The Resurrection of Jesus: Everyone Will Be Raised From The Dead | Pastor William Hixson

topical studies at the same time. One is

on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and

we are back to that one. Uh and the

other is on great texts of the Bible. So

we're back into the resurrection of

Jesus Christ this morning.

All your attention to that subject,

please turn with me to Luke 20. Well,

Luke 24 will be the first scripture that

we're looking at. So, you may turn there

if you would.

Title of my message this morning is a

question.

When did the good news become old news?

That's question.

How did that how'd that happen? When did

the good news become old news?

Well, the good news is not old news for

many people because they've never heard

it.

But the good news becomes old news once

we've heard it and obeyed it.

And in every city, in every school,

every family, every church, there have

been people where the good news was new

news. They'd never heard it before.

They might have been in a church that

didn't teach the Bible very well or

hardly at all. And they say things like,

"I never heard that before."

And so

there are people who've never heard the

gospel, even if they're so-called

churched people.

Clearly preached

or they've never listened if it was.

That's another category. They've been

showing up, but their minds somewhere

else.

And uh it's very easy for that to

happen. It's a very bad habit to get

into, especially if you're raised in

church as a little kid. Preacher stands

up and your mind goes into uh all kinds

of other directions. You're sitting

there very reverently, but your mind's

somewhere else. May God give us grace to

listen to the word of God. And so there

are people who've heard and heard and

heard, but have not heard.

and

uh but so sooner or later the message of

Jesus Christ death, burial, and

resurrection

uh is heard. But once you hear the good

news, it becomes old news because you

already know it. You understand what I'm

saying? It's like never like I never

heard it. It's not new news now. It's

old news. And I don't mean that in a bad

way.

And for some people I I heard five years

ago. I heard 10 years, 30 years, 50

years ago. Once I was blind, but now I

see the light of the world is Jesus. And

I know it now.

And remember Jesus said, "This is the

work of God. What must we do that we

might work the work of God? This is the

work of God that you believe on me whom

he sent."

And it's a wonderful thing when someone

grasps that distillation of our

responsibilities.

and uh as the Lord did in John chapter

John 6 · chapter mention

6.

And part of proclaiming and sharing the

gospel is believing the gospel ourself.

Romans says it's from faith to faith.

You don't have faith. Pretty hard to

give the gospel in such a way someone

else can get faith. is from faith to

faith and having clarity about the

gospel and having confidence about the

gospel and having courage about the

gospel to share the gospel in a clear

way

is very very important.

Paul said, "I'm not ashamed

of the gospel of Christ."

For it's the power of God to salvation

to everyone

that believes, to the Jew first and also

to the Greek.

Now, you remember if we go to Luke 24,

it's Easter evening.

Our Lord's appeared Easter morning to

the women.

He's appeared Easter afternoon to

Cleopus and wife.

And Cleopus and wife are seven miles

away. And they they zoom back to

Jerusalem thinking they've got good news

and new news

because when they left, everybody had

questions and nobody had answers.

And so they burst through the door

thinking they're going to tell people

something that is amazing.

And the answer to on the other side is

the Lord's risen again. He's appeared to

Peter. We didn't believe the women, but

we believe Peter. He's risen.

Remember that. It's true. The Lord's

risen again. Has appeared to Simon.

And in that moment

for the apostles

as a whole,

the good news became old news.

Wasn't very old. They just heard it.

But it was a wonderful surprise and a

glorious thing.

And of course there were many

appearances of our Lord after that. And

uh you know on Easter evening our Lord

if you could look in Luke 24

um

that's after Cleopus and wife had

returned and as they spoke Jesus himself

stood in the midst of them and said

peace be to you. He didn't knock

didn't knock on the door. Door was

locked. He came in through the walls and

appeared.

They're terrified and frightened.

Supposed that they'd seen a spirit. And

he said, "Why trouble ye?" Luke 24:38.

Luke 24:38

Why are you troubled? And why do

thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my

hands and my feet. It's my It's I

myself.

It's me. How many people do you know

walking around with holes in their hands

>> and feet?

These are the identifying marks and

characteristics.

Handle me and see and see for a spirit

hath not flesh and bones as you see me

have. So he invites them to touch him.

He invites him to them to handle him. I

want you guys I want you all of you in

this room touch me. Handle me and see.

When he thus spoken, he showed them his

hands and feet. And while they believed

not for joy and wondered, he said, "Do

you have anything here to eat?"

Now, was he hungry? Well, I would think

he would be after 3 days, but that's

really not the point. He's got a

resurrection body. He doesn't have to

eat. He's eating to show them he's not

an apparition.

And they gave him a piece of broiled

fish and a honeycomb.

and he took it and did eat before them.

Some of you were here years ago. We used

to have sunrise services. One Easter we

had a sunset service and we ate fish and

honeycomb. We did just did it backwards

that year.

And that's what was going on here.

So these are many infallible proofs

of the reality of the resurrection.

And at that moment they knew

he is risen

and the gospel is the good news about

Jesus Christ. He has worked for us.

He is risen

and uh that's a fascinating thing.

Now

as we think about this particular

subject we know there's a lot of

opposition to it. There's a lot of

skepticism to it. There might be some

here even today you you've heard the

gospel but you think I don't know about

that. That was nobody really knows what

happened. I'm I'm you feel you're safe

in your unbelief.

You feel secure in it because nobody

really knows.

Well, the whole gospel of Luke was that

a man might come to the certainty of the

thing.

It's not good to float around in

uncertainty and think that's good.

That's a safe position. It's not a safe

pos. It's not even a valid position. But

many of us have been there in that

position. And at the time we thought,

"Oh, this was this is a legitimate uh

position for me to be in because I don't

know and others don't know and I'm just

going to stick with this. I'm not going

to stick my neck out. I don't want to

buy into something that's not true.

and they use those kind of excuses for

their unbelief.

Well, let me challenge that for the

people that here and the people might

join online.

Let's do some chronology. Let's do some

uh

let's do some investigation

as to the New Testament, as to the

appearances of Jesus, and as to the

records that we have about that today.

How valid are they? How legitimate are

they?

And that's kind of important.

So, turn with me to First Thessalonians.

There's there's three very early

witnesses

on the resurrection

in the New Testament. And you've heard

me say this so many, many, many times.

The gospels were not written before the

epistles

chronologically.

So the four gospels are not the earliest

witnesses to the resurrection that were

written down. Actually, some of the

epistles were written before the

gospels.

Now, obviously, the gospels are

recording things that happened before

the events of the epistles, but the

written records that we have in the New

Testament,

the gospels were written after many of

the epistles.

Now, this is not a matter of serious

debate even between knowledgeable

believers and unbelievers.

because the evidence is there.

It's too strong to be ignored by people

who have any concept of the historical

facts and the reality of the time of

writing of these documents.

And there's three books that I want to

look at were written very very early.

First Thessalonians, I'm skipping 2

Thessalonians. It was written a couple

of months later, but first Thessalonians

is possibly the first letter, the first

part of the New Testament is written

down. Paul's letter to First

Thessalonians. It's the oldest

chronologically,

even though it's dealing with things

that are way past the birth, death, and

resurrection of Jesus.

First, first Thessalonians is very early

and 2 Thessalonians came about a month a

couple months later. Corinthians is the

second that big book 1 Corinthians 16

chapters. That's early.

That's early.

So, first Thessalonians and First

Corinthians, I want to look at them just

as a historian would. And then

Galatians.

Galatians. I want to I want to look at

those documents and see what was being

said when those documents were written.

Before the four gospels were written.

People like to fantasize that the four

gospels are fiction and they just made

it all up and that that that fiction

produced faith in some people. Well, the

four gospels weren't written yet.

The gospel went out before the New

Testament was written

at Pentecost,

50 days after Jesus arose from the dead.

None of the New Testament was written

yet.

And the gospel went out not just in

Jerusalem, but in Judea and Samaria. And

it's starting to go out to the uttermost

part of the earth.

Think about that just for a minute.

So, let's go with me to First

Thessalonians. And you say, "Why are we

doing this, pastor? This is just a lot

of details. I already believe in Jesus.

I already I'm already saved." Well, a

lot of people, you know, aren't.

>> They're not saved in your family, in

your neighborhood, on your job. They're

not saved.

And so if we want to have an intelligent

uh credible uh witness to them, we have

to do our homework. We have to be

credible in our knowledge of the word

and in our knowledge of some of these

things to break through the excuses and

break that people give and we gave them

to in our unsaved days. And to break

through the noise of people around us

who are very ignorant and just make

pronouncements they don't know they're

even They don't even know what they're

talking about. So look with me to First

Thessalonians.

Now it's very interesting in First

Thessalonians if you just read it on

your own. Count the number of times

gospel appeared.

It's all over the place

in 1 Thessalonians 1:4 2:24 to89. And

1 Thessalonians 1:4

that's just getting started.

The word gospel appears several times.

And if you want to know what the gospel

is, Paul spells it out in 1 Corinthians

15. It's that Christ died for our sins

according to the scriptures. Was buried

and rose again the third day according

to the scriptures. And that he was seen

of Cphus and then of the 12. And then uh

you know he goes down the list.

Now, it's interesting to me that this

which is probably the first written book

of the New Testament chronologically

that Paul had already been to this

church. This people, these people have

already been saved. They've been saved

for several months and he writes a

letter to them. So, at this point, the

gospel wasn't good news, new news to

them, but it was good news.

They were believers. They embraced it.

They believed it. They were sharing it.

So

uh look with me in 1 Thessalonians 1:9.

1 Thessalonians 1:9

This is the first time in Thessalonians

the word resurrection of Christ is

explicitly used. 1:9 For they themselves

show of us what manner of entering in we

had to you how you turn to God from

idols to serve the living and true God

and to wait from his son from heaven

whom he raised from the dead. even Jesus

who delivered us from the wrath to come.

Now this is not an announcement of

something they don't know.

This is something they already believed

when Paul was there

and started the church. Now he's writing

to a church that's been started and this

is a given. Nobody there is doubting

this. They already believed it. He's

going over what they already believe.

When was this letter written? 51 AD.

51 AD. Jesus died at 30 or 31 AD. So 20

years after Jesus died and rose again,

we have people in Thessalonica,

miles and miles and miles away from

Jerusalem, that have heard the gospel

and believed the gospel and are

continuing to promote the gospel

themselves.

Thessalonica is in Greece

and the Apostle Paul ministered in that

church and started that church. Now

these are baby Christians but they are

people who've already believed the good

news and are being ministered to Paul as

baby Christians. But they'd already

heard it before.

The good news was old news to them at

this point months old.

How many of you read old newspapers?

Usually you read the newspaper and

that's it. I've read it, been through

that. Once in a while we do. If we're

out of town and newspaper comes and all

catch up. Well, these people had

believed the good news. Paul's not

telling them something they didn't know.

They'd already believed it. They already

knew it. It's 51 AD.

You realize we don't have any

documentmentation of any ancient people

like we have of Jesus and his

resurrection.

I'm talking Roman emperors. I'm talking

philosophers. There's nothing like

this is a very precious thing. First

Thessalonians.

Now, so these are baby Christians and

the good news that that this writing was

old news to them. They'd heard it

before. They believed it for months and

they were actually proclaiming. Now go

with me to first Corinthians

our 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

6.

Next on the list is 1 Corinthians.

Paul had already been to Corenth.

It's recorded in Acts 18.

The church had already been started.

Believers were already worshiping and

assembling together.

And Paul is writing a letter to them.

And again, it's around 51 AD

probably after Thessalonians.

But notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 5

1 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 6 verse 41.

Chapter 6 verse 41.

Uh, wait a minute. I'm I'm off the beam

there somewhere. Hold on.

of 41:14

chapter 6 verse14.

So the apostle Paul's writing to these

folks they know they believe the gospel.

They believed in the resurrection of

Christ. Paul tells them that in chapter

15 verse one he rehearses it. And here

other than 1 Corinthians 15 uh we will

get to later. This is the first time in

this letter Paul is explicit about the

resurrection.

And what he's doing is immorality is in

some of the church. There's people

fornicating. There's people that

ignoring their responsibilities in the

area of sexual morality. And some are

even defending it.

Sex is just like eating.

I have an appetite for food. I have an

appetite for sex. So I fulfill my

appetite. That's normal. Appetite for

sex. I fulfill that however I want.

That's normal. And Paul was confronting

that discontinuity and uh uh departure

from Christian belief. So in verse 13 he

says chap 1 Corinthians 6:13 foods for

1 Corinthians 6:13

the body and the body for foods. But God

shall destroy both it and them. The body

is not for fornication but for the Lord

and the Lord for the body. And God has

raised up the Lord and will raise up us

by his own power. Your body's going into

eternity.

It's a temple of the Holy Spirit.

You're not what you were.

Begin to think like a Christian.

The body's for the Lord.

And he says in 15, "Know ye not your

bodies are the members of Christ? Shall

I take the members of Christ and make

them the members of a harlot? God

forbid."

So he's really rebuking that isn't he's

cleaning up that a problem that was

there.

And of course in 1 Corinthians 15

the main chapter on resurrection

he uses 58 verses

58 verses to deal with the resurrection

of Jesus and the resurrection of

Christians that follow from it. 58.

He goes into great detail

and uh really uh does what needs to be

done on that particular subject. And

it's a massive it's a massive thing what

Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15. God

spells it out very very clearly and very

very explicitly and he starts with

Easter and moves forward and shows all

that what resurrection is and what it

isn't. And he says, "How can some of you

say there's no resurrection?"

We'll get to that in a little bit. Go

with me to Galatians 1,

the third New Testament document.

And depending on whether you believe in

the north Galatia

view or the south Galatia view, there's

a little bit of changing on the dates,

but probably 51 to 53 AD. So this is a

third witness within 21 years of Jesus's

death where the people are already saved

and getting letters from others that are

saved. They've already believed in the

death, burial, and resurrection for

salvation. They're being ministered to

and encouraged.

It's already going on very early.

This people who are non-Christians

believe these dates.

People who historians accept these

dates.

This is not a subject for

debate among people really know what's

going on.

Galatians chapter

uh

Galatians chapter

uh let's see as we move through this

book.

It's let's start out in chapter 1. Now

most of you know what Paul's doing. He's

defending his gospel of grace versus the

uh Judaizers. And he uses a very

interesting thing. He uses a historical

argument in the first two chapters. He

uses a scriptural argument in chapters

three and four. And he uses a practical

argument in chapter five and six. He's

very logical. He just blows the other

people out of the water.

And so, but how does he start the book?

This great book of Galatians, one of my

favorites. I hope it is one of yours.

Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by

man, but by Jesus Christ and God the

Father, who raised him from the dead.

The very first verse in Galatians

deals with the resurrection of Jesus.

>> Amen.

>> Now, he's going to let these people have

it. I mean, he's not being he's not

being polite.

There's some there's some depth of anger

in Paul that these churches would depart

from the gospel.

So he starts out with the resurrection

of Jesus.

The death, burial, and resurrection of

Jesus is the gospel. And so he says,

"Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither

by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the

Father, who raised him from the dead,

and all the brethren who are with me

unto the churches of Galatia." Remember,

I confess when I was a young Christian,

I used to think Galatia was one church.

It's not one church. Galatia is a

territory like Ohio.

And so it's a province.

These are the churches of Galatia. So

this was something that has spread

through several churches. This legalism

of the Judaizers.

And Paul's going to deal with it

sharply.

And he says in verse three, "Grace be to

you and peace from God the Father and

from the Lord Jesus Christ who gave

himself for our sins that he might

deliver us from the present evil age

according to the will of God and our

father. To him be glory forever and

ever." And no compliments. Paul usually

gives compliments. No compliments to

these churches. You are making a very

serious error. Legalism is a horrible

thing.

And so

he says,"I marvel

that you're so soon removed from him

that called you into the grace of Christ

to another gospel."

Marvel that you could fall for this,

which is not another.

Now, those of you that read the Greek

text or have read read the Greek text,

there's two words for another. There's

heteros and alos.

Heteros means another of a different

kind. Alas means another of the same

kind.

He says, "I marvel that you're so soon

removed from him than the called you

into the grace of Christ to another of a

different kind gospel. A heteros gospel

get heterosexual from heteros. Another

of a different kind gospel

which is not another allos which is not

another of the same kind. What you're

listening to is not a legitimate

variation of real Christianity.

It's totally illegitimate. It's another

It's not another of the same kind. There

are legitimate variations between true

believers and churches. This is one of

them,

which is not another of the same kind.

But there are some that trouble you and

would change thoroughly. That's what he

says. change thoroughly the gospel of

Christ.

You mean a little change

like salvation's by grace through faith

or salvation is by grace through faith

plus circumcision and lawkeeping. That's

just a little change. It changes it

thoroughly.

Changes it thoroughly.

But though we or an angel from heaven

preach any other gospel unto you than

that which we preach to you, let him be

a curse.

As we said before, so I say now again,

if any man preach any other gospel to

you than you've received, let him be

accursed. Oh, sorry, I didn't read verse

eight. But though we or an angel from

heaven preach any other gospel unto you

than that which we preach to you, let

him be accursed. Even if I come back,

even if I change, don't you change.

Some people put their faith in a

preacher and not in the Lord. The

preacher changes, they change.

That's not saving faith.

Our faith isn't in the preacher or the

pastor. Our faith isn't in the local

church we have. Our faith is in the

Lord.

So if the pastor goes wrong or the

church goes wrong, we don't follow him.

Don't follow him.

Uh, that's exactly what Paul's saying.

Do you think Paul was happy with these

people?

I think he was so upset he could already

see straight.

And yet he he starts out most of his

letters start out with complimenting

people or recognizing people. He just

boom, right out of the shoot. And he's

very giving a very strong exhortation.

And so everything if you look back at

verse one, Paul got his gospel from

Jesus Christ who was raised from the

dead. So everything Paul says

is based on the fact that he's an

apostle of the one who's raised from the

dead.

Um

Paul would never have been saved it

wasn't for the resurrection.

But the greatest argument for the

resurrection of Jesus is the salvation

of Saul Tarsus where Saul became Paul

and the man who was killing people who

believe the gospel became became the man

who was uh doing everything he could to

bring others to believe the gospel.

Now what do we see here in these three

letters that we've chosen this morning?

Well, number one, the Thessalonian

church was mixed up and they they were

quite mixed up

uh on something. Remember, if you go to

chapter 4,

they thought uh that their fellow church

members had died.

What's going to happen to them? They

didn't make the second coming.

They were mixed up on the issues of dead

believers.

They were very mixed up on that. Paul

corrects it in 1 Thessalonians 4. You

know, no church is right on everything.

And some people get mixed up on this or

that.

And Paul corrects them on that. He said,

"Don't be mixed up by that. Jesus is

coming. There's a reunion coming when

the the risen Lord's coming and we're

all going to be together. Don't worry

about that."

He he knew they were This is This is my

point. The Thessalonians were mixed up

on what's going to happen to dead

believers, but they weren't mixed up on

the resurrection of Jesus.

Paul deals with them on the basis of

what they already believe.

They weren't mixed up on that. Read

chapter 4 and Paul just puts it in

perspective.

The basis of what you already believe,

this is what's going to happen to them

and you in the future. The Galatian

church was mixed up on salvation by

grace. They turned to another gospel

temporarily

and uh Paul told them to stand fast in

the liberty with which Christ has made

us free and be not entangled again in

the yoke of bondage. They were mixed up

on satiriology, the way people are

saved. Even they didn't get saved by

that gospel, but then they started

listening to another and it all got

mixed together. But the Galatian church

was not mixed up on the resurrection.

They already believed that. There's no

mixed up on that.

The Corinthian church was very mixed up

on all kinds of stuff.

They were mixed up on all kinds of

stuff. They began to doubt and even deny

their own resurrection.

They begin to doubt and deny the resurre

physical resurrection of believers. But

they never began they never doubted the

physical resurrection of Jesus.

I think they thought he's the exception

because he's God.

He was risen but we won't be.

Now the reason they were mixed up is

they were listening to Greek philosophy.

And remember G Paul Paul preached uh to

the philosophers in Athens, Greece which

was right down the road.

Jesus and the resurrection.

But they scoffed at him. So it was very

deep in gentile society that

resurrection wasn't possible or

resurrection of the dead wasn't possible

or desirable.

They believed in life after death be a

disembodied spirit. And so somewhere in

the Corinthian church, if you look at 1

Corinthians 15, what happened? What

happened? They began to say, "Well,

Jesus was risen from the dead, but you

know, he's the son of God, and that was

special, but we will survive death, but

only as dis as as disembodied spirits."

Didn't get that from Paul.

They got it from Greek philosophy and it

was mixing them all up. So, every one of

these churches got mixed up on

something, but none of them got mixed up

on who Jesus was and who and that he

rose from the dead. They already knew

that.

So, Paul is arguing from what they

believed about Jesus's resurrection to

prove their own resurrection.

Understand what he's doing in 1

Corinthians 15.

So, how important is all this? It's

very, very important.

is very very important. You don't want

to be these are major issues. We we have

to be clear on some things first on the

gospel and what happened to Jesus but

also on ourselves. Now let's go to 1

Corinthians 15 and let's start thinking

about this a little fuller

together. 1 Corinthians 15.

Now follow me in this and see if what

I'm saying is not so.

Paul saved this for last

and then he uses 58 ver I mean he really

hit this subject.

Listen Christian, I'm going to tell you

something. If you're saved, your body

cannot stay in the grave anymore than

Jesus did.

>> Amen.

>> You get that? The cemetery is not your

final resting place. The cemetery is a

motel for your body till the trumpet

sounds.

It's a temporary resting place.

And so because we will be risen and our

lowly body is going to be made like his

glorious body.

And Paul says, "Moreover, brethren, I

notice what he's saying. He's arguing

this this subject. He knows where he's

going. Remember before he started

writing chapter 15, he had all this in

his head.

So he says, "Moreover, brethren, I

declare to you the gospel

which I preached to you." That's when I

when the church started, this is before

51 AD.

The preaching came before the letter.

And in which you stand by which you're

also saved, if you keep in memory what I

preached to you, unless you believed in

vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all

that which I also received that Christ

died for our sins according to the

scriptures. And that he was buried and

rose again the third day.

According to the scriptures he was seen

of Cphus then of the 12. After that he's

seen of 500 brethren at once of whom the

greater part remained to this present

time and some are fallen asleep.

And that after that he was seen of

James. Then of all the apostles and last

of all you seen of me also as one born

out of due time. For I am the least of

the apostles, not fit to be called an

apostle because I persecuted the church

of God. By the grace of God, I am what I

am.

And his grace which was bestowed on me

was not in vain. And I labored more

abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but

the grace of God which was with me.

Therefore, whether it were I or they, so

we preached, and so you believe.

These people believe the gospel. They

wouldn't be saved if they didn't. I

believe they still believed it.

They just didn't apply it to themselves

the way they should.

So, they had a mixture of Greek

philosophy and biblical theology.

Now, here's where Paul opens up. After

he shows where they all agree, he says

this.

Now, if Christ be preached that he rose

from the dead, how

say some of you, he didn't say all of

you, some of you,

some among you, that there's no

resurrection of the dead.

How can you say that? How can you be

that inconsistent?

This isn't systematic theology at all.

And if Christ be risen, then our

preaching is vain, and your faith is

also vain. Yes, in we're found a false

witness of God, because we've testified

to God that he raised up Christ whom he

raised not up. If so be that the dead

rise not, do the math on what you're

thinking. If the dead, if resurrection

is not desirable or possible, then Jesus

didn't rise from the dead. Even he

didn't.

Now, nobody was saying he didn't.

They were just saying, "We won't."

And Paul says, "You are inconsistent.

You're being inconsistent."

Yay. Verse 15, "We're found false

witnesses of God because we testified of

God that he raised up Christ, whom he

raised not up, if so be the dead rise

not." If the dead rise not, then is not

Christ raised. If Christ is not raised,

your faith is vain and you're yet in

your sins, then also they are fallen

asleep in Jesus or perished. the very

thing the Thessalonians are worried

about.

If in this life only we have hope in

Christ, we of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead

and become the first fruits of them that

slept. He's a public person. He had

authority from God. He won't be risen

alone. He's the first fruits and the

many fruits follow the first fruits.

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. Every man in

his own order, Christ the fruit first

fruits. Afterward, they that are Christ

at his coming. That's pretty clear,

right? It's pretty clear. It's

incredible clarity.

Um,

I hope that's helpful as you think

through what Paul's saying. If it's I

hope it's helpful if you think about

what he's correcting.

Remember Paul said in public about the

resurrection. This thing wasn't done in

a corner.

All kinds of people knew about the

claims of the resurrection.

But these people have actually believed

it in Corenth through Paul's ministry.

Guess how far Corinth is from Jerusalem.

815 miles as the crow flies. And there

was no planes to take him there. 815

miles.

Churches were started in that place and

Paul was the one that started it.

So this is what we've got. that

wonderful good news burst do burst out

in Jerusalem and went all the way to

Corenth and uh Paul's writing to

Christians in Corenth at 51 AD.

The marvelous thing is

church history,

Middle Eastern geography and archaeology

all match what Luke said in Acts about

the spread of the gospel. So history and

geography and archaeology all come

together.

Now there is a good news that's new

news. I never heard that before.

There's a resurrection. There's

salvation.

There's life after death. Oh, I might

believe in that, but I never heard about

resurrection of the body. And you hear

about Jesus's resurrection and then his

our resurrection. He's the first fruits

of them that slept. That's good news.

It's new news. I never heard that

before. But then as we believe that and

receive that, the good news becomes old

news for us.

And

it's still good news, but it's old news.

And it's the best news we ever heard,

but it's not really new news anymore.

And so

hopefully there's some clarity there in

our teaching.

God help us to understand Paul's

argument here.

Jesus Christ expects us

to proclaim the gospel and correct those

who are confused by others on the

ramifications

of it.

And in 1 Corinthians 15, this church got

they were combining cultural and

philosophical Greek concepts with the

gospel of the resurrection. And it

blinded them. It blinded them to their

own resurrection.

And one of the ones reasons you

shouldn't be immoral and hang out with

prostitutes, that body is going into

eternity.

That body belongs to the Lord. Don't say

it doesn't matter what you do in your

body. As long as your mind's okay, your

soul's okay, it won't hurt. That's

inconsistent completely.

And uh

if you let me put it this way, if you

ask people in the Corinthian church in

51 AD, was Jesus of Nazareth risen risen

from the dead? I think a 100% of them

would say he's risen. Then if you ask

him, will you be raised from the dead in

the future? Well, they were divided.

Some said yes, some said no. Because

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, some of

you, it hadn't infected the whole

church, but there were some in the

church, enough in the church that Paul

said, I this a little le 11 is a whole

lump. I'm not going to let that slide.

So, in 1512, please look at it. Now, if

Christ be preached the erosion of the

dead, how say some of you, whether this

10%, 20%, 50%, whatever it is, some of

you.

So, thank God they all weren't mixed up,

but some of them were. Remember, a

little le 11's a whole lump. So, you

don't say, "Well, it's just a little

group. They're not going to correct

that." No.

And so, very important stuff. Now, the

logic here is very clear, and I'm not

going to go into this this morning, but

Jesus's physical resurrection demands

ours. He's the first fruits, Paul's

going to say, of those that slept.

First fruits demands that there's going

to be others followed.

And very important,

the good news

about Jesus's resurrection

should be old news, but the best news

we've ever had.

I've known a long time. I'm thankful I

was saved 50 years ago or 10 years ago

or 5 years ago. It's old news, but it's

still good news. It's the best news that

anybody could ever have.

No matter how long we know it, no matter

how old we get, it'll always be the best

news. Even if it's old news, and we've

known it for 10, 20, 50 years.

Now, there's multiple applications to

this. Let me try to hit some of these.

If a doctor says to me, and you're going

to die, Pastor Hixon,

you got something wrong with you and

looks like we can't do anything for you.

Well,

okay. You got three months to live. And

he comes in the next day. Good news,

Pastor Hixon. You got 10 more years.

Well, it depends on how you look at it.

I could be in heaven. You got 10 more

years here. Okay. Well, I was hoping I

was going to heaven before that, but I

got 10 more years. I got 10 more years.

Uh, that's good news. kind of good news

depending on how you look at it,

especially if you're infeebled.

The good news of the Bible

is that I can't stay in the grave any

more than Jesus could.

I'm connected with him.

He's the first fruits and afterwards

those that are Christ and his God.

So very, very important. The good news

is not something invented by Christian

leaders centuries after the events. The

good news is something that happened and

people were there when it happened and

they proclaimed it 50 days after it

happened in the center of the people who

killed him.

And this was no let's put a happy face

on a terrible tragedy. This was good

news.

It wasn't good news that the Sanhedrin

wanted to hear. It was bad news to them

because they'd murdered the Lord, but it

was good news if they would hear it.

This is not something the church

invented to make money. How many people

have you heard say that?

They just made up the story.

Jesus died, so they figured out, well,

let's make this up and then we can still

be together and uh proclaim this and

make a lot of money. You know the one

reason the Apostle Paul did not take

money when he started new churches

so they wouldn't say he was in it for

the money.

That was Paul. He took money from the

Philippians because they were so tight.

Nobody else.

Because that they're in it for the money

is as old as the gospel itself.

People been using that excuse to stay

away from Christianity. Now, we know

there are people in the ministry for the

money. Apostate churches, all kinds of

churches ricking in the dough. That has

nothing to do with what I'm talking

about. The same Bible that

preaches the gospel talks about enemies

of the gospel and false Christianity.

And the warning ministry is there. So,

don't use that excuse. If there were no

warning ministry, you might have an

excuse. If as if we expected everything

that called itself Christian

New Testament itself, every second book

is a warning against false teaching. 2

Corinthians, 2 Thessalonians, you know,

second John, all the all all the

not limited to that.

So holy angels celebrate it, but you

won't believe it. You see nothing in it.

You say they're just in it for the

money.

The fool has said in his heart there is

no God. The fool said in his heart there

is no resurrection. This world's my this

world's all I got. I'm not giving any of

this up. I'm living for what I got.

Church is just a scam. I don't want to

be taken in. Listen, you are you are

headed for a Christless hell. Life is

serious.

You have an opportunity to be forgiven.

You have an opportunity to be saved. You

have an opportunity to be given new

life.

There's a a movie Tom Hanks made it in

2020.

I watched it on television. I don't know

how I got it. I've forgotten that.

But it's a western and you know I like

western science. I confess that Lord.

But Tom Hanks in that particular movie

is playing an American Civil War

Confederate

uh veteran who is a captain.

The war is over and he's just keeping

himself alive. His wife is dead through

chalera. He's in Texas and his his he's

he's made a job for himself.

He goes around to these towns that are

out in the middle of nowhere and reads

the news from the newspaper to them.

That's what he does.

In other words, they don't have any

newspapers there. So he he he but he he

charges them a dime.

You got to give me the dime and then

I'll read the news to you. So he gets a

group of people in a building and he

reads the news. It the movie is called

News of the World.

And along the way, he finds a

10-year-old girl. It's been a while

since I've seen that movie. She was

captured by the Indians. Her parents

were killed. She doesn't speak Indian

English hardly anymore.

And he rescues her and she starts

following him around and so forth.

Now the it takes place it says in this

in 1870.

And so that's what he's doing. He's

reading the newspaper to people. And

what are the people paying a dime to

hear? News of the world.

Now just like a dollar is not the same

now as it was when I was a kid. I

remember going into the gas station and

getting $2 worth.

Although you remember that

I'll take $2.

Dollars went a lot farther in my youth

than they go now.

But I don't know how much a dime was

worth in those days. But there were

actually people in that movie that were

paying the dime to hear news of the

world. They want something. What's going

on over out east? What's going on in

other places?

and they would pay that.

It's an interesting movie and Tom Hanks

is taking off with the girl and he gets

attacked by some people who want to

capture the girl and they get in a

shootout and his revolver is is out of

bullets and that all he's got a

doublebarreled shotgun and he's shot

that he's just shooting birdshot at him.

He hasn't got anything else and they're

laughing at him. Oh, you got birdshot.

And the and the girl has some shotgun

shells

that are empty.

And she puts dimes. He's got powder, but

he has no lead. So they put they put the

powder in the shell and they put the

dimes on top of it and he kills the last

two bad guys with the dimes. It's a

fascinating interesting story if you

want to watch it.

But my point of that whole illustration

is men want to hear

news from the outside world.

What's going on? We want to hear it,

too. What's going on over east? What's

going on over here? We like to hear it.

Sometimes we get overoccupied with it.

And uh we we'd pay to get news of the

world.

This news,

this news is more important than any

news that has ever come to this planet.

And it's

no charge.

No charge.

The gospel is good news. It's not from

the outside world, but from

heaven, which is outside of this world.

It's heaven's message to fallen man.

It's good news. It's old news to the

saved, but it's new news to the unsaved.

God, help us to believe it, to proclaim

it, to retain it, to be experts in it so

we can deliver it clearly.

One theological writer said, "The gospel

is the joyous proclamation of God's

redemptive activity in Christ Jesus on

behalf of man enslaved by sin. That's

right. That's the good news.

Paul uses the word gospel 60 times in

his writings.

And the same writer said, "The

resurrection was the catalyst was

precipitated in the minds of the

disciples the total significance of

God's redemptive activity. It released

the gospel.

Many pulpits don't teach it and many

people don't hear it. Even if their

church goes goers, they don't hear about

Jesus in the resurrection. And if they

do hear it, sometimes it's distorted or

changed into something else.

Couple of illustrations and I'm done.

1958,

America's first commercial jet air

service began

with the flight of the Boeing 707.

I'm old enough to remember when PL

propes

came into Columbus.

No jets yet. I was a little kid and I'd

come see my aunt flying in from Buffalo.

In 1958, America's first commercial jet

service began with the flight of the

Boeing 707. A month after that flight, a

traveler on a piston engine proper

propeller-driven DC6 airliner struck up

a conversation with a fellow passenger.

The passenger happened to be a Boeing

engineer.

The traveler asked the engineer about

the new jet aircraft, whereupon the

engineer began speaking at length about

extensive testing a Boeing had done on

the jet engine before bringing it into

commercial service, he recounted

Boeing's experience with engines from

the B17 to the B-52.

And when his traveling companion asked

him if he himself had yet flown on the

new 707 airliner, the engineer replied,

"I think I'll wait until it's been in

service for a while.

The gospel

has been in service

since the fall of man

in one form or another. Seed of the

woman grows the serpent's head. That's

the proto evangelical.

John the Baptist preached the gospel

when he b when in his baptism service.

Yes, it was the gospel of the kingdom.

Jesus preached the gospel of the

kingdom. Now we have the gospel of

grace. But it's the same gospel.

It's the same message. There's good news

from heaven.

There's good news. The kingdom's coming.

The good news is the king has come. The

good news is salvation's by grace

through faith

in Jesus Christ.

And this writer says of this the uh jet

engine thing even enthusiastic talking

about our faith doesn't means much if we

aren't also willing to put our lives

where our mouth is.

You know people say put your money where

your mouth is.

This illustration says put your lives

where your mouth.

You believe in the resurrection, live

like it.

John Flavl was an old preacher.

And he said something very remarkable.

I'll end with this.

He said, "There be two signal and

remarkable acts of faith.

Both exceedingly difficult."

Two signal and remarkable acts of faith.

Both exceedingly difficult. its first

act and its last. The first is a great

venture that it makes of itself upon

Christ. I believe in Jesus Christ, God

incarnate, died for my sins, rose again.

That's the first. The last is the great

venture to cast oneself into the ocean

of eternity upon the credit of a

promise.

Isn't that what we're doing?

The Bible promises us eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift

of God is eternal life through Jesus

Christ our Lord. That's the point.

Do you believe the promise?

Is that real to you?

Salvation comes when we believe the

promise.

And when our time to die comes,

what are we going to be thinking about?

If we're a Christian, we're going to be

thinking about the gospel. If we're a

Christian, we're going to be thinking

about the promise.

I'm going into eternity. I'm leaving

this life. I've never left here before,

but I got this

from the God who cannot lie.

Father, we thank you for our section of

scripture today. If anyone here is not

yet saved, maybe a church goer or even a

Bible reader, but been afraid to commit,

holding off,

always saying they want more evidence,

but

it's never enough.

We pray, Father, you'd work through your

word. Most people are born again through

the word of God.

Some are saved the first time they hear.

Some hear many times before they are

saved. Some here years before they're

saved. What Whatever you want to do

today with this message, accomplish your

will. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by

the word of God.

We thank you for the savior who is

delivered because of our offenses and

raised again because of our

justification.

As foolish and fallible and failures

that we are, we're not justified by our

works but by his work. And we rest in

that, rejoice in that. And we know that

he's coming again. And all that are in

the graves will hear his voice.

some to everlasting life, some to

everlasting shame and contempt. Our Lord

is the has got the keys to Hades and

death.

And he's got the key of our grave. We

thank you. He does.

Jesus name. Amen.

Okay. Our closing song is number

loving you more,

trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine

to a sin darkened world. As we go from

this place,