took me out of the womb. You made me trust while on my mother's breasts.
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I was cast upon you from birth. From my mother's womb you have been my
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God. Be not far from me for trouble is near.
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For there is none to help. Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
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They gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion.
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I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax.
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It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue clings to my jaws.
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You have brought me to the dust of death. The dogs have surrounded me.
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The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet.
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I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them.
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And for my clothing they cast lots. But you,
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O Lord, do not be far from me. O my strength, hasten to help me. Deliver me from the sword.
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My precious life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen.
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Here, right here before us in very, very, very accurate description is the crucifixion.
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Hundreds of years before the Romans invented it and perfected it, the events of Good Friday are here in great detail, adding new weight to what
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Peter said in Acts 2, 23, him being delivered by the determinate purpose and foreknowledge of God.
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You have taken by lawless hands and crucified and put him to death. But let's continue reading.
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It says here, you have answered me. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly.
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I will praise you. Right there is the promise of the resurrection. We have the crucifixion.
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We have the suffering servant. We have the Lord Jesus described in great detail dying on the cross.
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Yet, there's deliverance. Deliver me, save me, and the
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Lord answers and saves him. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly.
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I will praise you. Here is the scriptural evidence that supports the importance of the resurrection to the gospel and to our faith, that it is of first importance.
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Now, let's turn back to our chapter, chapter 15, and look at the fact of the resurrection.
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One man once said that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best attested event of the ancient world.
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This is an astonishing statement, but absolutely true.
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Consider other events of the ancient world. How about Hannibal's Carthaginian war with the elephants going over the
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Alps? Or Julius Caesar's murder on the
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Ides of March. Beware of the Ides of March, Caesar. Et tu, Brutus. Or the stand of the 300
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Spartans against the Persian army. All accepted without question.
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All with less historical attestation than the resurrection. So let's take a look at some evidence of the resurrection before we get to what
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Paul gives us. First, there is written evidence.
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The biblical accounts in all four gospels provide documented proof of the resurrections.
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These accounts give great detail of time, place, manner, location of the resurrection.
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Some may scoff at this as evidence, saying, these are all Christian books. What do you expect?
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We would expect to have that given to us. But we must remember that we're looking at the resurrection as a historical event.
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As the most historically attested to event in the ancient world. And when we appeal to the
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Bible, especially the New Testament, we're talking about the most attested to text of the ancient world.
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Using the method of a historian, which looks at the number of copies that are available of the text, the copies of the text nearest the time that they were written, and the differences in the texts over time.
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That's what historians use. And when we do that, we find that the New Testament has hundreds of full copies of the text.
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Thousands of partial copies. Some written within a decade of the events that they describe.
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With only minor differences in the text. But not only that, nearly every verse of the
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New Testament is quoted by the post -apostolic fathers. These men, pastors, teachers, theologians, and apologists of the first 300 years, cite the
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New Testament over 36 ,000 times. Ascribing authority and authenticity.
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That's the written evidence. But there's also another bit of evidence, material evidence.
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What do I mean by material evidence? What I mean is this, that there are things, archaeological evidence, being put into various buildings, or monuments, or on graves, attesting to the life, death, and resurrection of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. The amount of archaeological evidence of the resurrection is unprecedented.
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The testimony of Christ and him crucified and raised from the dead is unmatched in ancient material archaeological evidence, except, maybe not surpassed by, but at least equal to the emperors,
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Caesars, and that's not to be surprised, because he was the Caesar of Caesars, the King of Kings, and the
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Lord of Lords. Another bit of evidence would be the impact of the
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Gospel. Wherever the Gospel has gone, cultures have changed.
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Nothing has caused murderers to stop murdering, alcoholics to stop drinking, liars to be truthful, than the
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Gospel. Nothing has stopped infanticide, and there was infanticide in the early years, in the first century, that stopped cannibals from eating human beings, than the
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Gospel. Nothing stopped the cultures, like the Vikings, or the ancient
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Picts and Scots, from embracing a culture of death and self -destruction, brutal and violent cultures in Europe, Africa, the
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Americas, Asia, before the spread of the Gospel. But not only that, the
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Gospel has seen a change in the world when it comes to education, the care of the poor and the marginalized, the changed status and dignity of women, the advent of medical care.
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All of these are often ascribed to the Enlightenment, which really ought to be called the Endarkenment, have come after the spread of the
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Gospel, and this should give us great hope, that the same
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Gospel that changed those cultures is the same Gospel that we preach, and it will change our culture, too.
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He did it before, he'll do it again. Next bit of evidence, evidence number three, the empty tomb.
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Notice the fact that the empty tomb is not denied. Nobody said that the tomb wasn't empty.
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Now, some have different interpretations, that the tomb is empty, but the importance of the empty tomb cannot be overstated.
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Remember from our reading here today from Matthew 28, verses five and six, but the angel answered and said to the woman, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek
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Jesus who is crucified. He is not here. He is risen, as he said.
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Come and see the place where the Lord laid. There have been all sorts of stories circulated about that one which we have accounted for us today, about his body being stolen or misplaced.
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These go about, even today you'll hear this, but these ideas may sound good at first blush, but they simply don't hold up.
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In the account of the Satorians lying about the body, great sums of money were required and the government's power was required to perpetrate that, but they did not deny that the tomb was empty.
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We also have to remember something that is often not talked about, the Jewish burial customs.
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They would never lose track of a loved one, even criminals. The ossuary, the ancient bone box, was used to place bones of the departed in.
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The custom was a year after death, the family would go and place the bones in the box so that they could use the tomb again for generations to come.
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You may remember in the accounts, in Kings and Chronicles, of the kings of Judah being buried in the places where their fathers.
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This is referring to that practice, but Paul turns to a different piece of evidence.
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Eyewitness accounts. As important as the evidence is that we have provided, and there is more that we could look at, that is not the evidence to which
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Paul brings forward. In verses 5 -8, he gives us evidence of eyewitness accounts.
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Paul is hearkening back to the ancient custom of witnesses given to us in the law.
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Think of the ninth commandment, with our admonition not to bear false witness against our neighbor.
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Or perhaps Deuteronomy 19 -15, one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits, but by the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter will be established.
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Or perhaps Deuteronomy 17 -6, whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
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He shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
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The importance of witness bearing was ingrained in the law and the culture.
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I just want to point something out. You say, okay, sure, that's fine. Sin, death sentence, I got that.
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I could see why we'd want witnesses there. I just want to tell you something. The Bible, when it describes things that we ought to do or ought not to do, often goes to the highest level.
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It says in these cases of the death sentence of sin that it would fall all the way down in all other cases, no matter what we look at.
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There's never an instance where we could say, oh, okay, well, for death sentence, sure, but what about imprisonment?
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Maybe one witness would be fine for that. No. It starts at the top and says if this is the most important thing, it goes all the way down.
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So this is the importance. Let's take a look at verses five through eight.
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Remember the importance of two to three witnesses. Verse five, and that he was seen by Cephas and then by the 12.
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After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained present, but some had fallen asleep.
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And after that, he was seen by James and then by the apostles. Then last of all, he was seen by me also as one born out of due time.
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The mouth of two to three witnesses, how about over 520? Notice who he doesn't mention.
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He doesn't mention the women, although they had seen Christ. He doesn't mention the men on the road to Emmaus unless they're covered in this group somehow, but we know that the total is much greater than 520.
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But notice who he does mention. You know, sometimes people will say these eyewitness accounts, well, yes, what do you expect?
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They're friendlies. They're expecting the resurrection. He told them about this. But notice who's included in this group.
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Doubters, deniers, and persecutors. First, we have Thomas.
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We know he's included, although he's not mentioned by name. It says here that he appeared to the twelve.
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Thomas is there. You remember his account of him saying, of his doubting.
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It's in John 20, verses 24 through 29. The others told
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Thomas they had seen the risen Lord. Thomas would have none of it. He said, unless I put my hand, my finger into the nail holes or my hand into his side,
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I won't believe it. Then he encountered the risen Christ.
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And then he said, my Lord and my God. How about James, the brother of our
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Lord? He's actually called out here by name in verse seven. He was a denier.
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We know this because we're told this in John seven. That prior to this, he did not believe.
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John seven five says this. For even his brothers did not believe in him. And they were even somewhat mocking him.
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Before that, in verses three and four of John seven. His brothers therefore said to him, depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing.
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For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. For if you do these things, show yourself to the world.
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But after this, when he encountered the risen
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Christ, he became a leader in the church.
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Denier no more. And historically we have that he went to his death, asserting that his half brother
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Jesus was the risen Christ. But then lastly, the persecutor,
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Paul himself, says that last of all, he was seen.
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No, I'm sorry. Verse eight. Last of all, he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time.
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For I am the least of the apostles whom I'm not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.
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This is the power of eyewitness test. This is not mass hallucination or post -death spirit seeing.
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Remember that this evidence is combined with the empty tomb. He is not here.
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He is risen. He was seen by many. This was not wish fulfillment.
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For he was seen by his enemies as well as by his friends. So that is the fact of the resurrection.
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Now let's take a look at the necessity of the resurrection. Paul turns to this line of reasoning and argumentation of verses 12 through 19.
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Probably this is the whole reason he wrote this particular section. Paul has already outlined for us the importance of the resurrection that is not only tied to the gospel, it is the gospel.
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The one and only gospel. Then he goes to the fact of the resurrection calling to mind the evidence that Jesus was raised from the dead.
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Now he moves to the necessity of it. And we open this with this verse.
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Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
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Well we know that the Corinthian church had several problems.
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Different in various kinds. Spiritual pride, fixation on gifts and service, and tolerating great sin.
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Evidently they had another one. Denying the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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But Paul is going to point out that the gospel which he just called to their attention back up in verse 1.
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Moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached notice what else he says in verse 1 just as a reminder.
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Which you also received and in which you stand and by which you are saved.
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So they had indicated they had received it. He says how can some of you now deny the resurrection? Well he's going to bring out several points that are going to underscore the necessity of it.
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The first one is seen in verse 13. But if there is no resurrection of the dead then
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Christ is not risen. That's pretty plain enough isn't it? If there is no resurrection of the dead then no one is raised from the dead.
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Not to mention the fact that this would have to include
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Christ. It could not have. If no one is raised then Christ is not raised.
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We can't say well no Jesus rose from the dead but deny that there is a resurrection at all.
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It wouldn't make any sense. That's the easiest point that Paul brings out. Then he brings out another point in verse 14.
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And if Christ is not risen then our preaching is empty.
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And your faith is also empty. Maybe those are two different points that he brings there. But he first focuses on this.
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If the dead are not raised and Christ is not raised then the preaching which he references and notes the importance thereof then that preaching is worthless.
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Absolutely worthless. The preaching that they put their hope in, the preaching that they stood and they received and by which they thought they were saved is absolutely worthless to them.
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And not only that, if this were true we would say not only Paul's faithful preaching but any faithful preaching over 2 ,000 years of the church.
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Men who have filled this pulpit and any pulpit from the apostles on through this day it's absolutely worthless.
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It's empty talk. It's like clouds without rain. No good value.
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But not only that, their faith would also be worthless. They believed it.
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They believed something that was not true if the dead were not raised.
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We have this thing in the world today. The notion that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe in something.
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Have you heard that before? Not only is this a violation of common sense but it's also a violation of the word of God.
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Paul is saying that it matters greatly what you put your faith in. The Corinthians had put their faith in the gospel to which he preached.
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That gospel which he said was in verses 3 and 4 that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and that he rose again.
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That's the gospel. That they believed that but if Christ is not raised from the dead if the dead are not raised then that preaching and their faith are both worthless.
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He goes on with another point in verse 15. Yes, and we are found to be false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised.
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In other words, he would be lying. Not only him but anyone else who said that.
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He's just made a case about witnesses. He brought to their attention that reminder of the value and importance of witnesses.
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Remember, it's sort of in a courtroom sense that witnesses here. The only good testimony of a witness is a true testimony.
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He said if Christ is not raised, if the dead are not raised then we are false witnesses.
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That we are lying in what we saw. That we are lying in what they had believed and they were even lying about God himself.
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For they said that God had raised up Christ. But if the dead are not raised, then
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God did not raise Christ from the dead. And Paul underscores this in verse 16.
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For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. But he goes on to another point in verse 17.
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And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. We already heard that. You are still in your sins.
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Now think about that for just a moment. Paul has made the case that if Christ is not risen from the dead, our faith is worthless.
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He's already said that. We note that here in this verse. But he drives the point home. If Christ is not raised, you are still dead in your sins.
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Now wait a minute, some might say today. Does Christ have to be raised for the work on the cross to be powerful for us?
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I don't know if anybody would say it out loud like that, but they sure act that way, don't they? Many of those who profess
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Christ but deny the resurrection. So can't we have the death on the cross? Can't we have the payment for sin?
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Can't we have the atonement? Can't we have our sins removed from us as far as the east is from the west without the resurrection?
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The short answer, the biblical answer is no, you cannot. For if the dead are not raised, then
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Christ is not raised. And you are still dead in your sins and trespasses and are not saved.
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Remember Romans 10 .9. This is a famous one. Well known that if you confess with your mouth that Lord Jesus and believe in your heart, what?
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That God raised him from the dead. You will be saved.
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If we say then that we can say that and believe that Christ is not raised from the dead, then that means the mission of the cross was a failure.
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A dead Savior is a failed Savior. He cannot bring life.
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He can only bring death. He combines this with verse 18.
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Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Rather than life, there is only death.
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Rather than rejoicing in heaven with the Lord or going to the new heavens and the new earth, there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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That is all there is. There is nothing more than hell and eternal punishment.
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And those that believe that their sins are forgiven, that those who taught that Christ, the great scapegoat, would remove their sins far from them, as far as the east is from the west, that their sins would be forgotten, forgiven, and remembered no more, that they died in their sins and they receive eternal punishment if Christ is not raised, if there is no resurrection.
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Why, they might say. How can you say that? How can you say that the mission of the cross is a failure if there is no resurrection?
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Could not have placed our sins on Him? Could not have God made Him drink the cup of His wrath?
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Could not He have poured out His wrath on Him and we still be saved and still be justified?
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Paul notes in Romans 4 .25, referring to the cross, Jesus, who was delivered up because of our offenses, there is the cross, and was raised because of our justification.
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If Jesus was delivered up for our offenses, if the Father transferred our sins to Christ, if the
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Father inflicted His wrath on the Son, if we are to cry out,
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Oh, the bliss of that glorious thought, our sins not the part but the whole are nailed to the cross and we bear them no more.
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In order for all of that, the reconcilement, there has to be the resurrection, because,
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Paul says, He was raised because of our justification. In other words, the resurrection is
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God's validation and acceptance of His sacrifice.
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The resurrection of the dead, God validated our
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Lord's atoning work, His vicarious atonement, His death on the cross, His sin -bearing work was accepted.
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Just think back to the Old Testament sacrificial system. How many of those animals came back?
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None. How many times did the sacrifice need to be repeated?
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Often, but not this sacrifice. By the resurrection from the dead,
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God has accepted, God has validated the atoning work of Christ.
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But if the dead are not raised, Paul says, rather than accepting His sacrifice, He would nullify it.
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Rather than accomplishing what He required, He would have said by leaving
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Christ dead in the tomb that it was not finished. Rather than having victory over death, defeating death, death would have won.
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Death would still have a sting. Death would have victory. And you and I would still be dead in our sins.
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He goes on to make this last point. If in this life only, in verse 19, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
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What does he mean by in this life? Well, I think what he means here, if we put our hope in the teachings of Christ, or put our hope in His example only, how about those, ah,
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Christ is a good moral teacher. He gave us a good example of things to pay attention to. What does
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Paul say about those people who deny the resurrection? They're pitiable.
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The most pitiable. If that's all we focused on, if that's all we thought was worthwhile, that Jesus' death had some sort of,
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I don't know, value for His teaching, then we are a fit object for ridicule.
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Or the King James says that we would be miserable if we say that we only follow the teachings of Christ.
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If we only, that's the key, only follow His example with no supernatural anything, the resurrection, the virgin birth, none of it, we are the most pitiable.
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We would have hope only in Christ in this life, and that is worthless, miserable, and pitiable.
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Now, there may be another option here, and this will be a quick aside. It could be that the
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Corinthians were thinking of the resurrection not bodily, but as spiritually.
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We know that the congregation in Corinth, in many of their difficulties, had this one too, that they felt that there was a great separation of the spiritual from the earthly.
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They felt that they could go on sinning in their bodies because after all, they were saved in their spirit.
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And therefore, they may have felt that the resurrection, rather than being bodily, was spiritual.
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They could look to a spiritual Savior, but not a bodily Savior. But I want to know, if we go back to verse 12, and we see that word, if there is no resurrection, that word resurrection and every other word resurrection in this chapter means, in the
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Greek, to stand up again. Spirits don't stand up.
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Bodies do, but spirits don't. So even if that were the case,
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Paul's not letting them off the hook. If the dead are not raised, and Christ is not raised, then our preaching, that Paul's preaching, our preaching, every preaching is in vain.
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Any faith put into that preaching is worthless. That we are false witnesses, you, me, everyone.
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And that we are still dead in our trespasses and sins. And even if we try to cling to the teachings, we are pitiful, pitiable, and miserable.
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But, we have verse 20. But now
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Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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Rather than being negative that Christ is not raised, here Paul says, no, Christ is risen, has been raised from the dead.
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Martin Lloyd -Jones said this, praise God for the butts in the Bible. We have this one and that great one in Ephesians 2.
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But God, but Christ rather, thanks be to God, has been raised from the dead. And by implication, he goes back and looks at each of those things.
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If Christ is raised from the dead, if Christ has been raised, and he has been raised to death, he is risen, then our preaching is of great value.
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And the faith to which you put in that preaching is of great value. How great? To the salvation of your souls.
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That our witness to this is a good and true witness.
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That we join our names to those 520, pointing to the risen
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Savior. And that we are not dead in our trespasses and sins.
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And we can grab a hold of his teaching and his examples, knowing that his spirit works within us.
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And that we can actually do those things and live by them. That is the necessity of the resurrection.
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And we'll close with the hope of the resurrection. That this day on which we remember the fact of the resurrection, on which we celebrate by saying, he is risen, and we respond, he is risen indeed.
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That day we look back, not with mourning, not with great sadness, to Good Friday, the death of Christ on the cross, but with great rejoicing.
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But not only on this day, but on every Lord's Day, at least in this congregation, we have the gospel preached to us in the
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Lord's Supper. I just want to draw your attention for a moment. Take a look back at verse 3.
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Look at those first four, those first words. For I deliver to you, first of all, which
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I also receive. Does that sound familiar? Well, it ought. If you turn back one page or two to chapter 11, take a look at verses 23, and we'll look at 23 through 26.
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Each and every Lord's Day, the gospel is preached here. For I receive,
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Paul wrote, from the Lord that which I also deliver to you. That the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was portrayed, took bread.
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And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you.
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Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying,
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This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
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For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
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Remember, in verse 3, he said, I also receive, Christ died, that's the Lord's death, but also his resurrection.
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Lord's day after Lord's day. Rather than being pitiable, rather than being in vain, we can join our voices together with Paul.
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What he says in verse 57 of this chapter. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. The supper which we will partake in is a victory meal.
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It is not a mournful meal. It is a victory meal. But note how
01:38:00
Paul closes this great chapter. In verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the
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Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain. We have great hope.
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Our labors, our faith, our work is not in vain. We can stand firm on it.
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We can cast our anchor onto the rock of ages. Remember, the anchor was an early
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Christian symbol. We can cast our anchor upon Christ.
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We can be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding. Two words, real quick.
01:38:45
Work and labor, they can both be translated toil. One is referring to the work that's before you, and the other is referring to you doing it.
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That's the work. There's work to be expected to be done. So when we go and think of this, our salvation, we have what
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Paul says in Ephesians 2 that we are prepared to do the works that have been prepared for us since the foundation of the world.
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But notice also that Paul says we can stand firm, steadfast, immovable, and abounding.
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The Greek word translated abounding means super abound. It can mean quantity and quality.
01:39:26
I think it means both. Not only in the quantity of the work that we have to do, the witnessing for the
01:39:32
Lord Jesus Christ, the proclaiming of that good news of the gospel, but also the quality that we will do it excellently and more and more so as we do it.
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This is the hope. Earlier today I was speaking to someone, and they said, you know, sometimes witnessing for Christ is not done.
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Well, the more you do it, the better you'll get at it, and the more opportunity you'll have. That's the hope.
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That's the work that's before us. This is our hope, that we will be steadfast too and immovable, anchored in Christ, holding fast to which we received, as Paul said at the beginning of the chapter, holding fast to the gospel and ready for abounding work.
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It was very fitting for us recently, and this is where I will close, to consider Romans 5.
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For this hope that we have in the gospel, for this hope that we have in the gospel of a resurrected
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Savior is summarized for us in Romans 5, verses 1 and 2.
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Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into the grace in which we stand, rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God.
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Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you, O Lord, for this great day which you have given us, this great resurrection, remembrance day.
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Although we remember the resurrection week after week, Lord's day after Lord's day, this day the gospel has been brought back to us as we remember the day that you,
01:41:23
Lord Jesus, stepped forward from that tomb. We thank you,
01:41:29
Father, that this faith which we have has been given to us by you, this faith by which we heard in preaching, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the preaching of the word of God, that this faith by which we stand firm was given to us, was a gift from you.
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We pray, Father, now that you would strengthen that gift and that you would prepare us, even now, for that abounding work that you have before us.
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And we ask that you would do this for us, not for our sakes only, but for the sake and the glory of you and your