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Thanks again for the invitation
today. We praise the Lord for it. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I know there's no time limits today,
but I do stand between you and lunch, so I better at least do
this if I can remember how to do it. Tough getting old. So when I began to think about
how I might minister to you today, I know y'all have had a tough
year, and I suppose a lot of things have entered into your
mind, which, by the way, I think those tough times and the suffering
like Brother Mark just talked about a moment ago, it's been
my experience that a lot of that comes through the pursuit of
being more biblical. And, you know, if you're moderate,
if you're lukewarm in what I'm saying in biblical matters and
what is truly biblical, Satan doesn't have any problem with
you going on as you are. You're actually helping him out. But
when it comes to actually being biblical and being committed
to the scripture and committed to following and pursuing the
scriptures, that's when, it's been my experience, that's when
trouble starts. That's when those enemies start coming out of the
woodwork. And so, that's when those tough times come. So I suppose during those tough
times, and I don't just suppose it, I know it by experience,
things have entered your mind, many things perhaps have entered
your mind as individuals, as the Lord's people here and as
this church here, even that it might be easier just to quit
and give up. And I want to try to encourage
you, listen, we should all know that these thoughts do enter
our minds. These thoughts are not at all
uncommon in the believer's mind, okay? They have never been uncommon. The idea that, hey, This is just
too hard. Maybe I just need to quit. Maybe
I just need to give up. Listen, we have many, many examples
in Scripture that tell us that real, true believers of God,
followers of Christ, thought those same things. So don't let
guilt overtake you if those things come into your mind, because
that's just not... Those things are common in the
mind of God's people. They are. We're human beings.
Yes, we are born again, praise the Lord. Yes, we are a new creature
in Christ Jesus, praise the Lord, but we're also still walking
around in these bodies of death. And in these bodies of death,
all sorts of thoughts come into our mind. Remember Elijah? You know? He sure was ready to
give up, right? His shade tree dried up. He was ready to give in. Give
up! Kill me, Lord! But yet, Scripture tells us that
His nature is the same as ours, and ours is the same as His.
Remember Job, who by the way was the most righteous man on
earth? Have you read the book of Job? Was he ready to give up at times?
I'd have been better if I'd never been born, is what he said. So
those things are common in the minds of God's people. So when
I was thinking about what the Lord, what God the Holy Spirit
might use to comfort and encourage and motivate you, well, I'll
just say it this way, the decision was an easy one. 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, one of the most glorious, comforting, encouraging, motivating
chapters in God's Word. The Apostle Paul here writes
about, he writes about and emphasizes the truth that we all as Christ
followers know and believe, but yet somehow I don't think we
know and believe it like we should. or I don't think we live in and
live from this truth as we should. So let me begin by giving us
a couple points of context. Of course, this is a letter,
1 Corinthians, is a letter written by the apostle Paul to a congregation
of baptized believers in the city of Corinth, Greece. And the apostle is writing this
letter, if you've ever read the book of 1 Corinthians, the letter
of 1 Corinthians, he's writing this letter because this church
had a lot of serious issues. And at the root of their issues,
they were carnal. Their thinking, their attitudes,
their actions were too worldly. In other words, they had heart
issues that were plaguing their lives and plaguing the life of
their church. That sound familiar? It should. Because of all the churches that
are addressed in the New Testament, it's this called worldly church
of Corinth that most closely resembles the typical church
in America today. In other words, if the Apostle
Paul were writing a letter to our churches today, he would
say a lot of the same things and in the same way to us. He would, I'm convinced of that.
So this instruction is definitely relevant to us. It is relevant
to our churches today. And speaking of instruction,
we should notice that this chapter and the subject of this chapter,
chapter 15, is really the end of Paul's teaching or instruction
in this letter. Chapter 16, if you glance there
up into chapter 16, is much more postscript. than didactic. You can see in verses 1 through
12 in chapter 16, if you just glance at it, you can see that
verses 1 through 12 are specific instruction for that love offering
that Mark was talking about for the Jerusalem church. And then
verses 12 or verses 13 through 24 are mostly personal greetings. So what this means is As the
Apostle Paul, through this letter, is seeking to move this congregation
from willingness to godliness and godwardness, this, chapter
15, is the climactic chapter. Chapter 15 is the climactic part
of his letter. You see, the Apostle Paul, he
knows what will save a choral church. He knows what would save
a carnal church full of worldly people and worldly Christians
from themselves. He knows what it is. So what
is it? Well, let's just look, beginning
in verse one. Now, I make known to you, brothers. And what we're about to see is
he's saying, I need to remind you of something, brothers. I
make known to you, brothers, the gospel, which I proclaimed
as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you
stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word
which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believe
for nothing. For I delivered to you as first
importance what I also received. Christ Jesus himself taught the
apostle Paul this. that Christ died for our sins,
according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that
He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures,
and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that,
He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of
whom remain until now, at this present writing, but some have
fallen asleep, some have died. After that, He appeared to James,
Then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely
born, he appeared to me also." So he's saying, I need to remind
you, brothers, of something. I need to remind you of the gospel. In his letter to the Rome churches,
the same apostle wrote that the gospel is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone who believes. So here we see the apostle actually
believing and living in the reality of that truth. This church needed
to be saved from themselves. And so Paul says, I need to remind
you of something. It's something I've already told
you. It's something that you receive. It's what the Holy Spirit
used to save your soul, but you need to be reminded of something. You need to be reminded of the
gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation in both the lost and the saved, and the saved. They need to be saved from their
worldliness. And Paul knows that the gospel
is God's power, God's mean to do just that. So in this climactic
conclusion of his letter, he reminds them and proclaims to
them once again, the gospel, the good news of how our great
and good God, God Yahweh saves sinners by verses three and four,
giving his own son, Christ Jesus, to die, not for his sins. He
had no sin, but as a sacrifice and a substitute for our sin,
saints. Christ Jesus was put forward
and he stepped forward as the propitiation for our sin. He
bore our sins in his own body on the tree at the cross of Golgotha. He was then buried dead in our
sins death, but on the third day in his own authority, in
his own power, in his own perfect righteousness, he triumphed.
and rose victorious over our sin and its death unto resurrected
life. And he did all of this and everything,
he did everything required to reconcile separated sinners,
us saints, back into right relationship with God, our Creator. This is
the gospel. This is the good news of God,
our Savior. So the Apostle Paul knew exactly
what was needed to save these worldly Christians from themselves. He knew exactly what was needed,
as he wrote in his second letter to them, for them to be transformed
into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another.
They needed to be reminded, they needed to see Christ the risen
and living Savior. They needed the gospel. And him, Paul, knowing exactly
what they needed to be rescued from their worldliness. We need
to see something else here. It's very interesting. In verses
4, when Paul tells them and us that Jesus was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, from that point on, the rest
of the chapter, 54 verses, it is all really about the resurrection. It's about Christ's resurrection
and because of his resurrection, our resurrection from the grave. Notice at a glance with me as
we don't have time, we'll be here till two o'clock instead
of just one if I go through and read this whole entire passage.
So just glance with me as we work through this. I want you
to see the reality of this. In verses five through 11, if
you'll glance at those verses, you'll see that Paul tells them
and us about the physical proof of Christ's resurrection, the
physical proof of Christ's resurrection, which is not one, not two, but
500 plus eyewitnesses. In verses 12 through 19, he tells
us about the hope of resurrection, which, for emphasis, he states
negatively, as in, if Christ did not rise from the dead, apparently
there were some in the church there that were saying that he
didn't. He's saying, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then
there is no hope. If we don't have a risen Savior,
then there is no hope in our preaching, there's no hope in
our faith, there's no hope in ours or anyone else's sins being
removed, which they must be. And verse 19, he concludes with,
of all the people in the world, including us here today, If Christ
is still in the grave, we are the most pitiable, we are the
most miserable, hopeless people alive if Christ has not risen
from the dead. But thankfully, in verses 20
through 34, you'll notice, he affirms there and our hope and
even his and our ministries in the truth that Christ most definitely
has risen from the dead. You hear that? Christ Jesus,
the Lord of glory, he has most definitely risen from the dead. Saints, we absolutely do have
a risen Savior. He was dead, yes, yes, but now
he is alive forevermore. Christ has risen from the dead. By the way, what he writes here,
this shows us, that the resurrection was not just a miracle. The resurrection
was not just something that Jesus did just to show off his power. The resurrection was necessary. The resurrection was necessary.
It was necessary. Christ rising from the dead was
necessary, as Jesus himself alludes to in John chapter 10, to prove
his own authority and power and his perfect unity with God the
Father. The resurrection of Jesus was
necessary to demonstrate Christ's conquering victory and therefore
His saving sufficiency over our sin's death. In other words,
God the Father was satisfied. The resurrection proves when
God raised Jesus from the dead, as Scripture puts it, that's
one way that it puts it, It proved that God the Father was satisfied
with Jesus' sacrifice and substitution on our behalf. When God sent
his messenger angel to roll back the stone, the declaration was
there that it was finished, the price is paid, the prisoner is
set free. It proved, it demonstrated, the
resurrection demonstrated Christ conquering victory and therefore
His saving sufficiency. How do you know that Jesus, the
work of Jesus is enough? Look at the resurrection, He
rose from the dead, it's enough. His work is enough. He conquered
our death in His life, by His life. And it was also necessary. It wasn't just a miracle that
he did to show off his power, no. It was necessary, as the
writer of Hebrews tells us, because it was necessary for us to have
a sinless, ever-living high priest. Listen, if you think for a moment
that through some religious thing, some religious preference that
you have, that that's gonna make you more acceptable before God,
I want to tell you, how in the world could you ever, ever live,
forever live to intercede, to make intercession for yourself
before God? You can't even ascend to heaven
on your own, right? No. No, let alone ever live to
make intercession for other people. Job was talking about us when
he says, I look around at everybody around me and they're all just
like me. I have no man. There's no one who could be my
kinsman, redeemer. No one who could ransom and redeem
my soul. I have no one because everyone
else is just like me. We need something more, and Christ
was that necessary lamb without spot or blemish. He was that
more, and He still is that more. He is risen from the dead, and
He rose to ascend to the right hand of God, and there take up
the office of the great High Priest, whoever lives to save
us to the uttermost, and the word uttermost in that context
in Hebrews speaks of completely forever, to save us completely
forever. Do not depend on your religious
works, your religious preference to save you. It will not save
you. In fact, if we are depending
on those things to make us more acceptable before God, we're
spitting in the face of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and
His substitution for us. It's Him. It's Christ alone. who could save us from our sin,
his resurrection. Hey, there's only been one person
who rose from the dead of his own power throughout all of human
history, right? Yeah, that one person is this
person, Christ Jesus, and he did it because it was necessary.
It was necessary. So Paul reminds them and us here
that the resurrection of Christ was much, much more than just
miraculous. Christ has indeed risen from
the grave of our deaths, saints, because it was necessary. It
was absolutely necessary. Then in verses 35 through 49,
that was just a little sidetrack, but if you'll glance at verses
35 through 49, Paul here in this letter, in this chapter, he's
talking, he's showing us the glory of the resurrection of
Christ, and as he continues to talk in verses 35 through 49,
he gives us light on the great mystery of resurrection bodies. Saints, God created us as a living
soul, and these bodies, they are bodies of death, and they'll
be laid down, but then he's gonna raise them up again, and they're
gonna be different than they are now, praise the Lord. They're
gonna be different than they are now, and Paul talks about
how that's all gonna happen. I mean, let's face it, when we
think about our bodies being resurrected and us having a glorified
body, we can't even imagine that, right? We can't even imagine
living in a body that has no tendency towards sin. that has
at least somewhat controlled Jesus' body, sure did, has somewhat,
it excelled over the natural limits of things. Remember, he
walked right through the door in the upper room and he tells
the scripture, Paul right here talks about our bodies being
like his. We can't imagine that. Sometimes
what we do, if we can't imagine it, then it can't possibly be
true, right? Like we are somebody. It is true. It is true. Paul talks about
those resurrection bodies, the mystery of our bodies, of the
glorified body, verses 35 through 49. And then in verses 50 through
58, he tells us about our own resurrection and eternal victory,
and by and because of the risen Christ. So get this. to this
worldly church, okay, put all this together. All of this is
intentional, okay. Remember, he's writing, he's
not speaking. We might say things that we don't really mean, you
know, and we don't correct ourselves that we're saying it, but when
you're writing, I write quite a bit, so when I'm writing, if
I don't, well, it's not this kind of writing anymore, it's
this kind of writing. As I'm writing, I don't want, you know,
I say something, I'm following my logic, and then I look up,
No, that don't even make sense. What do I do? Back up, back up,
back up. Rewrite that, right? So he's writing this. He had
a pen that he could scratch through it and say, no, I don't want
to say that. Let me say it this way, okay? So all this is intentional. He knows exactly what he's saying
here. It's intentional. So to this worldly church that
is being assaulted by their own worldliness and ungodliness,
to help them, to save them from their own worldly waywardness
to godliness, Paul reminds them of the gospel, which is heavy,
heavy, heavy. 54 verses on resurrection, right? Y'all see that? Reminds him of
the gospel, then he beelines to the focus of resurrection.
Intentionally. The climactic part of the letter.
Okay? So there must surely be something
about the resurrection. Both Christ and our resurrection
because of His. that should have a sanctifying,
not to mention a comforting, encouraging, motivating effect
upon their and our lives, right? So, Paul knows what they need. The Holy Spirit knows what we
still need, individually and corporately, to save us from
ourselves. to sanctify us, to conform us
unto the image of Christ, to help us, to encourage and motivate
us to get in the faith and to stay in the faith. It's the gospel. A resurrection-heavy
gospel. He knows it. He's writing this. It's intentional. He knows the
problems of the church. He knows what will cure the problems
of the church if the Holy Spirit will work through his word, as
he's promised. And what is it? It is the gospel,
a resurrection-heavy gospel. But why? Why? What is it about the resurrection
that should cause a sanctifying effect upon our lives, upon our
individual lives, upon our corporate lives. What is it? Well, look back up with me to
that section here about the hope of resurrection. Notice in verses
21 and 22. He tells us about Adam. You ever hear about Adam? About a man named Adam? You ever hear about how Adam
sinned, how he sinned and then death came through him and through
his sin and passed upon all of us? You ever heard of that? Yeah. Me too. Me too. I've heard that sad news. And
then, through death, then though death has come upon us through
Adam, life. What can save us from death,
saints? Life. That's the only thing that
can save us from death. Life, the life that saves us
from death, comes through Christ Jesus. That's what he's talking
about in verses 21 through 22. You ever heard that? Yes, praise
the Lord. We've all heard the good news,
right? We've heard the sad news of Adam
and sin and death, but we've also all heard the good news
of life in Christ Jesus. In verse 23, notice, he tells
us that because Christ has risen, we believers will too at Christ's
coming. Have you ever heard about the
second coming of Christ? Me too. Me too. In fact, he pretty much gives
us the play-by-play of Christ's coming and our coming future
in verses 50 through 54, if you notice that. Then in verse 24,
he tells us about the end. What she describes here as being,
or it includes, the coming kingdom or the reign of Christ. Ever
heard about that? Ever heard about the reign of
Christ? Ever heard about the coming thousand-year
reign of Christ on and over the entire earth? Yes. Me too. Me too. In verse 26, he writes about
the final destruction of the last enemy, death itself. Have
you ever heard about sin and death and the curse being destroyed,
being put away? Have you ever heard about that?
Hallelujah, me too. Just keep following here. Verse
28, ever heard about a day, an eternal day, when God will be all in all? Yes, I've heard about that. And
what about verses 54 through 57? You ever hear anything about
victory? Final, complete, forever victory. over sin and death in, by, and
because of our Lord Jesus Christ. No, yes, glory to God, yes, I've
heard about it. It's our hope, it's our expectation,
right? And understand, remember, Paul
is saying, or he's writing all of this in the context of the
resurrection. In other words, because of the
fact, since Christ has indeed risen from the dead, our faith,
saints, is not worthy. It's not, no, but we can fully
expect all of this to come to pass. Isn't that what he's getting
at here? That is exactly what he's getting
at here. That's the reason he's writing
all of this in the context of the resurrection, because Christ
is risen from the dead, our faith is not vain, but we can fully
expect all of this to come to pass. The saints, I can see you
shaking your head, Jess. We all have heard about all of
these things that the Apostle Paul just lists here, right?
Where have we heard about all of these things? Where have we heard about all
of these things? Right here. That's where we've
heard about all of these things. Every single one of them. That's
what we've heard about all of them. So get this now. Get this. This is the point that
Paul is making. Saints, not if, but since Christ
Jesus has indeed risen from the dead, all of this, this book,
All of this is completely and exactly and precisely true. How do I know I can believe this?
How can I know? What about this? I don't know
if I can believe that. You can believe it. But how can I know that I can
believe it? Because the one who wrote it
died and rose again. Listen now. You can take your own high understanding
and your own credibility, and you can say, I believe what I
want to believe. You can do that. Or you can believe this book
because God wrote it, and then He came to this earth, proved
that He was God, and ultimately proved it by coming forth from
the dead. By the grace of God, I will choose
to believe Him. I will choose to believe the
Scriptures. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we can know that
all of this is exactly true. Does that mean you understand
all of it, that I understand all of it? No, no. Listen, if it ever comes a day when you
stop learning, When you know too much to learn anything else,
something's wrong. You need to throw yourself on
the mercy of God and beg Him to change that attitude in you. Now, I don't understand it all,
but it does not mean that it's not true. Just because I don't understand
how God spoke everything to existence in six literal days, out of nothing,
doesn't mean it's not true. It is true. How do I know? Because
he said it was true. Well, how do I know that he's
a credible source? Because he rose from the dead. He said it was true. All of this,
because Christ Jesus has indeed risen from the dead, all of this
is completely and absolutely true. From the beginning to the
end, it's true. From the first page to the last,
it's true. From eternity to eternity, it's
all true. Everything that God has written,
about the past is true. Everything that he has written
about the present is true. Everything that he has written
about the future, it's all exactly precisely true. Listen, everything
that God has written and revealed about himself, it's true. Everything
that he has revealed about you and me is true. Everything that
he said about this world is true. It's precisely and entirely true,
and we know that. because Christ Jesus has risen
from the dead. That's the point Paul's making.
He's reminding them of all of these things that they've already
heard. And they've heard it because God's Word, they've been taught
God's Word by this very apostle. For a year and a half, he stayed
with them, continually fellowshipping with them from day to day, teaching
them the truth of God's Word. They had heard all of these things.
They just need to be reminded, listen, Christ rose from the
dead. All of this is true. You need
to live in the light of the truth. All of it's true. So let me ask us, do you believe? Do you believe
this? Do you believe it? Do you have
faith? First, do you have faith in the
fact that Christ has risen from the dead and is alive right now,
this moment, at the right hand of God? The person of Christ,
this Jesus, He is risen from the dead, he ascended into heaven,
where he now resides at the right hand of God. Do you believe that?
Do you believe that? And let me just remind, let me
just remind us, okay, James, or the Holy Spirit through James,
is sure to tell us that biblical saving faith is not lifeless. but living, okay? True saving
faith is working faith. In other words, true saving faith
is a faith or it is a trust that rules and governs our thinking
and our doing. True saving faith. True saving
faith is not a religious side on this side, and then we have
our secular life on this side. If you believe that, you do not
have true saving faith. That's actually Gnosticism. We don't call it that in these
days, but that's what it is. Much of the New Testament is
fighting against the heresy of Gnosticism. These apostles, this
idea that, well, you have a spiritual life, but totally disconnected
from that is your secular life. If you have this certain kind
of spiritual life, You don't have to worry about this physical
life. That is not true. One of the
reasons James says what he does in the book of James about true
saving faith being working faith is because that is not true.
True saving faith. It governs your entire life. It governs your entire life. So here it is, saints. True saving
faith believes that Christ is risen from the dead. And because
He is the risen Savior, true saving faith actually thinks
and lives like all of this, in case you can't see it, all of
this is really true. That's how true saving faith
thinks. That's how true saving faith
acts. That's what true saving faith
believes. This is how the resurrection
sanctifies our minds and our lives. This is how the resurrection
comforts and encourages us and motivates us and moves us to
rejoice to rejoice in any and all circumstances. Listen. The enemies abound. And they
say all manner of wrong against you without cause. Enemies within, enemies without,
enemies everywhere. What do you do? Do you despair?
You give up? If I quit doing this, then all
of this heartache will go away. Is that your thinking? How are
you going to quit doing this, church? How are you going to
quit being a follower of Jesus Christ if He saved you by His
grace? How are you going to quit serving
Him faithfully? How are you going to quit enduring?
with him, fellowshipping in his suffering. How are you going to do that? Because
all of this is true. Because all of this is true. He's coming. We're all going
to stand before him and give an account of our lives. When
we say, look, Jesus, I just couldn't do this. The enemies were too
great. I wonder what he would say about
that. I would imagine he would say something like this. Wait.
Didn't I tell you repeatedly in my word, in the book, that
it's all true? Didn't I tell you that I will
work all things for your advantage? For your good? All things. Didn't
you believe me? That all things, even included
Terrible pain and suffering inflicted upon us by sometimes those that
we love and give our whole lives to? Do you believe me? That's what
He's actually going to say. Do you believe me? He's revealed
Himself, His whole Word, everything that is true. He has given us
saints everything that is true. In His Word, everything that
is true. Everything that we need to know
in this life that is true, He's given, written that to us in
His Word, promised that it's all true in His Word, risen from
the dead to prove, listen, it's all true! Believe me! I am, what did He call Himself
in John 14? The truth! Well, I can't, I didn't, I couldn't,
didn't you believe me? Didn't you believe me? So are you actually thinking
and living? Is your entire life being governed
by the fact that all of this is true? That is what it is to truly live
in the truth of the resurrection. In fact, in fact, not thinking,
And not living like all of this is true actually is either being
biblically illiterate, and I'm not saying that to be mean. I'm
just saying we don't need to be biblically illiterate. God
has given us his word. Read the word. Read the book.
Spend your life as a student of God's word. That's what we
should be. If he's given us, if he's revealed to us everything
that we need to know for life and godliness, isn't that what
we are told in this book? He has written to us everything
that we need to know for life and godliness. Okay, then what's
the primary book in your life? This book. This book. Read it. When you get through
with it, read it again. And when you get through with
that, read it again. And read it again. And read it
again. And read it again. Pursue God
in His Word. By the way, not only does He
just reveal everything that we need to know for life and godliness,
right here through His Word is how the Holy Spirit speaks to
us today. It's the only way He speaks to
us today, through the Scriptures. So what book's gonna be your,
if God himself is gonna speak to you and lead you in your life
and convict you of your sin, which we understand grieves him,
oh, it should break our heart to grieve God, right? He's blessed
us so abundantly. He saved us by his grace. We
should never wanted to grieve God. How are we gonna keep from
grieving God from knowing the truth? The truth is what sets
us free. How do we know the truth, this book? What's the primary? What's going to be the primary
book? If all of this is true, what's going to be the primary
reading of our life? This book. This book is your
life. All of this is true, so is your
life. Do you believe it? Do you believe
it is your life governed by the fact that Yahweh is God and the
God that He is? He reveals to us that He is God,
the one true and only living God. And then on every page of
the book, He reveals to us exactly the God that He is. He is so
unlike the God of men's making, all the other gods. He is other. He is holy. That word means other.
He is other than any other. And He teaches us that on every
page of the book. We cross into the New Covenant
writings, and He shows us. in the face of His Son, Christ
Jesus. He's other, totally other than
any other. Do you believe that God Yahweh
is God, and He is the God that He is, and being the God that
He is, He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him? All of this is true, and that's
what the book says. He is. Is your mind and life
governed by the fact, by the gospel, that God's salvation
is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone,
your risen Savior, your salvation? Is your life governed by that
fact? Is your life governed by the fact that His eternity is
coming? You know, I remember well when
I was, Josiah, I believe, was probably the youngest one in
the room. I remember well when I was his age. I remember well
sitting like where he's sitting, listening to my dad preach and
thinking in my mind, ain't no way I'm ever going to do that. But you know, those days, his
age, I'm almost 60 and I know that's young among some here,
but still almost 60 and I can remember that age, it's been
like that. And who can give me a witness
that it's going faster and faster and faster? I mean, we're almost
at the end of this year already, and I mean, it just started,
y'all. It was just November a couple
days, or not November, it was January a couple days ago. See,
I'm already mixed up. This life is few days and full
of trouble, that's what Job said. You believe it? That means God's
eternity is just right there. It's just in a moment, y'all.
I guarantee you when we get on that side of it, we'll look back
on this side and say, man, that was actually just a moment. It's
nothing compared to forever that's ahead of us. God's Word tells
us that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in
Christ alone, and that God's eternity is coming. It's coming for all of us. And
our citizenship is in heaven with God, our Savior, our everything. Are you actually living in that
truth, in that reality? Are you actually living in the
truth, this truth, or as the apostle puts it here in verse
58, look at 58. Therefore, okay, this is how
he sums it all up. Therefore, because of the resurrection,
of Jesus, and because all of this is true, therefore, my beloved
brothers, be steadfast. Steadfast in what? In the truth. All of this is true. Christ's
resurrection proved it. Be steadfast in the truth. Immovable. Immovable in what? In our preferences,
in our traditions? No, in the truth. always abounding
in the work of the Lord, knowing, knowing, how do we know? Because
of the resurrection of Christ. That's the context. He's saying
the sin. Because of the resurrection of Christ, we know, children
of God, saints of God, we know that our labor, no matter how
painful, no matter the sacrifice of that labor, We know because
of the resurrection of Christ and that proves that all of this
is true, we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. It's not in vain. Thanks. Because Christ has risen from
the dead, we can know in full assurance of faith that all of
this is true. to let us all think and live,
let us all even endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,
because all of this is true. Because the truth is, just as
Christ Jesus rose from the dead and then ascended to glory soon
in a moment, because of Him, we will too, to be with Him. That's true. May we all live
like it. May we all live like it. May we all live in the truth
and in the victory and in the power of the resurrection of
Christ Jesus our Lord. I wonder what Paul meant in Philippians
when he said that he wanted to know Christ and live in the power
of his resurrection. What did he mean? He meant what
he's saying here. All of this is true. I know that
Christ's resurrection—we know He believed that. He says it
right here. I know the resurrection of Christ proves that all of
this is true. All of God's Word is absolutely,
entirely, specifically true. Precisely true. So let me live
in the truth. That's what it is to live in
the power and the victory of the resurrection of Christ Jesus
our Lord. May God bless you and keep you
and cause his face to shine upon you and give you grace. Amen.
Since Christ Has Risen
Series 2025 Fellowship Meeting
The sermon emphasizes the centrality of the resurrection of Christ as the foundation for faith and perseverance amidst life's challenges. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 15, the message underscores that true believers face trials and doubts, but these experiences should not overshadow the unwavering truth of Christ's victory over sin and death. Brother Tom argues that the resurrection validates God's Word, offering hope and assurance that labor in the Lord is never in vain, and ultimately leads to eternal glory with Christ, encouraging listeners to steadfastly embrace the truth and live in the power of His resurrection.
| Sermon ID | 92725221916209 |
| Duration | 47:50 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Bible Text | 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 |
| Language | English |
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