Turn with me tonight to that great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, as we read together the first 28 verses and then the last few, 50 to 58. 1 through 28, 50 to 58, with our focus being on verses 19 and 20. Along with Lord's Day 17, if you would also turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 24. At the top of that page we find Lord's Day 17, just one question and answer, number 45, dealing with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So page 24 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. We read 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 1. Hear now the Word of God. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this Gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the Word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach and this is what you believed. But if it is 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, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, 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. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 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 are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own turn. Christ the firstfruits. Then when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. for He has put everything under His feet. Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him, who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all. Moving over to verse 50. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable, Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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. Verses 19 and 20 again, If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men, but Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. If you would please turn to that Lord's Day 17, page 24. Back to the Psalter hymnal as we confess together the answer to this question. Question 45 asks us, How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? First, by His resurrection, He has overcome death so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. Second, by His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. Dear people of God, cemeteries. What do you think about cemeteries? How do cemeteries make you feel? Doesn't sound like a very exciting topic, does it? Boys and girls, do cemeteries seem scary to you? Do they seem creepy? Do you try to avoid them? I remember as a boy, I didn't much care for cemeteries. Even if we would drive by one with the family at night, I didn't want to look at the dark cemetery. Probably because we heard a lot of scary stories and a lot of them revolved around cemeteries. Maybe the cemetery makes you feel sad because it's a vivid reminder of a separation that you have experienced from a loved one. But you see, beloved, cemeteries. The cemetery is not terrifying for the child of God. For those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because the risen Christ secures resurrection whole. You see, we confess the truth of Jesus Christ that He rose again from the dead. He had a bodily resurrection. And the resurrection, we know, is proof. It's proof that the payment has not only been made, but the payment for our sin has been accepted by God the Father. And that God is satisfied with you and me because of the work of Jesus Christ. But also, the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that He conquered and He is victorious over the grave. The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that the cemetery and our grave one day and the graves of our loved ones are temporary. And as Paul makes clear, the resurrection of Jesus Christ means true life itself. The resurrection hope that Christ secures is for more than this life alone. That's our first point tonight. In fact, without Christ's resurrection, this life is hopeless. Verse 19 says again, If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. Indeed, our hope is for this life, and it's for more than this life. And we want to look at this actually looking at the opposite, as Paul makes clear, that apart from the resurrection, there's no hope at all. Now, the situation in the Corinthian church at that time was that there was a false teaching being spread around that was a false teaching that was influenced by Greek philosophy that said that the soul is good, but the body, that which is material, is evil. And therefore, there is no resurrection of the body. And we know that the Sadducees in the days of our Lord, they did not believe in the resurrection of the body. And some would even say at this time with this teaching that even Christ did not have a bodily resurrection, that His resurrection was only spiritual, and that believers are raised from the dead with Christ at their baptism. So those who believe their resurrection is already a past event. and it is true beloved that when one is born again when one is regenerated by the holy spirit that that one is raised from spiritual death to spiritual life that's included in the second benefit that we read in lord's day 17 but this is clearly talking about a bodily resurrection and there were some who were believing this false teaching yet at the very same time they claimed to have the comfort that the souls of their loved ones who believed and had died that their souls were safe with God. Well, now Paul challenges this false teaching by pointing to Christ. And Paul makes it clear that even believing, even having faith in God and having our souls with God upon death depends on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. He set up his argument already beginning with verse 1. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. And then he begins verse 2, by this gospel you are saved. Paul lays before him the reminder of the gospel. This is what was preached. This is what you claim. And he then makes clear what this gospel includes. What it must include. And he points to the Scriptures, doesn't he? according to the Scriptures. He makes it very clear. Boys and girls, he's talking there about the Old Testament that we have. That's all they had at that time. That was their Scriptures, the Old Testament. And Old Testament prophecy said that the Messiah would die, the Messiah would be buried, and the Messiah would be raised again. And Paul is teaching that's what salvation is all about. This gospel is what was preached to you. You accepted it. You believed it. And he makes clear that the focus of that gospel is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He made various appearances, as Paul states in here. There were a number of eyewitnesses. The emphasis of Paul is on the proof of the historical fact of the resurrection. In fact, more than 500 at once, he said, most of whom are still alive, saw Jesus. They were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ. Therefore, there were many who could verify this Gospel story. And no doubt a number of those, I think, must have also been eyewitnesses to Christ's death and burial. And really that's amazing because you and I know that it's possible to get the same story out of two or three people, isn't it? But to get 500 to agree? Paul then sets up the problem. He says, you believe this about Christ your Savior. You claim this, he says, about Christ your Savior. You claim that He rose again in the body. So then, what about verses 12 and 13? But if it is 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, then not even Christ has been raised. They believed that Christ had been raised, but yet some of them were starting to believe that there is no resurrection. And Paul says you can't have it both ways. It doesn't work that way. You can't say on the one hand that Christ rose again, but believers don't. You can't say that there is no resurrection and at the same time claim that your believing loved ones who died, that they are with Christ. Because if there is no resurrection, then Christ has not been raised. He Himself has perished. For even our soul to be with God upon death, it depends on Christ's resurrection. If Christ has not been raised, Paul is teaching, then we're all in deep, deep trouble. Preachers for preaching the lie. For calling God a liar. Believers for believing the lie. We're all in deep, deep trouble because the cross truly is foolishness then. And you can say, well, I believe all you want to, but it's meaningless if Christ has not been raised. If He has not been raised, then you and I are still in our sin. And remember, the wages of sin is death. Paul is passionate about wanting his hearers to understand the vanity and the miserable state of this life if we continue to hope in something that isn't true and never will come true. He says we are to be pitied more than all men. All men are to be pitied, right? All men are miserable because of sin, but the truth is unbelievers don't know it. Unbelievers, as it were, continue to get drunk on the pleasures of this life. They become intoxicated on the pleasures of this life and they don't even know what's going on and their motto is, let's eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. But believers are to be pitied more than all men. Pitied not so much because believers are missing out on the sinful pleasures of this life if there's no resurrection anyway. But pitied because of what their vain hope means. How do we understand this idea of being pitied? If Christ has not been raised. Well, on the one hand, I think there's a spiritual significance to this. If Christ has not been raised, then there are no gospel benefits, as outlined beautifully in answer 45. There are no gospel benefits without Him and His resurrection. Without Him and His resurrection, we are still in our sins. No payment has been made for you and me. There is no victory for Christ. Without Him and His resurrection, we are still under the curse of the law and those wages are still due. Without Him and His resurrection, there is no forgiveness. There is no reconciliation with God. We are still enemies with God. Without Him and His resurrection, we are without God in this life and therefore we are without hope. Yet, we are still subject to all the trials of a Christian profession. Because we still claim to believe, you see. That's the foolishness that Paul is trying to point out. And therefore, there is also significance in this life as we think about the experiences of life. Christians, we know, are persecuted. Maybe not so bad all the time. But Christians are still persecuted. Christians are made fun of. Christians are overlooked, sometimes in the workplace. Christians are often treated unfairly by the world. And it was worse in Paul's day, and he should know because he was one of those who made all these things true for Christians. He knew very well that Christians are hated, they're hunted, they're abused, they're stripped of all worldly comforts and exposed to all kinds of suffering, at least in that day. And to even take on oneself the name Christian, To take that very name meant possible death. For what? All for confessing to believe something that isn't true and never will be true if Christ hasn't risen from the dead. And you see, beloved, in that case, it's better to be anything but a Christian because that only begs to be persecuted for nothing. But there's also significance for the end of this life. This life, we know, can be difficult enough for a Christian in the midst of a world of those who follow the prince of darkness. But if there is no resurrection of Christ or of the believer, then all that we have accomplished, all that we have fought for and lived for and suffered for, for Jesus' sake, it all perishes at death. It evaporates. It's gone. And faith goes no further than this life, which is nothing but a constant death. And there is no afterlife at all. And how tragic it is to have a great hope in the heart throughout this life and to shape one's whole life according to that hope and to crucify the flesh and to go to war against temptation, to bear the cross and to suffer dishonor and abuse and many other troubles, all for the sake of this hope, and then in the end, to have that hope burst, to have it pop like a soap bubble. Without the resurrection of Christ or your resurrection or mine that we look forward to, cemeteries are frightening. They're terrible places and we should never want to even think about them. There is a danger of denying the resurrection of Christ and that is to deny true Christianity altogether because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hallmark of the Christian faith. Our living hope lies in the glory of Easter. We know that our salvation is a package deal. All of Christ's work, all of His suffering, all of His death, but the hinge, we might say, is the resurrection because if Christ did not rise again from the dead, then everything He did on the cross is meaningless. it's not truly finished. The Christian faith insists on divine forgiveness through Christ's death and resurrection. Of course, modern Christianity, modern evangelicalism waters down the truth. It adulterates the truth, changes it. It says you don't have to believe in this Jesus. You don't have to believe that Jesus is God. You don't have to believe that He died for your sins. You don't have to believe that He rose again. Just believe in something. Just have faith in something greater than yourself, or in yourself for that matter. All you need is love in order to be saved. To reject the resurrection, beloved, is to bear false witness against God Himself, to call Him a liar. Yet the true Christian is crucified to this world and is taught to live according to the hope of another world and not for nothing. You see, indeed, Paul paints a terrifying picture of the truth of the matter if there is no resurrection, not even of Christ. And he quickly erases that horrible picture and he repaints the most beautiful picture with the glorious truth that Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. Without the resurrection, this life in our faith, it's worthless, it's hopeless, but because Christ rose again, He secures our resurrection hope for more than this life alone, indeed for this life, but for more than this life. He secures it for the life to come because He secures that hope for you and me in the second place as the firstfruits of a great harvest. Verse 20, But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Now what we have here is Paul returning to reality. Everything he had just said he knows is not reality, but he wants his audience to understand very clearly the terrifying thought of what it would be like if there is no resurrection of the dead. And now he returns to reality with a beautiful declaration of an historical fact. he confidently states why it is that his preaching and the believer's faith is not in vain. Why it's not a waste of time. Christ has risen from the dead. It has already happened. And Paul knew, as you and I should know, that the power and the significance of his resurrection, it's ongoing, it's far-reaching, it has eternal guarantees. And as we know, Paul had already rehearsed the evidence of the testimony of Scripture as well as the eyewitnesses, but now he gives an understandable analogy of what Christ's resurrection means for those saved through his punishment and death. He calls Christ the firstfruits. That's an Old Testament idea. In Leviticus chapter 23, we read, The Lord said to Moses, Speak to the Israelites and say to them, When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest he is to wave the sheaf before the lord so it will be accepted on your behalf the priest is to wave it on the day after the sabbath now there is a lot that we could say about first fruits the fact that the first fruits that the people were to offer represents to the first fruits that you and i are called to offer to god the first fruits of everything but very simply the first fruits here is referring to the very first grain harvested when the crop became ripe when it was ready. It pointed to the full harvest that would follow. It was a down payment. It was a guarantee of the rest of the same kind of crop to follow. And the people were to offer that firstfruits in thanksgiving to God to thank Him for all that they were about to receive. Christ as the firstfruits. He's the firstfruits of the dead. He's the only one to rise like this. Oh, there were other resurrections in Scripture in the Old Testament and the New Testament, including our Lord's good friend Lazarus. But what happened to all of them? They died again. They died again. None of them rose again like our Lord. Jesus Christ rose never to die again. He is the first fruits of those who will follow. His resurrection not only makes it possible for all believers who die to rise again, but His resurrection guarantees that they will rise again. You see, Christ, as the firstfruits, means that there's going to be quite a harvest to follow. And brothers and sisters, that guarantee is sealed by the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 1, we read in verses 21 and 22, Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. And this is what is to come for you and me. And just as the first fruits of ripe grain represented the rest of the grain, the rest of that kind that was coming, that was ripe, Paul makes it clear what will be the result of our resurrections one day. The kind that is coming. In Philippians 3 we read, but our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body. The same kind as Christ. Beloved, when our Lord comes again, the bodies of those who have died in Him will be raised. They will be reunited with their souls. And along with believers still alive when He comes who will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye, all will enjoy glorified bodies free from any earthly weakness, free from any inclination to sin, made fit and ready for the glory of heaven. We know, of course, too, that the bodies of unbelievers will be raised and reunited with their souls, but not made like under Christ's glorified body. They will be raised, body and soul, to suffer all the torments of body and soul in the torment of hell. As our first fruits, Jesus Christ, by His resurrection, has secured most wonderful benefits for us. Again, outlined in Lord's Day 17, question and answer 45. The first one says, First, by His resurrection, He has overcome death so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. Because He lives, because He is victorious, Jesus Christ is able to give us His righteousness. He earned the right to give us His righteousness because He conquered death. Again, without Him conquering death, sin is not paid for. Satan is not truly conquered because death is still powerful and we have no righteousness before God, but He has conquered death and therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The second benefit, by His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Beloved, in this life, we have confidence of His victory and ours through Him. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. And as conquerors in Christ, we enjoy new life now. Having been transformed from slaves to sin, to being servants of righteousness. The third benefit, Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. Very simply, beloved, ours is eternal hope for our soul and our body. God created man body and soul and He redeems us body and soul. And therefore the grave and the cemetery, though sad for a moment, has no sting. It has no victory over those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. As our first fruits, Jesus Christ comforts those who belong to Him. And that's really the key, isn't it? Those who belong to Him by faith. Again, our hope is not only for this life, but it is a living hope for eternity. Why? Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He lives and reigns today, never again to die, never to be defeated, but to reign eternally and His believers with Him. But you know that means then that we can't just believe in any old kind of Jesus. There are many man-made Jesuses out there on the market today. Many man-made Jesuses, those made after man's imagination, those made in the way that man thinks that Jesus ought to be, according to what man thinks that Jesus ought to do. But there's only one true Jesus. The one that God prophesied in the Old Testament, revealed in the New Testament, who lives and reigns today in all of His glory for your benefit and mine. No other one will do. If He is not the Son of God who humbled Himself, was born, became man, suffered His whole life but especially the torment of the cross, of hell on the cross, died and was buried. Who was and is exalted, who rose again, who ascended into heaven, reigns at the right hand of God and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. If the Savior you claim is other than the Jesus Christ of God's Word, then your faith is useless. You are deceiving yourself. You have no hope. Not now. Not ever. You are to be pitied. You have no resurrection hope, but you will suffer the eternal torment of hell if that's not the kind of Jesus that you claim. But if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, none of that will be true for you. You shall be saved. For all those, only those, but all those who believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ alone for salvation, we have resurrection hope that will not disappoint. Our beloved world, your neighbors, your co-workers, and even some of your friends would have us believe that we are missing out because of what we believe. They would have us believe that we are missing out on certain pleasures, certain fun of this life. And what a pity, they say, that we're missing all of that. But don't be deceived. Because only true Christians can worship the Lord with true joy. Only true Christians can serve the Lord every day of our life with gladness. Only true Christians can live day by day with confidence. All because we serve a risen Savior. His life is our life, both now and forever. You see, Christians are not to be pitied. But in a sense, we might say Christians are to be envied. Because we don't live in the cheap thrill of ignorance. But by the grace of God, we live in the joy of the truth of Jesus Christ that has set us free. Amen. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, as we come to the close of this worship time, of hearing Your Word proclaimed, we do thank You and praise You for the hope that we do have because Jesus Christ lives body and soul and reigns today. Father, we praise You for that great salvation accomplished only through the complete work in all of its fullness of Jesus Christ. Indeed, Father, it is so tempting sometimes to water down what we believe, to make it more appealing and more acceptable to many in the world. But, Father, to do that is to wipe out the truth. Please don't ever let us wipe out that truth alone which sets Your people free. We pray, Father, that You would cause us to grow in our faith and in our knowledge and in our love of the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise Your name again for our risen Savior, for all that You have given to us in Him alone. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.