The Reality of the Resurrection (2016)

Thanks, Keith. Some beautiful songs about the resurrection and the fact that our God is alive and I enjoy their worship. Thank you. As you're turning your Bible this morning to 1 Corinthians and the Gospel of John, we'll start in the Gospel of John. I want to say what some of you might have noticed that it is little Aniston's first day in church, isn't it right? I don't know if you remember, I told Russ, I said don't come back unless you bring the baby. He must have took me up on that because he hadn't been back since. So it's a blessing when you have two new babies in the church and we can't wait to see them running around.

We're praying over them, praying for them, praying for mom and dad because we as born again Christians, we are to raise our children for the Lord. They're not ours, they're just loaned to us only for a short period of time. And so babies are a gift. It's good to see you all this morning Russ and Lindsay. So we'll take your Bible. Like I said earlier, we're going to be in John chapter 19 and we're going to read over, glance over, move through to some scripture in chapter 20. And then we're going to about halfway through the message, move over into first Corinthians chapter 15.

Now I said at the welcome that the title of the message this morning is the reality of the resurrection, the reality of the resurrection. Now, as you're turning there, I want to, I want to kind of start us off with a question and then we're going to have some introductory comments and then we'll move into the message. Now the question is how has the true meaning of Easter been affected in our lives? That's one of those rhetorical questions. I want you to just let that roll over in your mind.

And that's really a loaded question because it can be answered in many different ways, but how has the true, the biblical meaning of Easter been affected in our lives? I think that in many ways we can look around this and we can see that Easter has been commercialized, has it not? Lots of things have been commercialized in our world and culture today. And we go to the stores and we see plastic eggs and Easter bunnies and chocolate bunnies and all those things that are just kind of part of our culture. And we can look around, we can see a big commercialization of this holiday called Easter.

In the life of the church, Easter in many places has been overshadowed by great and mighty entertainments. There are a lot of churches that have very large musical programs and cantatas and in many ways that can overshadow and distort the true meaning of Easter. In many places Easter has been forgotten. Easter has been ignored. Easter has even been overlooked. And we're going to learn that there are some who even denied it. We're going to look at this Corinthian church and there were some people in the life of the Corinthian church. They denied Easter. They denied the resurrection, the physical bodily resurrection.

I go ahead and tease you a little with the passage, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 12 through 13, Paul says, "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" Well, what is that question saying? There were some there in the Corinthian church, the Corinthian fellowship, who denied the bodily resurrection of Christ. So we have problems in how people view the resurrection and Easter in our culture and that was going on in Paul's day. I'm reminded of a conversation that I had with one of the men of the church a year ago at this time.

We were talking about different things in our lives and our families and in our culture that really have affected how we worship at Easter and how we participate in this thing called Easter and we celebrate the resurrection. And I think that we do need to evaluate and always be evaluating how we approach these precious times in the life of the church. I was doing a little reading this week and I ran across something that Al Mohler wrote. Many of you might not know who Al Mohler is. He's president of one of our Southern Baptist seminaries, very well respected, very biblically sound leader in the convention.

And he was writing about Easter in this article and he said, "The church does not have mere permission to celebrate the resurrection. It has a mandate to proclaim the truth that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead." What is Al Mohler saying? We have a mandate, a commandment to do what? To celebrate and to proclaim this truth that Christ Jesus was raised from the dead. Al Mohler goes on to say, "The resurrected Lord gave the church a sacred commission to take the gospel throughout the world." What are we seeing in that?

Not only do we have a mandate to celebrate the resurrection but it was the resurrected Christ that looked at the disciples and said, "Take the gospel around the globe." Now I said earlier the title of the message this morning is going to be the reality of the resurrection. The reality of the resurrection. Now out of the gospel of John, we're going to look at the story. We're not going to take too much time there. And then we're going to move on to this Corinthian problem and we're going to look at it is foundational, the resurrection it is foundational. And then we're going to look at the fact that it is essential.

So I hope that you take notes, I trust that you take notes. We're going to look at the story. It is foundational and it is essential. And I trust and pray that the Lord will speak to you and remind you and correct you and help you to not only know factual, proper factual information but to worship. But to worship. Now I hope that you're in John first. We're going to start in John 19 and then I'll tell you when to turn over to the Corinthian letter. Now looking at John, I hope you have your scripture open. In John, when looking at John, we see right there in chapter 18, we see the crucifixion. Over in the chapter 19, we see the crucifixion.

And then if we move on over to the end of chapter 19, we see this story of the resurrection. I'm going to pick up in verse 38 because verse 38 says after these things, what is John referring to after the story and the events of the crucifixion? So after these things, Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus but a secret one for fear of the Jews, he asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate granted him permission. And he came therefore and took away his body. And Nicodemus came also who had first come to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and allos about a hundred pounds weight.

And so they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with spices as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden and in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore, on account of the Jewish day of preparation, because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. So what do we see? These two individuals take the body of Jesus and prepare it properly according to the scriptures and place the body of Jesus in the tomb. Let's pick up in verse one of chapter 20.

Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw that the stone already was taken away from the tomb. And so she ran and she came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. Now that other disciple whom Jesus loved is John. John never names himself. And they said to them, she said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went forth and the other disciple and they were going to the tomb and the two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first and stooping and looking in. He saw the linen wrappings lying there but he did not go in. Now Simon Peter therefore also came following him and entered the tomb and he beheld the linen wrappings lying there and the face cloth which had been on his head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple that would have been John who had first come into the tomb entered then also and he saw and believed.

For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead so the disciples went away again to their homes. And of course if you pick up in verse 11 you'll see the story continues with this Mary Magdalene and Jesus begins to reveal himself to these individuals involved in this story. Now what am I showing you? What are we looking at? This is the story of the resurrection. Now I don't know if you know it but all four of the gospel accounts have the story of the resurrection. Now you will hear me use a term and I've been using this term in our study of the gospel of John.

Matthew, Mark and Luke are what's called the synoptic gospels. They are very familiar but yet John is a lot different than the synoptic gospels. But it's interesting to see that Matthew, that Mark, that Luke and John all give an account of the resurrection and you will see certain details that they bring to the surface. So when you take the time and you study the resurrection and you look at the different gospel accounts you will get the full picture of what the living Lord wants us to see. I want you to notice something about this story. I want you to notice that there was a wide range of people involved.

There was a wide range of people involved. Notice first there was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Now Joseph of Arimathea is probably an unfamiliar person to many of you but he is mentioned in all four of the gospels in their accounts of the resurrection as giving his own prepared platoon for the burial of Jesus. Matthew tells us that he was wealthy. Mark's gospel account says that he was a respected member of the Jewish council and John's account says that he was a secret disciple of Jesus. Then also we see Nicodemus. Now we are familiar with Nicodemus are we not? Why?

We are familiar with Nicodemus because we studied extensively Nicodemus in John chapter 3. But notice there is Joseph and there is Nicodemus. Then notice there is Mary Magdalene. Some of you might know who this Mary is but Mary is frequently mentioned as traveling with Jesus and the disciples. Luke's gospel tells us that there were seven demons cast out of her. No doubt I would assume that if someone had that many demons cast out they surely would serve the Lord and follow the Lord. But Mary was one of those women who followed and prepared and helped and served the disciples and Jesus. And then of course there are the disciples.

Now we've already mentioned Peter. We've already mentioned John. John was the disciple that Jesus loved. Now Peter and John are really two of the closest of the disciples to Jesus. If you study the gospels you will notice that it was Peter, James and John who were the closest to Jesus. But then also notice the order of the events. We're not going to go back and read all of the events that came together to make this story. But if we go back and look we see Jesus in the garden. Remember that part of the story? Jesus was there in the garden praying and what does he say?

He says, "Father if it be your will let this bitter cup pass by me." He was staring at the bitter cup of the cross and suffering for your sin and my sin. But yet what does he do? He crucifies that flesh and he says, "Nevertheless not my will but your will." Then we see the betrayal. He was betrayed by one who was close to him, Judas. Then he was arrested. Then he went on trial. What a farce. The son of God on trial before men. He went before Pilate. Remember Pilate was that cruel Roman governor. He was really a military man. He was not a politician. Being in Palestine, being in that part of the Roman world was really not a move up the ladder.

He was this cruel military governor. Then he was before Herod the puppet king. He really was not a true Jew. He was a puppet to the Christians. But Jesus stood before these people on trial. Then there's the crucifixion and the burial and the resurrection. Now what am I showing you? This is the resurrection story. Now what needs to be seen here is the fact that all four gospels tell us the story of the resurrection. Not that it would be any less important if only one of the gospel accounts told us the story. But all four telling us the story most certainly underscores the importance of not just the resurrection but the entire gospel story.

Maybe this is just me. But another fact which jumped out from me was the wide range of people here in this account. What do I mean? Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were no doubt very respected individuals, wealthy individuals, religious individuals. They looked apart, dressed apart. They said the right words. They fit really into society very well. And then immediately who do you have? Mary Magdalene. An outcast. In my mind this week I wondered what kind of life she led besides just being dim and possessed. No doubt she would have probably been a woman of ill repute.

She would have been on the opposite end of the spectrum socially than Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. And then you have obviously the disciples. Now what am I saying to you here? In the story of the resurrection we see the grace and the love of God. He loves the religious and the wretched. He loves the righteous and the wretched because both needed to be converted. And I think that in this story, listen, we need to read this story frequently. Because if we read this story frequently, not just John's account but all of the accounts, we will begin to see these types of nuggets, I call them, that might rise to the surface that we need to see.

And I think that in our day, in the life of our church, we need to see that Jesus loves the Josephs and the Nicodemus as much as he loves the Marys. He loves the religious, the righteous, the seeming righteous, and the wretched. And I think that we need to be very familiar consistently, regularly with the story of the resurrection. Now as we shift from the Gospels, really mainly John, I know I refer to the other Gospels, as we shift from the Gospel story, we're going into the first letter to the Corinthians. I'd like you to go ahead and turn there, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Now this letter was written to the church there in the city of Corinth. Now I hope you understand some of the basics about this church fellowship. This church was founded by Paul. Paul founded the church there at Corinth on his second missionary journey. We have that story in Acts chapter 18, verses 1 through 18. I've really enjoyed studying Acts chapter 18 for my personal growth and edification in the past. But he had two notable partners there. It's really wonderful to see a husband and wife team named Priscilla and Aquila.

It's a wonderful story because they partnered with Paul to do this wonderful work in founding this church there in the horribly immoral city of Corinth. Now in this letter, this particular letter, Paul is dealing with lots of problems in the life of the Corinthian church. Now I want to pause there for a minute. If you ever really want to see how much the Lord Jesus is patient with the church, just read the Corinthian letters because the Lord was really patient with him. They had a lot of problems and that's why Paul painstakingly wrote these two letters to this church. But they had a lot of problems.

But from chapter one until chapter 15, most of what Paul addresses are practical foundational problems. Let me explain what I mean. There's an appeal for unity in chapter one, foundational, practical problem. He addresses divisions and warliness in the life of the church in chapter three. We studied that chapter extensively back when we were getting ready to look at the 10 pillars of the church. There was great warliness and division in the life of the church. Very foundational, very practical problems. And he addresses immorality in the chapter in chapter five and six. And he gives some practical instruction in chapter seven and so on.

There's a lot of other practical information there. But by the time we get to chapter 15, Paul deals with a major, major theological problem in the church. There were some who denied the resurrection. We've already read the text and we see that Paul establishes and elevates the resurrection to its proper place. Now listen, in proper biblical Christian doctrine, Paul comes and he elevates the resurrection to its proper place in, listen, proper biblical Christian doctrine. And so I want to move on from the story and I want us to look at the resurrection, the fact that it is foundational. Let's look at these verses, verses one through 11.

And listen to what Paul says. Now I make known to you brethren, the gospel, which I preach to you, which also you received in which also you stand by which also you were saved. If you hold fast the word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain, obviously there were some who were not converted. Verse three, for I delivered to you as a first importance, what I also received, 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, thus being Peter, and then to the 12th.

And after that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Most of whom remain until now. In other words, some of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. They've died. Then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles. And last of all, as it were to the one untimely born, he appeared to me. Now you need to know that Paul really came late into the scene, but the Christ Jesus appeared to him. And then starting in verse nine, Paul really describes himself. He's very humble. For I am the least of the apostles whom I am not fit to be calling the apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am and his grace toward me did not prove vain. But I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God within me whether then it was I or they, so we preach so you believed. Now there are certain foundational truths which must be understood. Let me repeat that. As we grow in Christ, if we're going to be the Christians that God wants us to be, there are certain foundational truths that must be understood. Let me back up in the gospel of John. We have been learning. Now listen, proper Christology, proper Christology.

We have been learning that Christ is God, deity, the promised Messiah, starting in chapter one, verse one, it's all about elevating Christ is deity. And listen, proper Christology is foundational. So is the resurrection. And this is a foundational doctrine in truth. The resurrection must be understood. Now four things out of these verses. First, I want you to see the gospel was believed. The gospel was believed. Paul really states his case, makes his case. As he begins to make his case, he states that some of them were really converted.

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel, which I preach to you, which also you received, you received. And now you stand. Verse one tells us that there were some who received this gospel, this gospel that was preached. And verse two tells us that Paul was questioning whether some had truly believed. Look at the end of verse two, unless you believed in vain. What is he doing? He's differentiating between some who did believe and some who did not. They were false believers. But Paul is stating that some had believed. Also second, the gospel was received. Look at verse three.

For I delivered to you as a first importance, what I also received. Now that word received here is a little different because you might say, well, pastor, you've already said in verse one and two that they believed and they received. No, there's something different here in this word here. Paul mentions how he received the gospel. Many of you might not know how Paul received his spiritual education. And that is very, very important. Write this verse down for your own study.

Galatians chapter one, starting in verse 11, I'm not going to read the text for the sake of time, but what Galatians tells us as that Paul spent three years in the desert, listen, receiving the gospel from Jesus. He goes on to say that what I received, I received from no man. He was taught by God. Why? Because he was a genuine apostle. All of the other apostles walk with Jesus, talk with Jesus. They endured all of the exploits of his earthly ministry and they were educated at the feet of Jesus. And now we see that Paul received this gospel by being with Jesus in the desert. So what do we see?

They believed, they believed the gospel, but this gospel that Paul preached was not received from any man, but from Christ. And then third, I want you to see the gospel is explained. Look at verse three on now in the verse four, it's very loaded here for I delivered to you as a first importance, what I also received. And I see that'll ring different to you now. Notice what he says that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day. According to the scriptures. Notice in this text that Paul explains all of the foundational truths of the gospel. What do we see?

That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that Christ was buried according to the scriptures and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. So he's explaining not just the resurrection, but the gospel in a nutshell. And then fourth, the resurrection is seen. Look at verse five and that he appeared to Cephas, Peter and the 12. And after that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. And Paul goes on to say, most of them are still even alive. And then he goes on to say that he appeared to me. Now, what do we see here? Paul here mentions those now, listen, who saw the resurrected Christ?

He is offering proof that he was raised from the dead. See, the resurrection has always been a foundational element to the gospel story. And remember what Paul's dealing with. There are some in the life of the church, they are discounting what? They are discounting the gospel as it speaks about the resurrection. They are watering down the gospel saying they don't believe in the resurrection. And what Paul does, he says, you believe the gospel, the gospel that I got from Jesus himself and he explains it. And then he says, and by the way, there's a whole host who saw the risen Christ.

Some of you are familiar with Christian creeds and doctrinal statements. Some of you are familiar with what is called the apostles creed, the apostles creed. The apostles creed was one of the earliest known creeds that is still in existence. As a matter of fact, it was in existence as early as the half a century from the last writing of the new Testament. And let me read you the apostles creed. Some of you will notice and remember this when I read it, but the apostles creed says this, I believe in God, the father almighty, the maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he arose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and he sits on the right hand of God, the father almighty from dance. He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy ghost and the holy Catholic small C, the universal church, the community of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

And you're familiar with that many of you, but notice right in the middle of the apostles creed is what Christ rose again. Now why do I read that creed to you from the earliest days of the Christian church, the true born again believers believed in the resurrection and it is and was foundational and Paul is coming to this Corinthian church. He is addressing this deep theological problem and he is saying that this is foundational and I didn't get it from man. I got it from Christ. You see, and for you, for me, the resurrection must be foundational. Listen to your faith and if the resurrection is not foundational to your faith, now look at me.

You do not have Bible Christianity. It's heresy. You hear me? If the resurrection is not a part of your faith, you do not have Bible Christianity and the word of God teaches that and church history tells us that I'll never forget being reminded of one of these fundamental truths years ago. I never forget the church that my grandfather was affiliated with another denomination. They had a big stink in the life of the church.

I remember some of my family talking about that and this was years ago and they were talking about how a prominent man in the life of the church came out openly and publicly and he said that he did not believe in the virgin birth. Now, what do I bring that up? That shipwrecks biblical Christianity and these Christians, these so-called Christians in the life of the Corinthian church, they were shipwrecking, listen, Bible Christianity. Now let's move on. Let's notice truth number three. I want us to see the resurrection. It is essential. The resurrection, it is essential. Look at verse 12. We're going down in verse 19.

Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? There's the problem. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that he raised Christ whom he did not raise. If in fact 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 worthless and you are still in your sins. Then also, then also who have fallen asleep, those who are dead in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. Now we're seeing out of these verses that the resurrection, it is essential. Now when something is essential, it means that it cannot be ignored. It cannot be discarded. It cannot be minimized. Paul here shows us how essential the doctrine of the resurrection is to Bible Christianity. I ran across one little snippet this week and I like how it had some punch.

John MacArthur says that the resurrection is a cornerstone to Christian theology. Meaning what? If you remove the cornerstone, the building comes crumbling down. And that's exactly what Paul is saying. If you remove the cornerstone, the whole thing comes crashing down and he's saying it is essential. Now I want us to see some things out of these verses and I want to make sure I communicate them, but it's rather lengthy. We're going to look at seven things. First, it is essential to the faith. It is essential to the faith, verse 13 through 14.

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, 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. Here Paul is saying that if the basic truth of resurrection is questioned, discounted or disbelieved that in and of itself questions everything. He is saying that this is essential and basic truth. So it's essential to the faith. Second, if there is no resurrection, then Christ did not rise. You see, if there is no possibility of physical resurrection, Christ himself didn't rise. Go back to verse 13.

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. Specifically, if one does not believe in bodily resurrection for all of humanity, for all of humanity, then one does not believe in Christ's resurrection. Third, if Christ did not rise, then our preaching is in vain. Look at verse 14. Verse 14, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain." Here Paul is saying that if the resurrection is denied and Christ's resurrection is denied, then all that he is doing as an apostle is a farce and a sham. The substance of his preaching was that Christ was raised up.

And all of the apostles preached this based on what they had learned and seen. He is saying that if the resurrection was not true, the whole Christian system is a fake and a false and a farce. Christianity was a lie imposed upon all of humanity if the resurrection did not take place. So he is saying all that they are doing and saying is in vain if there is no resurrection. Fourth, if Christ did not rise, then our faith is in vain. This is kind of subtle, but it's right there, kind of tagged on the end of the verse. Let me go back to verse 13 because this is really all goes together.

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised and our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. Paul is saying here that the entire Christian faith is predicated on the resurrection of Christ. If Christ was not raised, he was an imposter, he was a fake, he was a fraud, since he repeatedly declared that he would rise. Matthew 16 verse 21. Luke 19 verse 22 are all statements by Christ that he would rise again from the dead on the third day. Fifth, if Christ did not rise, we are all liars. That's what Paul says. Look at verse 15.

Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses. That term means liars. Moreover, we are found to be liars, false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that he raised Christ whom he did not raise in fact. You see, it's kind of a tongue twister, but that's exactly what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that to deny the resurrection would be a total lie against God himself, for it was God who allowed them to see and to witness Christ resurrected. Previously, we saw where Paul stated that they had all witnessed the resurrected Christ verses five through eight. Peter saw, he saw over 500 saw.

Paul even says that many of them are still alive. So he says that he deny the resurrection, we're all liars. Then six, if Christ did not rise, we are still in our sins. Look at verse 17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins. Paul has stated here that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then he was an imposter and not deity. If that was the case, all who claim to believe would still be in their sins because if he was not deity, the death of Christ would have no atoning value and there would be no atonement through Christ's death.

If that was the case in all who profess would still be in their sin. And then seventh, if Christ did not rise, then those who have died are perishing verse 18 than those who have fallen asleep. That's a term referring to those who have previously passed on. Then if those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished here, Paul is referring to those who have previously passed away. And he is saying that not only those would not, they would have no living hope. They would have no possibility of hope. And even those who were passing in the future would have no hope.

Simply through these, these verses, Paul is saying that to deny the resurrection would mean to deny the entire Christian faith and all that has been done through him and the other apostles and the other believers or disciples. If Christ was a lie, it would be a total farce and a total sham. And Paul is saying it would be a total imposition on man kind. But what is he doing? He is raising the bar. He is showing that the resurrection is essential and we must see the direct implications here. The assertion here that Paul is making when essential doctrines are attacked, Christianity fails. Let me say that again.

We must see the direct implications here. Paul asserts he is making assertions that when essential doctrines are attacked, the entire Christian faith falls. I was reminded of this last weekend. Many of you know that we took our students on a weekend retreat. We kind of had a change of plans and we ended up going to a different location and I think that was for the good. And we ended up having a portion of a day where we got to do a little service. We went to a facility there in Laurel. It is a food mission that has been there for over 30 years. We got to help serve some food. It is a Christian food mission.

My mother-in-law has been involved with that ministry for years. But we met one of the individuals who worked there. His name was Greg. Brother Keith and I talked to him about different spiritual things. Brother Keith talked to him a little more extensively than I did. But Brother Greg was telling us about how in the life of his church he was battling certain unsound doctrines. And one of the unsound doctrines he was dealing with were those who did not believe in eternal security. I immediately thought about things we are learning in the Gospel of John. John 6, verse 37, what does Jesus say?

"All that the Father gives me will come to me." And notice, "And whoever comes to me, I will never cast them out." Listen, when someone is truly converted, God the Father brings that individual to Christ and when they, and I will use this language, when they are in the hand of Jesus, Jesus says, "I will not cast them out." And there are other verses there in John 6 that deal with eternal security. Now why do I bring that example? When you take truths out of Bible Christianity, it fails certain doctrinal truths that are foundational.

And I like what MacArthur says, "The resurrection is the cornerstone of Christian theology." And Paul is showing us that it is vitally important, essential to the faith. Now as we move on to concluding, I want to ask you another question. Practically speaking, what does the resurrection do for us? Practically speaking, what does the resurrection do for us? I will give you four things, four things, and I will give you the Scripture references. If you have trouble getting these, you can ask me for my notes and I don't mind sharing those with you. But this will help you, I think, practically. What does the resurrection do for us?

First, the resurrection proves that Jesus was the Son of God. That's proof, people, that He was the Son of God. Romans chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, that apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets and the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead. Christ Jesus, our Lord. What is Paul doing? Paul is taking all of that truth and putting it together, elevating that Christ was the Son of God.

So for us, the resurrection is really this big stamp of approval on Christ being the Son of God. Second, the resurrection proves that we serve a living God. The resurrection proves that we serve a living God. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25, a short verse, the writer of Hebrews says, "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since he always lives to make intercession for them." What did we see? He is always living to make intercession for you and me.

And Christ is alive and well, and He is sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you, for me, and know about His church right now. Proves that we serve a living God. You know, a couple of years ago when I went to India with Luke, when Luke comes back and tells us stories, one of the most depressing things is to see those people involved in Hinduism how they serve dead gods. This proves that our God is living. Then third, the resurrection, now notice, assures us of our justification before God.

1 Corinthians 15, 17, "And if Christ has been raised, your faith is, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still living in your sins." Turn that around. "And if Christ is raised, our faith is not futile, and we are not in our sins, those of us who have been redeemed. And so for me, it assures me of my justification before God." And then fourth, the resurrection guarantees us our future resurrection. I don't know if you caught it, but in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 12 through 19, all intermingled there about the resurrection of Christ was the resurrection of humanity.

All mankind will be resurrected, some to judgment and damnation and some to eternity with God. Let me repeat that. What Paul is saying is that all mankind will be resurrected, but the great question is to what? Some will be resurrected to eternal damnation and hell and punishment, and some will be resurrected in Christ Jesus to eternity with him. So I repeat, what does the resurrection do for us? The resurrection proves that Jesus was the son of God. The resurrection proves that we serve a living God. The resurrection assures us of our justification before God, and the resurrection guarantees us our future resurrection.

Now, as I close, I will end the conclusion with another question. Not one to write down, but one to ponder. Have you experienced the resurrection in your life? Have you experienced the resurrection in your life? Only born again people can say that they have. See, if you're not been converted, if God's not saved you, if God the Father by the power and the work of the Spirit has not brought you to Christ and given you the glorious opportunity to pray and receive and trust by faith in Christ Jesus, if that has not happened to you, you are still in your sin. You are not in Christ.

You are still the old man, and you're not experiencing resurrected life. Yesterday, when we were enjoying the festivities with the children, I was talking with a man who was here visiting, and I was able to share my testimony, and I was able to tell him about how God saved me, resurrected life. Last night, I was visiting with an old friend, someone I really haven't talked to in a long time, and in the course of the conversation, I was able to share with him that I lived a resurrected life because of what Christ had done in my life. So I want to ask you, have you experienced the resurrection in your life?

If you haven't, God's got you here for this purpose. God has you here to reveal Himself to you. God has brought you here. See, there's no such thing as a coincidence in the things of God. God brings us to a place. God brings us to a people. God brings us to a time. See, there could be people here today. You are still dead in your sin. You are still outside of Christ. You are not justified before God. You're guilty before God. I want you to see that Easter for you could be about God bringing you to the place where He shows you. Now listen, you're outside of the reality of the resurrection. Obviously I love what Paul did.

All Paul did was elevate the resurrection, celebrate the resurrection, and all he's doing is saying, "I'm right in the middle of the resurrection." Amen? Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank you for these truths, these foundational elementary truths that are so...