Let’s ask the Lord’s blessing upon the sermon and the hearing and reception of his word this morning. Join me in a prayer to do just that. Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we come to you again to sit at your feet, to hear your word proclaimed. We pray, Lord, that we would indeed hear the voice of Jesus as his word goes forth. nor that we would be changed by that as a spirit uh… has his way with us through that word so lord we ask that you would give us a tent of hearts so as to put away the things that are uh… this world that are swirling around and harassing us lord help us to focus on uh… the truths from your word for you promised to bless us by it and strengthen us by it hear us lord minister to us through that word we pray we ask it in christ’s name and all god’s people said Amen. Amen.

All right, we’re going to be reading 1 Corinthians chapter 15. That most glorious chapter, not the whole thing. It’s a very long chapter. The first 20 verses. 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 1. Please give your full attention. This is the word of God.

1 Corinthians 15. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you receive and which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believe in vain. For I deliver 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 and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the 12. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James and 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 towards 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. Whether then it was I or they, so we preached, 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 from the dead? But if you say 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. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testify about God, that he raised Christ, and we did not raise, if it is not 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. And 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. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. So for the reading of God’s word, may he indeed add his blessing to it.

Well, it’s my intention to continue in the Book of Mark, the Gospel of Mark next week, but today we’re gonna look at the resurrection of Christ, that glorious capstone of the Christian faith. Those of you who are familiar with Providence here, we know that we’re not shy about celebrating the birth, the incarnation of Christ, and his resurrection of Jesus, not merely on certain cultural times of the year, but every Lord’s Day, Lord’s Day by Lord’s Day. we celebrate these things and praise the Lord for them and we also confess our faith those truths that we declare to be truth right Christ really entered into his creation incarnate incarnation he was crucified dead and buried and he actually raised from the dead in the Creed that we confess our Week by week, we confess that we believe this. We confess that we believe about Jesus, that on the third day, he rose again from the dead. It’s part of the core teaching of God’s Word. These foundational doctrines of our most holy faith, drawn from the Apostle’s teaching, summarized in what’s come to be known as the Apostle’s Creed. And we come this morning, again, to the capstone, that one thing that holds the rest of the ark together, right? You’re familiar with the structure of an ark, and that capstone is the thing that makes it possible for the arch to stay up. And we’ll see this morning that the capstone Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And we confess about Jesus, again, that on the third day he rose again from the dead. It’s imperative that this be believed. The resurrection of Christ, belief or rejection of it, is what separates biblical Christian from non-Christians. the history of the church is littered with those who sought to throw off the teaching of god’s word and abandon the belief that christ actually physically really bodily rose again from the dead in an effort to be modern or sophisticated at different times in history now in our day many have abandoned the core teachings of the bible uh… many have caved to the unbelieving world And sought to throw off what the secular world sees as old fashioned or unscientific, but still want to keep a vestige of religion or religiosity. These are the people who say things like, well, we know that people aren’t really conceived. by virgins, they don’t come back to life and rise after they’ve died. But we still want a moral code, and that’s what’s really important after all, right? Being good, that’s the summa bonum, that’s the best thing, just to be good. And many in the mainline churches have caved into this kind of thinking as well. And they reveal, when they do so, their allegiance to the opinions of man rather than to God’s word. And you see that for those who think this way, it doesn’t matter if Jesus rose from the dead or not, or that he really ever existed. What matters is his teaching, or the teachings that came from the stories about him. And this is the worst kind of scenario, right? To abandon the truth of Christ for moralism, right? Empty moralism. The worst kind of scenario, because people, when they believe this, they are self-deceiving, thinking that they’re just doing good, and that’s all that’s necessary for them. We’ve probably all felt this sentiment directed at us, or maybe we’ve seen it directed at others, right? This idea that religion, religious stuff is fine for you personally, but don’t take that too seriously, right? Don’t take it too seriously, don’t take it to heart, or to think it really matters, especially don’t think that it’s relevant in the real public world, right, in real life. And usually, of course, this is just a thinly-veiled but still smug dismissal of your faith, of the truth of the gospel. But the question comes, that all-significant question that we’re faced with is this, can you be a true Christian if you don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Can you be a Christian if you don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus? And so let’s look at our passage and we’ll see that it will tell us what it tells us there, because believing or denying that Christ rose from the dead has eternal consequences, right? It makes all the difference in the world is a matter of life and death. And so as we work through this passage, we’ll see what Paul is doing. He tells us a number of things about the resurrection. He tells us that it is central, the centrality of the resurrection. In verses 1 to 4, he tells us about the historicity of the resurrection. It’s historically true. In verses 5 to 11, talks about the futility of the resurrection is not true in verses twelve and nineteen in the absolute necessity of the resurrection uh… for life for life by solicit rally the historicity futility and then the necessity of the resurrection so we think about these things we think i’m really about those who are hostile to the christian faith or those who think that they have a modified my own way uh… christianity without christ But even maybe some of you in your own hearts have not settled this question in yourself personally. The question remains, can you be a Christian without believing in the resurrection of Christ from the dead? God in his word has given us an unequivocal answer to that question. It’s not fuzzy, it’s not a gray area, it’s crystal clear. And for your eternal life, you want to be on the right side of that answer. As I said, some people don’t believe that the resurrection is even important or doesn’t really matter. Some think that Jesus was, you’ve heard it, a great moral teacher. And it’s his teaching that’s the good, important stuff, right? That’s what’s important. But the problem is Jesus claimed to be the son of God. He claimed himself to be divine. Someone who’s not a great moral teacher, if he thinks that he’s God and he is not God, the claim isn’t unique in itself. uh… to be a god to be the son of a god history’s full of people who’ve made this claim thinking they were the most they were the messiah or uh… or uh… the almighty uh… we think of uh… i guess it’s not recent now i know i think of uh… people like david koresh right claim himself to be the messiah many others to history done the same thing the differences though the david koresh and all those others who claim this are still there but they’re still there And so it was Augustine who said long ago, Jesus is either God or he’s mad, meaning crazy. He’s either God or he’s mad. If he’s not God, he’s not good. And all the moral teaching that people want to hold on to without the resurrection, it’s based on the claim that he was God. So when we think about the resurrection, the Bible’s teaching about the resurrection, we have to answer this in question, right? Is it important? Is the resurrection important? Paul says it is of supreme importance. There’s nothing more important than that. And it’s a good summary of the gospel that Paul starts here, verses one to four. 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, right? In accordance with the scriptures. He ties them back to what the Lord has said all along. And the bodily resurrection is one of the prime elements of the gospel, right? First of first importance, he says in verse three. Protois, right? Proto, first, most important, most prominent importance. And Paul’s saying that the resurrection is the very essence of the gospel. And we look at verse two, and we see one of the ways that he emphasizes this there in verses one and two. Now I will remind you, brothers, of the gospel which I preach to you, which you receive and which you stand, and then verse two, and by which you are being saved, right? So you see, without the resurrection of Christ, it’s not possible to be saved at all. To fail to see and affirm this isn’t a problem or failing with the gospel. The problem is the person doesn’t think it’s important at all. This distorts the gospel and replaces it with something man-made. The gospel of the church, the Christian church, depends on the resurrection. No gospel, no church. No gospel, no salvation. And if a church doesn’t affirm and preach and confess the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ, it is not a Christian church. I know that’s probably not news to all of you. You all surely hold to this, but not all do. But it’s a distinction and it’s ground which we might not give an inch. So the first thing that we see highlighted by Paul in this passage is the importance of the resurrection. The resurrection is central to the Christian faith. And then we see that Paul goes on to show that it’s of utmost importance, and then he says that it’s true. It’s historically true, right? And this is verses 5 to 11. Paul isn’t making this up. He brings witnesses, right? And he says there in that section, he appeared to Cephas, and to the 12, and to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive. Some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And notice what he said there, that little phrase. Notice what he adds in there. He adds this piece of information, and he says, more than five hundred that uh… about the the more than five hundred jesus appeared to me says most of them are still alive most are still alive why would you add that in there it’s a challenge if you will he says go find them and ask them for yourselves see what they say they’re still around to confirm what i’m saying and then paul mentions himself in verse eight last of all last of all as to one untimely born he appeared also to me He says, when untimely born, Paul’s saying, who would have planned it out like that? Who would have timed it this way for me or for the church, right? Because what was Paul, he was ravaging the church. Paul said, I wanted nothing but to destroy the church. This is the way I want you to think of me. This is who I was pre-Christ, BC, before Christ. The change, this is what I want you to think of me. Who I was and the change born out in Christ getting hold of me, giving me life. This should give you a powerful testimony. to the reality that Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s putting himself, he’s presenting himself as evidence of the resurrection there. The fact that Paul is a Christian, an apostle, can’t be explained except for the miracle of a new heart and divinely given faith. He’s been transformed, Paul has here. And that, for him, is powerful proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is not an optional belief. It’s definitive of the Christian faith. It’s central. It’s historically true. And then we see in verses 12 to 19 the futility if it’s not true, the catastrophic hopelessness and futility if the resurrection did not happen. So think about it like this. Ask the question, what do we lose if we reject or deny the resurrection? Some people think, well, you just lose the resurrection. And of course, this is foolish, because running through the teaching of Christ is his teaching on his resurrection. Paul says in our text, what you lose is everything. You lose everything. He says if the resurrection is not true, then we are liars. We bear false witness. The resurrection is not true, we lose everything, and our faith is worthless. That is a bold claim. This is completely contrary to the idea of many, not here, but many outside, that you can be a Christian without the resurrection. You can take the morality, but not the man Jesus. You can take the Christianity without the Christ. Paul says, no, you can’t. You cannot separate them. Without the resurrection, you have nothing. You’re just whistling, as they say, past the graveyard, trying to assuage the truth, trying to construct a system of your own making to help you feel good and justify your rebellion and rejection of God’s word. And it’s extremely dangerous, of course. This is why Paul is so bold in what he’s saying. He says that apart from the resurrection, you are standing in quicksand because you have nothing to, no firm foundation to stand on, to ground anything at. In fact, he says you’re living a lie. Verse 19 says, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Most to be pitied. Why is that? Well, just think of Paul, for instance, as a case study as he presented himself and all that he went through for the sake of Christ and for the gospel. All the beatings and the lashings and the stonings that he’s gone through. he had the scars to prove it right famously we read about this in his letters the corinthians and consider his status right hebrew of hebrews near the perfect pedigree and training and status that went with all of that in a price had not been raised and paul was certainly pitiful because i mean nothing to me christ meant everything on his conversion or think of yourselves and what you’ve given in your lives, your commitments, and the things you’ve gone through in your lives because of your commitment to Jesus. Paul says that when you grasp the gospel and taste the sweetness of the Savior, those burdens become blessings. They’re badges of belonging to that Savior. Everything depends on the resurrection. Everything. Without it, our faith is futile. The enemies of God have been attacking it for 2,000 years, and it still stands undefeated. It’s because it’s true that on the third day he rose again from the dead. It’s true. If you’d like helping, if you’d like help answering those challenges or how to interact with those challenges when they come, please ask me and we’ll walk through how to do just that. Because the truth is, when you give just a little effort and push back to those who come with challenges and attacks, you’ll see that it’s really not very hard at all. It’s really not that scary at all. And the challenges that come almost entirely are actually lame and foolish and childish. And almost none of them, none of the vast sea of detractors and attackers of the faith, virtually none of them have thought much about their attacks or what to do when you give just a little pushback, a little loving reminder that that’s not true. Almost universally, they fall apart. In my experience, and in the experience of many, because they’ve never been resisted, right? And so let’s be a people, brothers and sisters, who stand firm for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and let’s be a people who give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ as we’re commanded by the Apostle Peter. The enemies of God have been attacking the truth of the resurrection for over 2,000 years. I think of that, and still it stands undefeated. Again, why? Because it’s true that on the third day, he rose again from the dead. It’s historically true. And then in verse 20, he says, but in fact, if in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, I’m sorry, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. So what is that, the first fruits? First fruits, the term refers to that first part or sample of a crop that comes in. And that first part shows you what the nature and the quality of the rest of that crop will be like. And it shows that the final fruits are guaranteed. These have come, it’s inevitable that the rest will come. They’ll be just like that first fruits. In our lives, we have to remember that in the things that we go through in our lives, we’ll pattern the life of our savior. Suffering, then glory, suffering, then glory. And as he was raised in resurrection glory, dear Christian, we too will be raised in resurrection glory. And the glorious thing is that we already begin to share in that resurrection life and power of Christ, even now in this life. And as he did with Lazarus, he does with us. He calls us to come out and to come forward into newness of life and know him and his resurrection power. And it’s precisely because of his resurrection as the first fruits that we have this great confidence that death has been defeated in Christ. Our greatest enemy death has been defeated. We have great confidence that he will one day raise us up from the dust of the earth and give us resurrection bodies. No more pain, no more infection, no more tears, no more mourning. Praise your Lord and King and Savior, brothers and sisters. He is worthy of your praise, and he’s worthy of your lives. And then one last thing to close, and it’s of critical importance. Look again at verse 17. Verse 17 says, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. This speaks to the absolute necessity of the resurrection. This is why we need the resurrection to be saved. In verse two I mentioned it says, by which you are being saved, the gospel. But if there’s no resurrection, what does it say? We are still in our sins, you are still in your sins. No resurrection, no salvation. And I want you to think in terms of Paul and what he’s saying in looking at the Old Testament in a sacrificial system. I’m sure you recall in that system that was set up all the structures for the temple sacrifice and worship. After the very careful preparations were made, the high priest would go in once a year to offer a sacrifice for the sins in that Holy of Holies. And as the priest worked and moved through the different parts of the temple, the people could what? They could hear him because there were bells on his robes. And the people couldn’t even go in to watch, but they could hear. They had to stay outside as the priest offered the sacrifice for their sins. They could hear the bells and they could know that the priest was still alive doing his work. And this gave them hope. Hope that God was accepting the sacrifice and not rejecting the sacrifice and not taking out the priest. The people had hope. They had hope as they heard. And they knew to some extent what they deserved, punishment for their sins. But they had hope as they heard the priest go about the business of making the sacrifice in the inner place for them, pouring the blood of that sacrifice on the altar. And then to conclude, the priest would come out, remember, he would come out and what would happen? He’d raise his hands and he’d give the benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his confidence upon you and give you peace. idea that you’re at the end of the uh… ronick benediction is called the nation and come out the people will give you peace there’s a proclamation that yahoo a had accepted a sacrifice that was made was accepted in their sins were declared forgiven the declaration of their status before god forgiven by virtue of that in technological form, of course. And this is what happens in the resurrection, right? Remember the disciples afterwards, they’re dismayed. They’re rattled and depressed. And for three days, they heard nothing from their high priest. They didn’t hear anything. And they assumed that he was dead because he was dead. And then on the third day, he rose again from the dead and recall the first thing that Jesus says to his disciples when he appears before them. He appeared to them on that evening of that first day of the week, and he stood among them, and you remember what he said? He said, peace, shalom, be with you. The sacrifice had been accepted, you see. And as you trust him, your sins are forgiven. And he brings you new life. And we end where we began. If he has not risen, then none of this is true, none of it matters, and we’re left in our sins before a holy God for ourselves. I believe that on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead. And what a wonderful blessing. What a wonderful reality and truth that flows from that. Not merely to believe that this is true of Jesus, but personally to know that it is true of whom this is true, right? Believes this. And knowing this Jesus, that he’s become your savior. The resurrection was the promise of scripture. The resurrection is everything. And because of this, because of it, the resurrection, we as people are given various benefits. There’s the benefit of being declared righteous before God, right, our justification, being declared righteous, our standing before God is set. And because of his being raised, because he overcame death, we now share in that righteousness that he obtained for us. So how can he be certain that you are righteous? How can he be sure? This is the question we struggle with sometimes, especially with the lingering, clinging, remaining sin that we have in our lives. But remember, we have to remember the connection between your standing before God, your righteousness, and the resurrection. That is what secures it, brothers and sisters. And so when your own heart or the enemy harasses you and says, are you really righteous? God wouldn’t save the likes of you. How do you respond? You respond with the question. Is the tomb empty? Did Jesus rise again? And that’s your answer, brothers and sisters. That’s your answer. It’s objectively true reality of what happened, not how you feel, not something else makes you feel. Being declared righteous. And then there’s also the benefit of sanctification, right? Or being made more and more like Jesus in our daily lives as we grow and move in this life through time. That Christ’s resurrection power We also are already raised in newness of life. That’s the key, right? So if you feel yourself as you’re grinding away in the dregs of daily life, not feeling very holy at all, the answer is what? It’s to trust that Christ has already made you alive because he has, and it’s true already, not yet consummated, not yet glorified. but he has made you new, as you are united to him, and you’re to go forth out of that life, following him in faith, wherever he calls you. And then finally, justification and sanctification, there’s the benefit of glorification, being glorified, that final entrance into God’s heavenly and holy presence, apart from sin, in eternity. And to this often again, in our weakness in our flesh, the accusation comes, even from our own hearts, I have to sit in traffic every day. I have kids to raise. I have meals to prepare. I have a house to clean. How does this impact my life now? But I think most of us, dear Christians, if we remember and believe just a little that this is true, it would radically change our lives and our perspective on everything. We need to be constantly corrected by his word as to what is true about him and about us. We can’t frame the scriptures around the stuff and mess of our lives. We frame the dramas and traumas of our lives around the truths of scripture, around that which is true and eternal and certain, because it is promised by our loving father. You believe it, you must believe it, and ask him for the faith to believe it. And remember, brothers and sisters, Christ’s resurrection is the sure pledge of our blessed resurrection as well. Because he rose, he will raise me. Because he was glorified in God’s presence, I too will be glorified in God’s presence, as will you if you believe in him, if you’ve given your life to him. Without the resurrection, the weight of your sins would crush you, would crush you. But with it, we are assured that all Christ did is declared are just ours in our justification, right? It’s declared ours. It’s applied in our sanctification, and we experience it in our glorification. So remember that, brothers and sisters, this week. As you go back into the world, let us remember that Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Let us praise Him. Praise Him that all that needed to be done to secure your life, eternity with Him, and even give you life here has been done. He has risen. He has risen indeed. Amen. Let’s pray.

Almighty and loving God, we praise you for your work in our lives. We praise you for calling us out of a dead and dying world, having given us life in Christ, eternal life, and a home in glory. And we ask, dear Lord, that you would help us anew and ongoing to believe who we are by virtue of your work in our lives, in calling us and naming us, and that we are new creations. I will soar to walk after you with all of our lives. Father, we pray for the children of this church, that you would bless them, continue to bless them, and call them, and draw them, and lead them, and protect them, pray that they would have, that they would love you with all their hearts, and that as they go through this life, as they fall and stumble and stand again, that they would cling to you more and more as their savior. We pray for the parents here today as well, that they would love their children and rear them according to your word. We pray Lord grant the husbands and wives to love one another with the Christ like love, sacrificial service to one another. Pray for those who are single. Lord, grant them the comfort of your love and providence in their lives. And we pray your perfect will for them. And if it is your pleasure to bring others into their lives and bless them with companionship and relationships that honor you, that bring you glory, whatever your will, Father, we pray, help us all to delight in you and revel in your love for us and find our satisfaction and contentedness ultimately in our Savior Jesus Christ, the only satiation for our souls, even for all of us, dear Lord. We pray, help us to have hearts that are filled with your love. We’ll be loving and caring one another in a way that would be witnessed by that dead and dying world outside. It is in such need of the gospel. Use us, we pray, in our lives and our lips to witness to your love. Father, we thank you for your promise. to have fed us afresh this day by your word and that you will feed us in the supper with Christ, the bread of heaven. May we see that this is our life and sustenance through all of our, all of our sojourning in this life. Lord, we praise you and thank you that we can come boldly before you because of the work of Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of that same Jesus. Amen.