I was telling everybody who's here. I was so glad to see them this evening, but we didn't have no. I'm quite the crowd this morning. Tonight, we had this morning, but I I spoke almost too soon because the crowd just kept growing and growing after that. So we don't feel quite have the crowd we have this morning, but we got a good crowd here tonight.

So praise the Lord. I'll learn not to speak too so quickly, will I? Alright. First Corinthians 15. First Corinthians chapter 15.

We're going to read the first few verses again then we're going to skip down to verse 17, Okay? As we continue on the theme of the resurrection, which does seem fitting today. It's fitting really every day, isn't it? Every Sunday is a celebration. We serve a risen savior.

First Corinthians 15 verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand by which also you are saved. If you keep in memory what I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how the Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, that he was seen of Cephas, that would also be Peter, then of the 12. After that, he was seen above 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remain unto this present but some are fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. Of course, Paul speaking of himself. If you look over to verse down to verse 17, it says, and if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain. Ye are yet in your sins. Then, 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. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more.

Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for this day that you've given us to serve you, to praise your name. We thank you for the privilege of coming before you in prayer. We ask for your guidance, for your Holy Spirit to give understanding and conviction as your word is preached this evening. In Jesus name. Amen.

So a few years back, was preaching a series on the mighty works of God. And this is one of those mighty works, is it not? The resurrection, the redemption of mankind, the atonement, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The resurrection is indeed a mighty work of God and all that comes with it. Creation is a mighty work indeed.

The flood and the Tower Of Babel were mighty works indeed. The nation of Israel, their election and formation, mighty works. The incarnation of Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and one day his return. The Bible throughout the Old Testament and in the gospels builds to the climax of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is the pivotal moment in all of human history when everything changes for fallen and condemned mankind.

When Jesus Christ rose up from that grave, all of the promises God had made in Jesus Christ for man's salvation came to be. When Jesus rose from that grave, we knew that the Messiah had come. We knew that he had that he bore our sins on the cross. We knew that he was the savior of the world, the living savior. The Old Testament prophets spoke of it.

Genesis three fifteen alludes to it. He said there, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, speaking to the serpent or Satan, and between thy seed and her seed, that is the seed of the woman. Yet the seed of the woman shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel. When God spoke to the servant of his eventual demise at the hand of the seed of the woman, he also spoke of the bruising of the Messiah's heel. Satan thought he had brought a death blow to God's son, the Messiah.

Instead, it was his own death, his own demise, his own destruction at the hand of that heel when Jesus rose again from the what? From the dead. For he defeated the plans of the enemy. He made the way for man to once again be redeemed and brought back to their savior, to fulfill our purpose that Satan had robbed God of in the garden. David alluded it to when he spoke in Psalm 16 verse 10.

He wrote, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see what? Corruption. As Peter pointed out in Acts chapter two on his sermon on the day of Pentecost, he said David wasn't speaking about himself. You know why? Because you can go to his tomb.

It's over there. If you open it up, you're gonna find a bunch of decayed bones in it. But you know something? When you go to Jerusalem today, they this group thinks that this was the tomb, and that group thinks that was the tomb, and this group thinks that that was the tomb. And why is it we can't figure out which tomb it was?

Because the tomb is what? The tomb is empty. There is no body. There are no bones to analyze because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. He, unlike David, did not see what?

He did not see corruption. Hosea alluded to it. I believe here in Hosea chapter six. Hosea wrote, come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and he will bind us.

After two days, he will revive us. In the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. We live in his sight today, the redeemed in Jesus Christ who rose again on the what? On the third on the third day. But unless you're a skeptic, consider Isaiah chapter 53 verses eight through 10.

Speaking of the Messiah, it says, for he was cut off out of the land of the living. That speaks of Jesus' what? Death. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. That is for the sins, particularly here of the Jews, though he also died for the sins of the Gentiles?

And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. He was buried in a rich man's tomb, Joseph of Arimathea. And he had done no violence for he was without sin. He became sin for us who knew no what? Sin.

Okay? Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he, that is the father, shall see his seed. He shall what?

Prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper. He said, what does the word prolong there indicate? Well, he was cut off in verse eight, and now in verse 10, he will prolong his days. He will that means he will add days. That means he who died would then, what?

Be raised from the dead. So this isn't just a New Testament concept. No. The Old Testament prophets foretold of this pivotal moment in human history when the Messiah would come, would die for the sin would die for sinners on a cross, and then would rise again on the third day. And then Jesus himself spoke of the resurrection.

In, John two nineteen, he alluded to it here when he said it says, Jesus answered and said unto him unto them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Now some people thought he was talking about the what? The the temple, the building. But was he really? No.

Because in hindsight, we see later on, he was talking about himself. He wasn't talking about the building on the Temple Mount. He was talking about his body. In Matthew chapter 12, the Pharisees and the scribes, kept after him. They wanted more and more and more signs.

Show us more signs. Show us more signs. Then certain of the scribes and pharisees answered saying, master, we would see a sign from thee. Now you've already seen a bunch of sign. Every time he healed somebody of disease, they saw a sign.

But anyway, show us another one. But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So we see Jesus spoke of his body in John two nineteen. Clearly, he alludes back to Jonah here as the final sign, the ultimate sign of his deity came in his what?

In his resurrection on the third day. And then you got Matthew chapter eight verse 31 and several other passages with it that Jesus just comes straight out and says what's going to happen to his disciples, and he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed. And after three days, what? Rise again. Sadly, his disciples were sold distraught over the fact that he said he was gonna die.

They kinda missed that last phrase several times in the gospels. Praise the Lord. It didn't keep Jesus from rising again even despite their unbelief. He did that very thing. He died on the cross for our sins, and then he rose again from the dead triumphant over the enemies of himself and us that we might be saved.

We serve a risen savior. A dead one can't do us any good. And there are a lot of dead so called messiahs out there. There's only one what? There's only one living one who died and rose again.

As we read from first Corinthians 15, there were many witnesses. We see the witness here of the angels at the tomb. Matthew twenty eight six, he is not here for he is risen as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay. Notice that part as he said, he told you. He told you while he's ministering, he was gonna die and then he was gonna what?

Rise again. Come. See the place. Yeah. He's not here.

Why? Because he is risen from the dead. We have the witness of Mary Magdalene in John chapter 20 who saw Jesus. They resurrected Jesus. First thought he was the gardener.

She's a little confused, but then she recognized that the gardener she was talking to was the savior of the world who was risen again from the dead. One of my favorite testimonies is that of the Roman guards, one that's often looked over. Look, if you would, in in Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chap or do I let's see here. Yeah.

Matthew chapter 28, and we have the testimony of the Roman guards. When it talks about a guard that was placed outside of Christ's tomb, it was actual several guards. A Roman guard was actual several men that were put outside the tomb to make sure that his disciples or somebody else didn't run off with the body. It wasn't like there was one guy that just happened to fall asleep or was overpowered or that, there was just a big stone to roll away and that's all there was. No.

When Jesus rose again from the dead, there was nothing the Roman guards can do about it. They froze. And then they tell their story in Matthew 28 and verse 11 to the authorities. It says, now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, that's the guards, and showed under the chief priest all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.

And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you. So they took the money and did as they were taught. And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. The very guards that watch Jesus' tomb, they saw what happened. They were powerless to do anything about it.

And they went to their authorities and they said, well, you know, this happened. And the authority said, no, it didn't happen. It was kinda like a didn't happen. It didn't happen. You didn't see that.

You didn't see that. Here, take this money, and if anybody asks you, you fell asleep on the job. And if it comes back to the authority, the governor, and, you know, it wasn't a good thing to fall asleep on guard as a Roman soldier. You could, you know that could be the end of you. They said it's okay.

You tell them you fell asleep and we'll make sure we'll make sure that that your life is secure. And so you have the testimony of the Roman guards who were paid to keep their mouth what? To keep their mouth shut. You have the testimony of the disciples. We read about in first Corinthians chapter 15, and we read about at the end of the gospels.

There was even Thomas that says, I won't believe unless I can see the scars in his hands and touch them. Well, when he actually stood before Jesus, he no longer needed to touch them. He knew. He knew who he was talking to as he said, my Lord and my my God. Jesus even ate in front of his disciples to show that he wasn't just a a spirit, a ghost.

He actually had a glorified what? A glorified body. He rose again from the tomb bodily. One day, we will get a new what? A new body too as well, like unto his.

He was specifically seen of one named James here in first Corinthians 15. Don't know if that is a reference to James, the brother of John or James, his own brother, who we do know became a a leader of the church in Jerusalem who had previously denied him. Over 500 others saw him at once. And finally, Paul testifies in verse eight that he saw him, what? He saw him too on the road to on the road to Damascus.

And these disciples, these eyewitnesses that saw him, They went out via Roman roads and ships to many nations, journeyed out into the world of the day, spreading the news that Jesus Christ was, what, risen from the dead. The Messiah had come. The Messiah had died. The Messiah had risen again. The Messiah had gone back to heaven to prepare a place for all those who believe in him.

And one day, the Messiah was what? Coming again. In first John chapter one, John describes his eyewitness account of Christ and he speaks not of someone who is dead, but of someone who is still very much what? Alive. Someone that you and I can have fellowship with.

Just like we can have fellowship with one another, we can have fellowship with with Jesus Christ because he is what? Because he is alive. He is risen again from the dead. The New Testament exalts the resurrection as the key element of the gospel, the good news. Romans 10 and verse nine, we read this morning that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that, what, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

It is the resurrection of Christ along with his atoning sacrifice on the cross upon which the eternal destiny of every man, woman, boy, and girl hinges. No resurrection, no salvation. No resurrection, no eternal life. No resurrection, no home in heaven. No resurrection, still stuck in our sins.

Thus, you must believe that Jesus Christ is risen again because, again, a dead savior cannot save you. For if he cannot save himself, how could he possibly save you? First Corinthians fifteen four and first Peter three eighteen three eighteen include it emphatically. In first Corinthians 15, Paul says in verse four, and that he was buried and that he, what, rose again the third day according to the scriptures. In first Peter three eighteen, it says, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but what?

Quickened by the spirit. Now we don't use that word quicken too often. Did did you use the word quicken this week? Probably not. What does the word quicken means?

It means to be made what? To be made alive. To be made alive. That's what the word quickened. He was made alive.

He rose again from the dead. Yes. He died, but he is very much alive. He is a risen savior. Baptism pictures the death, burial, and what?

Resurrection of our Lord and savior. Jesus Christ, as Romans six says, buried in the likeness of his death, raised in the likeness of his resurrection to walk with Christ in newness of life. This is one of the reasons it is sad that so many churches do not baptize by immersion because immersion is baptism and baptism is immersion. And it does indeed picture our old life dying and a new life having become in Jesus Christ. We have a new life in him.

If any man be in Christ, he is a what? A new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Because he rose again, we have life in him.

Look, if you would, again, at verse 17 of first Corinthians 15. Again, Paul writes, because evidently, there were some that were spreading a false doctrine of the church at Corinth that Jesus didn't really rise from the dead or you're not gonna really rise from the dead. He was just a spirit or you're just a there is no resurrection they were teaching. And so Paul is countering that in this entire chapter. And again, he says in verse 17, and if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain and you're yet in your sins.

How do you know that Christ was the Messiah, that when he died on the cross, he died for your sins? How do you know that? Because he rose again from the what? Dead. If he didn't rise again from the dead, how do you know that he was the real thing?

God verified Jesus Christ, the son of God, when he rose again from that grave as he said he would, as the Old Testament prophets said he would. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, you're yet in your sins, then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. So those that are your loved ones that have passed away, if Christ didn't rise from the dead, how do you know they're going to raise from dead? You don't. Then it's just over.

I had the opportunity to preach, conduct many funerals in the time I have been here, a memorial service. And though it is difficult for the family who was separated from the loved one that they knew for many years for the child of God, it's not just sad because we have hope, because we know that one day we will be reunited. We know that one day we will be with them in heaven with the Lord. This life is not all there is. How do we know?

Because Jesus Christ did what? Rose from the dead. If he be not risen, well, don't know about that. Verse 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. I I touched on this this morning.

Salvation, the good news of the gospel isn't that Jesus is just gonna help fix some of your problems and and maybe some of your diseases and and he's just going to get rid of your troubles and and make you happy and you're not going to that's not the gospel. The gospel is we're sinners and if we die in our sin, we'll be separated from God for all eternity in the lake of fire. And praise the Lord, there's a place Jesus is preparing for us, for all those who believe in him. And one day, we get to go there. This is just the introduction to life.

The good part's yet to what? The good part's yet to come. If there is no life after death, if there is no resurrection, if there is no heaven to come, then we, as Paul says, are of all men most most miserable if this is all there is. Praise the Lord. There'll be a new heaven and a new earth.

Praise the Lord. There will be no sin or pain or sorrow or death. It's going to be great. But now is Christ risen from the dead? Paul says, but now isn't it wonderful we know that he did raise from the dead?

He is risen from the dead and become the the first fruits of them that sleep. The Bible calls Christ the first fruits of the resurrection for his resurrection assures that we will be resurrected in him also. He is just the first fruits that assures us there are more to come. He is the first fruit that represents the whole. All of those who are in Christ Jesus will one day be resurrected also.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Thus, is speaking of Adam and then speaking of the God man, Jesus Christ. For by since by Adam came death, so by Jesus Christ came also the resurrection of the dead. As he puts it plainly in verse 22, for as in Adam, all die, even in Christ shall all be made, what? Alive.

And how do we know that? Because Jesus Christ did what? He rose from the dead. Praise the Lord. We serve a risen savior.

And because he is risen, so will we be. Because he is risen, he can impart to us eternal life. Because he is risen, he can forgive us of all of our sins. He can invite us to heaven. He can intercede in our behalf because he is risen again from the dead.

The fact is only a risen and exalted savior has the power to save those who come to him by faith. He who conquered death, who lives forever, is therefore able to redeem all those to the uttermost who come to him by faith. And Adam all die, but in Christ shall all be, what, Made alive. So since Christ is risen, he lives, and that changes what? That changes everything.

That changes all of human history. For where once man was lost in sin, condemned by the law, incapable of being reunited with God, separated by the what? The veil. When Jesus Christ came and died on that cross, the veil was torn from the top to the bottom. And then Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.

And then Jesus Christ ascended into heaven where he invites each and every one of us to come to him through faith in Christ. He, the risen savior, assures us who trust in him that there is eternal life, that there is a home in heaven awaiting us, and one day we will get a new body, and it might just have more hair on top of my head. And we won't talk about all the other problems. Just the hair. Most importantly, sin will be no more.

Christ has freed me today from the slavery of sin, but I'm still walked through it and in it day by day on this sin cursed world. I still live in this flesh that desires oftentimes the wrong things and works against the new creature that I am in Christ Jesus, but one day it will be no more. Praise the Lord. Include with Hebrews chapter seven verses twenty four and twenty five. But this man, that is Jesus, our high priest, because he continueth ever, because he rose again, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

You see, the priest in the Old Testament, he had a high priest and then what happened to the high priest? He died and he had to be replaced. And then another high priest and after a while he died and he had to be replaced. But will Jesus Christ ever have to be replaced? The answer is no.

And because he ever lives, because he is an unchangeable high priest, he doesn't change. Because he was a sinless high priest, he didn't have to make a sacrifice for himself, nay, he became the sacrifice for us. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto him by God. God unto God by him, see he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

He is alive. We have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who died on that cross for the sins. He became sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He did for us what which we could not do for ourselves. And as he hung on that cross, he cried, it is finished.

And he gave up the ghost. But then three days later, he rose again from the dead. I'm gonna ask Kate if she'll come back up. I wanna sing I wanna sing a song, and it is entitled, it is finished. Surprise.

It's not seven yet. You think I could possibly be done anyway.