If Christ Be Not Risen
I Cor. 15:14
Intro: The
subject of life after death has been a subject that has been debated and
discussed since the beginning of time.
The oldest book in the Bible is the book of Job, and in this book we
find Job asking:
·
Job 14:14
If a man die, shall he live again? all
the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
One
of the oldest Patriarchs, Abraham, believed in the resurrection.
·
Heb.
11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his
only begotten son, Of whom it was said,
That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from
whence also he received him in a figure.
During the ministry of Christ, there was a group called the
Sadducees. They refused to believe in
the resurrection.
They are mentioned in Matthew, Mark and Luke as not
believing in the resurrection.
When Paul the Apostle preached on Mars Hill, his mention of
the resurrection was met with scoffing and mockery.
·
Acts
17:32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and
others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
Today, we have a large group of people that deny the
resurrection of Christ.
Many of them claim to be Christians, yet deny this vital
fundamental.
The liberal Bible colleges and seminaries are pumping out a
generation of preachers that deny the resurrection.
I. Then All That
We’ve Heard is a Lie
A. The
Prophecies are a Lie
1.
Old Testament Prophecies
·
Psalms
16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine
Holy One to see corruption.
·
Acts 2:29 Men and
brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both
dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his
soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
·
Isaiah
53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
New
Testament Prophecies
Multiple times throughout the ministry of Christ, He taught
His disciples that the resurrection would take place.
·
Matthew
12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
·
Matthew
20:17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem
took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests
and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver
him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third
day he shall rise again.
·
Matthew
27:62 Now the next day, that followed
the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto
Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet
alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre
be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal
him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error
shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your
way, make it as sure as ye can. So they
went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
·
John 2:19 Jesus
answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will
raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in
building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.
B. The Preaching is a Lie
·
1
Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of
God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised
not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
Imagine the preaching that has taken place since the
resurrection.
Imagine the thousands of pastors, evangelists, laymen,
missionaries that have stood in pulpits and preached it!
Imagine the thousands and thousands of hours of studying and
preparing that has gone into the gospel message being preached all around the
world over the past 2,000 years.
Imagine all the thousands of books that have been written,
commentaries, gospel tracts.
Paul said it right – If Christ be not risen, then is our
preaching and teaching is false.
II. Then All that
We Have Is Lost
A. Our
Faith is Lost – vs. 14; 17
Paul made this point in numerous places. See text: vs. 14 ...and your faith is also vain.
How can we expect Christ to “quicken” us and raise us from
the dead if He couldn’t raise Himself?
·
Romans
5:23 Now it was not written for his
sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be
imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification.
·
Romans
4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
·
Romans
8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
·
Romans
10:9 That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
·
I Thess.
1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto
you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Paul said in verse 17 – if Christ be not raised, ye are YET
IN YOUR SINS!
·
That means your sins have never been forgiven!
·
That means your prayers are not being heard and
none of them have ever been answered!
·
That means that the change that has taken place
in your life has not been a work of the Holy Spirit!
·
That means that the joy and the peace in your
heart is imaginary; it’s not real!
·
That means that strength you draw from the
Scripture is all in your head!
Paul is saying – If Christ Be Not Risen, we are still on our
way to Hell!
B. Our
Fathers are Lost – vs. 18
Paul pointed out one devastating truth; if Christ be not
raised, then our forefathers that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished!
He was talking about those that died, putting their faith
and trust in Christ.
·
This would include John the Baptist who was
beheaded for his preaching.
·
This would include James the brother of John
that was killed by Herod in Acts 12.
·
This would include all of the martyrs and the
Apostles that died for their faith.
·
This would include every man, woman, boy and
girl that has died trusting in Christ.
·
This would include my great-grandfather that
preached all over South Georgia as a circuit riding preacher.
·
This would include my granddaddy that preached
on the Grace of God like other preacher I’ve ever heard.
·
This would include my wife’s grandmother that
died hearing angels singing.
·
This would include those old time preachers that
we’ve always enjoyed hearing.
·
Dr. Harold Sightler, Dr. Lee Roberson, Billy
Kelly, Oliver B. Greene, Maze Jackson, Edgar Thomas, …
III. Then All That
We Hope For is Limited – vs. 19 If
in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Paul goes on to make a case for the second coming of Christ.
BUT – if Christ be not risen, we have no hope of every
living after we die.
·
There is no resurrection.
·
There is no rapture.
·
There is no Heaven.
·
There is no Judgment Seat of Christ.
·
There is no Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
·
There is no singing around the throne of God.
·
There is no walking down the streets of gold.
·
There is no eating of the fruit of the tree of
life.
IF CHRIST BE NOT RISEN – our future is lost!
Conclusion: But thanks be unto God – verse 20 says it
plainly. BUT NOW IS CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD!!!
We know this – not because there were witnesses.
·
I Cor.
15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was
seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of
all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
He taught that because of one man, Adam, sin and death
entered the world.
And by one man, Christ, life and resurrection entered into
the world.
He preached in verse 26 that the last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death.
We know this is true because the Scriptures tells us He’s
alive!
We know this because He quickened us and made us alive!
We know this because He lives within our hearts!!
It’s NOT all a lie!
It’s not all lost!
