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[0:00] You may follow as I read. Now, I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I have preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.

[0:15] ! If you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

[0:51] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

[1:09] But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

[1:27] Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

[1:43] 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.

[1:58] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God, that he has raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.

[2:15] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.

[2:27] Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are all people most to be pitied.

[2:42] But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

[2:55] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ, the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

[3:09] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God, the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and the power. For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

[3:24] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Thank you very much, Michelle.

[3:46] Well, although we are commemorating and celebrating Christ's resurrection from the dead this morning, the truth is that every time we gather, we gather on the basis that Jesus Christ did in fact rise from the dead.

[4:01] Because if he didn't, then we would be wasting our time gathering in his name, living for him, and expressing faith and obedience to his word.

[4:18] But the reality is that there are a lot of people who do not believe in Christ's resurrection and do not even believe in the resurrection of the dead.

[4:34] They believe that when you are dead, you are done. They believe that you go into nothingness and there is nothing beyond this life, and so their view of life is enjoy it, make the most of it, because you have one life to live.

[4:52] They do not believe in a future resurrection. And what we see from the passage that was just read is that that idea that there is the resurrection of the dead is not new.

[5:06] It is at least about 2,000 years old from what we can see in this passage. This issue arose in the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and he, as he concludes this letter to the church at Corinth, he addresses this issue about the resurrection of the dead in general, and he also addresses Christ's resurrection as well.

[5:33] And so I thought this morning that as we commemorate the resurrection of Christ, we should consider the arguments that the Apostle Paul makes to answer those who claim that there is no resurrection from the dead.

[5:51] But first let me pray for us, so let's bow in prayer. Lord, we thank you this morning that we are able to sit under the preaching of your word. Lord, your word has been read in our hearing, and I pray that you would now apply it in our listening.

[6:09] I pray, Lord, that you would enable us to hear the truth of both the resurrection of the dead and Christ's resurrection and the implications of both for us.

[6:25] Lord, I pray that you would pour your spirit upon me in preaching and your spirit upon all of us in hearing this morning.

[6:38] And I pray that your name alone will be glorified. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. And once again, the primary issue that the Apostle Paul is addressing in this passage before us is he's responding to whether there is a resurrection from the dead.

[7:03] There were those in his day who denied it, just as there are in our day. And what Paul does is he argues from the truthfulness of the resurrection of the dead to establish the truthfulness of Christ's resurrection.

[7:22] And it's important to bear that in mind as we go through what he has written to see how he lays his argument out. He moves from establishing just the resurrection of the dead, and he wants to build on that Christ's resurrection.

[7:39] And Paul does this by putting forward three arguments. Three arguments for Christ's resurrection, and I want us to consider them in our remaining time.

[7:51] The first argument for Christ's resurrection is what we may call the historical argument. That's the way Paul approaches it. He gives the historical argument for Christ's resurrection.

[8:05] Notice how he begins in verses 1 and 2, reminding the Corinthians of the gospel that he preached to them. He wasn't introducing something new to them to make the argument that he is going to make.

[8:19] He is reminding them of what he has already told them. And this word gospel means good news. There's good news in this. I heard someone say that good news is what people do when they hear the war is over, and they start to dance in the street, and they kiss strangers.

[8:40] And when we don't see in what Paul begins to lay out good news, it has been said we can be sure that we don't understand it. And I pray that we will understand it this morning. I pray that we rejoice in it, because it is indeed good news.

[8:55] And so Paul says to them, I'm reminding you of what I preached to you, and I'm reminding you that you believed it, and you stood upon it. You stood upon it in faith.

[9:09] And he assures them that they are being saved by this gospel that he proclaimed to them, if they hold on to it, because otherwise, he says, you've believed in vain.

[9:24] If you do not continue to stand on it, if you do not continue to believe it, he says, well, then your initial faith was in vain. Notice in verses 3 and 4 that Paul lays out the gospel.

[9:39] He spells it out for us. And he begins by calling it the matter of first importance. And those words should not escape us this morning. Paul surveys all that he proclaimed in his ministry, and he says to the church, this is the matter of first importance.

[10:02] We don't want to neglect the matter of first importance. You think of all the other things that Paul taught about, spiritual gifts and the way the church is organized and structured.

[10:16] But he says this is the matter of first importance. This gospel is the matter of first importance. And what we see is that it is a body of information.

[10:28] Paul talks about receiving it. And he talks about delivering it. And there's the idea of someone being faithful to receive something and to give it to others.

[10:40] And the idea is, well, is you are to keep it in that way as you give it to others as well. We don't get to add to it. We don't get to subtract from it. And Paul tells us that the gospel has three particular component parts to it.

[10:56] First, he says, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. In other words, in the Old Testament scriptures, long ago, it had been prophesied that Christ was going to die for the sins of sinners.

[11:17] And then he says, and he was buried. And then he says, and he was raised again on the third day according to the scriptures. Notice that the first part of the gospel is not that Christ died.

[11:33] That's not the first part of the gospel. The first part of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins. He didn't just die. And he certainly did not die for his own sins because he had no sin.

[11:48] He died for our sins. That brings us into view. That reminds us that we are guilty. That reminds us that Christ was a substitute taking the place of sinners who deserved to die the death that he died and suffer the punishment that he suffered.

[12:08] That's the first plank of the gospel. And we mustn't forget it. We are involved in it. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. It wasn't something accidental that happened to him on that Good Friday.

[12:25] What happened to him was proclaimed by God himself, prophesied in the Old Testament scriptures, and Christ fulfilled it to the letter.

[12:41] But it's clear that from what Paul goes on to say, that the issue that is at doubt or the issue that is denied in the gospel is not the death of Christ, it's not the burial of Christ, it is the resurrection of Christ.

[13:03] And that's why Paul goes to great length to establish that Christ has risen. He doesn't go to great lengths to say that Christ died and that he was buried. No, he died and he was buried there's no doubt, no dispute around that.

[13:17] The dispute is around did he rise from the dead? It was then and it is today. And so starting in verse 5, the Apostle Paul begins to list the historical appearances of Christ after his resurrection from the dead.

[13:35] He says he appeared to Cephas, meaning Peter, then he appeared to the Twelve, then he appeared to more than 500 believers at one time, no hallucination here, 500 believers at one time, and Paul makes the point that most of them are still alive, even as he is writing this.

[13:56] In other words, there are people who could refute what Paul was saying if it were not true. And then Paul says he appeared to James and to the other apostles, and then he said, finally, he appeared to me.

[14:17] So what's Paul's point? His point is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact. It is a fact that people are free to refute if they want to do that, but he's saying, you are flying in the face of history, you're flying in the face of eyewitnesses, hundreds of whom saw him at the same time, and they are still alive.

[14:44] They can substantiate that Christ indeed arose from the dead. So Paul's point is that this aspect of the gospel, with some doubt, with some dispute, he says it is an essential part of the gospel, and it is an established historical fact.

[15:13] Now notice how Paul concludes his argument, this first argument, the historical argument, he concludes it in verse 11. He writes, he says, whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

[15:32] He says this is the gospel. It is a historical gospel. It is a factual gospel. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.

[15:44] He was buried, and he rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. It was prophesied that he would rise again, and he says there are witnesses who can testify, not just one or two, not just in some corner somewhere, but at one time he appeared to hundreds of them.

[16:12] That's the historical argument that Paul makes. Now having established the historical argument that Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, Paul then moves to what may be called the theological argument for Christ's resurrection.

[16:31] And this word theology simply means what we believe about God. Theology means what we believe about God, how he has revealed himself, and how he has acted in the world, and how he continues to act in the world, and the source for that knowledge is in God's word in the Bible.

[16:52] Paul's theological argument about Christ's resurrection or for Christ's resurrection is in verses 12 to 18. Let's look at it again so that we can take in this aspect of his argument.

[17:06] He writes, Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

[17:19] 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.

[17:34] We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.

[17:49] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.

[18:03] then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. This is a massive argument that Paul is actually putting forward to help these, and notice that these were in the church.

[18:20] These were people who were within the church that Paul was addressing. Some of them evidently had this idea where they somehow were kind of accepting Christ's resurrection, but they were not accepting a future resurrection.

[18:37] And we know, if you have any familiarity with the letter of 1 Corinthians, we know the implications of that for many of them. Paul addresses it later on in the letter where he says that the view was, since there's no resurrection from the dead, well, then we can eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die.

[18:57] and there were those who were living their lives, doing all manner of sinful things because they felt there was no consequence for how they were living because there was no future resurrection of the dead.

[19:14] And so what Paul does is he helps them to see that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

[19:25] This is his argument. He says that if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. He says that two times. He makes that point two times in verses 13 and 16.

[19:36] He says not even Christ has been raised if you say there is no resurrection of the dead. There must be a resurrection of the dead before we can even get to Christ's resurrection.

[19:51] And what Paul goes on to point out is that if Christ has not been raised, then we have a theological crisis. He says, first, preaching the gospel is in vain because it would mean that an essential part of the gospel, Christ's resurrection, is not true.

[20:14] The final plank in it is just not true. If, indeed, there is no resurrection from the dead and if Christ has not been raised.

[20:25] And then he says it would also mean that those who believe the gospel have an empty faith because they have believed in something that is not entirely true. They believe in something that is a fabrication.

[20:41] And he says even preachers, preachers would be those who would be misrepresenting God, saying that God raised Jesus from the dead, but in fact he didn't raise Jesus from the dead if the dead are not raised.

[20:56] And then he gets to, really, the biggest part of the theological crisis. And he says that if Christ is not raised, then he says we're still in our sin.

[21:16] We're still in our sin. We're still under the guilt and the penalty and the weight of our sin.

[21:29] It's the point that he makes in verse 17. If Christ has been raised, our faith is futile, and we are still in our sins. Why is this?

[21:43] If you remember, the scripture that Brother Troy opened with this morning, in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3, he tells us that God has caused us to be born again to a living hope.

[21:57] How? Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. just hold that in your mind for a moment.

[22:09] And there's another reference that's also helpful. The Apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 4, verse 25, he says that Jesus Christ was delivered up for our trespasses, and he was raised for our justification.

[22:27] He was delivered up for our trespasses, but he was raised for our justification. Christ didn't raise himself.

[22:38] Christ gave himself, he offered himself as a sacrifice for sin. He paid the penalty, he laid the penalty, as it were, at the feet of God the Father.

[22:50] But it was up to God the Father to determine that that was a satisfaction for the sin of sinners. God was the one who had to say yes.

[23:01] the sin of sinners from whom you died has been satisfied. And the way God said yes to that was by raising Jesus Christ from the dead.

[23:17] Christ didn't raise himself from the dead. God raised him from the dead. And God raised him from the dead as an expression of satisfaction with the sacrifice of Christ for sin, the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice for sin.

[23:36] And that's why we are born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that's important for us to remember.

[23:47] Yes, when Jesus said it is finished, it was finished in terms of he had done what he came to do to give his life as a ransom for many. But it was accepted when God raised him from the dead.

[24:01] That was the expression that yes, it has been accepted. Yes, it is sufficient. And Paul's point is that if all Christ did was die and he is not raised, then he says, well then the offering for sin has not been, accepted, you are still in your sins.

[24:27] The just payment for sin has not been made, is what he's saying, if indeed, for there is no resurrection of the dead, if indeed, therefore, Christ has not been risen.

[24:49] If Christ has not risen, brothers and sisters, we are living an hallucination. We're living a fabrication.

[25:02] We're psyching ourselves out. We don't have true forgiveness of sins. And this is the point that Paul makes. This is the theological crisis that will arise.

[25:14] God is arguing. He is arguing for the theology that Christ's death did, in fact, accomplish the forgiveness of sins.

[25:31] But he's also helping these who doubt to see the implications of their doubt and the implications of their rejection that there is a future resurrection because then if there is no resurrection, then, as Paul says, not even Christ has been raised.

[25:49] Paul goes on in verse 18 and he refers to those, he says, those who have fallen asleep in Christ. These are those who were trusting in Jesus, those who are living for Jesus.

[26:03] Paul says, if there is no resurrection of the dead and if Christ has not been raised, those who live that way, they just wasted their time, they're perished, they're toast, they're done, there's nothing else for them.

[26:15] They are perished. They've perished eternally.

[26:30] And notice what he says in verse 19. He says, and if all this is true, if there is no resurrection of the dead and if Christ has not been raised, he says, those of us who live for Christ, those of us who are in Christ, he says, if all we have is this hallucination in our minds, this hope that we have as we are alive, he says, if that's all that we have, he says, we are to be the most pitied people on the face of the earth.

[27:06] Paul says, if that is the case, he says, we are to be pitied more than the worst sinner. We are to be pitied more than the person who is just living for the moment right in front of them, living an empty life, an aimless life, because tomorrow we are going to die and there is going to be nothing else.

[27:25] Paul says, if that is true, then those who hold this hope in Christ and those who live for Christ in this life, he says, they have to be the most pitied people on the face of the earth.

[27:44] Paul makes a theological argument for Christ's resurrection, and he roots it first to establish that there is a resurrection from the dead, and again, he's still drawing on the fact that there's the historical aspect that there were eyewitnesses that Christ did arise.

[28:07] But he's helping his audience and us to see that the implications, the theological implications, are huge if Jesus Christ did not arise from the dead.

[28:18] Everything, brothers and sisters, is staked on it. But praise God, Christ has been raised from the dead.

[28:32] And the Christian faith is not a fraud. And we believe in Jesus Christ, who was in fact raised from the dead, and we have a hope beyond this life.

[28:44] We have a hope not only for this life, we have a hope beyond this life. We believe that if we die before Christ returns, that he will raise us up one day to life eternal.

[28:54] We believe that, and we stand on solid ground, historical grounds, on theological grounds, in our belief. That's in a nutshell what Paul is saying in his third and final argument, which we may call his eschatological argument.

[29:17] Eschatology is the study of last things. It's a study of how the world will wrap up, how God will wrap up human history and the world, as we know it.

[29:31] And Paul's eschatological argument is in verses 20 to 26. Let's look at it again. But before we read it, I want to remind us that Paul is addressing the church at Corinth.

[29:47] He is not giving some general, generic letter to the whole world. And I think it's so important for us to remember that because Paul is not really addressing what's going to happen to unbelievers in this passage.

[30:04] He addresses it elsewhere. Scripture addresses it elsewhere. But right now, he is addressing believers as special, unique categories.

[30:17] He's not addressing broadly what's going to happen to unbelievers as well. That's important to bear in mind. Look at verse 20, starting in verse 20.

[30:30] He is now concluding his argument. He's saying, but in fact, he's played around with it. He's helped them to see the implications of what happens if Christ is not raised from the dead.

[30:41] But then he says this, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He has been raised from the dead. the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

[30:54] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

[31:12] But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God, the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

[31:30] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Paul begins this eschatological argument in verse 20 by stating as a fact that Christ has been raised from the dead and he refers to Christ as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

[31:56] And here Paul is drawing on the agricultural reality of in the Old Testament when there would be a harvest, it was required that they would bring the first sheaf of the grain and present it to the priest.

[32:13] Christ. And the idea was that the whole harvest belonged to the Lord, but that first sheaf of grain that they would take out of the ground represented the whole harvest.

[32:25] And he is alluding to that as he talks about Christ's resurrection and he goes on to talk about the resurrection of those who belong to Christ. And the idea is that Christ's resurrection is not a separate resurrection from the resurrection of those who belong to him.

[32:44] It's one resurrection, the only difference is it's in time. And he makes that point in verse 23 when he says, but each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and then those who belong, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

[33:04] And so, this is very important for us to see that Paul's point is that the resurrection of, that awaits those who belong to Christ is not a separate or different resurrection from Christ's own resurrection.

[33:20] It's one and the same. The only difference is it takes place in a different order. And notice in verse 23 that Paul is affirming now both Christ's resurrection and future resurrection.

[33:38] He's affirming both. those who belong to him. Christ the firstfruits, and then those at his coming who belong to him.

[33:51] In this passage, where Paul is giving us insight into how history is going to wrap up, it's helpful for us to think about the history of the world, human history, in terms of two bookends.

[34:12] And these two bookends are two men, Adam and Christ. And that's what Paul is bringing to the fore right here. So as he is talking to us about how the world is wrapping up, he is going way back to the beginning and Adam, and he's going back to Adam's disobedience.

[34:37] And he is saying to us that in his disobedience, Adam brought death to all who were in him. And we were all in Adam. Adam brought death to the entirety of the human race.

[34:53] In 1 Corinthians 15, 45, Paul goes on and he refers to Christ, he refers to Jesus as the last Adam in verse 45. He talks about the first Adam and the last Adam.

[35:07] The first Adam disobeyed God. The last Adam obeyed God. And in his obedience, he brought life to all who are in him.

[35:23] He brought life to all who are in him. That's the entirety of the redeemed race. And notice that all human beings, all of us are connected to Adam in our humanity, the first Adam.

[35:36] All of us in our humanity are connected to the first Adam. We die in Adam. But as it relates to the last bookend, the man, Jesus Christ, the last Adam, we relate to him not by birth, but by faith.

[36:01] And only those who have faith in Jesus Christ, and by that faith, a relationship to Jesus Christ, and who can be described as being in Christ, it is only those who will have this resurrection that the Apostle Paul is talking about.

[36:20] It is only these who would be the other fruits after Christ being the first fruit. He says that this happens at Christ's coming.

[36:38] So those of us who have put our trust in Jesus, we're connected to him by faith, and again, only those connected by faith are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life, that's salvation, and only those who are connected to him by faith, will be raised from physical death to physical life in this resurrection that he's talking about.

[37:00] Yes, unbelievers are going to be raised, but he's not addressing them right now. Their resurrection is not in view in this particular passage. This is something glorious that he's talking to us about.

[37:12] When you read about the resurrection of the wicked, it is not a glorious resurrection. in verse 24, Paul tells us that the end comes after Christ returns.

[37:34] In verse 23, he says that Christ is the firstfruits, and then those who are his at his coming. I'll read verse 23 again.

[37:47] But each in his own order, Christ is the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to him. Then comes the end. Notice how the resurrection is connected to the wrapping up of all things.

[38:03] The end comes, he tells us, after the resurrection. Now, in verse 26, Paul tells us that the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

[38:22] when death is destroyed, there are no more enemies. And this is important for us to grasp, because it's a signal. When the last enemy, death, is destroyed, don't be looking for any more enemies.

[38:35] Don't be looking for Jesus to be fighting any more battles. This is the last enemy. So, the question is, when and how will death be destroyed?

[38:50] When and how will death be destroyed? Let's look at 1 Corinthians towards the end. The Apostle Paul answers this question, starting in verse 50.

[39:05] 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 50. 3 Corinthians 15, he says this, I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

[39:26] Behold, I tell you a mystery. And a mystery is something that was formerly revealed, but is now, formerly hidden, but is now revealed.

[39:37] He says, we shall not all sleep, meaning we won't all die, but we should all be changed. And again, he's talking to believers. He's not talking to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. He's talking to believers.

[39:50] We shall not all sleep, but we should all be changed. Verse 52, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, if you want to know how fast it is, just bat your eye.

[40:02] That's it. That's how fast it happens. At the last trumpet, trumpet, not the first, not the second, but the last, the last trumpet.

[40:14] For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

[40:29] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

[40:43] O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? So when and how does, when and how is death destroyed?

[40:55] Death is destroyed at the coming of Christ, at the end of the age, at the last trumpet, and it happens at the resurrection of the dead, or through the resurrection of the dead.

[41:12] See, because at this particular moment, death has been defeated, Jesus Christ defeated death, but death has not been destroyed. Death is still a reality for us.

[41:26] Some of us are painfully aware of this in a fresh way. We've lost loved ones recently. But Paul tells us that there's coming a day when death is going to be finally and fully destroyed, and the way it is destroyed is at the resurrection.

[41:48] You've probably been to funerals and you've heard people say things like, they'll read this particular passage, and they'll say that death has already been swallowed up in victory.

[41:59] Not yet. If it had been, we wouldn't be dying. But death is swallowed up in victory when the resurrection takes place because those who are resurrected in this glorious, wonderful resurrection, we are resurrected to eternal life.

[42:14] We are resurrected to the life of Jesus, and death has no more power over us. Death has no more power over us.

[42:28] you read the book of Revelation and it tells us that those who don't belong to Christ, those whose names are not in the book of life, that they will suffer a second death.

[42:41] And that second death is referred to as the lake of fire, but that would not be the case for those who are in Christ. Those who are in Christ will be raised, defeating death, death, and death has no more authority over them.

[43:00] This is Paul's eschatological argument. The resurrection of the dead and the resurrection of Christ ties in with the end of human history.

[43:18] And although he does not address unbelievers, the reality is there's then going to be accountability at the end of the world. And it's not difficult to see why many unbelievers would want to suppress the truth about the resurrection.

[43:34] Because the implication of the resurrection, you're raised for what? You're raised for accountability. Now of course, for those of us who put our trust in Jesus Christ, our judgment has already been meted out on Jesus Christ.

[43:51] And so we don't have to fear standing before God and answering for our sins. Christ has already answered for them. He has already paid the price for them. But those who are not in Christ will one day answer for their own sins and those who have died, he will raise them back to life and they will stand before him and they will be judged for their sins.

[44:18] Brothers and sisters, Christ's resurrection matters. It matters because the climax of human history depends on it.

[44:32] And indeed, whether these lives that we are living now are lives of futility or not, depends on it. if you're here this morning and you might be among those who are thinking, well, when you're dead, you're done.

[44:56] You can eat, drink, be married because tomorrow you die. I encourage you to consider Paul's argument again. I encourage you to consider the historical argument he makes, the theological argument he makes, this eschatological argument that he makes.

[45:16] It is sound. And it is God's word. And the same God who years before, hundreds of years before, Christ died, and died for sinners, who predicted that and then brought it to pass, and who declared that Christ would rise from the dead and brought that to pass, it's the same God who tells us in his word, through the apostle Paul, that this is the way history is going to end.

[45:52] And so I encourage you to hear the argument, and I pray that you would hear this gospel that Paul proclaims, this gospel that is the focal point and the most important aspect of all that he proclaimed, that Christ died for the sins of sinners, according to the scriptures.

[46:19] That Christ was in fact buried, and Christ was in fact raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. The apostle Paul was addressing a group of philosophers in Acts chapter 17.

[46:37] And he concluded, talking to them about the resurrection, some scoffed and laughed at him, but he said that the proof that God has given that he is going to judge the world by Jesus Christ is the fact that he raised them from the dead.

[46:56] He says he's given proof to all that he will judge the world in righteousness by the man Jesus Christ by raising him from the dead.

[47:12] And I call you this morning to receive that evidence, take that evidence, and act upon it. But again, for those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ, this is a happy day, this is a wonderful day that we can remember, that our sins have truly been washed away because Jesus Christ has in fact been risen.

[47:36] We're no longer in our sins. He's risen. He has given us a new birth through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

[47:48] Let's pray. Oh, Father, we thank you that Christ's resurrection matters. Thank you, Lord, that we who were in Adam, who put our trust in Christ, are now in Christ.

[48:05] We're no longer in our sins. And we look forward to and we await the day when Christ returns to receive his people to himself. Lord, I pray for any under the sound of my voice this morning who do not know Christ, who may not have thought sufficiently about the resurrection or who have just outrightly rejected it.

[48:34] Oh, Lord, would you speak to their hearts and open their eyes. And, Lord, help them to come to put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[48:45] Christ, would you work in the hearts of all who are in that circumstance, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen.

[48:58] Let's stand for a closing song. I'd you to sing along, come, behold, the wondrous mystery. Come, behold, the wondrous mystery in the dawning of the King.

[49:23] He, the fame of heaven's praises, robed in frail humanity. In our longing, in our darkness, now the light of life has come.

[49:42] Look to Christ who condescended, took on flesh to ransom up. Verse 2.

[49:59] Come, behold, the wondrous mystery, be the perfect Son of man. in his living, in his suffering, never trace nor stain of sin.

[50:18] See the true and better Adam come to save the hell-bound man. Christ, the great and sure fulfillment of the Lord, in him we stand.

[50:43] Come, behold, come, behold, the wondrous mystery, Christ the Lord upon the tree.

[50:55] In the stead of ruined sinners hangs the lamb in victory. and see the price of our redemption.

[51:10] See the Father's plans unfold, bringing many sons to glory, grace unmeasured, love untold.

[51:30] Come, behold, come, behold, the wondrous mystery, slain by death, the God of life.

[51:41] But no grave could ever restrain him. Praise the Lord, he is alive. And what a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our hope, Christ in power, resurrected, as we will be when he comes.

[52:09] What a foretaste, what a foretaste of deliverance, how unwavering our hope.

[52:20] hope, Christ in power, resurrected, as we will be when he comes.

[52:37] Let's pray together. Father, what a foretaste of deliverance, that we who belong to Christ have been assured of, Christ in power, resurrected, as we shall be when he comes.

[53:04] Father, I do pray that you would help us who have trusted in Jesus to live this life, remembering that there is no circumstance.

[53:18] There is nothing in this life that can obliterate the hope of a future life, of resurrection, to eternally be with the Lord.

[53:31] Lord, and therefore, Lord, would you help us to persevere? Would you help us to press on? Would you help us to look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith?

[53:51] And Lord, once again, I pray that you'd have mercy on all those who stand outside Jesus Christ, all those who are still in the first Adam.

[54:04] Would you have mercy on them, O Lord? Open their eyes, and would you translate them out of darkness into light? Would you bring them into the last Adam, the one in whom there is life eternal and there is hope for a future glorious resurrection?

[54:28] And now as we leave today, may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

[54:55] Amen. Amen. God bless you. Thanks for being here this morning. If you need prayer as the others leave, please come. It would be a joy to pray with you. Yes, Yes Yes Thank you.