The Pivotal Fact (1 Corinthians 15:12-26 Jeff Kliewer)

Cornerstone Church

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April 18, 2022

Sermon Notes: http://notes.cornerstonesj.org The Pivotal Fact

01:10: I would say at least a third, if not more, of the first service came in after we started. I think so.
01:16: That really filled it. It was 166. 166? Usually it's the other way around.
01:26: Yeah. So we'll see how many people were in. I was expecting my sister and my mom and everyone else. I was thinking it was one of the horrible,
02:00: I mean it wasn't a great church, but one of the horrible. Like something you want to be there and you're like, it's just not, it's just not working.
02:55: Good morning, everyone. We're going to get started this morning.
03:04: Thank you so much for joining us this morning on this Resurrection Day. I know people are going to start filtering in, so you can be the ones that get here early.
03:17: You should see it. It's a flood out there. It's coming in. I know. I'm just going to keep talking and then people will start flooding in.
03:23: So anyway, we're going to start off this morning with a song. So if you're comfortable with standing, please join me as we sing.
03:50: God sent His Son. They called
03:56: Him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive.
04:06: He lived and died to buy my pardon.
04:15: An empty grave is there to prove my
04:20: Savior lives. Because He lives,
04:27: I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone.
04:40: Because I know He holds the future.
04:48: And life is worth the living just because He lives.
04:55: And then one day, I'll cross the river.
05:04: I'll fight life's fight. No war has death gives way to victory.
05:20: I'll see the light of glory and I'll know He lives.
05:27: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
05:36: Because He lives, all fear is gone.
05:44: Because I know He holds the future.
05:52: And life is worth the living just because He lives.
06:00: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
06:08: Because He lives, all fear is gone.
06:16: Because I know He holds the future.
06:24: And life is worth the living just because.
06:30: One more time. Because He lives. Because He lives, all fear is gone.
06:48: Because life is worth the living just because.
07:04: Great singing this morning. You may be seated. So welcome this morning.
07:13: My name is Michael Stockland, one of the worship leaders here. We're so glad to have you this morning. If you're new and you've never been here before, you can text the word welcome to 856 -326 -2228.
07:26: What that does is allows us to get contact information from you, allows us to send you a thank you note just saying thank you for coming this morning.
07:33: If you need anything, you can always text or e -mail us. And you can do that through our website.
07:39: If you've been around for a little while, you may not know, but we have an app, a church app, that has a lot of stuff on it.
07:47: I can't even list all the things that are on there. There are sermon notes. You can give through there. All the calendar events and sign -ups.
07:54: Anything that you want to know about the church, it's all in there. So I'm giving you permission to download this church center app, find
08:03: Cornerstone Church, and get yourself logged in. And then you'll have all the information that you need about Cornerstone.
08:10: That's it for me. John, will you come lead us? Oh, good morning.
08:18: Isn't it awesome to get together? And today is that very special day,
08:24: Resurrection Day. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Is that good enough?
08:30: No. Okay. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Amen to that.
08:36: Praise God. Yeah. Earlier this morning, heading over to The Rock for their sunrise service,
08:47: I had the radio on, and there was an individual giving an Easter message.
08:53: And I thought, okay, cool. This will be good. I can listen to this on my way in. And the person who was speaking acknowledged that there was
09:01: Jesus. Oh, boy. And that he was the son of God, and he died on the cross, and that this is the day of his resurrection.
09:08: But then the rest of the message went on towards this is a harsh world.
09:15: We need to love each other more. Now, I don't disagree with that statement, but don't we have a whole lot more hope than that in this world?
09:26: It may be a harsh world, but in every way, in every way, God's sovereignty wins.
09:33: And in God's love, he sent his son. And his son went to the cross, took all of our sins.
09:41: I think about that moment in the garden where it says he sweat drops of blood.
09:47: He knew the pain he was going to go through, but I firmly believe that he sweat drops of blood because he knew there was going to be that brief instant of time in all of eternity past and never again in the future where all of the sins of humanity, my sins, your sins, everybody's sins ever committed would be on him, and he had to say, my
10:07: God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That was the extent of his love for us.
10:14: It says in Psalm 27, 14, wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage.
10:22: Yes, wait for the Lord. And so his followers experienced him going to that cross.
10:31: And he died. And to your hands I commit my spirit.
10:37: And then the body taken down and laid in a tomb, and a stone rolled in front of it with a Roman seal on it and a guard so that nobody could take it away.
10:45: By the way, that's how we know for sure he was in that tomb. History provided that for us.
10:51: But Saturday, the Sabbath day, the Lord had died. Their rabbi, their teacher had died.
11:01: Saturday, the whole day. And now we move into Sunday and Mary and Mary and Solomon go immediately in the front of the day to the tomb.
11:11: But there still had to be that angst. But you know what it says in Psalm 27, 14?
11:18: Wait for the Lord. Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart take courage.
11:25: Yes, wait for the Lord. And so there was Friday. And the most amazing gift from God.
11:32: And then there was Saturday. But today, today we celebrate in, can
11:37: I steal the word hinge? No, I won't steal the word hinge. Today is a significant day of importance because Christ rose from the dead.
11:47: Today highlights the reality of God's sovereignty over death. And when we wait for the
11:53: Lord, his victory is assured and the blessings that we are going to get are assured and they exceed anything that the world could possibly give.
12:03: And so the message doesn't have to be it's a tough world, it's a nasty world. Let's just love a little more.
12:09: That's not false. But it's a world that has fallen and we have a
12:14: God from before the foundation of the world promised and came through and our hope is in him.
12:22: It says in Mark 17, don't be alarmed. He is risen. I have two words of announcement for you this morning.
12:30: The first, in two weeks, it's going to be May 1st, we are going to have a fellowship brunch, fellowship dinner, if you would, after second service.
12:40: We have a member who attends our church now who actually specializes in preparing meals for large groups of people.
12:47: How awesome is that? There will be a sign -up. We're hoping we get a couple hundred people to show up.
12:54: There will be a sign -up. So come back, even if you're a first service person, even if you're a visitor, please come back.
13:00: Well, please come back anyway. But yeah, in two weeks after second service.
13:06: Tomorrow after, in the evening at 7 o 'clock is our annual congregation meeting.
13:11: I need to remind you of that, if you're a member, and even if you're not, to come and attend that.
13:16: Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Father God, we turn to you, you, the almighty sovereign
13:27: God who planned from before time to redeem us from our sin.
13:34: You provided victory over death. And we thank you for your son who promised and then provides the
13:44: Holy Spirit for us. And now he lives forever sitting at the right hand of the
13:51: Father, advocating for us, your children. We recognize that you, in your time, you provide the grace so that we can respond in faith.
14:04: And maybe today is that day. Today, Lord, we proclaim the truth that was known to God throughout all the ages.
14:15: That we proclaim today, he is alive. Father, we respond in awe to your love.
14:22: And we look to the glorious hope. We rejoice in the salvation that has been provided for us through Christ our
14:29: Lord. Amen. We're going to continue by singing a few songs together.
14:39: The first one is really just giving us the story of the cross and how we are set free by the blood that was shed from Jesus Christ.
14:47: If you are comfortable, you can stand with me. His shoulders, the weight of all our shame
15:29: On him who knew no sin A holy surrender
15:38: The sky went dark The angels wept
15:46: Their looked away The final breath
15:55: He bowed his head The Lamb of God was slain
16:04: By his wounds I am set free
16:11: By his blood I've been redeemed
16:17: The great divide he crossed for me
16:24: Oh, praise the God of Calvary On a hill of Calvary Into the
16:45: Father's hands A holy surrender
16:54: Borrowed to his mother wept
17:00: There his body lay But the stone was moved
17:10: He conquered death And rose up from the grave
17:18: By his wounds I am set free By his blood
17:26: I've been redeemed The great divide he crossed for me
17:37: Oh, praise the God of Calvary And if I never, never
17:48: Lose sight of this place I will never, never
17:54: Lose sight of your grace Your cross is all, all
18:00: I need to see Oh, praise the God of Calvary And if I never, and if I never
18:14: Lose sight of this place I will never, never
18:21: Lose sight of your grace Your cross is all, all
18:26: I need to see Oh, praise the God of Calvary By his wounds, by his wounds
18:38: I am set free By his blood
18:45: I've been redeemed The great divide he crossed for me
18:55: Oh, praise the God of Calvary Your cross is all, all
19:06: I need to see Oh, praise the God of Calvary Lord, we come before you this morning singing praises to your name because you are the
19:21: God of Calvary The one that your wounds set us free We were redeemed by your blood
19:29: You crossed that divide for us We are so very thankful Pastor Jeff will be coming to us in a little bit talking about 1
19:39: Corinthians 15 And in that, he's gonna mention Christ has indeed been risen from the dead
19:47: Undeniably And that's why we're here We as a church body believe that with all of our hearts and go out into all the world and preach the gospel because we know what we know that Jesus is alive and he's in heaven and he is reigning over all
20:07: He knows what's going on He knows the disaster things that are happening in our world
20:13: He's planned it before the foundations of the world And there is hope
20:20: If you put your trust in Jesus Christ there is hope It doesn't mean everything will always be great
20:27: But it will mean that you have a hope Let's sing together
20:38: Christ is our hope in life and death What is our hope in life and death
20:59: Christ alone Christ alone What is our only confidence that our souls to him belong
21:13: That day of days comes apart from his command
21:23: And what will keep us to the end
21:28: The love of Christ in which we stand
21:33: Oh sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal
21:43: Oh sing hallelujah Now and ever we confess
21:51: Christ our hope in life and death What truth can calm the troubled soul
22:07: God is good God is good Where is his grace and goodness known
22:16: In our great redeemer's blood Who holds our faith when fears arise
22:26: Who stands above the stormy trial Who sends the wave that brings us nigh
22:35: Unto the shore the rock of Christ Oh sing hallelujah
22:45: Our hope springs eternal Oh sing hallelujah
22:54: Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death
23:09: Unto the grave what shall we see Christ he lives
23:17: Christ he lives And what reward will heaven bring
23:25: Everlasting life with him There we will rise to meet the
23:32: Lord Then sin and death will be destroyed
23:37: And we will feast in endless joy When Christ is ours forevermore
23:47: Oh sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal
23:56: Oh sing hallelujah Now and ever we confess
24:04: Christ our hope in life and death Oh sing hallelujah
24:13: Our hope springs eternal Oh sing hallelujah
24:22: Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death
24:30: Oh sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal
24:39: Oh sing hallelujah Now and ever we confess
24:47: Christ our hope in life and death That is our hope.
24:56: You may be seated. He is risen.
25:06: Alright, we gotta do that a lot this morning. That's beautiful. Let's pray. Father, this beautiful day we are reminded of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
25:23: And we say thank you, Lord for sending your only Son first of all to die for our sins but then to rise from the dead and be seated at your right hand forevermore.
25:36: We look to Christ this morning we pray that we would be reminded of the truth that Jesus lives and Lord I want to pray especially now for any that are here this morning but not yet convinced that Jesus rose from the dead.
25:52: I pray that you would open their hearts to believe, give them eyes to see, ears to hear and Lord let all of us be strengthened in the faith.
26:03: Thank you Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. So I am a member at Costco.
26:10: Anybody here a Costco member? Alright, so when you go to Costco you walk around and they have so many samples out that you could pretty much have an entire meal just on the samples.
26:23: So I'm usually going around the aisles looking at what is offered there and I never really look at the books because I'm more interested in the free food.
26:32: But this most recent time that I went to Costco I did notice a book and it was called
26:38: April 1945. It caught my eye not because of the title but because of the subtitle
26:47: The Hinge of History. 1945, April 1945
26:53: The Hinge of History. I got the book and began to read it because that title was interesting to me and the author makes the point that April 1945 changed everything.
27:06: The world going in was completely different than what came out. In the prologue he says this
27:13: It was a meanness of times but it was also a kindness of times.
27:19: It was a blending. It was an ending. And it was a beginning. The great
27:25: Winston Churchill was famous for saying Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.
27:38: Such was April 1945. And the author's big idea is that everything changed in April 1945.
27:47: Hitler died. The war, this great world war was coming to an end. FDR dies and a new world is born.
27:56: Coming into this time period most people in the United States and really the whole country was very isolationist.
28:04: But coming out of April 1945 America becomes the keeper of the world.
28:10: Communism spreads and there's wars because of that. There's a Cold War afoot.
28:16: But everything is different come April 1945. It is, according to the author, the hinge of history.
28:25: Well I got to thinking there are other times in history that you could call a hinge of history.
28:31: When the Assyrian Empire falls to the Babylonians or when the Babylonian Empire falls to the
28:38: Greeks and then the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
28:43: I'm sorry, the Babylonians fell to the Persians and the Persians to the Greeks. But here's the point. All of these pivotal moments in history kingdoms come and kingdoms go.
28:55: You could say that there's nothing new under the sun. 1945, the end of a war.
29:02: There's still wars today and rumors of war. There's nothing new under the sun.
29:09: But there is one hinge of history. There is one pivotal moment that changed everything.
29:19: And that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen. He is risen.
29:25: He is risen indeed. And that is the hinge of history.
29:31: The pivotal moment. The pivotal fact in all of history is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
29:37: Turn with me today to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to study verses 12 to 26.
29:46: And I'd like for us to answer two questions from the text. Number one is why is the resurrection of Jesus so pivotal?
29:57: Why does everything hinge upon it? In other words, what do you lose or gain?
30:02: What changes if Jesus rose from the dead? And then the second thing we'll look at in the second half of the passage is how do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?
30:16: So first of all, what's at stake? And then secondly, how do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?
30:22: Let's first of all read the passage, then we'll break it down. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 12 to 26.
30:29: Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
30:38: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
30:51: We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised
30:58: Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even
31:06: Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
31:17: Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
31:29: But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
31:37: For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
31:46: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order.
31:55: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the
32:04: Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
32:15: The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
32:22: Amen. The pivotal fact in all of history is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
32:29: So what is it that's at stake in the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
32:35: Well, in verses 12 and 13, we see that the resurrection of Jesus is not just a one -time event that has no bearing on anything else.
32:46: It is connected to the hope that we have of being resurrected from the dead.
32:53: The same God that raised Jesus, if he did that, is also able to raise all of us from the dead.
33:02: Death is not final if someone has defeated it. If no one has ever risen from the dead, then we can pretty certainly say after these thousands and thousands of years that death is final.
33:16: But if one, one champion, one forerunner, one firstfruits has risen from the dead, then there is a resurrection for us.
33:30: It says in verse 13, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
33:37: The two ideas are connected. Many have thought that death was something that they themselves could defeat.
33:46: Has anybody here heard of Houdini? That great magician? It seemed like he defeated death over and over again.
33:54: He put himself in seemingly deadly, impossible situations. He did the
33:59: Chinese water torture where he shackled his legs and dipped himself in a fish tank in a straitjacket with shackles and no breathing apparatus.
34:11: He was tempting death. And yet he was somehow able to dislocate his shoulder, wiggle out of the straitjacket, unshackle himself, and before running out of oxygen, emerge from the fish tank.
34:27: I don't recommend this, by the way. Not a good idea. But somehow he cheated death again and again, and that was kind of his shtick.
34:36: He was the guy that could escape anything. He could escape death. He even said that anybody could punch him in the stomach and he could take the hit.
34:44: He could take the blow. Until one day he wasn't expecting a punch in the gut. A guy caught him off guard and it ended up killing him.
34:53: But not to worry. He had promised his wife Bess, if you ever hear that Houdini has died, don't believe it.
35:02: I'll find a way to come back to you. So he told his wife Bess to watch for him.
35:07: He would send signs. He would come back to her. Death could not defeat the great Houdini.
35:14: So for ten years, Bess, on the anniversary of his death, would wait for him.
35:22: She would go to mediums and do these weird seances and try to get
35:27: Houdini to come back from the dead and give some sign that he's really alive. Year after year she tried this until the tenth year.
35:36: She finally gave up and said, ten years is long enough to wait for any man.
35:44: She realized he was dead and gone. Well after her, another guy,
35:49: I think they called him Sid Radner. Sid Radner took up the effort to wait on Houdini.
35:57: And he waited for fifty years. He himself was a magician and so he would do this.
36:03: He would go and try to conjure up Houdini and bring him back from the dead. Finally, in the year 2010, he had been waiting this long.
36:14: He finally decided if he hasn't come back yet, he's probably not coming back. The poor old man died.
36:23: What does this illustrate? Death cannot be defeated by human measures.
36:33: Merely human measures. Death is a certainty. It comes for all of us.
36:40: The only hope of defeating death is no magic trick. It's nothing in yourself. It's if there is a
36:46: God in heaven who resurrects the dead. And that is what the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves.
36:54: If Jesus rose from the dead, then we can be resurrected also. I'm a big fan of the movie,
37:00: The Fugitive. Remember that old movie? There's a scene in The Fugitive where he's running for his life.
37:06: He's not guilty of the crime that he is accused of. But Tommy Lee Jones tracks him down.
37:13: And finally he has him on the edge of a dam and the water of the dam is flowing thousands of feet off.
37:22: And there stands the fugitive on the run. Tommy Lee Jones tells him to drop his gun.
37:29: He turns around. Looks like he's about to kneel down and surrender. But instead, he dives off of the dam.
37:38: And somehow he cheats death. So there's Tommy Lee Jones in his inimitable way looking down.
37:47: He tells his friend, he pulled a Peter Pan right off of this dam. Amazing!
37:53: Somehow the fugitive escaped. And he survived jumping off of the dam. Listen. You're not going to be able to pull a
38:01: Peter Pan or a Houdini. When death chases us down, there is nothing in yourself.
38:10: No resource. No magic trick. No way to resurrect yourself from the dead.
38:17: Now, the fugitive, he was innocent. But you and I, all of us are guilty of sin.
38:24: And the reason that we die is we have rebelled against a holy God. The wages of sin is death.
38:30: The soul that sins must die. All of us are guilty before a holy God. And the evidence of it is that everybody's dying.
38:38: The question, the hinge, the pivot point is whether Jesus rose from the dead. If he rose, there's hope.
38:45: If not, we're hopeless. We're on the run. The long arm of the law will eventually catch us.
38:53: We can't evade it forever. We can't escape it. So the first thing at stake in the resurrection of Jesus is our resurrection.
39:05: Now look at the second thing, verses 14 to 16. If Christ has not been raised, then, you see how it's a hinge point?
39:15: If then. If Christ has not been raised, then, our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
39:26: We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God, that he raised
39:33: Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even
39:39: Christ has been raised. Paul will say, if Christ hasn't been raised, then all along we've been misrepresenting
39:52: God. Our preaching, what we've said to you, has been futile.
39:58: It's been meaningless. It's not true. But if Christ has been raised, all that we have told you is true.
40:07: The proclamation is a true word from God. Consider what
40:13: Paul had said earlier in 1 Corinthians 15. He said, I want to remind you what
40:18: I told you before. What's of first importance? The gospel of your salvation by which you're saved if you continue believing.
40:28: He said this, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he rose from the dead according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Peter, Cephas, and then to the twelve.
40:46: Then he appeared also to James and to the rest of the apostles. And Paul will say, last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
41:00: The testimony of Paul as well as the testimony of the twelve is that they saw the risen
41:07: Jesus. Now, here's the hinge point. Either they're telling the truth on one hand and what they saw is what they saw or they've made up a preposterous lie.
41:20: Everything hinges on this testimony. But what is the incentive for telling a lie?
41:29: Of the twelve, only John escaped the death penalty for what he was proclaiming. Eleven of the twelve were martyred for what they say they saw.
41:39: Not just what they say they believe, but what they say they saw.
41:45: Consider the life of Paul. He was a persecutor of Christians.
41:51: He was there when Stephen was stoned to death. They laid their garments at Saul's feet.
41:58: He went from town to town persecuting Christians, throwing them in prison, dragging them before the court.
42:06: He was a violent oppressor of Christians. He hated the idea. So what could turn a man like that into a man who testifies that Jesus rose from the dead?
42:20: Only that on the road to Damascus, a blinding light from heaven blinded his eyes and he cried out.
42:30: He heard a voice from heaven saying, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And Saul answered,
42:35: Who are you, Lord? And the voice from heaven said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
42:43: Now get up and go into the city. I'll show you what you must do. After being blind for three days,
42:50: Ananias lays hands on him and like scales falling from his eyes, his eyes are opened, and now he sees.
42:56: And he spends the rest of his life preaching, proclaiming this message. Now I have a question for you.
43:03: Is this man a liar or is he telling the truth? He would be beheaded in Rome for what he did and said, but nothing could dissuade him from what he saw.
43:17: If the apostles are telling the truth, Jesus rose from the dead, and everything they say comes from God.
43:26: The word of God is at stake. The apostles were
43:31: God's chosen vessels to bring the New Testament to us. Jesus breathed on them.
43:38: And he said, receive the Holy Spirit. And they were entrusted with this word. So look again at verse 15.
43:45: We are even found to be misrepresenting God. That's one side of the equation.
43:53: But we testified about God that he raised Christ. It's either true or it isn't.
44:02: Everything hinges on the resurrection of Christ. Now I'll say, if we have a word from God, if what they say is true, this book comes from God and not from man, there's meaning in life.
44:17: There's a reason to live. We have a revelation from God. Otherwise, do you understand, we live in the dark?
44:25: God created the world and left us here without knowledge of what we're to do or who he is or why we're here.
44:32: Everybody has their own opinions, their private ideas, and these things conflict with one another. Life would be meaningless without the
44:42: Bible. But if there's a revelation from God, then he did not leave us like orphans in the world.
44:51: He gave us his word. He's revealed who he is and who we are, what he wants us to do, and how we can live with him forever.
44:59: All of these things hinge on whether Jesus rose from the dead. But there's a third. This one, probably heavier than the others.
45:09: Look at verses 17 to 19. It says, if Christ has not been raised, okay, this is the hinge point again.
45:20: If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.
45:26: And you are still in your sins.
45:34: The pivot point. Jesus rising from the dead. The hinge of history.
45:41: If Christ rose from the dead, there is forgiveness of sin. If not, you're still in your sins.
45:48: Because consider this. Christ came to take away the sin of the world.
45:56: His death had a very specific meaning. The resurrection was
46:03: God's stamp. His vindication that the death that Jesus died was acceptable to him.
46:12: Jesus never sinned. He never erred in any way against God's law.
46:18: He lived a perfect life. He did not die for sins that he committed. Rather, the message of the
46:24: Christian gospel is that Jesus died in the place of sinners. He, like a lamb, took himself like a sacrifice and laid down on the cross.
46:34: As a sacrifice. He took the punishment of death into his body on the tree.
46:40: Not for himself, but for a sinner like me. And like you.
46:48: If Jesus rose from the dead, then the Father has declared that the penalty for sin has been paid in full.
46:58: And that's what hangs in the balance. On one side, there is the forgiveness of sin in his blood.
47:05: On the other side, you are still in your sins. Verse 18 says,
47:12: Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If Jesus didn't die for me and rise from the dead, then when
47:22: I die, I must stand before the judgment seat of God. My body in the earth, my spirit now standing before the bar of God.
47:31: And I must give an account for every careless word I've ever spoken. Every transgression of the law.
47:38: And the sentence on that day would be guilty. I would die the second death, the spiritual death.
47:44: I would go away from God to a place of outer darkness, a lake of fire. I would perish.
47:52: But if Jesus rose from the dead, my sins are forgiven.
47:59: Because the penalty is satisfied in him. Do you see how everything hinges on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead?
48:08: So far, three things. One, that our bodies would be resurrected. If God could raise him, then he can raise us also.
48:15: Two, the revelation of God's word. Either these apostles are liars or they're telling the truth.
48:23: And thirdly, the forgiveness of sin. Either we're in our sins and we'll perish under the judgment seat of God.
48:33: Or Jesus conquered death. He died the death that we deserve and rose from the dead, trampling over death.
48:41: Oh, death, where is your sting? So this is what's at stake.
48:47: Couldn't be anymore, right? We watch sports games. Any of you guys fans of sports? And it just seems like the weight of the world is on these players.
48:55: But after that game is played, the world keeps on turning. The sun comes up the next day.
49:03: Eternal destinies are left unchanged. Even the great world wars.
49:10: Kingdoms come and kingdoms go. But this, this matters eternally.
49:16: Resurrection. Revelation from God to know God. Forgiveness of sin.
49:24: So let's look at verse 20. You want the good news that we gathered this Sunday morning, as Christians have, for 2 ,000 years since the fact of his resurrection.
49:37: Verse 20 puts it this way. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
49:45: He is risen. If I'm gonna yell, you guys gotta yell too. I get fired up.
49:51: Let's all do it together. It says, in fact. Not in theory.
49:58: Not in somebody's opinion. It is in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
50:04: Now, we live in a day when even facts themselves are questioned. Math is no longer considered fact or fiction.
50:12: It's more of an opinion, which is ridiculous. Math is racist now, they say.
50:19: But the point being, facts are facts. Cyrus was a man who lived.
50:27: Darius was a man. Alexander the Great. Caesar. Jesus. Do you know that the man who stood trial over Jesus, whose name was
50:37: Caiaphas? I mentioned this on Good Friday. His grave was discovered.
50:44: Mark Caiaphas. His bones were in his grave. He was a 60 -something year old man.
50:51: And that tomb exists to this day. Because the events that we read about are actual historical fact.
50:58: And the Bible here says that it's a fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. So wouldn't you love to have a grounding for that argument?
51:07: If we say it's a fact, how do we know that this is true? We weren't there. I didn't see Jesus rise from the dead.
51:13: Neither did you. How do you know that Jesus rose from the dead? That's the second question. Paul answers it here.
51:19: He grounds his argument. That word, for, gives the basis for the statement that went before.
51:26: In fact, Christ rose from the dead. Verse 21. Here's his argument. For, as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
51:44: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall be made alive.
51:50: All shall be made alive. But, each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.
51:59: Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
52:07: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
52:18: Do you see what Paul just did there? He, in six verses, just took us all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, told the whole story of the
52:30: Bible, ending in Revelation chapter 20. In six verses, he summarized this book.
52:38: What is the Bible? It is a story about the glory of God. It begins the first two chapters,
52:45: Genesis 1 and 2, with a life before death. The Garden of Eden, this flowing, beautiful garden, where the trees are not only good for food, but the
52:58: Bible tells us, good to look at. You ever see a tree that's just amazing? Can you imagine the beauty of the
53:06: Garden of Eden? And in that world, there is no death. Adam and Eve are enraptured in love with one another, and their father, there's no sin to separate, no shame.
53:17: Even in nakedness, there's the joy of God's creation, the world without sin, and the world without death.
53:26: And then, from Genesis chapter 3, the disobedience of the command, thou shalt not eat, in the day that you do, you will die.
53:38: Genesis 3 is the entry of death into the world. But the rest of this story, all the way through Revelation 20, is
53:46: God's death blow to death. It's the death of death and the death of Christ, in John Owen's words.
53:54: He kills death. How does he do it? Well, as through Adam, sin came into the world in a man, a new
54:04: Adam will come, who will crush the head of the serpent. A new Adam, representing man.
54:12: And in this place, he will take the death wound into his body, on behalf of man, but then burst through the bonds of death, breaking forth alive, conquering death, in the resurrection.
54:27: This is the story of the Bible. Now, look at it in the text. It says in 20 and 21, death comes through a man,
54:37: Adam. By a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
54:46: Jesus, the firstfruits. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
54:56: There will be a general resurrection, where all people must appear before the throne of God, and give an account for what's done in the body, and every careless word we have spoken.
55:07: But not all are resurrected into life, some are resurrected for the second death, because it says in verse 23, but each in his own order.
55:17: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. So now we've moved from the midpoint of history, to the end, when
55:27: Christ comes a second time. And those who have believed in him, are caught up to meet him in the air, to be with him forever.
55:37: It says there, those who belong to him, will be resurrected to life.
55:44: Verse 24, then comes the end, and this is the second coming of Christ, when he conquers his enemies.
55:51: Revelation 20, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule, and every authority, and power.
55:59: For he must reign, which indicates, he's already reigning.
56:05: Having risen from the dead, he sat down on the throne, at the right hand of the
56:11: Father. He reigns as I preach right now. As you hear the word of God, he reigns in heaven.
56:18: And his kingdom is being established in all the earth, that's why all 195 countries on earth, are hearing the resurrection story, this morning.
56:27: Because he reigns from heaven, and by his spirit, he empowers the preaching of his word. Then it says, he must reign until he has put all his enemies, under his feet.
56:38: The last enemy to be destroyed, is death. And so we come, to Revelation 21 and 22.
56:47: And it's, a world after death. And so Revelation 21, begins with this beautiful picture, which we always read at funerals.
56:56: I was at a funeral yesterday, and there was sadness and grief, but there was also joy, and fellowship, because everybody there was a believer it seemed.
57:06: And they were looking for the resurrection, of the dead. So Revelation 21 says, he will wipe away every tear, from their eyes.
57:15: There will be no more mourning, no more crying, for the former things are passed away. Behold all things are made new.
57:23: It's life after death. So notice what the apostle has done here in six verses. He's given a reason to know, that Jesus rose from the dead.
57:32: And that reason, is the word of God. We can know some things by general revelation.
57:40: Guys, everybody here knows that there's a God. That's why in verse 15, Paul isn't proving that there's a
57:46: God, is he? He doesn't prove that there's a God. He's showing the resurrection, but in verse 15 he says, because we testified about God, that he raised him from the dead.
58:00: Our testimony is that God raised Jesus. But God himself is just presupposed. Everybody here knows that there's a
58:08: God. Romans 1 tells us we know that, by the things that are made. It's evident to us.
58:14: His eternal power is divine nature. If we exist, if there is a world, if there's a consciousness of the world, as the philosopher says,
58:23: I think therefore I am. If these things are so, it had to have come from somewhere.
58:29: It can't have created itself. Where did the world come from?
58:35: We know intuitively, and by consideration of the world, that there is a
58:41: God. And you notice that there's logic in verses 12 to 19.
58:47: If then, if then, you are able to think logically and understand that if there's a
58:53: God, I'm not. He's separate from the universe. I'm dying. There's something wrong in me.
59:01: This much you can know. Death is in the world. You can observe it. We go to funerals. Common grace, natural theology.
59:10: Everybody knows this much. But you can't get past that point. Houdini couldn't do it.
59:21: Nobody can. You get stuck at that point. Because you're a sinner.
59:28: And so what we have in verses 21 to 26, mirroring the whole
59:33: Bible, is special revelation from God. He breaks into history.
59:40: He doesn't leave us in the dark. He sends prophet after prophet. And these 40 or so men write words, not from their own intellect, but carried along by the
59:53: Holy Spirit. Peter says, no prophecy is of any private interpretation, but men carried along by the
01:00:02: Holy Spirit wrote from God. Paul put it this way. All Scripture is
01:00:09: God -breathed. That means it's God's breath. It comes from Him. It's inspired of Him.
01:00:16: Not in an ordinary way like Beethoven is inspired. But in a special way that God is actually giving the words of Scripture.
01:00:26: So I'm going to give you five words that I like to use that remind me of how special this revelation is.
01:00:34: Professing, prophetic, perfect, proven, powerful. They all have one thing in common.
01:00:40: Did you catch it? They all start with P. That's just a little mnemonic to help you remember it.
01:00:47: But think about this. Professing. The Bible professes from cover to cover to be from God.
01:00:54: The prophets didn't come saying, listen to me, I have a new theory. I have an opinion. The prophets came,
01:01:00: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, all of them saying, thus says the
01:01:06: Lord. They claim to speak from God. It professes to be God's word. Peter says it of Paul.
01:01:13: Paul says it of himself. This Bible that we have claims to be from God and that makes it in a unique category.
01:01:21: There's a few false prophets who have made a similar claim like Mohammed or Joseph Smith. But it's very rare that someone would say that God has said this.
01:01:30: Put it in writing. That should make you think it's professing.
01:01:37: But here's the mark that distinguishes this word from all others.
01:01:43: It is prophetic. Prophetic. That is to say, only
01:01:51: God can tell the end from the beginning. And way back in the Garden of Eden, he began to tell of a coming
01:01:58: Messiah. How he would be struck in his heel as Jesus was on the cross.
01:02:05: But in so doing, crushed the head of the serpent. And all through the Old Testament, there are promises about this coming
01:02:11: Messiah. He must be the descendant of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Judah and David.
01:02:18: The lineage of Messiah. Details about his birth in Bethlehem. His mistreatment at the hands of the
01:02:25: Pharisees. Pierced through his hands and feet. His tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. His beard pulled from his face.
01:02:34: Mocked mercilessly. Surrounded by wild dogs. Crucified, dead, and buried.
01:02:39: But on the third day, like Jonah, in the belly of the fish, he would rise again and see the light of life.
01:02:47: In the words of Isaiah 53. Again and again, the prophets foretold what we have in Christ.
01:02:53: And that's how you know this book is from him. From Adam to the end of the story, all of it fits perfectly.
01:03:01: That's the third thing. I call it perfect. It's perfect. The Bible is integrated.
01:03:08: It's unified. What Moses was talking about in 1500 B .C.
01:03:14: is what Paul is talking about in 65 A .D. And John in writing
01:03:20: Revelation in 90 A .D. This span of 1500 years. 40 different men.
01:03:27: Three different continents. And yet the story reads as one. It's all the story of the death of death.
01:03:34: Christ conquering our sin. In his body on the tree and rising from the dead.
01:03:40: No one could have written this book but God. And he did it through so many different sources.
01:03:47: This multifocality, as they call it. These different points of reference all converging in a perfect unity.
01:03:54: You know it must be God. Proven. Go to the archeologist.
01:04:01: There's a new book out that I love by Titus Kennedy from Biola University. And it's on the evidences of Jesus.
01:04:11: I mentioned Caiaphas and his grave being discovered. But all the names and places that you read about in the gospel are real historical facts.
01:04:19: Archeology proves it. And lastly, it's powerful. It's so powerful that the apostle
01:04:26: Paul was once a blasphemer and a persecutor of Christians. He, by the word of God, the living word of God, could be transformed into the apostle who writes 13 books of the
01:04:36: New Testament. And for 2 ,000 years, we've seen it again and again. People in this room.
01:04:43: People who have been bound in the chains of sin. Bondage to all manner of sin.
01:04:50: Addictions. That power is broken in the name of Jesus.
01:04:58: Because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, by the power of his word, he sets us free. Here we are this morning.
01:05:05: Gathered in his name. Because he lives. When you read the Bible, you recognize it is powerful.
01:05:13: It changes people. I've known so many people that were one way. They started reading the
01:05:19: Bible, they couldn't get enough of it, and they are just completely different people today than they were
01:05:25: B .C. So, where does that leave us this morning?
01:05:32: In application. We've said so far that everything hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
01:05:41: The most important things. Your body will die, but if Jesus rose from the dead, he can raise you too.
01:05:49: This whole Bible, the testimony of the apostles, either they're telling the truth or they're liars.
01:05:55: Everything hinges on the resurrection of Jesus. If he rose from the dead, they were telling the truth, and you can trust this word.
01:06:03: Forgiveness of sin. No matter what sin you've committed. Maybe you come in this morning feeling guilty because you know yourself to be a sinner.
01:06:14: You would stand under the judgment of God, but if Jesus rose from the dead, a payment has been made for you.
01:06:20: His blood shed for you. And if he rose, God accepts that for you. Everything hinges on the resurrection.
01:06:28: And I'm here to tell you, it's true. The word of God bears up under scrutiny.
01:06:36: It's been attacked for 2 ,000 years, but no one's been able to defeat it yet. Here we sit, and this is the decision that you have to make.
01:06:46: Count the cost. If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, you will need to submit to him as Lord.
01:06:56: You will need to turn from your sin. Repent. Bow the knee. Take him as your
01:07:02: Savior and as your Lord. And the result of that will be you will be mocked mercilessly by your friends.
01:07:11: Probably behind your back, not to your face. But you'll notice the difference. You will suffer.
01:07:18: And in this culture, as it goes increasingly against the Bible, you will be persecuted.
01:07:25: If you were living in a different country, I'd warn you about martyrdom. But maybe that could happen here as well.
01:07:32: Count the cost. But I'll tell you this, if you do believe that Jesus rose from the dead, he will give you joy unspeakable.
01:07:42: Love. Meaning in life. You'll have a purpose. You'll have a fire that burns in you that doesn't grow dimmer.
01:07:48: I've been in full -time ministry for 22 years now. Starting as a youth pastor, I feel as much passion when
01:07:55: I wake up in the morning today as I did 22 years ago when I first started.
01:08:02: And all of you who know Christ can testify it's true. That fire doesn't go out.
01:08:08: Because he lives. Now, count the cost. If you go to the other side of the pivot, the door swings the other direction and you're on the other side of history.
01:08:22: The wrong side of history. Know this. You're left to resurrect your own dead body.
01:08:31: You have no revelation from God. You're in the dark.
01:08:37: You can form opinions and search for meaning and hope, but these things wear out. It's meaningless.
01:08:46: Maybe you'll believe in Darwinism, that you're just stardust that evolved from some primordial soup.
01:08:54: But that makes your life without meaning and without hope. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
01:09:01: Worst of all, you go believing what you will, God still exists in heaven, and you'll stand before his bar in your sins.
01:09:11: You'll be in your sins on that day to give an account for every careless word you've ever spoken.
01:09:18: And what follows is the second death, perishing eternally. So weigh carefully the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
01:09:27: I don't come in my own name. I come under the authority of the risen Christ, as he sent preachers to all the earth.
01:09:36: As each of you, the priesthood of all believers, each of you who believes, you go preaching the word of God, not your own opinion.
01:09:45: And it comes to each of us this morning. Do you believe?
01:09:51: Will you put your hope and your trust in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?
01:09:57: Everything depends upon it. And so I'm gonna call you to that now. Let's all just bow our heads, close our eyes.
01:10:05: The sinner's prayer doesn't save you, but Jesus does, and he wants you to pray to him.
01:10:13: So I'm gonna lead you in a prayer with your eyes closed, head bowed, not worried about anybody else around you.
01:10:22: If this is in your heart to pray, in your own thoughts, you don't even have to say it out loud.
01:10:28: You say it to God in your thoughts. Say something like this,
01:10:34: God, I am a sinner. I deserve death.
01:10:43: I deserve judgment. But I believe that Jesus rose from the dead.
01:10:58: He died the death that I deserve. He was buried.
01:11:05: He rose from the dead. So Father, please forgive me.
01:11:16: I confess my sins. I turn from them.
01:11:25: I accept Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. Please resurrect me on the last day.
01:11:42: Please help me to read your word. Please forgive me all of my sins.
01:11:53: This morning, I believe in Jesus. In Jesus' name
01:12:02: I pray, amen. Amen. If anybody did that, if you just prayed that prayer, and you meant that from your heart, listen, we have
01:12:13: Bibles on the back table for you. Take one home. You can have it. Begin to read, cover to cover.
01:12:19: You can start in Genesis, maybe just begin in the New Testament, and then go back to the old. Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
01:12:27: Grow closer to God as you hear the story. It's a true story. Also, come back and be part of the fellowship that each
01:12:34: Sunday we would gather in his name and hear his word. We're so excited for you.
01:12:39: If you prayed that prayer, you've been born again if you meant it, if your heart was confessing and believing, and we celebrate that with you.
01:12:51: So in honor of that, why don't we say it one more time, then we'll sing. He is risen. He is risen to you.
01:12:57: Amen. Sing. You make it easy to love you.
01:13:16: You are good and you are kind. You bring joy into my life.
01:13:27: Make it easy to trust you. You have never left my side.
01:13:36: You've been faithful every time. All I want is you,
01:13:48: Jesus. All I want is you.
01:13:58: You are the refuge I run to. You are the fire that leads me through the night.
01:14:09: I'll follow you anywhere. There's a million reasons to trust you.
01:14:26: I'll follow you anywhere. Jesus, you came to my rescue.
01:14:46: You took my place upon that cross.
01:14:52: You redeemed what I... You're the center of my life.
01:15:07: You're the treasure. You're the prize. All I want is you,
01:15:18: Jesus. All I want is you.
01:15:29: You are the refuge I run to. You are the fire that leads me through.
01:15:40: I'll follow you anywhere. There's a million reasons to trust you.
01:15:51: Nothing to fear for. You are by my side. I'll follow you anywhere.
01:16:01: I'll follow you anywhere. Lead me, whatever it costs me.
01:16:29: All I want is you, Jesus. All I want is you.
01:16:38: Wherever you lead me, whatever it costs me.
01:16:47: All I want is you, Jesus. All I want is you.
01:16:56: All I... Jesus, all
01:17:05: I want is you. You are the refuge
01:17:15: I run to. You are the fire... But the angel said to the women,
01:17:59: Do not be afraid. For I know that you seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here, for he has risen.
01:18:07: As he said, Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.
01:18:16: And behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. See, I have told you.