Resurrection Sunday

We are experiencing a resurgence of resurrection things in the world today, especially in the area of movies. If you notice, they've resurrected Mission Impossible, that TV show from the 60s, and made it into a full-length movie. They just released Lost in Space, and some of you are old enough to remember that one to have watched it when it originally came out, and not in syndication. The 1970s movie Grease has been redone and digitized and synchronized and whatever and released again, and is becoming a hit at the box offices.

A new generation again experiences the music of that particular era, a movie by the way

area where the original Titanic sunk, and they're going to stop there for a time in honor of the 1,500 lives that were lost. And the builder has said unequivocally, absolutely, this new ship cannot sink. As many things as are coming back, there's only one that really makes any difference, and that's our Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one thing that's been resurrected, there's only one resurrection that really makes any difference, and that's the resurrection of our Lord and Savior from the grave.

It's the heart of the gospel, and it's the hope of the believer. And we're going to briefly talk about that this morning, and I do mean briefly. If you look at 1 Corinthians 15, there's 58 verses, there's in no way that we'll cover that this morning, but we'll highlight some of it, emphasizing the resurrection, the heart of the gospel, and the hope of the believer. First of all, it's the heart of the gospel.

Verse 1, chapter 15, now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel that I preached to you, which you have received, and on which you have taken your stand. Paul says, this is the gospel that I have preached to you. The gospel has been proclaimed to you today. You know it, you've heard it before, and many, if not most of you, have received it. That means more than simply hearing it.

It means you received it, and when you heard it, you believed it, and you staked your very existence upon it. You heard the gospel, and you received it, and Paul says to the church at Corinth, and you have taken your stand upon it, on which you have taken your stand. If you're reading King James, it says, the gospel of Christ in which you now stand. It means the same thing.

You've taken a stand on it. It's done something to you. It has affected your life.

gave them free reign as far as their testimony was concerned. Wonderful hour. Even the areas where they interviewed those who thought the McCoys were not wise in not going through selective abortion and aborting up to three or four of the kids so that the others would have a fighting chance, and they think, well, now this is going to let others think that that can happen with them, and they're going to just run into all kinds of difficulty.

I said, well, you go south of town to old Highway 27. You get on old Highway 27, just about a half a mile south of the bridge, and you go about a mile south to the IXL Baptist Church. And you turn left. He said, okay, what street is that? I said, there is no street. It's in the country. I said, no streets? I said, no. This is Kansas. I said, we're updating.

You know, we're going to the new 911 address system. And eventually, all the streets are supposed to have names or numbers or something. But right now, it's just out. Okay. And he was getting frustrated. And I said, then you go almost five miles, about four and three eighths, three tenths of a mile, something like that. And then you're going to turn left again.

He said, okay, what's that street? And I said, there's no street there. It's a Sunnyside Cemetery that sits there. He said, I can't put that. I said, if I put this out to a dispatcher, they're going to laugh me silly. He said, what rural route is that? And I said, I don't know. I don't work here. And he said, Jesus Christ. And I said, he's a wonderful guy. And the guy said, oh, I'm sorry.

I said, I'm just an old mackerel mouth out here. And then he went on and he took that. But take in a stand because the name of Jesus is precious. Is the name of Jesus precious to you this morning as we come, as we celebrate a horrible death and a wonderful resurrection? Two weeks ago, Reggie White, former defensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers, gave an

address to the, he's also an ordained minister, gave an address to the, to the, to the Wisconsin State Legislature. He was talking to them about racial discrimination, about discrimination of all kinds, racial and, and ethnic discrimination. And he said he was tired of the homosexual community using and identifying themselves with any kind of, of discrimination such as the racial discrimination that he's talking about and that he's faced. And then he said, quote, racial discrimination and homosexuality are both wrong.

Blatant, just right down the line. CBS had offered Reggie a job as a commentator this coming fall. Immediately after his making that statement to the legislature, they withdrew their offer. The homosexual activists stacked up and all are, are, are lobbying and petitioning Nike and some of the sponsors that are sponsoring Reggie to withdraw their sponsorship.

He needs our prayers because he has heard the gospel and he's received it and he's taken his stand upon it. We need to stand upon the gospel. We need to stand for righteousness. Suppose our local tabloid, suppose our local traveler came out with an article this week reporting suddenly rumors that a certain pastor in town was accused of soliciting sexual favors from women who were coming in for counseling.

And that there were, it was rumored that he had even sent at least one of them several

That's how low we've come where taking a stand for righteousness is concerned. But in the same breath, I have to say that taking a stand in the gospel includes grace, the offer of grace, the offer of mercy that's fresh and new every morning to each one of us this morning as we come. To those, see, but we have to receive it. See, that's the thing. The grace is there, the mercy is there, but so often we fail to receive it.

We fail to assimilate it, to take it in. We resist it. We walk away from it. That's what a non-repentant heart does. Pray for our leadership. Hopefully you prayed over these last 40 days and prayed for the president, prayed that he and others in our leadership would see the need to seek the Lord and repent of wickedness, that grace could be received, that forgiveness could be offered.

This gospel that we're talking about here in 1 Corinthians 15 is defined in verse 3 that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter and to the twelve and on and on to the many witnesses. Four things make up the gospel. It looks like three, but it's four. Follow me with this.

First of all, it says that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That's the first part. That's the foundational part of the gospel. The good news is that Jesus died for our sins. It's not that Jesus came and led a good life and He was a good man and a good example and a good prophet and said good things that we need to quote and learn and memorize.

The first thing about the gospel is that Jesus Christ came and died for our sins according to the Scripture. Secondly, and it runs together in one sentence in one part of the verse, but it's really two different parts, that Jesus was buried and then third, that He raised on the third day according to the Scripture. Now, both of those, or actually all three of those, that He died, that He was buried, and that He raised again was according to prophecy, was according to the Scriptures. But there are those who are arguing today that He didn't die, that He just simply swooned, that He just kind of fainted underneath all of that.

And as you watch even the play this morning and consider what agony must have really been there, He died and that He was buried and then that He raised again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Secondly, it involves affirmation. You affirm others as a result of what you've witnessed, especially the other witnesses. As soon as these up to 500 had seen Jesus ascend into heaven, it wouldn't be long before they'd be going through persecution and things would be getting rough. And they'd be going along saying, you know, did we really see that? Was that really real?

You've been there. You've done that with other things. And the affirmation would come from the others that would say, yes, we were there. We saw Him. We touched Him. He was there for affirmation. He died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again on the third day. And He was confirmed and it was affirmed by a multitude of witnesses. But in the middle of that is the resurrection.

It's the heart of the gospel. Jesus rose from the dead. But it's also the hope of the believer this morning. It's also our hope as we gather together to worship our Lord. If you look down into verse 12, Paul says, but it's preached, if it's preached, that Christ has been raised from the dead. How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, and then He gives six things that happened. And I want us to consider those this morning because if Jesus hasn't been raised from the dead, then you need to consider this. But if He has, then you need to consider them from another viewpoint. First of all, he says, verse 14, if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is useless.

Then our proclamation is useless. Then our telling other people about Jesus is really useless. You might as well not worry about your unsaved loved one, your husband or your wife or your child. You might as well not worry about talking to them about Jesus and about life they can have in Christ because that life can only come because Jesus rose again and sent His spirit that empowers us to live that way.

You cannot will to live a good life. The country is an example. It can't will to live a good life, so it's going to legislate a good life. It's going to give all kinds of rules and laws that's going to legislate a good life, but the life still keeps getting worse. Why? Because people aren't embracing the truth of the gospel. You cannot will to be good. You can only go so far, and it's not far enough.

And so to tell somebody else about Jesus is useless. Why is it becoming useless today to do that? Because people are not seeing Christians walk the talk. We can come across as self-righteous and egotistical. We can come across in an accusatory manner without showing forth the grace and without walking the line ourselves, without walking what we're teaching, without walking what

we're talking.

Jesus has empowered us because He rose from the dead. We can claim that we love Jesus, but do we really? If He didn't rise from the dead, then our preaching is useless. Second half of verse 14, not only is our preaching useless, but our faith is useless. He says it again in verse 17 that if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. It's worthless. It's empty.

It has no power. It does nothing. Do you have faith that someday things are going to get better? I mean, I don't have faith that that's going to happen just naturally. I don't think it's going to just all of a sudden things are just going to change and immediate change and things are just going to get better. That's not according to Scripture. Things are going to wax worse and worse.

Things would get better if the government leaders would repent that would only bring goodness for a season. Nineveh repented, but then within just a few decades it was judged. So, it's only for a season, but I have faith in what's coming. I have faith in the fact that the Lord is coming and that the Lord is going to establish His kingdom that will never end and death is going to be put away and sorrow and sickness and mourning are going to flee.

I have faith that that's going to happen, but if Jesus didn't raise from the dead, that has to be an issue. If Jesus didn't raise from the dead, then your faith in that is in vain. It's empty. It's worthless. Third, verses 15 and 16, he says, not only is our preaching useless and our faith is futile, but we are made to be false witnesses. We're liars. If Jesus hasn't raised from the dead and you and I are telling other people about the wonderful

You can't make it a non-issue. You can't say, well, let's don't push that stuff. Let's don't push the fact that He's coming again. Let's just get along together. You know, we don't need to make a big deal about the rapture, the church, or about the second coming. We don't need to make a big deal about that. You know, we just need to love Jesus now. Well, I'm sorry.

That's the heart of loving Jesus now is the fact that He rose again. When Paul talked to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 about the Lord's table, he said, when you do this, you celebrate the Lord's death until He comes again. It's anticipating that. Jesus can only come again if He rose from the dead. And if we don't believe that, then our testimony is false and we are liars.

But fourth, verse 17, even worse than that, you are still in your sins. You are still in your sins. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, if He's just a good guy and He didn't rise from the

by me. There is only one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. There's only one. There's only one way to God. And if Jesus didn't raise from the dead, then sin and death have not been conquered, and you can't get there. You can't be good enough. You can't do anything that's good enough. We're still in our sins if He didn't raise from the dead.

Fifth, verse 19, and this is one that really hits me, is not only that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost, but only for this life we have hope in Christ, then we are to be pitied more than all men. Not only do you not have hope of ever seeing your loved ones again if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, but we're only having hope for this life in Christ, trying to be good, trying to do good things, not seeking, you know, resisting the things of the flesh, resisting the temptations of the bull. It's only because of this life, and there is no way to gain entrance into heaven because Jesus hasn't raised from the dead, then those of you who are living that way are most to be pitied.

Man, why not eat, drink, and be merry and party on if Jesus didn't raise from the dead? And sixth, look over at verse 30. Paul says, and as for us, as for believers, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day. I mean that, brothers, he said, just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained?

If the dead are not raised, then he says, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Paul was talking about going out and proclaiming Christ under threatening situations. Now, so far, you and I have not had to do that very much yet, but seeing things like what's going on with Reggie White, it's becoming more and more personal to take a stand for Jesus, to take a stand against abortion, to take a stand against homosexuality, to say that there's only one way to God. Pretty soon, we're not going to be able to say that without the threat of persecution, without the threat of jail, without the threat of activity from the other side that doesn't believe that, that thinks that we're homophobes or, you know, we're not considerate of women's

needs when we talk about being against abortion. And pretty soon, it'll cost you. It'll cost you your job to make that stand. It'll cost you some jail time to make that stand. And Paul says, why do I endanger myself if in this life only there's any hope? Why do I face death at every turn? Does death scare you? Are you afraid of dying? Do you have a fear of that?

Has it kept you from certain things? Do you not fly maybe because you have a fear that the plane will crash? Do you not really like to ride in cars because you're afraid of death? I know when I was growing up, growing up I went to a few horror movies. One of the first horror movie I ever saw was The Beast of Sleepy Hollow. And it was a black and white movie back in about the late 50s.

And it, I mean, it was back during the time when they were combining westerns with horror movies that, you know, we had the Tyrannosaurus, but then we also had Wild Bill Hickok. He was the, he was the hero of the thing. So, but I remember that and it scared me to death. And I thought on the way home we got to watch out for Tyrannosaurus. Why? Because I was afraid to die.

I didn't want to die that way. I didn't want to get crushed in the jaws of a Tyrannosaurus. Are you afraid of death? One of the, I think it was this morning's Daily Bread talked about a little girl who when she would go home, on her route home would take, she had to go through the cemetery to get home. And sometimes she had to go through that as it was getting dark.

And somebody asked her, aren't you afraid to go through that cemetery at night? And she said, no, because my home is just on the other side. As believers in Jesus Christ, we're not afraid of death because our home is just on the other side. It's just a doorway. It's just something we've got to pass through if we have to die. And we don't have to worry about that because of the resurrection.

We have no fear of that because the resurrection is real. Now look at verse 33. There's a warning that's here and you probably just kind of blow over when you're reading through this text. You're into the body transformed and all that neat stuff and the twinkling of an eye. But verse 33 says, do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character. That's all he says.

And then he says, come back to your senses as you ought and stop sinning and all. What does he mean? That's a warning. Bad company corrupts good character. There's a Greek proverb. It was quoted by a Greek poet. And Paul just quotes that poet and uses it and applies it here to the teaching concerning the resurrection. What does he mean? Bad company corrupts good character.

Well, he's emphasizing that those who teach that there isn't a resurrection are corrupting those who teach that there is. So today we can think, well, let's see, who teaches that there is no resurrection? Will it be the Muslims? I'm not sure, you know. I don't know. Maybe somebody far off. I don't know of anybody that I hear of that's just standing there teaching that there is

no resurrection that I can think of offhand. You know who teaches that there is no resurrection? Those who live as if there isn't one. Those who live to fulfill their own sensual pleasures. And they may name the name of Jesus. They may say they're a Christian, but they have no regard for His Word. They have no regard to walk, to seek to walk in righteousness.

They have no desire to really seek His face. They're just out for what they can get, and they call themselves Christians so that the Christians will stay off their backs. Have you heard the latest from Howard Stern, the shock jock, radio jock? Howard Stern is soon coming to your TV everywhere. CBS announced this past week that it would begin airing The Howard Stern Show in its

late night Saturday lineup in August. Describing his program, Howard Stern said, quote, We'll have sex and nudity and lesbians. Standards have gone down to an all-time low, and I'm here to represent it. It's a miracle. I prayed to God for this, end quote. That's how far we've slumped, America. That's how low we go. If you just surround your life with movies, and I'm not condemning movies.

accountability, for not only the confirmation that this has really happened, but the affirmation to be affirmed, yes, it's right to follow the Lord. It's good to follow the Lord. Hang in there. Continue to trust the Lord. If you're not doing that, you are acting and living as if there is no resurrection, and you are teaching that to your kids and to your friends and your family.

If Jesus rose again, then He indeed is coming back, and He's coming back to judge this time. He's not coming this time meek and lowly riding on a donkey. He's coming back full on as the King of kings and Lord of lords riding on a white horse

the ground don't come up as other seeds. They come up as a flower or a tree. You take a bulb and you put it in the ground, it doesn't grow up one gigantic bulb. It comes up as a tulip or a hyacinth or whatever. And just as there's a transformation that happens in the natural, there's a transformation in the spiritual. There's a transformation that's coming.

The Greek word for being transformed is metamorphosis. There's a metamorphosis that's coming. We are going to be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, he said, because there is a resurrection, because Jesus raised from the dead. This corruption must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. This perishable must put on the imperishable because flesh and blood cannot inherit the

kingdom of God and that only happens as a result of the resurrection. He finishes this chapter in verse 58 by saying, Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. It's good to live for the Lord. Don't get discouraged, he says. Your living for the Lord is not in vain.

Why? Because Jesus rose from the dead and because he has risen, we indeed have hope. Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind and a chronic terminal illness that had been slowly killing him all his young life. Still, his parents had tried to give him as normal of a life as possible and had sent him to St. Teresa's Elementary School. At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in the second grade.

Seemingly to learn, his teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat and drool and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. One day, she called his parents and asked them to come to St. Teresa's for a consultation.

As the Forresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris said to them, Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there's a five-year gap between his age and that of the other students. Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband spoke. Miss Miller, he said, there is no school of that kind.

It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here. Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the snow outside of her window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness, but it wasn't fair to keep him in her class.

She had eighteen other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read or write. Why waste any more time trying? As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Oh God, she said aloud, here I am, complaining when my problems are nothing compared with that poor family. Please help me to be more patient with Jeremy.

From that day on, she tried to ignore Jeremy's noises and his blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. I love you, Miss Miller, he exclaimed, loudly enough for all the other students to hear. The other children snickered, and Doris' face turned red. Why, that's very nice, Jeremy, now please take your seat. Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter.

Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of how there's new life springing forth through the resurrection, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. Now she said to them, I want you to take this home, and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand? Yes, Miss Miller, the children responded enthusiastically, all except for Jeremy.

He just listened intently. His eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection? Did he really understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them. But that evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it.

After that, she still had to shop for groceries and iron a blouse and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about calling Jeremy's parents. The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in a large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs.

In the first egg, Doris found a flower. Oh, yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life, she said. When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here. A small girl in the first row waved her arm. That's my egg, Miss Miller, she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly.

Yes, that is new life, too. And little Julie smiled proudly and said, Miss Miller, that one is mine. Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that the moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom. My daddy helped me with that one, he beamed. Then Doris opened the fourth egg, and she gasped. The egg was empty. Surely, it must be Jeremy, she thought.

And, of course, he didn't understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk about my egg? Flustered, Doris replied. But, Jeremy, your egg is empty. He looked into her eyes and said softly,

Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too. Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, Do you know why the tomb was empty? Oh, yes, Jeremy exclaimed. Jesus was killed and put in there. And then his father raised him up. The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the schoolyard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of them empty.

May we realize that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. Come quickly, Lord, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand together. Sing to him, sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing to him, sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing to him, sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing to him, oh sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing hallelujah and a hearty amen.

Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Sing hallelujah and a hearty amen. Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Sing to him, sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing to him, sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing to him, sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing to him, oh sing to him, sing praise to the Lord. Sing hallelujah and a hearty amen. Jesus is risen and he's coming again.

Sing hallelujah and a hearty amen. Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Sing hallelujah and a hearty amen. Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Sing hallelujah and a hearty amen. Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Jesus is risen and he's coming again. Amen.