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Ingleside Presbyterian Church A Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America |
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Ingleside Presbyterian Church A Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America |
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“Happy Easter!” It was an
Easter Sunday worship service and the associate pastor had the kids on
the stage for the children’s message.
He asks the kids, most who were dressed in brightly colored new
clothes, “What’s different about the church today?”
There was a pause until one child remarked, “It’s full!”
Do you know how the date for Easter is set? It is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (the beginning of Spring.) Obviously, that was the work of committee. This is a great day and I trust that you truly have a Happy Easter.
There was a standard greeting in the early church.
When two believers would meet one would declare:
“He is risen,” while the other would respond, “He is risen
indeed!” What a great way
to say “hello.”
It was a Sunday School class full of four and five year olds on Easter
Sunday. The teacher asked,
“Now, does anyone know what makes Easter so special?”
A little girl answered, “It is Easter because Jesus rose from the
dead…” Before the teacher
could compliment her answer, the child kept talking and said, “…but if
He sees His shadow, He has to go back in for seven more weeks.”
We all know that the four year old girl was confused about Jesus’ death
and resurrection. The
Friday prior to the first Easter, Jesus was laid in the tomb.
Hope had died in the hearts of Jesus’ most loyal friends and
followers. After a horrible
crucifixion, a fog of disappointment and misunderstanding had crept into
their lives. If they had
published a newspaper on that Friday, the headline may have read:
CHRIST DEFEATED!
However, on Easter Sunday morning that fog of disappointment and
misunderstanding had lifted so the entire message could be read, which
is CHRIST DEFEATED DEATH! I
Cor. 15:54 says, “Death is
swallowed up in victory.”
2 Timothy 1:10 tells us that Jesus
“abolished death & brought life &
immortality to light through the gospel.”
I Cor. 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is
proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there
is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ
has been raised. And if
Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain & your faith
is in vain. We are even
found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he
raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not
raised. For if the dead are
not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile &
you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all
people to be pitied.”
If There Had Been No Resurrection of Christ:
1. Jesus would be a liar.
Jesus predicted His resurrection on several occasions.
He was somewhat vague early in His ministry in John 2:19
“Destroy this temple & in three
days I will raise it up.”
As His ministry progressed, He spoke quite plainly about His
resurrection. Matt. 16:21
“From that time Jesus began to
show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem & suffer many things
from the elders & chief priests & scribes, & be killed, & on the third
day be raised.” Jesus
said in Matt. 12:40 “For just as
Jonah was three days & three nights in the belly of the great fish, so
will the Son of Man be three days & three nights in the heart of the
earth.” Matt. 20:18-19
He said, “See, we are going up to
You remember what the angel told the women who came to Christ’s tomb on
Easter morning, when they were wondering where His body was:
“He is not here, for he has
risen, as he has said.”
If the resurrection did not happen, we would have to say that
Jesus was a liar. And if He
lied about the resurrection, could we trust other things He taught?
The angel was very correct when he used the words
“as he has said.”
Dear people, if Jesus declares something to be true…you can take
it to the bank. You can
count on it unequivocally.
If there had been no resurrection…
2. There is no gospel.
Our 1 Corinthians passage reminds us (15:14a)
“And if Christ has not been
raised, then our preaching is in vain…”
Paul described the gospel in verses 3 and 4 of that chapter when
he writes: “For I delivered to
you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for
our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he
was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures.”
The word “gospel” means “good news.”
But if the resurrection is taken from the gospel, we are left
with sad news instead of good news.
D.L. Moody, the great 19th Century evangelist, assigned some
ministerial students to conduct evangelistic tent meetings throughout
the city of
3. Our faith is groundless.
I Cor. 15:17, “And if Christ has
not been raised, your faith is futile & you are still in your sins.”
Faith in a dead Savior is preposterous and somewhat pathetic.
If you were being chased by a crazy person and you had the choice
of running into a house full of people or into a cemetery for help,
where would you run? We
would all run to the house full of people.
Why? Because a house
filled with living people could help while the folks in the cemetery can
do nothing. If Jesus Christ
did not rise and is still dead, then He has no power to save us.
As a result, our faith is in vain.
A soldier had been sent stateside after being wounded in the
4. We are spreading a lie.
I Cor. 15:15 (NIV) “We are then
found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God
that he raised Christ from the dead.
But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.”
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we are merely spreading a
lie—we are bona fide “snake oil salesmen.”
A guy was walking down the street when he saw an old man sitting on a
park bench just crying his eyes out.
He asked, “What’s the matter, old fellow?”
The elderly man replied, “I just got married to this beautiful
young woman. She loves me
and I love her and we have a wonderful time.
I have this beautiful house with a yard with flowers and anything
I want.” “Well, then why
are you crying like that?”
The old guy replied, “I can’t remember where I live.”
If there had been no resurrection, then like that old guy on the
bench…
5. We have no hope for the future.
Vs. 18 of our passage tells us,
“Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.”
Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of the future
resurrection of His people.
If He hadn’t risen, then we have no guarantee.
Paul wrote bereaved Christians in Thessalonica who had lost
relatives and friends. I Thes. 4:13-14
“But we do not want you to be
uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve
as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died & rose again, even so,
through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
He closes this passage with
“therefore encourage one another
with these words.” (vs. 18)
If Christ had not risen, there is no comfort.
6. We suffer for nothing.
I Cor. 15:19 “If in this life
only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
Well-known British pastor, the late Alan Redpath paraphrased
this passage like this: “If
Christ is not risen, then our faith is empty, our preaching useless, and
He has failed to deal with sin at all.
If He has not been raised from the tomb, we are still in our sins
and all His promises are absolutely untrue.
He is a fraud, an imposter, and His ashes are buried somewhere in
The King James Version is somewhat poetic in verse 19:
“If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
We truly ARE to be pitied.
If Christ is not risen,
why bother to go to church?
You could find other things to do with your time.
If Christ is not risen,
why bother to put money in the offering plate?
You’re only giving to a lost cause.
If Christ is not risen,
why bother to serve Him?
You’re only wasting your time.
If Christ is not risen,
why tell others about Him?
You may as well save your breath.
Thomas Jefferson was a great American leader and patriot.
However, he could not accept the miraculous elements in
Scripture. He edited his
own special version of the Bible where all references to the
supernatural are deleted.
He also omitted anything that appeared to be religious dogma.
He confined himself to the moral teaching of Jesus.
The closing words of
Christ was telling the truth when He predicted that He would rise from
the dead. He is the Son of
God. The gospel is really
good news. It really is
“the power of God unto salvation
to everyone who believes.”
Our faith is grounded in a LIVING Savior who can save us from
sin, death and hell. When
we share the good news of Jesus Christ, we are spreading the truth, not
a lie. We have the sure
expectation of a bodily resurrection.
Our bodies will not stay in the grave.
As a result, we are not of all people,
“most to be pitied.”
We have every reason to be a rejoicing people.
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychiatry, wrote: “And finally there is
the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been
found, nor probably ever will be!”
To Dr. Freud, I say “NOT!”
Christians have victory in death and OVER death, because of the
victory of Jesus Christ in His own resurrection.
Jesus said, “Because I
live, you also will live.” (John 4:19)
Every year thousands of people climb a mountain in the Italian Alps,
passing by the “stations of the cross,” to stand at an outdoor crucifix.
A tourist noticed an overgrown trail a little beyond the cross.
He fought through the rough thicket and he came upon another
shine that symbolized the empty tomb.
It was neglected.
The brush had grown up all around it.
Almost everyone had gone as far as the cross, but there they
stopped.
Far too many folks have come to the cross and have known the despair and
the heartbreak. However,
far too few have moved beyond the cross to find the real message of
Eater…that is the message of the Empty Tomb.
Pastor John Maxwell tells of buying a blazer at the upscale department
store, Nordstrom’s: “About a year and a half ago, I bought a new navy
blazer at Nordstrom. It was
one of those cases you may have gone through where you buy an item of
clothing and the more you wear it, the more you realize you don’t like
it. My blazer wasn’t the
right shade and it attracted lint like it was going out of style.
After regularly wearing it for six months, I stuck it in my
closet and didn’t wear it anymore.
Tucked away in the back of my mind was that famous Nordstrom
unconditional-return policy.
I thought, I’ve had the thing for a year and a half.
I’ve worn it lots of time, and there’s no way they’re going to
take it back. About two
weeks ago, I decided I had nothing to lose.
I pulled the blazer out, threw a lot of lint on it to make it
look bad, and took it down to Nordstrom’s men’s department.
I walked in and I immediately felt nervous.
I felt like I was about to pull a scam of some sort, but I played
it straight. I walked right
up to the first salesman I saw and gave this little prepared speech.
I said, ‘I am about to put your famous unconditional-return
policy to its ultimate test.
I have here a blazer.
I’ve worn it lots.
I’ve had it for a year and a half.
I don’t like it.
It’s the wrong color and it attracts lint like it is going out of style.
But I want to return this blazer for another blazer that I like.’
Then I stood there.
I couldn’t believe it. This
guy with a big handlebar mustache just looked at me and shook his head.
He said, ‘For heaven’s sake, what took you so long? Let’s go find
you a blazer.’ Ten minutes
later I walked out with another blazer that was marked seventy-five
dollars more than I paid for the one that I brought in.
It was perfect for me.
Didn’t cost me a penny.
In a small way, the Nordstrom Department Store is a lot like God.
They are willing to back up their promises.” You may not attend church often and may have kept God on the back-burner of your life. You may be here because you like to check in with God on holidays or because your family put pressure on you or because it seems to be fashionable to go to church at Easter. You’ve heard about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His purchase of salvation for us through His death on the cross. The promises of God are true. Listen to this promise in Rom. 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This morning, if you have never accepted God’s promises for your life, He is waiting here saying, “For heaven’s sake, what is taking you so long?” We can be saved today because Jesus Christ, not only died, but He rose again. HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! Let’s pray. Please visit us at our next worship service. We offer "An Unchanging Word To A Changing World." In Christ,
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