The Resurrection of Jesus

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If you are still standing at home, please turn in your Bibles to 1

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Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and we're going to read just verses 12 to 19 as our beginning text.

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That's 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and we'll read verses 12 to 19.

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Hear now the inspired word of God. Now if Christ has preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain.

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Your faith also is in vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised

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Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even

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Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins.

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Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

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Let's pray. Father, once again, as we prepare to look into your word, we would ask once again that you would be pleased to bless the preaching, and that,

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Father, that as your word goes forth, that it would accomplish every purpose for which you send it. We pray this in Jesus' name.

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Amen. Please be seated. We live in interesting times, do we not?

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I never figured I'd be preaching to mostly empty seats, and that the congregation would be listening at home.

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Life is certainly uncertain, isn't it? You know, as Ginger and I, periodically, we look back over our lives, and we can't believe how things have changed.

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We never would have predicted that our lives would turn out the way they are.

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When we were young, we never would have seen ourselves as a pastor and missus of a church.

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And then this year, to become great -grandparents, hard to imagine that my grandchildren are having children.

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In fact, I'm not sure that that has completely sunk in yet. And then as we look around in this nation today, and we see the death toll from this virus,

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I keep thinking of that scene from Pollyanna, if you remember that movie, where the preacher thunders from the pulpit, he comes up and he runs into the pulpit and smacks and says, death comes unexpectedly.

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And I would say that that's true today, isn't it? A lot of people are perishing who thought they were living very healthy lives, and now they're gone.

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And we're still feeling the fallout from this virus. So much uncertainty.

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But while life may be uncertain, for the Christian, there is stability and certainty in Jesus Christ.

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Without Christ, there is no hope. But the centerpiece of the Christian life is hope because of Jesus Christ.

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I've attended many funerals during my career, not only as a pastor, but as a police officer.

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And as I speak with those who do not know Jesus Christ, not only is there uncertainty in this life, but there's uncertainty about eternity.

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And that leads to a sense of hopelessness. And so people seek to fill the void in many ways, fame, power, money, you name it.

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There's all kinds of ways. But no matter what they do, they just can't seem to get away from this sense of hopelessness in this life.

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This sense of hopelessness is captured by an artist in a series of pictures that I've come to appreciate.

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It's called The Boulevard of Broken Dreams. It's a series of pictures of famous movie stars who had tragedy or came to tragic ends in their lives.

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There's one picture of Elvis sitting at a counter of a corner cafe all alone.

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One of James Dean, an iconic actor of the 50s, leaning against a lamppost on a lonely street corner.

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Then there's one with Elvis, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean. They're all in the same corner cafe, each sitting by themselves in a very somber mood.

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The artist has really captured the essence of loneliness in that series of pictures.

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Each of the stars who, according to the standards of this world, had everything to live for, were basically unhappy, lonely, and some of them died in despair.

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As you view these pictures, you can actually feel the hopelessness, the despair.

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They are very aptly titled The Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

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We could probably add some other pictures to this series. Picture, if you will for a moment, the disciples of Jesus in the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection.

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If anyone had had their hopes and dreams broken, it was those disciples. After spending three and a half years with Christ, believing that he was the

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Son of God, the promised Messiah who was going to bring about the restored kingdom of Israel, they were left alone.

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Their friend, their mentor, their rabbi was crucified, placed in a tomb.

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And so perhaps we could add some pictures to this Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

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Peter, sitting alone, looking at his fishing nets, recalling the promise to become a fisher of men.

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Now the dream seems to be gone. I can see Matthew, sitting at an empty table, thinking about the days of tax collecting.

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Gave it all up to follow Christ. Was it worth it all? Simon the

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Zealot expected a restored political kingdom. He had given up all of his political action to follow

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Christ, and now he was gone. Was he really the

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Messiah? Perhaps you think I'm speculating too much, but the picture given to us by Scripture is exactly that.

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After the crucifixion, the disciples were in despair. Their hopes, their dreams appeared to have been gone.

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And that's precisely the picture we get from Luke's account of Jesus meeting those two disciples on the

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Emmaus Road. Look at the conversation we read earlier between the disciples and the

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Lord. Their hopes, they were expressing all of this hope, and they said, we were hoping that he was the one.

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But the crucifixion appeared to end it all. And even though they had been with the Lord for three and a half years, they still didn't quite understand the plan of God.

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Then think back to Peter in Matthew 16. Jesus tells Peter what must happen, and Peter rebukes the

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Lord. No, that's not going to happen to you. But see, here's an important point.

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They were in despair needlessly. Their hope was shattered unnecessarily, because Jesus had taught them the necessity of the crucifixion.

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And that's the first point I want to look at this morning, is the necessity of the crucifixion. Matthew 16, 21.

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From that time on, Jesus Christ began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised up on the third day.

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We've been studying the crucifixion in the Gospel of John, and granted this is a little departure, and I just felt it was necessary for Resurrection Day to make a little departure.

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We're going to get back to it next week. But the crucifixion was the only way for man to be reconciled to God.

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God's holiness and justice demanded that the sin of man must be paid for. The penalty of sin is death.

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And Hebrews 9 tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. And here was the problem.

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No man was capable of paying that price until God sent his only begotten

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Son, who took upon himself human flesh, and he accomplished the impossible.

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The penalty of sin was paid for by Christ for all of his people.

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And that's what Christ declared on the cross. In a few weeks, we're going to examine some of the words of Christ.

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But when he uttered, It is finished, he had accomplished what no other man could do.

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But the crucifixion was not the end of his work. The atonement of Christ, his death by crucifixion of necessity, leads to the next step in the plan of redemption, and that is the resurrection.

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This is where we want to spend the rest of our time this morning, because this is Resurrection Day. So let's look at the glorious doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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It is the reality of the resurrection that moves us from despair, that prevents us from sitting in that corner cafe in the boulevard of broken dreams, to the assurance of eternal life with our

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Lord and Savior. First Corinthians chapter 15, we read up to verse 19,

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If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But let's pick it up in verse 20.

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But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep.

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For since by a man death came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

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For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, after that those who are

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Christ's at his coming. Then comes the end when he delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

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For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

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The last enemy that will be abolished is death. The reality of the resurrection.

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The resurrection is an historical fact. Charles Hodge in his systematic theology says this,

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It may be safely asserted that the resurrection of Christ is at once the most important and the best authenticated fact in the history of the world.

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Now that's a bold statement. But one we must take very seriously because far too often

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Christians allow themselves to be put in the category of having an irrational faith.

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How many times has somebody said that to you? Your faith is irrational. I want to tell you nothing can be further from the truth.

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Christianity is often being painted as unscientific and irrational. But the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming, so compelling that failure to believe it should be considered irrational and unscientific.

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Evidence supporting the historical reality of the resurrection is abundant.

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Let me just lay out a few things. And this is not an exhaustive study. These are just some of the highlights.

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Firstly, it was foretold in the Old Testament. The fingerprint of the necessity of the resurrection is all over the

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Old Testament. The prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, just to name a few.

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It's all over the sacrificial system. It's in the Feast of Israel.

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It's in the promise to David that his descendant would be on the throne forever. And the need for the

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Messiah to die for the sins of his people and yet reign forever demonstrates the reality of the resurrection.

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It was foretold by Christ himself. Again, back in Matthew 16, verse 21,

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From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day.

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Notice he didn't end up that he had to be killed. He was raised on the third day. Then, of course, we know

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Jesus. One of the charges leveled at him at his trial that he said he could destroy the temple.

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In three days he would raise it up again. Of course, we know John comments that he was speaking of the temple of his body.

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At least three times Jesus foretold of his death and resurrection. Third point, it was a fact that was easily verified.

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There's a principle of law, it's called the writ of habeas corpus, that means literally produce the body.

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If you're charging someone with a crime, they can give you a writ of habeas corpus. That means produce the evidence, show that a crime has been committed, or leave me alone.

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That's the essence of a writ of habeas corpus. If the resurrection didn't occur, all the

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Jews and the Romans had to do was produce the body. Here's the dead body of Christ.

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They couldn't do it. Why? He rose. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, they concocted a story.

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At the end of Matthew chapter 28, we find that when the elders had assembled and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and they said,

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You are to say the disciples came by night and stole him away while you were asleep. If this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.

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They took the money and did as they had been instructed. Matthew goes on to say,

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This story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day. We could nictain that.

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That was resurrection gate. When all else fails, lie.

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Concoct up a cover story. And that's exactly what they did.

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Fourth, abundant, suitable, frequently repeated evidence was given of its actual occurrence.

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What do I mean by that? What evidence do we have? The empty tomb. The grave clothes.

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The testimony of the angels. Jesus claimed that he would rise from the dead.

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The fact that he was recognized by all as a prophet of God performing supernatural miracles. The fact that he had demonstrated power of death in his earthly ministry.

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Remember, he had raised Jairus' daughter. He raised Lazarus. And, of course, he was seen alive after he was dead.

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The witnesses to the fact that Christ was seen alive were numerous, competent, and on every account worthy of confidence.

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The beginning of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. By the way, I hope you see 1 Corinthians 15 is a crucial place to go if you want to talk about the resurrection.

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Listen to what Paul says, starting in verse 3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what

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I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. That he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the

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Scriptures. And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

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That he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep.

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Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all, as it were, to one untimely born, he appeared to me also.

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Notice, he first appeared to those who were close to him. Then he appeared to a great many, a 500, a mixed crowd.

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Then he appeared to his enemy, the apostle Paul. Remember, when Christ appeared to Paul, he was not a friend. The fact of his resurrection is even reported among secular historians.

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This is one of my favorite quotes from Flavius Josephus. I can give you the citation if you'd like.

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Here's what Flavius Josephus says. Now, there was about this time

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Jesus... Notice, this is not his main part. This is kind of like an aside as he's giving his history.

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Now, there was about at this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man.

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For he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure.

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He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the

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Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principled men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him.

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For he appeared to them alive again the third day. As the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.

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And the tribe of the Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

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That's from a secular historian. Next, the sincerity of the conviction of the apostles is demonstrated by the sacrifices they made during their lifetime.

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There's a marked difference in the disciples before and after the resurrection. And this is detailed for us in the book of the

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Acts of the Apostles. Remember how Peter and John stood before the council. They took a beating.

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And then when they were expelled, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to take a beating for Christ.

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You've got to read the death of Stephen. How about the whole life of Paul?

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And Paul summarizes that in his second epistle to the church in Corinth. Starting in verse 11, chapter 11, verse 24.

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He says, five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. Three times

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I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I spent in the deep.

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I've been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the

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Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren.

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I've been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure.

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And yet Paul was the one who said, for to me to live is

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Christ. Their testimony was confirmed by God bearing witness with them in signs, wonders, and miracles and gifts of the

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Holy Spirit. The writer of the Hebrews in chapter 2, verse 4, he says, God also bearing witness with them, signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the

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Holy Spirit, according to his own will. Then we have the testimony of the

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Spirit of God continues to this present day. Romans 8, 16, the Apostle Paul says,

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The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. The same

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Holy Spirit that gave the Apostles the boldness to advance the kingdom of God in the first century, has continued to empower his church throughout the ages and is still working in the hearts of Christians today.

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And if you want a testimony to that, just pick up a copy of the Fox's Book of Martyrs. The fact that the duration of the commemoration of this

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Sabbath day as the first day is significant. Now again, while this is not in and of itself compelling evidence, when you put it with all the others, it certainly is.

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Remember what the Council at Gamaliel said. And I'm going to read this for you. This is

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Acts 5, 34. Remember when they were, the Council was wondering, what are we going to do with these people?

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We can't shut them up. Verse 34, But a certain

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Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

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And he said to them, and listen to this is Gamaliel's council. Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men.

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For some time ago, Thutis rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about 400 men joined up with him.

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He was slain, and all who followed him were dispersed, came to nothing. After this man,

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Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him.

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He too perished, and all of those who followed him were scattered. And so in the present case,

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I say to you, stay away from these men. Let them alone. For if this plan or action should be of men, it will be overthrown.

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But if it is of God, you will not be able to throw them, or else you may even be found fighting against God.

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And isn't that what has happened over the 2 ,000 plus years? As the church stands for the beacon, the light of Jesus Christ, everybody else falls away.

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The church is still here. The next proof.

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Look at the effects produced by the gospel. The change it has made in the state of this world are compelling evidence.

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There has been no greater influence in the history of the world than the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to prove this point,

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I could point to many things. The great advances that came from the Western culture, great testimonies like Martin Luther.

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How about the number of primitive cultures that have changed? But you want to know what the greatest testimony to the validity of the resurrection?

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It's the church of Jesus Christ today. When we fill this congregation,

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I could look out and I can see there's the testimony. The testimony of the lives changed because of the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ.

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The Christian church is his monument, and all believers are his witnesses even today.

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You know, if you were to bring this kind of evidence to any courtroom, the jury would be compelled to return a verdict that the resurrection is a reality.

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The words of the angel that Sunday morning many years ago are absolutely true.

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He is not here, for he has risen, just as he said.

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I want to just talk a little bit about the importance of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the unique occurrence that separates

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Christianity from every other religion in the world. Every religion makes a claim that it's the true one, true religion.

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I guess that's kind of an obvious statement, right? Come after me if it's a false religion.

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Who's going to follow that? So every religion claims to be true. Every religion claims to be a way to God, to happiness, to inner peace.

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Every religion claims to have the knowledge of God as its source. But only

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Christianity claims to be the only true religion and the only way to God.

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Only Christianity claims that God became man, died and rose again to secure salvation for his people.

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And the resurrection is at the very heart of Christianity. It's the definition of the gospel.

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Remember what we read in 1 Corinthians 15, For I delivered to you as of first importance what

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I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

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And we also read that if the resurrection of Jesus Christ is untrue, then Christianity is a false religion.

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Apostle Paul says that. He said, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless.

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You are still in your sins. And those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

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I want to make this very clear before I read this next verse, verse 19. Christianity is just not a nice alternative way to live your life.

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It's either true or it's false. If Christianity is false, look what Paul says.

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If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. So this is what's at stake.

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If the resurrection is false, then so is Christianity.

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See, the resurrection is not just one of many doctrines of the Christian faith. It's at the very heart of the Christian faith.

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Christianity rises or falls on the reality of the resurrection. So let me show you some of the issues.

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The truthfulness of the gospel is at stake. If Christ rose from the dead, then the gospel is true.

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If he did not, the gospel is false. And the heart of the gospel is that Christ conquered sin and death through his atonement and resurrection.

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If he didn't rise from the dead, his words are false and there's no hope.

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In fact, if he didn't rise from the dead, then his mission was a failure. And there is no good news for sinners.

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Next, the truthfulness of the entirety of Scripture is at stake. Because the Bible has foretold that Jesus would rise from the dead, then it claims that he actually did rise from the dead, so there can be no hedging.

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If he didn't, then the Bible lies. There's no reason to believe anything. If the Bible has one lie in it, there's no reason to believe anything else that it says.

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So you see, I... In fact, let me put it to you this way, just to put this in perspective.

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If there's a lie in the Bible, there's more reason to believe me than the

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Bible. See, I never make a claim to be infallible. Quite the opposite.

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So if I make a mistake, it's expectable. It's expected, not expectable.

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I keep making up my own words. It's expected. But that doesn't negate anything else that I have to say.

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But the Bible makes the claim to be infallible, and if it lies or is in error, then there is reason not to believe anything else.

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How about the effectiveness of the whole plan of redemption? The resurrection is the centerpiece of the whole plan of redemption.

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If this plan... If this plan that is revealed from Genesis to Revelation, if the resurrection is not true, then the whole plan of redemption is untrue.

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We also have problems with the mission of the Holy Spirit. The mission of the Holy Spirit depends upon the resurrection.

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Remember what Jesus said? But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the

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Helper shall not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. So you can see the importance of this doctrine of the resurrection.

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But the importance goes beyond even all of these considerations. Because through the resurrection comes the power for the believer.

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And that's the last point. Through the resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered sin,

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Satan, and death. We read this just a few minutes before, but I want to read it again.

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But now Christ has been raised from the dead, firstfruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection.

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For as in Adam all died, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. It is because he lives that we live.

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And through the resurrection we become partakers in the divine nature. That doesn't mean we become gods, but that's what

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Peter says. For by these he has granted to us precious, magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

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Paul puts it in a different way. He says, if we're children, Romans 8, 17, we are heirs also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ.

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And Paul also says in Ephesians 2, verse 5, even when we were dead in our transgressions,

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Christ made us alive together with him, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

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See, it is through the resurrection we have victory over sin, even in this present life.

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And we're also told that all things have been subjected to him through the resurrection. In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19,

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And what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe? These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but in the one to come.

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And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

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So, what does this mean? Because of the resurrection, we have hope.

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Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no hope. We get a picture of that hopelessness in Revelation 5.

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Remember, John has been given a vision, a heavenly vision, and this is what he sees in Revelation 5.

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He says, I saw at the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book, written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

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And I saw a strong angel proclaim with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and break the seals?

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And no one, in heaven or on earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book or to look into it.

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And look at what John says. And I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.

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John sees the condition of man is hopeless. There is no one who is worthy to look into these things, let alone redeem mankind.

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And he weeps at despair. And the word he used there is he weeps greatly, but it's not over.

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Verse 5. And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Behold, the line that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome as to open the book and its seven seals.

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See, and that's the message of Scripture. The resurrection of Christ gave him the authority as the

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Savior of the world, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, to open the book. He alone is worthy.

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But notice what John sees. He's expecting a lion. But he continues in verse 6.

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And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb, standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out to all the earth.

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And he came and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. It was the lamb who was slain, but who now lives, who opens the book.

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And look at the hope of the resurrection. Continuing on in verse 8 of Revelation 5.

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And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

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And they sang a new song, saying, worthy art thou to take the book and to break its seals, for thou was slain and didst purchase for God with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

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And you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

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It is the reality of the resurrection, the power of the resurrection, that gives us the hope of the resurrection.

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Without Christ, without the hope of the resurrection, all of mankind is destined to live on the boulevard of broken dreams.

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However, the Christian does not live on that same boulevard. He lives on the highway of holiness.

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Isaiah 35, verse 8. And a highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the highway of holiness.

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The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it.

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No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it. These will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk there.

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Unless you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, that empty tomb means nothing to you.

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The resurrection is not a reality to you. It's not important to you, and its power is not available to you, which means you have no hope.

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So my prayer for you this morning, if you've never come to that place where you've repented of your sin, is that you move from the boulevard of broken dreams to the highway of holiness by repenting of your sin and acknowledging that Jesus is

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Lord. If you are a Christian, then you have this power, and you have the hope that Christ has secured for you.

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And this must become the center of your very existence, and every day must be lived in the light of this glorious truth.

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You know, it's one thing to live without hope when there is none. It's quite another to live without hope when it has been already secured for you.

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So I'd encourage you all to think about these things, and then to live in accordance with the hope that lies within you.

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Let's pray. Amen.