Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of 1 Corinthians.
! 1 Corinthians.
And our passage this morning is chapter 15, verses 1 through 28.
If you don't have a Bible with you, that's okay.
We provide those for you in the seat back in front of you.
You should be able to find one nearby.
And if you're using the one in the seat back in front of you,
you can find this on page 904.
Or either way, I'd encourage you to have a copy of God's Word open in front of you
as we walk through the passage together.
So page 904 of the seat back in front of you.
And if you don't have a Bible at all,
then please feel free to take that one home with you as our gift to you.
And on the one condition, that you let us know on the way out the door
so that we can help connect you with somebody who can help you read it and understand it.
It's a big book, often a complicated book,
and we would love nothing more than to help you read and understand God's Word.
So 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 28.
And when you found that in your Bible,
let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
Please listen along as I read.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved,
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,
in 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.
Then He appeared to James,
and 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.
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 was with me.
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?
But if there's 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.
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.
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.
Then those also 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.
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 also come the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ shall all be made alive,
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.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
For God has put all things in subjection under His feet.
But when it says all things are put in subjection,
it is plain that He is accepted who put all things in subjection under Him.
When all things are subjected to Him,
then the Son of Man Himself will also be subjected to Him,
who put all things in subjection under Him,
that God may be all in all.
The grass withers,
the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we pray now as we open up Your Word
and ask You to speak through it.
Lord, we pray that You would draw our hearts to Christ,
that we would be moved by His resurrection from the dead.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Amen.
My family and I like to play games.
We've been in a board game kick lately.
It's been, lately it's been Clue, Ticket to Ride.
The boys had a spring break last week.
We settled the land of Catan.
We played a game or two of Yahtzee.
But before that, I remember there was a season
when we were playing a lot of Jenga.
Kids in the room, y'all let me know
if you've ever played the game Jenga.
It's a pretty simple game.
Really, it's just a big stack of blocks.
And to set it up, you put three wooden blocks
on three wooden blocks on three wooden blocks.
And it builds up, stacks up to build a tall tower.
And the goal of the game is to very carefully remove a block.
And then if you're successful,
very carefully stack that block back on top
without having the whole structure collapse to the ground.
But you have to choose carefully
because if you happen to choose the wrong block,
if you pull out a foundational piece,
if that piece is load-bearing in any sort of way,
well then the whole tower collapses
and you very loudly lose the game of Jenga.
And my boys are older now.
They're at the age now where they don't need as much help.
But I remember there was a time when
every time they reached to pull out a block,
they would look over at me
and see if I approved of the choice that they were making.
And if it was a good one,
I would nod my head,
yes, that seems safe.
But if not,
I would shake my head and say,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Don't pull out that piece.
If you pull that piece out,
the whole structure is about to come
crumbling down to the ground.
That piece is far too important to be removed.
This morning, as we look at our passage here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
hopefully you picked up on the situation here.
There's an issue here in the church at Corinth.
The Christians there at the church at Corinth
are trying to remove a key fundamental piece
of Christian doctrine.
They are trying to pull out
from the structure of Christianity
the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead.
They say, well, surely we can remove this piece
and still be okay, right?
Skeptics in the room would agree.
Somebody raising from the dead is impossible.
Surely we can remove that doctrine
and keep the framework,
keep the morality of Christianity,
keep the teachings of Jesus,
keep the structure of the practice of the faith.
We can remove the resurrection and be okay, right?
In our passage, we get to look over at the Apostle Paul
and we see him shaking his head.
No, do not remove this fundamental foundational piece
because if you do,
the whole structure of Christianity
comes crumbling down to the ground.
Why?
Because as we've sung and discussed this morning,
the reason why we're gathered here this morning
is because the entirety of the Christian faith,
the whole structure of what we believe,
the whole thing from beginning to end
hangs upon, it centers itself
on the resurrection from the dead
of a man named Jesus.
Pastor Greg Gilbert says it like this.
He says,
the resurrection of Jesus is the hinge
on which all Christianity turns,
is the foundation on which everything else rests,
and is the capstone that holds everything else
about Christianity together.
Everything hinges on the actual resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead.
And if that's true,
then friend, we owe it to ourselves this morning
here on Easter Sunday
to determine whether or not
this resurrection thing actually happened.
I'll be straightforward with you this morning.
My aim today
is that you would leave here
thoroughly convinced of the resurrection of Jesus.
This is Paul's aim in the passage.
It is my aim for us this morning
that you would leave here
thoroughly convinced
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
But not just convinced.
My aim is that you would leave here
moved by it.
Moved to trust Him.
Moved to love Him.
Moved to worship Him.
Moved to live for Him.
Moved by the resurrection of Christ
from the dead.
So let's look at this claim this morning.
The claim that we're making is
Jesus is alive.
Jesus is risen from the grave.
This is going to be our outline this morning.
We're going to see it in two parts here.
First, we see evidences of the resurrection.
And second, we'll see the effects of the resurrection.
This is our outline.
If you're taking notes,
it might help you to follow along.
First, we see the evidences of the resurrection.
And second, the effects of the resurrection.
So first, let's look at evidences
of the resurrection of Jesus.
You know, if we're going to make a big claim like this,
claims like this need to be backed up, right?
Now, if you claim something this big
that somebody actually got up from the grave,
we need to hear some evidence.
I don't know about you,
but I don't want to base my life
on something that has zero proof,
that has zero substance behind it.
So what evidence does Paul give us here
to support his claim
that Christ Jesus has, in fact,
died and risen from the grave?
I count at least three evidences
that Paul gives us here
in verses 1 through 11.
Look there with me.
For one, Paul says,
the scriptures give evidence
of the resurrection of Jesus.
He says the resurrection
is according to the scriptures.
You notice the repetition there
in verses 3 and 4.
He says,
I delivered to you as of first importance
what I also received.
In other words,
this is foundational.
Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the scriptures.
He was buried.
He was raised on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures.
He tells us Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the scriptures.
You might think of Isaiah 53,
the passage that Treg just prayed through
moments ago for us,
this beautiful passage
about the suffering servant.
And it's hard to believe
as we read through it.
This passage was written
700 years before Jesus was born.
Listen to what it says.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows.
Yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced
for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace.
And with his wounds,
we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
700 years before the death of Jesus,
the scriptures prophesied about his death.
His death is in accordance
with the scriptures.
But not only his death,
Paul says his burial
is in accordance with the scriptures.
If you keep reading in the same prophetic passage,
Isaiah 53,
it speaks of his burial.
It says they made his grave
with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death.
Although he had done no violence
and there was no deceit in his mouth,
his burial is in accordance
with the scriptures.
But not only this,
his resurrection
is in accordance
with the scriptures.
Hundreds of years in advance,
the scriptures have been prophesying,
paving the way,
foretelling about this event
that we're celebrating here this morning,
the resurrection of the Messiah.
Yet it was the will of the Lord
to crush him.
He has put him to grief.
When his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring.
He shall prolong his days.
In other words,
he's alive even though he died.
He is alive,
seeing the fruit
of what his death accomplished.
Paul says the scriptures speak clearly
about the death,
the burial,
the resurrection of the Messiah
hundreds of years before it happened.
Paul says evidence number one,
the resurrection of Jesus
is according to the scriptures.
But that's not all.
Second piece of evidence here,
starting in verse five.
He says the resurrected Jesus
appeared to eyewitnesses.
And so not only is the resurrection
prophesied and predicted in scripture,
now Paul says it's actually verified
in human history.
This is absolutely crucial for us
because we're not dealing
with simply a religious claim now.
We're dealing with a historical claim.
You understand the difference?
Paul is rooting this argument
that Jesus is alive,
not in just some religious practice.
He's saying this actually happened
in human history
and he lists out eyewitnesses
to back it up.
Ask yourself,
why do you believe
that Abraham Lincoln
was the 16th president
of the United States?
He weren't there.
Why do we believe
that Leonardo da Vinci
was born in Italy
in the 1500s
and none of us were there?
We believe those things
on the basis of reliable,
credible,
historical testimony.
Eyewitnesses who were there
and recorded those facts for us.
That's exactly what Paul
is doing for us here.
He says,
many witnesses saw
the resurrected Christ.
He appeared to Cephas,
that's Peter,
and then to the 12,
and then to more than 500 brothers
at one time,
most of whom are still alive.
In other words,
if you don't take my word for it,
you can go ask them yourself.
They'll tell you what they saw.
Then he appeared to James
and then to all the apostles.
Then last of all,
Paul says,
he appeared also to me
for 40 days after his death,
we're told in the scriptures.
Jesus appeared,
resurrected to many.
He appeared to individuals.
He appeared to groups.
He appeared to men.
He appeared to women.
He talked with them.
He ate with them.
He spoke with them.
He forgave them.
They saw him with their eyes.
They touched him with their hands.
They interacted with him
and they worshiped him.
Over 500 eyewitnesses.
What do we do
with that sort of testimony?
Charles Spurgeon,
the prince of preachers,
he said,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead
is one of the best
attested facts on record.
There were so many witnesses
to behold it
that if we do
in the least degree
receive the credibility
of men's testimonies,
we cannot
and we dare not
doubt
that Jesus
rose from the dead.
They saw
the risen
Christ.
As you read on
through the rest of your Bible,
as you read on
in the New Testament,
you can see the impact
that that had
on their lives,
which is the third piece
of evidence
that we have here.
Third piece of evidence
for the resurrection
is the transformation
of the disciples
of Jesus.
What happened
to change
these men?
And no doubt
something happened
to change the lives
of these men.
How do you explain
the curious case
of the Apostle Peter
who went from
denying Jesus
three times
before his death
to now becoming
one of the
pillar leaders
of the church
in Jerusalem?
What happened?
He saw
the risen
Lord Jesus
who forgave him
and restored him
and commissioned him.
How do you explain
the curious case
of the Apostle James?
The half-brother
of Jesus
who knew Jesus
for years
for his whole life
but didn't believe
Jesus was the Messiah
until
after the resurrection.
And then he too
becomes a pillar
of the church
in Jerusalem.
What happened?
He saw
the risen
Lord Jesus.
And how in the world
do you explain
the curious case
of the Apostle Paul?
You know the story
of Paul.
Paul alludes to it
here in verse 9
doesn't he?
I am the least
of the apostles
unworthy
to be called
an apostle
because I persecuted
the church
of God.
This man Paul
hated the church.
He hated
Christians.
Absolutely
hated
Jesus.
He went from
town to town
place to
arrest
Christians.
He went from
town to town
approving of
their execution.
But now
here he is
going from
town to town
proclaiming
the risen
Lord Jesus.
Why?
What happened?
He saw
the resurrected
Jesus
and it changed
everything for him.
By the grace
of God
he says
I am
what I am.
These men
saw
the resurrected
Christ
and it changed
everything for
him.
And you
who know
church history
know that
these same
disciples would
go on to
give their
lives for
the spread
of this
message.
I mean
clearly they
were convinced
that Jesus
Christ
actually rose
from the
grave.
Some of you
know the
story of
Charles Colson
one of the
Watergate
seven.
Charles
Colson
he said
I know
the resurrection
is a fact
and Watergate
proved it to
me.
How?
Because
twelve men
testified
that they
had seen
Jesus
raised from
the dead
and then
they proclaimed
that truth
for forty
years
never once
denying it.
Every one
of them
was beaten
tortured
stoned
put in
prison.
They would
not have
endured it
if that
weren't
true.
Watergate
embroiled
twelve of
the most
powerful men
in the
world
and they
couldn't
keep alive
for three
weeks.
You're
telling me
twelve
apostles
could keep
alive
for forty
years?
Absolutely
impossible.
Paul gives
us these
pieces of
evidence
that our
faith might
be in
an actual
historical
real
risen
reigning
Christ.
Three pieces
of evidence
here that I
believe anchor
our faith
that Jesus
Christ really
truly
actually
physically
rose from
the grave
and is alive
this very
minute.
But now
in our
second
point we
ask why
does it
matter?
Why
can we
not pull
that piece
out of
the structure
of Christianity
and keep
the framework?
Why does it
matter?
So second
let's consider
the effects
of the
resurrection
and what
Paul does
in the rest
of the
passages
he explores
two polar
opposite
realities
and these
are two
just
distinct
universes
what
would it
mean
if
Jesus
were
not
risen
from
the
dead
let's
just
entertain
that
for a
minute
and what
does it
mean
then
that
he
is
risen
from
the
dead
so
we'll
start
here
with
the
negative
what
would
it
mean
if
Jesus
were
not
risen
from
the
dead
Paul
says
let's
just
play
along
for
a
minute
what's
going
to
happen
if
you
pull
that
block
out
and
he
gives
us
six
tragic
effects
here
of
no
resurrection
this
is
the
anti
Easter
message
okay
six
effects
of
no
resurrection
effect
number
one
he
says
our
preaching
is
in
vain
verse
14
if
Christ
has
not
been
raised
then
our
preaching
is
in
vain
he
starts
with
himself
first
in
other
words
Paul
the
church
planting
apostle
who
went
from
town
to
town
to
town
proclaiming
the
good
news
of
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
he
is
proclaiming
risking
his
life
telling
other
people
that
Jesus
is
alive
he
says
well
if
he's
dead
I'm
wasting
my
time
it
is
a
waste
of
time
to
proclaim
a
dead
teacher
and
he
sends
another
letter
to
the
same
church
in
Corinth
if
we
were
to
flip
a
few
pages
forward
the
book
of
2nd
Corinthians
Paul
describes
some of
what
he
endured
as
he
preached
the
gospel
I'll
read
it
to
you
he
said
imprisonments
with
countless
beatings
often
near
death
five
times
I
received
at
the
hands
of
the
Jews
the
forty
lashes
less
one
three
times
I
was
beaten
with
rods
once
I
was
stoned
three
times
I
was
shipwrecked
a
night
and a
day
I
was
adrift
at
sea
on
frequent
journeys
danger
from
rivers
danger
from
robbers
danger
from
my
own
people
danger
from
gentiles
danger
in
the
city
danger
in
the
wilderness
danger
at
sea
danger
from
false
brothers
and
toil
and
hardship
through
many
a
sleepless
night
and hunger
and thirst
often
without
food
and cold
and exposure
and apart
from other
things
there's
this
daily
pressure
on me
of my
anxiety
for all
the
churches
I
mean
talk
about
a
hard
job
I
cannot
imagine
a worse
way
to
live
if
it's
all
for
nothing
I'll
tell you
my
life
is a
lot
more
comfortable
than
the
apostle
Paul's
yours
is
too
but
I
agree
with
him
completely
if
you
could
convince
me
that
Jesus
Christ
was
in
the
grave
I
would
leave
this
pulpit
and
never
return
I
have
no
gospel
to
preach
unless
Christ
is
alive
it's
a
vain
waste
of
time
to
proclaim
the
good
news
of
a
dead
God
not
only
my
preaching
second
effect
he
says
verse
14
your
faith
is
in
vain
if
Jesus
is
not
risen
from
the
dead
your
faith
is
in
vain
now
the
attention
is
turned
to
us
and
to
you
what
is
the
Christian
faith
the
Christian
faith
is
trust
in
a
resurrected
savior
sometimes
the way
we talk
about
faith
is
as if
it
were
disconnected
from
reality
we talk
about
blind
faith
or
just
have
faith
is
belief
without
evidence
you should
know
that's
not
how
the
Bible
talks
about
faith
biblically
faith
is
anchored
to
reality
it's
tethered
up
to
the
truth
faith
is
trust
in
something
real
and
here
Paul
says
if
Jesus
is
not
alive
what
in
the
world
are
we
doing
having
faith
we
have
no
one
to
put
our
faith
in
we
shouldn't
be
here
singing
songs
of
worship
opening
up
the
scriptures
reading
our
Bible
in
private
with
our
family
we
shouldn't
be
proclaiming
the
good
news
of
Christ
we
should
have
no
faith
at
all
if
we
have
no
one
to
put
our
faith
in
faith
in
a
dead
man
is
vain
in fact
!
he
says
!
if
Christ
isn't
raised
we're
even
misrepresenting
God
why?
well
we've
been
talking
about
this
whole
time
God
raised
him
from
the
dead
and
if
he's
not
raised
from
the
dead
then
we're
lying
about
God
himself
we've
completely
misunderstood
and
completely
misrepresented
God
if
Christ
is
not
raised
but
it
gets
even
worse
are
you
depressed
yet?
not
only
this
effect
number
four
and
this
is
tragic
he
says
if
Christ
isn't
raised
you
are
still
in
your
sins
verse
17
if
Christ
has
not
been
raised
your
faith
is
futile
and
you
are
still
in
your
sins
and
this
is
the
problem
isn't
it?
The
universal
problem
of
all
mankind
the
greatest
need
of
every
single
individual
in the
universe
is to
have a
solution
for the
problem
of our
sin
it is
our
sin
that
separates
us
from
a
holy
God
it
is
sin
that
is
the
root
cause
and
explanation
of
all
the
pain
and
suffering
and
evil
in
the
world
it's
sin
that
ultimately
leads
to
death
and
the
bad
news
is
every
one
of
us
are
sinners
we
can
all
agree
on
this
I
hope
none
of
us
are
perfect
myself
especially
every
single
one
of
us
are
flawed
in
many
ways
and
the
Bible
calls
this
sin
but
it's
not
just
minor
imperfections
the
Bible
says
we
are
all
actively
in
rebellion
against
God
our
creator
that's
bad
news
Paul
says
if
Christ
is
not
risen
if
all
he
did
was
come
and
teach
provide
a good
example
then there
is no
answer
for the
problem
of our
sin
we
still have
no answer
for our
pain
there's
no
hope
for our
suffering
no hope
of
reconciliation
with
God
and so
effect
number
five
death
wins
if
Christ
is
not
raised
look
at
verse
18
he
says
if
Christ
is
not
raised
then
those
who
have
fallen
asleep
that's
a nice
way
to say
have
died
those
who
have
fallen
asleep
in
Christ
have
perished
if
Christ
is
not
raised
then
when
we
die
we
die
that's
it
it's
over
if
there
is
no
resurrection
there's
no
hope
after
the
grave
there's
no
victory
over
the
grave
if
Christ
has
not
risen
in
triumph
over
the
grave
there's
no
better
place
to
go
to
if
Jesus
himself
lied
when
he
said
I
go
to
prepare
a
place
for
you
the
dead
are
truly
dead
it's
a sad
version
of reality
isn't
it
this
is
it's
bleak
isn't
it
which
is
why
Paul
says
if
Christ
is
not
raised
sixth
effect
we
are
worthy
of
pity
verse
19
if
in
Christ
we
have
hope
in
this
life
only
he
says
we
are
of
all
people
most
to
be
pitied
we're
wasting
our
time
the
Christians
are
those
who
build
their
entire
lives
on
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
and
if
he's
not
resurrected
then
we
are
wasting
our
time
don't
worship
a
dead
teacher
don't
trust
a
dead
prophet
don't
spend
your
time
serving
a
dead
god
go
have
your
fun
because
life
is
short
and
death
is
coming
and
then
it's
done
I
can
hardly
imagine
a
darker
more
hopeless
version
of reality
than that
can you
but
the fact
is
this
version
of
reality
is how
many
people
live
their
lives
they
live
without
a
concept
of
resurrection
they
have
no
clue
about
the
actual
historical
resurrected
Jesus
rising
from
the
grave
and
the
implications
of that
that
has
for
their
lives
they
live
in
a
version
of
reality
where
their
lives
ultimately
have
no
ultimate
point
no
bigger
picture
no
purpose
no
hope
no
answer
for
the
pain
and
the
sin
and
the
suffering
no
comfort
beyond
the
grave
no
victory
over
sin
no
reconciliation
with
God
and I
have no
doubt that there are some in this room this morning who live in that version of reality
!
if that's you
Paul has good news for you
here in verse 20
but in fact
he says in verse 20
but in fact
Christ has been raised from the dead
which means we can take all of these bleak
and we can take all of these bleak
dark
hopeless
false
realities
and turn them completely upside down
because in fact Christ has been raised from the dead which means our preaching
is not in vain
this is good news for me
I stay in here every week and preach about the resurrected Jesus
I want to give my life to something that matters into eternity and what message could I proclaim that has more more meaning and more significance more impact than this
Jesus Christ lives to save sinners
Jesus Christ truly lives to redeem the lost
Jesus Christ truly has defeated death
there is hope beyond the grave for all who put their faith in Christ
I have a gospel to preach because Jesus in fact has risen from the grave
which means church our evangelism is not in vain
you're proclaiming the good news to your friends and family members and neighbors and co-workers
you proclaiming that Jesus is alive is not in vain
you're teaching your children the good news of Christ is not in vain
our efforts to spread the gospel to the ends of the world are not in vain
why? because in fact Christ Jesus has been risen from the dead
in fact Christ has been raised from the dead
which means Christian our faith is not in vain
our trust in Christ is not in vain
if you're looking for help with this problem of sin
look to the man who rose from the grave
your faith is not in vain because he lives
in fact Christ has been raised from the dead
which means the scriptures from beginning to end
can be trusted
every word of the Lord proves true
all scripture is God breathed
the word of the Lord endures forever
God can be trusted
his word can be trusted
because Christ is risen from the dead
and praise God
in fact Christ has been raised from the dead
which means believer
we are no longer in our sins
sin no more has dominion over you believer
because Christ has died and risen
you are no longer living in sin
and dead towards God
now we are dead to sin
and alive to God
in Christ Jesus our Lord
in fact Christ has been raised from the dead
which means friend
there is certain hope beyond the grave
and those who have died in Christ
have not perished
they have won
all in Adam die
but all in Christ shall be made alive
we can say with Paul
to live is Christ
to die is gay
and so Christian in fact
because Christ has been raised from the dead
you are not worthy of pity
you who trust in the risen Lord Christ
you are not worthy of pity
or shame
or embarrassment
rather when Christ returns
you too will be vindicated
and risen with him
I can't think of ten better words
to tell you this morning
but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead
friend
only one of these
two
very different versions of reality
can be real
each one of us
has to decide
which version of reality
we believe
will we pull out
this foundational
peace
or will we build
our lives on it
Tim Keller says
if Jesus rose from the dead
then you have to accept
all that he said
if he didn't rise from the dead
then why worry about any
of what he said
the issue on which
everything hangs
is not whether or not
you like his teaching
but whether or not
he rose from
the dead
I like the way
Yaroslav Pelikan said it
listen to this
if Christ is not risen
nothing else matters
and if Christ is risen
nothing else matters
we rejoice
church this morning
but in fact
Christ
has been raised
from the dead
amen
father we praise you
for the good news
of the gospel
we praise you
that we don't have to live
in this false reality
of no hope
no resurrection
no answer for sin
no relationship with God
but in fact
Christ has been raised
to purchase
all of these things
for us
he stands to offer
eternal life
to any sinner
who would turn to him
in faith
we praise you
in the name of Christ
we praise you
amen
we praise you