Resurrection Blessing

Turn in your Bibles.

I suppose that's the way a pastor should start, right?

! Well, not always.

Other pastors start differently, but that's where I'm at.

! Turn in your Bibles.

2, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Let me read an opening segment of the passage

and then cut over to the verses that we are going to focus on this morning.

Now, I would remind you, brothers, 15.1,

of the gospel I preached to you when you received, which you received, in which you stand,

and by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word I preached to you unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

and that He was buried, and He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

Now over to verse 20.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by man came death, by a man also has also come the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, this morning for us, our prayer is not a habit,

but an appropriate expression of our absolute dependence upon you.

Our hearts are reminded of what the prophet Zechariah wrote when he said this,

not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.

And it is my desire that the preaching of the Word this morning would be accompanied by the enabling of the Spirit,

and that the reception of your Word in the lives of your people would be marked by the enabling of the Spirit,

and that the conviction and the salvation of those that are here today that really do not know Christ

would be brought about through the conviction and the power of the Spirit of God,

that we together might glory in Jesus.

And we ask this because of Him and in His name.

Amen.

A number of years ago, Pastor Saul and I were at the Basics Conference,

which is a conference in Solon, Ohio,

where Alistair Begg is the pastor and we have gone there yea many years.

I will never forget, and there are many of those conferences that have been just a rich blessing to me,

but I will remember, in particular, this Resurrection Sunday,

having the privilege of listening to John Lennox.

He is a man who has a Ph.D. and actually several of them,

and teaches mathematics at Oxford.

I don't know if he still does that, but he was.

He had the opportunity to actually engage in a public debate with Richard Dawkins.

How many of you have heard the name Richard Dawkins?

Incredibly brilliant man who clearly denies the faith

and has taken pleasure in having debates and actually taking people apart over their faith.

And yet, John Lennox and he had two different debates,

and I guess I would say that probably the one you think won would probably depend on your stand and your faith.

At the conclusion of one of those debates,

Richard Dawkins, in a little fit of disappointment,

probably a little more in terms of irritation,

summarized his view of John Lennox this way.

He said,

Here you are, and you rest your life and faith on nothing more than the resurrection of Christ.

And that's true.

Why is it that I have faith in what my eternal destiny is?

Why is it that when I heard the news that David Moore had passed away,

I could say without hesitation,

absent in the body, present with the Lord,

and he is alive today in the presence of Christ?

Why can I say that?

It is because of the resurrection.

Earlier this morning, we looked at a passage that kind of pushed together

the reality of the suffering of Christ for our salvation,

and what I would like to do this morning in this second service

is look at the centrality of the resurrection to our faith.

How key, how critical is the resurrection to your faith?

So as we look at this passage this morning,

what we are doing is concentrating not on the argument of the reality of the resurrection.

That's settled earlier in the passage in 1 Corinthians.

What we are looking at this morning is the practical reality.

What is the benefit that comes to us as believers

when we accept the resurrection and we live in the light of the resurrection?

Now think with me just for a moment.

It is fairly easy to get caught up in the issues of life

and the baggage and problems that go with it

and kind of forget what we are by virtue of our relationship with Christ.

Isn't that right?

The issues and challenges, the heartaches, the difficulties,

the uncertainties that we face can overwhelm us on occasion.

And it is appropriate for us to zero in and remind ourselves again

that we who know the Lord Jesus Christ have incredible confidence

and have great reason to live lives that are marked

by profoundly different attitudes and behaviors

than the unbeliever who is on their desperate way

to an eternal place of suffering and judgment.

We who know Christ have great cause for victory.

And this morning as we look at our passage,

we're going to look at this thing and think about

so what does it mean to live in the light of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ?

I want you to look there at verse 20 through 23

and we're going to focus on that passage

and pick up first of all his resurrection and future happiness.

Paul starts this portion of the lesson

by reaffirming the fact of the resurrection there in verse 20.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,

the first fruits of those who are fallen asleep.

And when Paul uses that little word in fact,

he is making an emphatic, a forceful statement

and saying to us as believers,

it's a truth, it's a fact, it's a reality.

Christ is risen from the dead.

And by the way, I want to encourage you to remember

that that is an absolute foundational truth

in your life as a believer, isn't it?

Isn't it?

How many of you on occasion have had to remind yourself

more than once of how important it is

that your theology govern your attitudes?

Wave at me if you're with me on this one, okay?

Every now and then, hello,

our attitudes can get the best of us.

Isn't that right?

Are there any other people out here besides Tim Kenoyer

that can sometimes wake up

and just be in a foul mood without practice?

Don't have to stretch, you know?

It's just, there I am.

My bride will say to me, what's the deal with you?

And I will say, it's really difficult being me, okay?

You know, it's like, that's a lot of work.

Here's the fact of the matter.

We have to remind ourselves regularly

of the central truths of our faith

and the resurrection of Christ is right at the heart

of those things.

So, here we come to grips with the fact

that the resurrection of Christ is a settled matter.

The arguments have already been made in this passage.

And what we're looking at is, okay,

how do we know that this plays out

in practical terms for us?

You look there at the statement that is made.

It says, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

And then he uses a little statement there,

the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Christ's resurrection, to summarize and push it together,

and then we'll break it out a little bit.

Christ's resurrection assures us of our own future life.

That little word, first fruits,

is not one that we probably think about most of the time.

But in the ancient farming community that Israel was,

when the harvest time came,

what the farmer was commanded by God to do

was he was to take his little sickle,

and he was to cut some handfuls of grain

and take it in,

and there before the priest,

he was to offer it to God,

and he was to wave it.

It was called the wave offering,

or it was called the first fruits offering.

Now, for us,

we probably don't think that much

of having adequate food.

Do we?

There's probably not a one of you here this morning

that wouldn't wish that you were just a couple pounds lighter.

And there's probably not a one of us here this morning

that is thinking,

I wonder what I'm going to have for lunch,

and at the same breath,

wondering if you have any.

We may be thinking,

well, I wonder if I'm going to have sushi,

or I'm going to have rice and curry,

or I'm going to have,

you know, whatever it is.

You're not pondering the uncertainty of the question.

But in the ancient culture,

the issue of harvest was pretty critical.

If you pay attention,

one of the things that God used often

to get Israel's attention was famine.

Am I right?

And so,

when the Old Testament saint put his sickle in

and cut that handful of grain,

he would then take it before the priest,

and he'd wave it,

and it was called the first fruits

because, in essence,

what he was saying,

I'm giving this to you first,

and I know there's more to come.

There's more to come.

When you are used to being hungry,

and you are used to not having adequate food to eat,

to give away the first part of what you receive

is what?

Hard.

How many of you have ever been at the dinner table

and watched the mashed potatoes going around

and wondered when you see someone else

put a huge glob on there,

you're thinking to yourself,

what are you thinking?

I hope they enjoy this.

In fact, I'm glad they took my share, right?

What are you thinking?

I see families looking around at each other

and thinking there is a serial offender in the family.

The first fruits was, in essence,

a statement,

there's more to come.

There's more to come.

And so when you think about the resurrection

and future happiness,

understand that Christ's resurrection from the dead

is something that guarantees

and makes it absolutely certain

that you and I are also going to raise from the dead.

That's a blessing for us to hold on to.

And as you look at this passage,

you remind yourself what this text is saying

is that we have absolute confidence

in what the future holds for us

because of what Jesus Christ has done.

And so when you stop and think about

your own home going and your own death,

you remind yourself here in this passage in verse 20

and then again in verse 23 it says,

each in his own order, Christ the first fruits,

then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

And so as you ponder the reality

of what gives you great hope in the future,

it is this fact.

Christ Jesus has risen from the dead

and he has become the first fruits

of those who die in Christ.

And so I want you to recognize this morning

that the believer's coming resurrection

will be to life.

Why?

Because of what Jesus Christ has done.

It's interesting to recognize in the Bible

that the scriptures give us a pretty clear picture

of the fact that death is coming.

And after death, there's more to come.

The question is, is what's coming for you?

I want to remind you of a couple different passages

that make that undeniably clear.

For one, turn in your Bible,

stay there in 1 Corinthians

because we'll come back to it.

But go back to Daniel chapter 12.

Daniel 12 · chapter mention

We're thinking about the reality

that death is going to come.

In fact, in Hebrews chapter 9,

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

it says it's appointed unto man once to die

and after that, what?

The judgment.

It's coming.

So in Daniel chapter 9,

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

I'm sorry, Daniel chapter 12,

Daniel 12:2

verse 2, it says,

and many of those who sleep in the dust of earth

shall awake some to everlasting life.

So let me ask you this.

Just put your finger on that verse

and think to me,

are you going to rise to everlasting life?

Are you completely confident

that that is how the story ends?

Over in 1 John, it says,

these things are written that you might know

that you have everlasting life.

God is interested in you having confidence

in how the story ends.

And your confidence,

I want to assure you of this,

cannot rest in your own perfection

or your own accomplishments

because you, left to your own devices,

will never get it right.

That's right.

Jesus came,

lived an absolutely sinless life

and died in my place

and rose again

because I couldn't do it myself.

And so here it says in Daniel,

it says,

some will rise to everlasting life

and some to shame

and everlasting contempt.

So ask yourself the question,

which group am I going to be in

at the end?

Which group am I going to be in

at the end?

It's an important question.

It's critical.

Another passage that I want you to look at

is over in John 5, verse 28.

John 5:28

John 5, verse 28.

John 5:28

Do not marvel at this,

for an hour is coming

when all who are in the tombs

will hear His voice

and come out,

those who have done good

to the resurrection of life

and those who have done evil

to the resurrection of judgment.

So I want you to recognize this morning

as you think about the reality

of Christ's resurrection

and it is a fact,

His resurrection reminds us also

of our own resurrection.

And the fact of the matter is,

is that everybody who dies

is going to come again

back to life

and one to eternal suffering

and the other to eternal joy.

And you who have the opportunity

of hearing the preaching

of the gospel this morning,

if you don't know Christ,

my appeal to you would be this.

This is the day,

this is the hour,

this is the time

to come with humility

and brokenness

and say,

I realize I'm a sinner,

justly condemned

before a holy God

and I need Jesus

to be my Savior.

I want you to understand

that the Bible makes it clear

that those who die in Christ

will be made alive in Christ.

It's hard for us

to fathom the marvel

of what Jesus meant

when He spoke about the fact

that those who die in Christ

will be alive in Christ.

We have a tendency

of thinking about death

as being a horrible condition

and somewhere

we don't want to go.

And I would suppose

that most of us

on those occasions

when we're thinking about dying

and we're kind of,

how many of you ever been

in that moody place?

Well, it'd be better

if I were dead.

None of you?

None of you?

None of you ever said to yourself,

well, this is pretty miserable.

I think I might as well check out.

No.

Here's the fact.

Those who die in Christ

live.

Live.

We live a life

that is different

than we can imagine

but it is something

the Scriptures

and Jesus Christ

in particular

refers to as being alive.

Look in your Bible

just for a moment.

You're there in John

but go back to Matthew 18.

I remember when I was

reading in morning devotions

and it came to this text

and it really struck me.

Matthew 18,

Matthew 18:8

verse 8 and 9.

Jesus is talking about

what we do

or what we should do

in dealing with issues

of sin in our life.

Look at verse 8.

It says,

and if your hand

or your foot

causes you to sin,

cut it off.

By the way,

stop just for a moment.

How many of you realize

that it's really not

my hand or my foot

that causes me to sin?

Foot, stop.

What makes me sin?

Trick question here.

What makes me sin?

The heart.

Isaiah or Jeremiah says,

the heart is deceitful

above all things

and desperately wicked.

Who can know it?

When you have a problem

with sin,

it's really not just

the hand or the foot

that's causing the problem.

Jesus was using

poetic language

to make a point to us.

How many would like

to lose your hand?

I was watching

one of my grandsons

use a saw,

a table saw,

the other day.

And how many of you

know that there's

good reason for having

particular protocol

with table saws?

Do you understand

what I mean by protocol

with table saws?

It means when you get

towards the end,

you should use

a pushing stick.

You should have

the guard down.

How many of you

understand all those things?

Because I don't know,

I don't care how experienced

you are at using

a table saw.

Sooner or later,

if you don't practice

good saw skills

and safety habits,

what are you going to do?

You're going to sacrifice

a finger.

You may sacrifice

more than a finger.

And there's some of you

here that can raise

your hand and wave at me

and say,

I bear testimony

to that fact.

What Jesus is saying

is poetically saying,

hey, listen,

it's better,

go ahead and cut

that hand off.

Now, when I cut my hand

off, is my problem

with sin gone?

What's the answer?

I wish.

It's not.

Jesus' point

is that it is appropriate

to take strong measures

to protect yourself

from the eternal consequences

of hell.

Look at what it says there

in that passage.

It says,

it's better

to cut it off

and throw it away.

It's better for you

to enter life.

Let's try that again.

Enter life crippled.

Where's life?

What's he speaking about?

The next step.

He's talking about heaven.

He's saying,

it's better to go to heaven.

That's life.

It's better to make the sacrifice

and let me tell you something,

it would be easier by far

to cut off a hand

and cut off a foot

or take out an eye,

are you listening to me,

than with absolute humility

to say,

God, I am a sinner

condemned justly before you

and completely unable

to save myself

and I desperately need you

to be the savior of my life.

That's the harder thing.

We remind ourselves here

that it is life

that comes with believing

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Going back to 1 Corinthians,

we've seen,

first of all,

the future happiness

that comes,

but there's something else

that we find there

and it's future hope.

His resurrection

and future hope.

Verse 24 through 28.

Then comes the end

when he delivers

the kingdom of God the Father

to God the Father

after destroying every rule

and every authority

and power.

I'm going to have you

kind of work your way

through this

in a very quick

and rapid way

and just remind yourself

of some of the statements

that are made

in this passage.

It says,

He must reign

and He has put

all His enemies

under His feet.

Question.

How many of you

in this current

political season

are finding yourself

hoping that one party

or the other

will win

and Washington

will get it all right

and all of us

will live happily ever after?

How many of you

are thinking that way?

Now, do me a favor.

If you don't believe that way,

then don't post the junk

on Facebook

that suggests

that that's actually

how it's going to happen.

Do you understand that?

That was a sidebar.

My email is

tkanoirat.

Sorry.

I want you to understand

that Christ's resurrection

proved

and proves

His coming victory.

That's the point

that we're looking here

in this passage.

It says,

He must reign

and put all His enemies

under His feet.

And how do we know

for certain

that Christ

is going to be victorious

and He is going to reign

over all the whole earth?

We know it

by the fact

of the resurrection.

Interesting to see

the resurrection

as a recurring theme

in particular

in apostolic preaching.

And I want you to look

at two different passages

where the issue

of the coming

of the Lord Jesus,

His resurrection,

is seen as a proof

of the fact

that He is going to be

the judge of the whole earth.

You're in 1 Corinthians there.

I want you to turn to Acts.

And we're going to look

at Acts 2,

Acts 2:34–36

verse 34 through 36.

How can I be absolutely certain

how the story ends

and who wins?

Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2:34

verse 34 and 36.

And I want you to understand

that as Peter was preaching

on this Pentecost day,

many, many of those

who heard him preach

without question

had also been involved

in crying out

with a loud voice,

crucify Him,

crucify Him.

Look at Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2:34

verse 34.

For David did not ascend

into heaven,

but he himself says,

the Lord said to my Lord,

sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

your footstool.

Let all the house of Israel

therefore know

for certain that God

has made Him,

talking about the Lord Jesus,

both Lord and Christ,

this Jesus

whom you crucified.

you put Him to death,

the Father raised Him up,

and He is coming back

to be the judge

of the whole earth.

Another passage

in relationship to that

would be over in Acts chapter 17.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

This is Paul preaching

in the Agora

in Athens,

and mark what it says

in verse 30 and 31.

The crowd was interested.

They wanted to know

about the resurrection.

It was kind of an entertaining

little theological side note,

and they were curious

and they wanted to hear Paul.

When you invite an apostle

to preach,

you don't go away,

kind of,

yeah,

well,

that was pretty interesting.

It's pretty convicting.

That's what happened.

A reminder that

the preaching of the Word of God

is designed by the Spirit

to bring people

to face to face

with the issues in their life,

call them to repentance,

and that's what happened here.

Look at verse 30.

The times of ignorance

God overlooked,

but now He commands

all people everywhere

to repent.

Verse 31,

Because He has fixed a day

on which He will judge

the world in righteousness

by whom?

By a man whom He appointed,

He has appointed,

and of this He has given assurance

to all by raising Him

from the dead.

How do I know

that Christ will be

the judge of the whole world?

I know it by the empty tomb.

I know it by the fact

of His resurrection.

The empty tomb guarantees

how the story ends,

and it means that Jesus

is going to return

and take His kingdom

and be in absolute control,

and He will grant

eternal joy and peace

to believers

and eternal condemnation

and suffering

to unbelievers.

Now with that,

we come to one other piece

that I want you to focus on

this morning,

and that is His resurrection

and holy living.

Interesting little political

side statement.

How many of you heard it said

that there's a lot of evangelicals

that are voting for Trump?

Have you heard that?

Nod your head,

so I know that I'm speaking

to people who are awake.

You know what?

Here's the truth.

Liberal,

unbelieving media

has been asking themselves

that question,

how can you say

that all these evangelicals

are going to vote for Trump?

And here's the outcome

to their research.

Do you know what they found?

That those who profess

to be evangelicals

that are voting for Trump

don't go to church.

Can you hear

the Jeopardy theme

in the background?

Dun, dun, dun, dun.

You know,

here's the truth.

We live in a day and age

where there are many,

many people

who say they're Christian

that just flat

don't live it.

Hmm?

They don't.

Their moral behavior

is not substantially different

than unbelievers.

I mean,

the truth of the matter is

is their conduct,

their conversation,

the things they enjoy,

the entertainment

they engage in,

their vocabulary at work,

the whole thing,

it doesn't display

the character

and power of the cross.

And Paul comes to grips

with that here.

And his argument is this,

in essence,

that it is the fact

of the resurrection

that calls believers

to holy living.

Well,

take up,

if you would,

there in the passage

in 1 Corinthians chapter 15

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

and I'm going to introduce you

to one of the more

complicated verses

in the Bible.

Otherwise,

what do people mean

by being baptized

on behalf of the dead?

If the dead

are not raised

at all,

why are people

baptized

on their behalf?

This verse

is one of the more

difficult ones

in the Scriptures

to interpret.

Given the difficulty

of the interpretation

of this verse,

I want to remind you

of a couple basic principles

to Bible interpretation.

Number one,

a good principle

in Bible interpretation

is to rely upon

the Scriptures

to explain the Scriptures.

Can I say that slowly

so you don't miss it?

Rely upon the Scriptures

to explain the Scriptures.

And context

is key.

So,

kind of keep that in mind.

Let me throw another one

out there.

How many of you

have ever heard the statement,

well,

there are many interpretations?

Everybody smile.

You've heard that one?

There are many interpretations?

There are many interpretations?

That's not true.

That's not true at all.

That's not true.

There's one interpretation.

There are many applications.

When God says no,

guess what?

Well,

that's just your interpretation.

Have you ever heard people

say that thing?

Well,

that's just your interpretation.

Hey,

no,

God said no.

Now,

sometimes interpretations

are hard to get your hands on.

And this is one of those cases

where you could ask godly people,

I spent quite a bit of time

reading all the different opinions

and I thought,

ah!

Lots of them.

That being said,

I do want you to understand

as we think about this issue

of Bible understanding,

there's only one correct interpretation

to a text.

There are many correct applications.

So,

what is Paul saying here?

Well,

let's first of all

eliminate the things

that we know he's not saying

because of other Bible passages.

Number one,

he is not saying

that baptism saves.

How do we know that?

Can anybody think of a Bible verse

that says something like,

believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

and

that's it?

Baptism is a

indication of your faith.

It is not the making

of your faith.

I have my wedding ring on.

I always put it on

when I'm going out in public.

Taking off my ring

did not make me unmarried.

How many of you understand that?

Putting it on

did not make me married.

My ring is just

a public testimony

to the fact

of my relationship

for life

to that little girl

back there.

Where is she?

She's here in the service.

She went to be in the,

there she is.

Oh,

hi.

Baptism is an outward sign

of the work of God

in your life.

And so,

we look at this passage

and we understand,

listen,

hey,

baptism doesn't save anybody

nor should we ever be

of the mind

that people who are living

can be baptized for the dead

for their salvation.

How do we know

that's not true?

Well,

somebody immediately

said to me,

Hebrews chapter 9

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

says what?

Verse 7.

It's appointed unto man

once to die

and after that

the judgment

except in the case

where somebody

who's alive

will be baptized for you

for a certain price.

Is that what it says?

No.

No.

As we read our way,

remember the principle

of Bible study

is pay attention

to the context.

That helps,

doesn't it?

If you were to read

verse 30 through 34,

you will find that

the recurring theme

of this passage

is talking about

suffering

and adversity

and testimony.

Look at verse 30.

Okay?

Why are we in danger

every hour?

If he is talking

about being baptized

to bring salvation

to dead people,

why don't you just

leave it there?

No.

He goes on and he says,

why is it that we're

suffering like we are?

Verse 31.

He says,

I protest

by my pride in you

which I have in Christ

Jesus our Lord.

I die,

I continue to suffer.

Now,

why did Paul suffer?

Because he was

a bad employee?

Because he was late

to work every day?

No.

He suffered

for the testimony

of Christ.

And then he goes on

and he says,

32,

what do I gain

if humanly speaking

I fought with beasts

at Ephesus

if the dead are not raised?

Let us eat,

drink,

for tomorrow we die.

What Paul is saying

in this passage

is that godliness

and its testimony

are significant

in view of the fact

of the resurrection.

And godliness

and a godly testimony

is significant

in terms of testimony

to unbelievers

who are watching you

in adversity

and asking you a reason

for the hope

that lies within.

Here's Paul saying,

every day

I'm going through hard times.

And he says,

every day

I am suffering

for the testimony

of Christ.

And if it were not

for the resurrection,

there's no reason

for me to be going

through the hardships

and difficulties

that I am.

Why is that?

Well,

if there is no resurrection,

number one,

if you go earlier

in the passage

of 1 Corinthians,

we of all people

are what?

What?

We're the most miserable.

You're believing a myth.

I mean,

hey,

think about that.

The call of Christ

is to holy living.

Isn't that right?

Right?

Not to living a life

simply on the basis

of your temporal lusts

and desires of the moment.

It is living

in view of the cross

and the return of Christ.

And so I want you

to understand this morning

as you look at this passage

that what Paul

is arguing for

and making clear

is that we

who know Christ

and know the certainty

of the resurrection

are to live

godly,

holy lives.

Look at the passage there

in verse 34.

Wake up

from your drunken stupor.

Now,

how's that for being

in your face?

Wake up

from your drunken stupor.

Have you ever seen a drunk?

I mean,

kind of wallowing

in his vomit,

just, you know,

feeling sorry for himself.

I mean,

I've got the biggest headache.

I really feel lousy.

I don't know how I'm going to,

you know,

wake up

from your drunken stupor

and do what?

As is right

and do not go on sinning.

Now,

look at the next verse.

For some have no knowledge

of God.

I say this to your shame.

Everybody smile now.

Look at me.

When you as a believer,

a believer in the resurrection

and the return of Christ,

live a godless life,

you compromise

the testimony of Christ

in the little community

and circle that you were in.

Isn't that right?

Do you know people

pay attention to you

all the time?

All the time.

Yesterday,

shopping,

little Muslim girl

was serving me

and I asked her

to get me something

and she went.

It was at Walmart,

as a matter of fact.

And

she didn't come back

for about 10 minutes

and I was there waiting

and when she came back,

I could tell

that she was a little nervous.

She came up to me

very apologetic.

I'm so very sorry

that I was so long

and I did

and, you know,

I said,

hey, no problem.

I'm not paid by the hour.

You know, whatever.

And later,

she had to go

to a different register.

Couldn't do what

we wanted to do there

and she said to me,

you are a kind person.

You know what I said to her?

I said,

oh,

I'm not a kind person

but my faith

is what has changed my life.

Does that make sense?

How many of you

without the confidence

and power of the cross

would be pretty moody,

surly,

unhappy,

just despicable,

could have made a movie

about you?

How many of you,

you know,

there you are.

Okay?

Paul is saying this.

Get it.

It's the resurrection

that gives us

great reason

to live the life

that we're supposed to live.

And here's the fact.

We are to live

godly lives

for the sake of Christ

and for the sake of others.

Don't go asking

other people,

hey,

how am I doing it

looking like Jesus?

Smile.

They will tell you

if you're doing it.

Does that make sense?

They will tell you

because it is so atypical

that they can't,

what's the deal with you?

And you can't propose

that it's a nutritional supplement

that you're taking.

You can say,

it's my faith.

He's the one

that's done this to me.

He's the one

that's brought the change.

And so here

the question revolves

around the issue

of the resurrection.

How clearly

are you focused

on the power

of the resurrection

in your life

as a believer

and that fact

is what drives you

and motivates you

to live a life

that is so atypical

that the unbelieving world

asks you a reason

for the hope

that is in you.

Paul argues this morning

from the fact

of the resurrection

to the application

of the resurrection.

and this morning

I speak to most of you

who are here

as believers

and my charge is this,

you who know Christ

have every reason

to live a life

that represents

the power of the cross

and the resurrection

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isn't that right?

And God's people said,

Amen.

That's a fact.

And you who listened

this morning

to the preaching

of the word,

one of two things

should be happening.

You're sitting here saying,

I am encouraged

by what Jesus Christ

has done for me

and by the empty tomb

I don't have to stay

the way I am.

I can live for His glory

and I can live

with an eye on eternity.

And for some of you

that are sitting here

this morning

it's a matter of

rededicating your life

to that holy purpose.

There are some of you here

that don't know Christ.

And the fact of the matter

is the scripture

makes it undeniably clear

that if you should die

before you come to faith

you will stand

before the holy judge

who is the one

who also died upon the cross

for your sins

and He will judge you

for all eternity

and you will pay

for your unrepentant

and stubborn heart

forever.

And I would plead with you

in Christ's stead

you come broken

and contrite

calling upon the name

of the Lord

and believing

that through Him

alone is salvation.

Let's pray together.

Our gracious Father

this morning

as we attend

to the word of God

and we remind ourselves

that you sent Jesus

into the world

to be the Savior

and we remind ourselves

of the empty tomb

and the victory

that He purchased

for us on the cross

and at the empty tomb

we are thankful

that we can live

a life of purpose

and worth

because of Jesus.

And there are some of us

here this morning

that need to humble

ourselves enough

and take our thoughts

off of our own heart

and life

and say Jesus

you've died for me

you own me

and I am committed

by your grace

to live for you.

There are some here today

that need Christ

as their Savior

and as we sing

this closing song

our prayer is this

is that they would be

drawn to the cross

and believing in Jesus.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.