Sermons

Introduction

Wow, Easter Sunday, I just love this, totally love this. So, we're going to step out of the gospel of Luke just for this one Sunday and we're going to focus on the resurrection of Christ. So I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and today I want to speak to you on "The Gospel of the Resurrection," 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And in our social media, it said I'm going to preach through verse 8, and I got to studying this passage, and so we're going to go through verse 11. And I walked into the elders' prayer meeting this morning, and they have an over-under wager going, and they've already declared there's no way I'm going to get to verse 8, much less verse 11. So we'll see how this goes. But I'm going to read through verse 11. That's the whole unit of thought. 

Beginning in verse 1, the apostle Paul writes, "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which 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 according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." This is God's word. Let's go to Him in prayer. 

[Prayer] Father, what a glorious day, what a glorious passage of scripture, what a glorious fellowship for our hearts to be rekindled afresh again with love and devotion for You. This is the greatest commandment that we love You with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And already our hearts are ablaze with excitement, enthusiasm for You. It's contagious. It leaps from one heart to the next as it comes from Your throne of grace. 

So I pray now as we look into this text that You'd give us understanding. Help us to capture the central thrust of what is being said here. Bless Your people who have gathered here today. We are a needy people. We are in need of continued, sanctified grace in our lives. Keep Your hand upon us strongly for the honor of Your name. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. [End] 

In these verses that I have just read, we see the supreme importance of the resurrection of Christ from the dead in that it is an essential part of the gospel message. In reality, the cross of Christ is anchored in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Without the resurrection, there is no gospel. Without the resurrection, Christ died in vain. Without the resurrection, our faith is empty. Without the resurrection, we witness to others in vain. Without the resurrection, we live in vain. Without the resurrection, we die in vain. Without the resurrection, everything is vain. 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ becomes the validation from God the Father that the death of Christ upon the cross was a perfect atonement and made full satisfaction for the wages of our sin. If Jesus had remained dead in the grave, we would remain dead in our sins. The resurrection, really, is the linchpin that holds the gospel together. We're saved at the cross, we are sure by the resurrection. So let's walk through this passage. Let's see how far we can go. What meat I leave on the bone, we will look at it next Easter, as I will be continuing my Easter series.

The Preaching of the Gospel

So the first thing as we walk through this passage that I want you to see is "the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel." Paul begins in verse 1, "Now I make known to you, brethren," and what he is about to make known to us is the gospel. This will be a full disclosure of the essential parts of the gospel. 

So he says, "I make known to you, brethren." He's referring to the believers in Corinth, and by extension, to all believers everywhere down through the centuries on every continent down to us today. It says, "I make known to you, brethren, the gospel." We've got to stop right there. 

What is the gospel? It's a word that's kind of tossed around loosely today both in church circles and outside of church circles. It's critically important that we understand what the word "gospel" means. And we've discussed this before, but one more time: It's a compound word, which means two words joined together. The prefix means "good." The main root word means "news" or "message" or "report." And so when you put it together, the word "gospel" very simply means "the good news." When William Tyndale first translated the Bible into the English language out of the Greek, he translated it as "the glad tidings." 

It is the good news of salvation that has been provided by God in the sending of His Son into this world to rescue those who are lost and perishing in their sins. It is the good news that your sins can be forgiven, that the slate can be wiped clean. It is the good news that you can be clothed in the perfect righteousness of God's Son. It is the good news that God's wrath toward you has been extinguished. And there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is what the word "gospel" means, and it should be the sweetest word in your vocabulary: the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

So Paul says, "which I preached to you." You see the verb tense there is in the past, and he's pointing back when Paul first came to Corinth; it's in Acts chapter 18. And as Paul comes to Corinth, he preached the gospel, and it says he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. And Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 

And Luke records, "They resisted and blasphemed." And Paul shook out his garments and said, "Your blood be on your own hands. I am clean. I go now to preach to the Gentiles." And as Paul is ready to leave Corinth, that night Christ appeared to him in a vision. And Christ said, "Go on preaching. I am with you. I have many people in this city. No one's come to faith in Christ yet, but God has many people who have been sovereignly chosen from before the foundation of the world; and no matter what the opposition is, Paul, you keep preaching, and I will overcome their resistance." And God, one by one, began to call to Himself out of darkness, sovereignly, irresistibly, effectually those who were His people from before the foundation of the world. 

Oh, Paul remembers with great fondness when he writes this, "which I preached to you." How could he ever forget? How? When he came to Corinth, he turned the town upside-down with the preaching of the gospel. 

He then adds, "which also you received." They took the gospel in, as I just indicated, because God called them and overcame their resistance. In fact, when you turn back to chapter 1, verse 2, you see how Paul stresses the call that came upon them. And this call was really a summons. It was really a subpoena. It was really God laying hold of them and extracting them out of their state of sin. 

In 1 Corinthians 1:2, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus," – note this – "saints by calling." No one will ever believe until they are called. You must be called internally, silently, but powerfully by the Spirit of God in order to believe the gospel. And then after God calls you, you then call upon the name of the Lord. 

Continue to look at verse 2, "saints by calling, with all who in every place" – note this – "call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." You see the order there, it's very clear. Nobody calls on the name of the Lord to be saved until God first calls them out by name: "Matthew, come follow Me." "Zacchaeus, come down, I must dine with you tonight." Even, "Lazarus, come forth!" He calls us individually by name. 

Look at verse 9 in 1 Corinthians 1. He says, "God is faithful." That means faithful to bring about His eternal purpose and plan from before the foundation of the world. "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Please note, the call here is not to service, though He does call to service, the call here is obviously to salvation – into fellowship; into a personal, vital, living relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Look down at verse 24. How does Paul identify true believers? Here's how, verse 24, "but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks." Look at verse 26, "For consider your calling, brethren." That's how the church was birthed in Corinth. Paul preached, and God called. And when God called, they received the message that he brought to them. So come back to chapter 15. My prayer is I get through verse 1. Thank you for not Amening, okay? 

So, "which also you received." I just want you to see what a big deal this was that they received the gospel. It was God who had to conquer their hearts. And now he says, "in which you stand." Everyone who receives the gospel stands in the gospel. No one who receives the gospel falls away from the gospel. Everyone who receives the gospel is anchored in the gospel. Everyone who receives the gospel is rooted and grounded permanently and eternally in the gospel. He says, "in which you stand." That word "stand" means "to be firmly established," "to be grounded and stabilized in the gospel." 

Maybe you're like I once was when I was in junior high school. I really didn't know the Lord at that point and I didn't know any theology, and I thought, "If I give my life to Christ, will I be saved in the end? What about if I give my life to Christ and my classmates don't, but in the end I have fallen away and they're saved?" And that thought used to haunt me until I came to understand the truth of Scripture, that once saved, you will be forever saved, received, and stand in the gospel. 

Now look at verse 2, we're making progress, "by which you are saved." Everyone who receives the gospel is saved. Now, please note the verb tense, "by which you are saved," present tense. Now, salvation is thought of in three verb tenses: past tense, present tense, future tense. Many of you know this. We were saved at the time of our conversion; we are being saved throughout our Christian life in sanctification; we will be saved one day in glorification. We have been saved from the penalty of sin; we are being saved from the practice of sin; we will be saved from the presence of sin. It's a package deal. It's a comprehensive understanding of salvation. And everyone who was saved in conversion, everyone will be being saved from the practice of sin. You will not become sinless, but you will sin less, and then one day you will never sin again. 

So, Paul is drawing our attention to our present experience in the Christian life by which you are saved. And what this is the reference to is that we are being saved or rescued from the world, the flesh, and the devil. That is why we do not live like we once lived. We were on a different path headed in a different direction, and we are being saved. You are being saved, not from the penalty of sin – that's already settled at the moment of your conversion – but from the practice of sin. 

Now he continues, and he says, "if" – that's a big if right there – "if you hold fast the word." He's not saying you have to hold fast the word throughout your life in order to be saved. What he is saying is, if you are truly saved, you will hold fast the word of God. A believer will never become an unbeliever. If you're truly a believer, you will hold fast to the word. 

I was reading somewhere this week about high school kids who go off to college, and they never come back to the church, and parents are left scratching their head, "Why doesn't Johnny come back to church?" He's in the 30s, and then they're in their 40s, and they just never come back; and they hold out some hope that Johnny was really saved. 

Listen, if you don't hold fast to the word, you're not saved, that's just plain and simple. That's Theology 101. That's kindergarten-level, entry-level doctrine, and Paul acknowledges this: "if you hold fast the word." This is sometimes referred to as the perseverance of the saints. And the perseverance of the saints is that you hold fast to the word throughout your Christian life. It doesn't mean that there won't be a season or seasons when you weaken in that grip on the word, and at other times a stronger grip. But the fact is, you never let go because God has done a work in your soul. 

And then he comes back to what he originally said in verse 1, "which I preached to you." He reaffirms what he said about "the preaching of the word to you." And then he puts this caution intentionally. He's kind of pushing a little bit on them, "unless you believed in vain." 

Now, churches are filled with people who believe in vain. They profess Christ with their mouth, but they do not possess Christ in their heart. I mean, Jesus made that abundantly clear in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven." And there are plenty. In fact, Jesus actually said more people profess to know Christ but do not know Him than people who profess Christ and actually do know Him. 

The many are on the broad path who profess to know Christ. They're the ones saying, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and perform many wondrous works?" And I will say unto them in that day, "Depart from Me, you who work iniquity; I never knew you. That's the many on the broad path of religion, and the few are on the narrow path of relationship with Christ. 

So, Paul starts this little cluster of verses with a potent message: "I preached it to you, and you received it, and you're standing in it; but if you're not standing in it, you have believed in vain." 

Now, before I go any further, I need to make an application here. The stronger the preaching that you sit under, the stronger will be your stand in the gospel. Weak preaching produces weak believers who have a weak stand in the gospel. You need to be under the strongest preaching you can be under because it tightens the bolts in your stand upon Christ. 

And the second thing that we can draw from this is the stronger the preaching you sit under, you will be being saved from the practice of sin more and more. Weak preaching gives a lot of latitude for people to live how they want to live. Strong preaching, as Paul is bringing here, brings conviction of sin. It points down that narrow path. Our Christian lives need this. 

The Priority of the Gospel

So that's the preaching of the gospel. Now, second, I want you to see "the priority of the gospel." In verse 3, for he says, "For I delivered to you as of first importance." And the word "delivered" here means "hand it over." "I served it up to you, I preached it to you, I delivered to you as of first importance." 

Now, this word – it's actually "first importance" is one word in the original language, prótos, and it means "of primary importance," "nothing rises higher." It means "of most valuable importance." 

Now, everything that Paul wrote in his thirteen epistles is true, and everything that Paul preached as an apostle was true, but some things were more important than other things. Everything doesn't rise to the same level of importance. And Paul wrote about, earlier in chapter 11 here, women with head coverings. That doesn't rise to the level of what is most important. What is of most importance is what Paul is addressing here: the gospel. 

So, why is the gospel of most importance? Because no one can be right with God apart from the gospel, because no one can go to heaven apart from the gospel. You cannot be wrong about the gospel and be right with God. You can be wrong about some things and still go to heaven. You can be wrong about forms of church government and still go to heaven. You can be wrong about mode of baptism, still go to heaven. 

You can be wrong about certain particulars about the second coming of Christ and the order of events and still go to heaven. You can be wrong about the second coming and go to heaven, you just cannot be wrong about the first coming and go to heaven. It was at the first coming that Jesus secured our salvation. So that's the priority, and that's the priority we try to make here at Trinity Bible. No matter what the text, no matter what the passage, we want to make a beeline to the cross and to preach the gospel because it's of most importance. 

The Particulars of the Gospel

Now this leads us, third, to "the particulars of the gospel," or if you like, "the parts of the gospel," and that begins in the middle of verse 3. And if the gospel is so important, so then what are the specifics of the gospel that I have to believe? And the simple answer is the Person and work of Christ. The gospel is Christ. 

When you are witnessing and you give your testimony, that's not the gospel, that's you. The gospel is not about you, the gospel is about Jesus Christ; and how you have come to know Christ is your testimony, but you're secondary, you're standing off stage, you're in the shadows. There's only one in the spotlight and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega of the gospel. He is the sum and the substance of the gospel. He is the beginning and the end of the gospel. He is the gospel. 

So he tells us three things about Christ that are non-negotiable. Number one, "Christ was crucified." That's where He begins, that Christ died for our sins, that Christ was nailed to a cross and put to death. And that little word "for," that little preposition (F-O-R), that's the key that unlocks the door, huper in the original. It means "on behalf of," "in the place of," "in the stead of." And what this teaches is the substitutionary death of Christ for our sins, that He died in our place, that He was a vicarious – He suffered a vicarious death upon the cross. 

That should have been you and me nailed to the cross. Those were my sins that were being judged. Those were your sins that were being judged. But instead, God brought a substitute and had Him nailed to the cross, and then all of our sins were transferred to Him. And in 1 Peter 2:24, "He bore our sins in His body upon the cross." And in 1 Peter 3:18, "He died, the just for the unjust." He was just, we were unjust. He was holy, we were unholy. He died in our place, in our stead, for our benefit. 

Now, I want to quickly give you five words. What did He do? What did He accomplish? Okay, so He died for our sins. What good was that? What did that accomplish? Let me give you five words. 

Number one, "propitiation." It may not be a word that you're familiar with. You'll find it in Romans chapter 3 and in 1 John 2 and in 1 John 4. And what it means is that the wrath of God toward us was satisfied, was appeased. That smoldering flame of wrath toward us was extinguished. Propitiation. 

Second, "redemption." At the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sin debt. He paid it off. It was a debt He did not owe. It was a debt we could not pay. But Jesus, because He was truly God and truly man, upon that cross sinless, He shed His blood and He redeemed us from the curse of the law, Galatians 3:13. 

And then third is the word "reconciliation." We were alienated from God. We were separated from God. And Jesus, upon the cross, was the peacemaker, the mediator, and He reconciled us to God the Father. He brought the two parties together through the blood of His cross. 

And then, fourth, "expiation." The guilt of our sin was taken off of us and laid upon Christ, and Christ was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He's removed our transgressions from us – listen to this – as far as the east is from the west, Psalm 103. 

And then, fifth, is the word "sanctification." And at the cross, by His death, Jesus broke the power of sin that once dominated our lives. He crushed the power of sin. It no longer has us around the neck, strangling us. It's still in us in our sinful flesh. But Christ is now dominant. Christ is now Lord. Sin no longer has mastery over us. We are no longer sin's dirty little plaything ruining our lives. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed," John 8 .32. 

And I'm going to give you one more word that I just now think of: "justification." In justification, God declares us, as in a courtroom, to be perfectly righteous before Him, that the perfect life that Jesus lived is now credited to me as a perfect life. And the death that He died in obedience to the will of the Father, that is credited to me. I've never lived perfect for five minutes in my life. But now as God sees me, He sees me clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. 

He says, "this is according to the Scriptures," in verse 3, "according to the Scriptures." Time doesn't permit me to have you turn to all of these Scriptures: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Genesis 3:15. There are many passages in the Old Testament that clearly speak to the sin-bearing, substitutionary death of Christ upon the cross. 

And what is the value of this? Well, it is that there's only one way of salvation, whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament. Some people become confused and mixed up and they think, "Well, there was an old way to be saved in the Old Testament by trying to keep the law, and having grain offerings offered for you and burnt offerings offered for you, and on the day of atonement be there in the temple." But then in the New Testament, now there's a new way of salvation. Christ has come, and if we will just believe upon Christ, we'll be saved. 

No. Now you have two ways of salvation. No, there's only one way. It's the same both for the Old Testament as it is for the New Testament. So that's part of Paul's point in saying, "according to the Scriptures." This is nothing new. This was written all along in the Old Testament. 

So, how was someone saved in the Old Testament and how was someone saved in the New Testament? To put it in three little, simple prepositional phrases: we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We just happen to be looking back to Christ's first coming; and in the Old Testament, they were looking ahead to Christ's first coming. But we all meet at the foot of the cross. It is sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus: by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. I mean, that is the heart and the heartbeat of the gospel. If you don't share that Christ died for our sins, you have no gospel to share. 

Now, the second thing in verse 4 is that Christ was buried. First, Christ was crucified, verse 3. Christ was buried, verse 4, "that He was buried." Now, why throw that in? What's the significance of the burial of Christ? Why is this a part of the gospel? Because it is the burial of Christ that documents that Jesus actually died upon the cross, because there are those who would say, "No, no, no, He just went unconscious. He just blacked out. He swooned into an unconscious state, and three days later, He came out of the coma. He came out of the state of derision." No, what the burial signifies is what happened at the end of verse 3, that Christ actually died, and they buried Him. 

And then, third, Christ was raised, "and that He was raised." He was caused to rise, really, as from a bed of slumber. Though He actually had died, He was raised up by God the Father, He was raised up by God the Son, and He also raised Himself up. Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He said in John 10:18, "I have authority to lay My life down, and I have authority to take it back up again. This commandment I received from My Father." It was a Trinitarian resurrection – Father, Son, and Spirit all involved in breaking the power of death. 

And as I've already said, we are saved at the cross, but what the resurrection is is the stamp and validation of God the Father that what took place at the cross was a sufficient sacrifice to take away sins. If Jesus had remained in the grave, the silence from heaven would have indicated His death was not a perfect atonement. So the resurrection becomes the validation, the verification of the death of Christ. 

And He says, "on the third day." Jesus had already prophesied that it would be on the third day. I don't have time to walk us through Mark's gospel and to cherry pick the four different texts in which Jesus announces not just His own death and not just His own resurrection, but the day of the resurrection. Who does that? Who can pull that off? No one except the Son of God, the Son of Man. 

Now, He says at the end of verse 4, "according to the Scriptures." So the Old Testament also taught the resurrection of Christ from the dead, right? And as I'm looking at the clock, this will be our last verse. Those of you who wagered under, we have donut holes for you. 

All right, I want to take us to just one passage, just one Old Testament passage, and I could take us to several, but just one: Isaiah 53:10. Now, Isaiah 53 is the Mount Everest of the Old Testament. You know that. "We all like sheep have gone astray, each one of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon Him." It's the vicarious, sin -bearing, substitutionary death of Christ, the Messiah, the Meshua. But tucked into this glorious chapter on the death of Christ, there's a whole verse, a lengthy verse on the resurrection of Christ. Now it's in veiled language and veiled imagery, so you have to put on spectacles of faith to see this. 

But look at verse 10 of Isaiah 53: "But the Lord" – that's God the Father – "was pleased" – not reluctant – "to crush Him." The "Him" refers to the Son of God. To crush Him means to wield a fatal blow unto death, to crush the life out of Him. It wasn't the Romans who put Him to death ultimately, nor the Jews. Ultimately, it was God the Father who crushed His Son at the cross with a sledgehammer of vengeance. 

Now continue to read, "If He" – that's God the Son – "would render Himself as a guilt offering," –  that means unto death as a substitutionary sacrifice for us – "if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He" – God the Son, look at this – "will see His offspring," – He will live to see children born into His family – "He" – God the Father – "will prolong His days," – extend His day. 

Now wait a minute. The Father just crushed Him to death. Now the Father will extend His days beyond the time that He crushes Him. That means He will come back to life after being put to death – "and the good pleasure of the Lord," – that's God the Father, and this mirror is how this verse began: "The Father was pleased to crush Him." 

Now at the end of verse 10 – "and the good pleasure of the Lord" – that's of God the Father – "will prosper" – will succeed, will triumph, will be profitable – "in His hands." God the Father will put to death His own Son upon the cross, according to Acts 2:23, "the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God." But after He puts Him to death, God the Father will prolong His days and extend His days such that the Son who was put to death will live to see His offspring. 

You know who they are? Just look around this room. You're surrounded by His offspring. You're surrounded by children of God, born again, adopted into God's family. There was such potency and power in that death of Christ that it's able to save myriads and myriads and ten thousands of ten thousands down through the ages. And the resurrection is proof positive that when the Father crushed the Son, it was the means by which you would live forever. 

So, I need to stop here. For those of you who are notetakers, verses 5-8 is "the proof of the gospel," and verses 9 and 10 is "the power of the gospel." I love verses 9 and 10 so much, I told the elders I wish I could preach in chapel at The Master's Seminary soon and preach verses 9 and 10. Everyone who has come to faith in Christ has had their life radically changed, and this becomes your testimony: "I am what I am." Not, "I am what I once was." No, "I am what I am by the grace of God." 

Conclusion

So, has the risen Christ changed your life? Have you personally met the resurrected Christ? Does He live within you? Has He taken your sins far, far away? Has He reconciled you to the Father? Has He paid off your sin debt? Has God's wrath been turned away from you? If not, then turn to Christ this moment and throw yourself upon His mercy, and say, "Lord, have mercy upon me, the sinner." 

I want you to know He loves to gather in lost sinners. He is the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine and He goes out and He looks for the one. Maybe you're that one today. Maybe you're the one the Lord has come and found today. How would you know? By turning to Him, as He has pursued you for many years, as He has chased you down into this worship service for you to hear this message. Perhaps today is the day of salvation for you. If that could be the case, then this could be the greatest day of your life. Don't hesitate. Do not put it off. When He calls, you must come. Let's close in a word of prayer. 

[Prayer] Father, what a joy it is for us to gather here today, Resurrection Sunday, and to recall and to remember the gospel that is anchored in the empty tomb of Christ. And, Lord, I pray that You will enable us to stand strong in these vacillating days. And for anyone here today without Christ, O God, may they not put it off any longer. May they run to His loving arms. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. [End] 

Now, the closing benediction is a good one: "Now to Him" – that's God the Father – "who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. 

Happy Easter. God bless you.