Could you turn with me, please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15? This morning I spoke a very unusual Easter Sunday morning message, and I was looking at Hebrews 11 in part of our series, and I continued with that and drew lessons from Hebrews 11 and the life of Joseph for Easter morning. This evening, I couldn't come to a passage that is more steeped in the resurrection. And I want to read some of 1 Corinthians 15, starting at verse 1 through to verse 6, and then we're going to jump to verse 14 through to verse 20. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, he was seen of about 500 brethren at once. of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep." Down to verse 14. "'And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.' For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ Jesus risen from the dead. from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. And amen. God will bless the reading of his word. Keep your Bible handy, please. It is my practice every Easter time to read through this chapter once again. I do it different times through the year, but particularly at Easter time. And there's so much as I started to read it that I thought would be my text tonight. I got stopped at verse 1, where we read, I declare unto you the gospel. I declare unto you the good news. And I thought, well, I'll just stop at verse 1 and I will declare again the good news of the gospel. And then I stopped again at verse three, where it says, Christ died for our sins. And I thought, well, I'll stop there. And I'll make my text at verse number three, Christ died for our sins. And no one would argue with that tonight. And then I stopped again at verse four, that he was buried. And I thought that was interesting because we normally preach Christ's death and resurrection, but Paul also includes his burial. I think he does that for two reasons. He stresses the burial because it establishes the fact that he was definitely dead. And secondly, it reinforces the fact that he definitely was resurrected from the dead. And so Paul puts in the burial of the Lord Jesus. As a young believer many years ago, I used to worry about verse number two, because it says at the end of the verse, unless ye have believed in vain. And as a young Christian, I often wondered, did I believe in vain? And it used to bother me. You see, I didn't have a breathtaking climatic conversion. I wasn't steeped in the world. I hadn't done much that people would say was wrong. And so my transition to Christ was a very smooth thing. I was used going to church. I was familiar with the verses. I knew the gospel. My parents were believers. They were steeped in the gospel, in the gospel halls. And so whenever I became a Christian through the preaching of Tom Bentley, a missionary from Malaya, it didn't seem from outward people looking on that there was much change. And I used to wonder, did I believe in vain? Have I the real thing? It doesn't worry me anymore. Because what the apostle Paul is saying in verse two, and then again, down in verse 14, is that if Christ be not risen from the dead, if the resurrection never happened, then you have believed in vain. This has got nothing to do with the way you believe, or the measure of your faith, or whether it was at church or at your bedside, or whether you were 70 or seven, No, Paul is dealing with the fact that if Christ be not risen from the dead, then you have no foundation. And so I don't worry about that anymore. I don't get too worried either about proving things. People say, prove it to me. When they read the scriptures, prove it. And my job here tonight is not to try and prove things to you, but rather to faithfully explain what God's word says and point out that it's not proof that is required, but it is faith to take God at his word. That said, one of the things that we do have proof for the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. We do have evidence. We do have tangible proof. And I could spend time tonight that I don't have looking at some of those wonderful proofs. For example, we have 17 post-resurrection appearances of Christ after his death. At least one of which we read about in verse 6 that was to over 500 people at once. That's good testimony. 17 appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. We could also add to that the action of the soldiers who were on duty at the tomb. Matthew 27, they were told to keep guard. They put the Roman seal. And then they had to be in the next chapter, in Matthew 28, they had to be bribed that the body, to say that the body was stolen by the disciples while they were asleep. We have the evidence that the Roman and religious authorities could never produce a body to disprove the resurrection. They certainly would have loved to. And the tomb was certainly empty. But even though the authorities hated it and tried to suppress it, they couldn't refute it. It was a fact. and they had to live with that fact. Not only that, we could add the transformation of the timid, fearful, hiding disciples who became fearless and bold and adventurous and valiant in their proclaiming of the gospel, even to martyrdom for their belief in the resurrected Christ. We could add to that the evidence of the church. In less than 50 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church became a mighty power. And we could spend time going through all that and proving to you beyond any shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ is risen. from the dead. And if we can do that, and I believe we can, if we can prove the resurrection, then three other things are proven at the same time. Number one, it proves that every claim of Christ is vindicated and proved to be true. Secondly, it proves that the sacrifice for sin at Calvary has been accepted by the Father because the resurrection was evidence of God the Father's approval. And thirdly, it proves to us that there will be a day of judgment. Let me read to you just as evidence for that in Acts chapter 17 and verse 31. because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that there's going to be a day of judgment. And so we could spend time looking at that. But as I meditated in this chapter, I looked at the negative statements that Paul makes with regards to the resurrection of Christ. It starts in verse 14, takes us through to verse 20, and he says, if Christ be not risen, then there are repercussions. There's seven of them. And what I want to do tonight, and I've got about two minutes on each one of them, I want to reverse that because we believe that Jesus is risen from the dead and the negative implications turns into a positive. Let's look at them together. First of all, in verse 14, if Christ be not risen, then your preaching is vain. Let me turn that into a positive. He is risen, therefore the preaching is not vain, it's powerful. There is a power attached to this meeting tonight. There is a power every time the word of God is open. And Paul had done a lot of preaching, and there has been a lot more since Paul's day to this. Hundreds of languages and dialects in hundreds of countries to millions of people. And some like Paul have laid down their lives for this gospel message and for the cause of Christ. And because of the resurrection, All that preaching is not empty words. All that preaching is just not empty meaning. Rather, it is not vain, but victorious. It's not pointless, but powerful. It's not empty, but effective. Dear friend, as you sit in the meeting tonight, this message is powerful enough to change you from the inside out, and you'll never be the same again. It's powerful. Why? Because Christ is risen from the dead. And maybe if I sat with you, and we got everybody else to go home, and I just sat with you in the church, you would start to tell me about people you know, and their lives have been changed, and their homes have been restored, and their marriages have been saved, because they met Jesus Christ, who was risen from the dead. That's the power. preaching is not vain. You mightn't like my preaching. That's okay. Sometimes I don't like it myself. But the preaching of the word of God is powerful. It is dynamic. And it has the ability to turn people's lives inside out and upside down as they're confronted with the resurrected savior. If Christ be not risen, your preaching is vain. Secondly, if Christ be not risen, verse 14, your faith is vain. Let me turn it around, because Christ is risen, so faith is not vain, but it is valid and it is effective. Dear friend, can I say to you tonight that if you can disprove the resurrection, I will get off this pulpit and never get back on it again. More than that, I will take out a page in the Balaamina Guardian and the Balaamina Times, and I will use those pages to ask for God's forgiveness for deceiving people, because my faith is vain. but verse 20 rings true, but now is Christ risen from the dead. And dear friend, if you put your faith, if you put your confidence, if you put your hope for eternity upon the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, your faith will not be in vain. It will be on a firm foundation. it will be in a solid rock. Tell me, what are you depending on for eternity? What are you trusting in for eternity? Let's do the next one. Paul says, if Christ be not risen, Well then, your preaching is vain and your faith is vain, but we have turned that round because Christ is risen from the dead, and we find that our preaching is not vain but powerful, and faith is not vain but effectual. The third one, verse 15, if Christ be not risen, the preachers are false. They're found false witnesses of God. Preaching and preachers who preach that Christ is the risen Savior and only Savior are not true but false. Ah, but the opposite is true. Christ is risen from the dead. And so the preachers are not faithless and not false, but are faithful. Faithful. We had faithful preaching this week. as Pastor Harvey Shaw handled the Word and reminded us of the cross and Calvary. And I think of all the preachers. Don't just look at me. I have more feelings than I ought to have, but I line up and I think of Peter and Paul and John and James and Stephen, the first martyr. And I come right through all the decades of history, the centuries of history, the preachers. And we come to ones that are relatively modern, like the Westleys and the Whitfields and the Spurgeons and the Moodies. Will you pronounce them liars? Everyone? No. These men turned their world upside down. These men changed their society. These men came in to preach in cities and turned them upside down by the power of God, the power of the resurrected Savior. If Christ isn't risen, preaching is vain. Faith is vain. Preachers are false. But, says Paul, now is Christ risen from the dead. And dear friend, I want you to take it from me that because he is risen, then the preaching is powerful, and the faith is effectual, and the preachers are faithful. Will you not come into the good of God's resurrection. Will you not tonight make his death on the cross your own and say, he died for me, he was raised for me, and trust it? Let's look at number four. We're moving very quick tonight. It says, Paul, in verse 17, if Christ be not risen, then Christians are vain. Your faith is vain. That's different from the word that's used in verse 14, The preaching being vain. This time in verse 17, it means being fruitless. It means having nothing of value. It means having nothing that will last for eternity. But dear friend, because of the resurrection, we can turn that right around because he is risen, then Christians are fruitful and valuable. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7, by their fruits ye shall know them. Christians and the message of Christ produces fruit. The message that I preach from this pulpit makes drunken men sober. It makes crooked men straight. It makes godless men holy. It makes cruel men kind. It makes stubborn men soft. It makes careless men thoughtful. It changes men. It changes their lives. It makes them fruitful and productive. The only way to fulfill the purpose of your life is to be a Christian. Dear friend, no matter what you do in life, if you do not have Jesus Christ, at the end of the day, it's all futile and pointless. Let's come again. If Christ be not risen, preaching is vain, faith is vain, preachers are vain, Christians are vain. Verse 17, it says, if Christ be not risen, then you are yet in your sins. If there is no resurrection, then you and I are bound for a lost eternity, as quick as our feet will carry us. There is no other alternative. If Christ be not risen, our ultimate destination is sealed. We'll be in hell as if we were there already. Ah, but says Paul, but now is Christ risen from the dead. And what does that mean? It means that Christians are no longer in their sins. They're no longer bound for a lost eternity. Their sin is gone. The sin is canceled. My sin no longer sinful. My soul no longer sinful, but thankful and grateful for all that Christ did that first Easter. Oh, the hymn writer said, my sin, Oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! If Christ be not risen, then we have all kinds of problems, my friend. The preaching's vain. Our faith is vain. The preachers are false. The Christians are fruitless. Christians are lost, and they're bound for a lost eternity. But listen, but now is Christ risen from the dead. What a message for a preacher. I can bring a message that says that preaching is powerful, and faith is effectual, and preachers are faithful, and Christians are fruitful, and Christians are not lost, but are bound for glory. Ah, but there's more. Look at verse 18. It says, Paul, they, if Christ be not risen, then they which are dead in Christ have perished. See those loved ones that we know and love and we find it so hard to let go. We have no hope for them. My dad who preached and taught me the things of God sang me the choruses as I sat on his knee as a child. And he left this scene of time. If My mom, who wrote to me when she was up during the night and wrote me wee stories and letters to encourage my soul. Her faith was pointless if you take away the resurrection. She's lost. Dear friend, I'll tell you, when it comes to a funeral, I have no good news for them. But now is Christ risen from the dead. So my mom and my dad and our loved ones and those that have gone on before us, we have a glorious hope. They're in the Lord's presence. We rejoice not that they're gone but we rejoice that the best still lies ahead. Oh, what a victory. What a note of triumph. I tell you, the dead saints are not lost, but are saved. They're not perished, but are protected by the blood of the Lamb. They're not remorseful, but they're rejoicing in the Lord's presence. Hallelujah. I think that's six. Verse 19, Paul says, if Christ be not risen, then Christian people are to be pitied. As it says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. We're to be pitied. But now is Christ risen from the dead. And we do not need to be pitied but envied. I tell you, there is nothing this life can offer that is worth more than Christ. Take the world, but give me Jesus. The Lord says, what shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his own soul? We are not to be pitied. There's people driving up and down the tomb road, and they pity us, and they say, look at all the cars. Dear, love them. in open air, maybe the market witness, and they're walking past and sniggering and saying, look at the boys. Oh, no, no, no, no. But now is Christ risen from the dead. We're not to be pitied. We're to be envied. We have all that we need for time and for eternity. dear friend, never weaken, never compromise on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because if you do, then our preaching is vain, our faith is vain, our preachers are false, the Christians are fruitless, the Christians are lost, the saints have perished, and we're to be But now, but now, is Christ risen. Risen from the dead. Come with me to the land of Israel. Come out to Damascus Gate. Mentioned it this morning. The bus depot's just across the road. Above that bus depot is the little hill that General Gordon felt was the mark of the skull, said that he believed that there was the site of the crucifixion. When they were renovating it and excavating it, they found a little garden and there was a tomb not completely finished. It was finished in a rush. General Gordon said, this is it. This is the site of the tomb. Joseph of Arimathea's new tomb hadn't even got it finished. And the tomb is empty. Miraculous? Yes. Sensational? Absolutely. Amazing? Yes. True? Absolutely. Yes. He is risen. Paul says to us, on the basis of the resurrected Savior, preaching is powerful. Faith is effectual. Preachers are faithful. Life can be fruitful. Souls can be grateful for sins forgiven. Dead and Christ are peaceful, and the saints are joyful. He is risen. dear Saint of God, never weaken on it. But if you're not a Christian, you have to decide what you do with the empty tomb. You have to decide tonight. You have to decide how you deal with the Emmanuel, God with us, who died an atoning substitutionary death on your behalf. And the third day, God raised him from the dead for you. He is risen. All his claims are true. His sacrifice for sin is fully accepted, and one day, one day, you will give an account for what you did with Jesus. A village in England were fed up with young boy racers racing through their village. So they got together and the committee of the village put up a big sign, please drive slowly. It didn't make a bit of difference. They just raced through. One of the counselors had an idea. And he got a lorry and they picked up a wreck of a car smashed in a road traffic accident and they put it beside the sign. And they added to the sign, this could happen to you. It slowed down. It was so visual. It was so obvious. They could see what speeding does and they could think, how on earth did anybody get cut out of that? Dear friend, you know what I'd love to do? I'd love to sink a shaft from this baptismal tank down into hell. And we could get an orderly queue. and you'd come up, and you'd walk along, and you'd spend time looking into the torment of hell. And I'd be at the other side, and I'd be leading you all to Christ. Because after seeing that, you wouldn't walk out the same way. No way. You'd say, Pastor, I can't leave here if I'm going there. I need to get saved. I need to know Christ as my savior. I need to be protected from such a place. Dear friend, imagine it. Come to Christ. Why? Because Christ is risen from the dead. And because he is risen, then preaching is powerful, and faith is effectual, and preachers are faithful, and life can be fruitful, and souls can be grateful, and the dead in Christ are peaceful, and saints, praise God, are joyful. Will you come tonight? And if you have come, never weaken, never compromise. Never lose a tight grip on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because if you do, you'll lose it all. There's no hope if he hasn't risen from the dead.