Well, I'll tell you, my friend, if Jesus Christ lives and if He lives in you, that means you will live for as long as He lives. Forever and ever. For all eternity. Those who have embraced Him, those who have received Him into their life have the living Christ dwelling in their temple, in their body. And because He lives, we too shall live. So that's why we're excited. His life means our life. The fact that Jesus lives in us means we will live for as long as He lives, forever and ever and ever. No wonder He said, He who believes in Me shall never die. He said, ìI am the resurrection and the life.î He said, ìI am the way, the truth and the life.î The Bible says, ìIn Him was life.î Jesus lives, and because He lives, we too will live. So thatís why weíre excited about His resurrection. Because His resurrection proves that He was who He claimed to be. He said, I am the Messiah. He claimed to be the Son of God. But His resurrection proved it. And think about it. Because He lives, He's right here in the midst of this assembly of believers. For Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Jesus is here today because He's alive. He intercedes on behalf of those who are His. He makes intercession for us, the Bible says. He is our mediator between God and men. Christ Jesus is our High Priest. He is the one making intercession for us. He is with us as we carry out the Great Commission. He said, and lo, I am with you all way even unto the end of the world. And this world, this age has not ended yet. That tells me Jesus is still here with us as we preach the Gospel, as we carry out the Great Commission and make disciples. He is with us. He has not left us alone. He said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Because Jesus is alive. He holds the keys of death. And John, as he was fearing for his life, Jesus said, John, don't be afraid. I am the Living One. I was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And I hold the keys of death and of hell. We don't need to fear because we belong to the One who holds the keys and He is alive today. because Jesus is alive. He controls the universe. The Bible teaches that not only did He create the universe, but the Bible says, by Him all things consist, which means He holds it together. He is the one who is holding the planets in their places and the orbit of the earth. And Jesus controls all of creation. By Him all things consist. He's the head of the church. His body, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, the preeminent one from the grave, that in all things He might have the preeminence. He's the head of the church. He lives inside of believers. No wonder Colossians 1.27 says, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Jesus lives inside of a believer. Because He lives, He completes us with all spiritual blessings. That's why Paul wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And you are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power, Colossians 2.10. I'm complete with everything I need for life and godliness and for all eternity, because Jesus lives in me. Because He lives, He strengthens us for service. What did Paul say? I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Because He's alive, He strengthens us for our service for Him. He supplies all our needs. Philippians 4.19, But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Jesus supplies our needs. Because he is alive, he gives peace to our hearts and our troubled minds. In Philippians 4.7, he says, when we pray, the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Because He is alive, He gives gifts to the church. Ephesians 4.8. Because He is alive, and this is the main one, He saves all who call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm so thankful that He is alive today. because He has done this and infinitely more for all of us who know Him as our personal Savior. I'd like you to open your Bibles today to 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter. This chapter is given over to the fact that Jesus is alive. People were denying Christ's resurrection, saying He did not arise. As a matter of fact, the Greeks were saying in Paul's day, there's no such thing as a resurrection. And some of the Corinthians were tempted to believe that lie. Now, if there's no resurrection, then Christ is not raised. And if Christ is not raised, we are in big trouble. And so, Paul, in this chapter gives three factual proofs validating the authenticity of Christ's resurrection. He declares in verses 1 and 2 of this chapter that the very fact that you are saved by Him tells me He is alive. He quotes in verses 3 and 4 the Old Testament Scriptures that He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And it's the Scripture that validates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then there were eyewitnesses. He goes on to say he was seen of Cephas, or Peter. Then of the twelve, Matthias being one of them. And then he was seen of 500 brethren at once. And after that he was seen of James, which was the half-brother of Jesus, the writer of the book of James. And then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also. as one born out of due time. He said, I saw him. And Jesus changed Paul's life, Saul's life. He was a transformed man after he saw the resurrected Savior. Everyone who saw him after his resurrection was transformed. Thomas went from a doubter to a believer. And Jesus said, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are all they which have not seen and yet have believed. Peter, who was a man who denied Him, saying, I don't know the man. I don't know who you're talking about. I don't know him. And he wept bitterly after he denied the Lord three times. But after the resurrection, Peter became a mighty preacher for Jesus Christ, willing to be beaten, willing to be thrown in prison. He counted it a privilege to suffer for his risen Savior. those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, their hearts were heavy upon them. And they were so sad and so burdened with the fact that Jesus Christ was dead. But when He walked by them and began His Bible study in the Old Testament, they suddenly came to realize, He's alive, He lives! And they said, did not our hearts burn within us? as Jesus Christ was alive. And then I think the greatest example of a changed life has to be Saul of Tarsus. A man who was persecuting Christians, having him thrown into jail and put to death for their faith in Jesus the Messiah, that after Saul became a Christian, he was one who would give, after he saw the resurrected Christ, he would give the rest of his life to serving Him. He would consider his Judaism dung. He would consider all of his religious pedigree as nothing, rubbish. He said, I will follow the living Savior and he would be willing to die for Christ. He would be willing to have his head cut off. Peter would be willing to be hung upside down. John would be willing to be boiled in oil. James would be killed with a sword. Stephen would be stoned to death. And all who believed in Christ were so convinced that He was alive that they were willing to die for Him. Now, nobody dies for a dead man. Nobody dies for somebody who is not worthy to die for, but because Jesus is alive. They knew it. they were willing to give their life for Him. Can you imagine, though, what life would be like if Jesus didn't arise? How things would be altered for the Christian if he never walked out of that grave? Can you imagine the effect that this would have upon our beliefs and our practices and our hopes for the future? That's what Paul addresses in verses 14 and following. But let's begin our reading in verse 12. Notice 1 Corinthians 15, verse 12. Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is 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, and ye are yet in your sins. Then they also 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. If Jesus never arose, think about the differences there would be in our lives today. First of all, there'd be no substance to our faith if Jesus did not arise from the grave. The Bible says in verse 14 that if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain. Do you know what that means? The fact that you're sitting here today would be a waste of time if Jesus wasn't alive. But I don't know about you, I don't have any time to waste. I would not give my life to preaching the gospel if I did not believe that Jesus was alive. and that I was preaching the truths of a living Savior who could change men and women's lives. The very fact that we're here preaching the Gospel today is based upon the fact that we believe that Jesus lives. If He did not rise, then our preaching would be in vain. The ministry of Faith Baptist Church would be in vain. This service would be for naught. It would be hollow, empty, void of substance. Our faith is not this pie-in-the-sky, unfounded leap in the dark. No, our faith is founded upon fact. We do not trust blind faith or faith with no reality. If no resurrection, then our faith would be empty, like a shell with no kernel. like husk without the corn. We would just be full of hot air, empty, no real substance to our Christianity. By the way, that's what separates Christianity from every other religion outside of Christianity. No other religion has a resurrected Savior except biblical Christianity. Jesus arose from the dead. If you take the resurrection out of Christianity, there's nothing left to Christianity. If Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain. Not only that, but there's no truth to our message. Verse 15, Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ. We would be false witnesses. That's a serious crime. The Bible says in the ninth commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. And in that commandment, He says, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. If it is a very bad sin to bear false witness against another human being, can you imagine how infinitely more wicked it would be to bear false witness against God? We would be false witnesses if Jesus was not alive. We would be saying that God raised Him from the dead, when in fact He didn't raise Him from the dead, if there would be no resurrection of the dead. You notice He says here in verse 15 that we preach that God raised Him up. Who raised up Christ? God did. As a matter of fact, Scripture teaches that the whole triune Godhead was involved in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 10 and verse 9 and Acts 2, verse 24, that God the Father raised up the Son of God. In 1 Peter 3.18, the Bible says that it was the Spirit that quickened him or made him alive. In John 10, verse 17 and 18, Jesus says that He raised Himself. He said, no man can take my life from me. He said, I have the power to lay it down. I have the power to raise it up. Who raised Him up? The Father did. The Son did. The Spirit did. The triune Godhead raised the Son from the dead. But if He did not rise, there'd be no truth to our message. Scripture teaches, that we would be preaching in vain, useless, futile, purposeless, fruitless. A dead Christ can't do anything for anybody. A dead Savior is no Savior. If He died to pay for the sin but was not alive to apply that payment to us, we could not benefit. But Jesus is alive. But think about it. If He did not rise again, there would be no forgiveness of our sin. Verse 17. If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, meaning it's empty, and ye are yet in your sins. Not only does God say that all have sinned and sin is in us, but here He says, we are in sin. See, not only are we filled with sin, but we are in sin unless Christ removes it. Sin is like quicksand that has us trapped in it and we can't get out. Sin has hold around us. It surrounds us, envelops us, encloses us. We're trapped in the realm of sin and we have no way to escape unless Jesus pulls us out of it. But He could not pull us out if He did not rise from the dead. If Christ didn't arise, nobody could be joined to His life, and then all would be shackled to sin and death. I'd like you to notice the Scripture. Keep your bookmarker here, but go to Romans chapter 4. This is a very important doctrine that I'm about to explain. Romans 4, verse 25. Romans 4, verse 25. What is Scripture? where this verse involves both the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, speaking of Jesus, He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. There we have the death and resurrection of Jesus, that He was delivered over to death to pay for our offenses, to pay for our sin. But now He says, He was raised for our what? Justification. What does that mean? He was raised so that we could be righteous. He was raised so that we could be just as if we had never sinned. How does His resurrection give us justification. It is when you receive Him into your life by faith, at that minute, you have credited to you the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He becomes your righteousness. He is the one who makes you just by virtue of the fact that He enters your life And if there be no resurrection from the dead, there could be no justification. He was raised for our justification so that I could have a relationship with Him, be joined to Him, and thereby be righteous before God. But if He did not rise, all of us are still in our sins. We're going to go to hell and perish. if it wasn't for the fact that He came alive and lives in you. There'd be no forgiveness of sin. Fourthly, if Jesus did not arise from the dead, there would be no hope for our future. Notice verse 18. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 18. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. Fallen asleep is a euphemism for being dead. It is a softer way of referring to death. Because when a believer dies, he doesn't go to hell. His body has the appearance of sleep. But the Scripture teaches that if Jesus didn't arise, then those who have fallen asleep in Him are gone. That means my grandfather. my godly grandfather, we called him Pop, who on his own Bible reading came to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and would read his Bible every day. And even before I came to know the Lord, Pop knew the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived to be about 81 and then died of a heart attack. Healthy man up to that point. Matter of fact, I hope I'd be so fortunate to be able to walk 10 miles, 15 miles. Pop could do that in one day. Amazing man. But God took him. But you know something? I'm going to see Pop again. And the reason is because Jesus is alive and my grandfather had faith in him. I'm so thankful I'll see my dad again. My dad, who I prayed for for 25 years, who finally came to faith in Christ, he also passed of a heart attack. But I know I'll see my dad again, because his faith was in the risen Savior. He committed his soul into the hands of a faithful Creator. And I know that I'll see my dad in glory. So, when I conducted his funeral four years ago, in the month of August, We sorrowed, but not like those who have no hope. Because I know I'll see my dad again in heaven. Do you know, my friend, if Jesus didn't arise though, those who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished. They're gone. Never to be seen again. Never to be heard from again. They're gone. That's the way the world thinks of death. When you die, you die as a beast. You go in the ground, your body becomes decayed. That's the end of you. No, it isn't. Those who die in Christ will live forever and ever and ever. because Jesus is alive. He's coming back again. When He does, He's going to call to those who are in the grave. With the sound of a trumpet and with a great shout, He will say, rise, and they will come out of those graves. And the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the believer are like Siamese twins, two sides of the same coin, because He lives in us. When we die, we will live. What a blessing it is. If Christ didn't arise from the dead, we would never rise and never see our loved ones again. But there's a family reunion coming. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet them in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I'm so thankful that Jesus is coming again. And like Job said, he will call and I will answer. Jesus said, the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear shall live. And then fifthly, if Jesus didn't arise, there'd be no purpose to our life. Verse 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Most to be pitied. If there's no resurrection, then the world should feel sorry for us because we sacrificed, served, witnessed, attended church, prayed, read our Bibles, strived to live pure lives, and it was all for nothing if He didn't rise. We would have believed in Christ and hoped for the future with bliss and glory, find it to be a mirage if Jesus wasn't alive. The conclusion is obvious. If He didn't rise again, why be a Christian? If we only suffer, have false hope, no glory to anticipate. But Paul and his associates gave up everything. position in life, prestige, conveniences and status, to travel all over the Roman world proclaiming that Christ was alive. If He didn't rise, then they gambled everything on Him and lost. I'm so thankful that you're a winner if you live for Jesus Christ. If He never arose, Easter would be the most meaningless holiday on the calendar. but Jesus is alive. And that's why the Scripture says in verse 20, But now is Christ the Messiah risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. Firstfruits speaks of the fact that because Jesus arose, He's the first one to arise, but after Him will come the rest of the harvest. The firstfruits was that which came up first. And that would always be given to God. And everything that followed would come behind the first fruits. The first ripe crops had a promise of a greater harvest yet to follow. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our hope and our life. He says in verse 21, For since by man came death, That's Adam. By man, Jesus, came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. All of us were in Adam, joined to Adam, seminally linked to Adam. And all of us experienced death via our connection with Adam. But now, we're connected to Christ and share in His life. And the scripture says that the resurrection involves orders. Verse 23, There's a series of resurrections. What are they? Verse 23, But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, that's the first resurrection, Christ. Afterward, they that are Christ's at His coming, that's the resurrection of the believers. Verse 24, Then cometh the end when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and authority and power. That's the resurrection at the end of the millennial kingdom. There are three resurrections taught here. The resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of those at His coming, and the resurrection at the end of the millennial kingdom when He hands it over to God the Father. He is our life. As Paul said, Christ liveth in me. If Christ never arose, there'd be no substance to our faith, no truth to our message, no forgiveness of our sins, no hope for our future, and no purpose to our life. But He did rise. And I'm thankful and you're thankful that He's alive today. Because one day, we're gonna see Him face to face. One day, we who have lived by faith will have our faith turned into sight. We will see Him as He is. But until that time, we live for Him and we serve Him. And though we may die before He returns, We know this, that there's coming a resurrection day in which He's going to call us out of the grave. As He says in verse 51, We shall not all sleep. Not all of us will experience death prior to his return. Some will be alive when he comes back. But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. And we shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal, mortal meaning subject to death, must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptible and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the victory. And as a result, we can keep on living for Him. Because whatever we do for Him is not for naught. If He didn't arise, it'd all be in vain. Might as well close shop, borrow the doors, exit FBC and never return. It would all be a waste. Anything we do in the name of Jesus would be a waste if He wasn't the Lord who rose again. But He did rise. And we will rise. And so Paul builds his whole conclusion in this chapter with verse 58. And he says, Therefore, in light of the fact that He lives and you will live, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. He says, because Jesus lives, your sweat, your toil, your exertion, your labor is not in vain in the Lord. so I could be steadfast, persistent, have the attitude of, I'm not going to quit on Jesus. I'm going to be settled, solid, permanent, and stable, and persistent. I'm going to hang in there, stick to it, and won't give up the ship. I'm going to remain steadfast. Then he says, unmovable. Not only will I not quit, I won't even move. I won't detour. I won't get off the straight and narrow. I'm going to stay unmovable and then always abounding. That means, because Jesus lives, I'm not going to be complacent. I'm not going to say, I've done enough for Him. I'm not going to put a limit or a ceiling upon my service for Him. Because Jesus lives, I'm going to abound in the work of the Lord. That means, we're going to do more for Him. We're going to be like a cup that overflows in our service for Christ. We're not just going to say, that's enough right there. Cut it off. No. We're going to abound in the work of the Lord. Excel. Exceed profusely, beyond measure, to overflow the boundaries. Because He gave us life. And He is alive. We will be alive. I can work for God. This is my life verse, by the way, verse 58. I had to pick one. I mean, there's so many good ones I could have picked. I pick this verse as my life verse, 1 Corinthians 15, 58. This is the one that encourages me to keep pressing on because I serve a risen Savior. I know there's nothing else in life worth living for than to work for the Lord. Anybody who worked for God worked not in vain. Noah built the ark, but that wasn't in vain. Moses led Israel, that wasn't in vain. Daniel stood up for God in pagan Babylon, that wasn't in vain. Paul planted well over a hundred churches, none of that was in vain. The reason? They served a risen Savior. vain pursuits in life, we can live for self, we can live for pleasure, we can live for fame and money and career, but all of that junk will come to a screeching halt one day, and then it's over. You need to invest in that which will last for eternity. Aren't we foolish to be penny wise and dollar foolish? like that person that took out his wallet to pay the cashier and I guess he needed some change so he reached in his pocket and pulled out some change and dropped his coin and he went to pick it up and when he got up his wallet was gone. That's like us who live for the penny and don't live for that which matters more. We live for the stuff of this world instead of living for the risen Savior. And one day when we die, God's going to show us, you could have done so much more for me. But you were too preoccupied, too distracted, too busy living for filthy mammon. And there will be many with regrets as their works are burned up at the judgment seat of Christ. But there are no regrets from those that are faithful to the Lord. Because Jesus lives, our labor is not in vain in the Lord. He's coming back. He said, Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give to every man according as his work shall be. And Jesus is going to reward us based on our labor for him. Salvation is not a reward, it's a gift. But God gives rewards to His children based on their faithful service to Him. You know, my friend, the best investment is the investment in the best thing. Always remember that. The best investment is the investment in the best thing. There's nothing better than the Lord. And there's no better investment than in the work of the Lord. Let's bow for prayer. Father in heaven, we're so grateful that we serve a risen Savior. And Lord, we know that because You live, we too shall live. Because our life is connected with Your life, since we have invited You into our life by faith. Lord, I pray for any in our room that have never yet invited you into their life. They're in the realm of death and darkness and lostness and emptiness. There's no life in them, no eternal life. Lord, I pray that they will call out to you and receive you into their life today so that they will not perish, but have everlasting life. How many in our room would say, that's me, I need Him in my life. Would you raise your hand and I'll pray for you? I won't mention your name or embarrass you. I'll pray for all of you three. And you, sir. And you, ma'am. And you, too. I see your hands. You may lower them, all of you folks. And I see that hand in the back. How many others with these would say, and pray for me, because I don't want to perish. I need Him in me. Would you raise your hand if that's you? God bless you, ma'am, and you, sir. You may have religion, but religion cannot save you. You need a relationship with the living Savior. Anybody else who would say, I need Him in my life, would you raise your hand? You've never received Him. You've never received Him. And you say, pray for me. I see your hand, sir. Father in Heaven, I pray in Jesus' name that those who have heard the Gospel today will right now invite You into their heart and life. Father, I pray that they will ask You, Jesus, to save them from the depths of their soul. May they cry out to You, They know about You, Lord, but they need to receive You. For You have said, but as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. May they trust on Your person today, Lord Jesus. Give them the grace to right now call upon You. And my dear friend, if you'd like to call out to Jesus, He wants to save you. Would you call out to Him now and say in your heart, Lord Jesus, I admit my guilt. I'm a sinner. I have broken Your commandments. And I know I deserve to pay for my rebellion. But Lord Jesus, I believe that You died for me. I believe you paid for my sins on the cross. And I believe you rose again and you live today. I invite you into my life, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart today and save my soul from perishing. Save me from my sin. Save me from hell. And please give me your free gift of eternal life. I now receive you, Lord Jesus, as my personal Lord and Savior. And I give my life to you. And I say thank you, Jesus, for saving my soul. Amen.