Christ Is Risen Indeed!

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an amazing truth. It is a unique truth and it is an essential truth.

It is amazing. Life from the dead. Power to restore life to a dead person.

Power to defeat death, not only temporarily but forever and forever. It is a unique doctrine. As far as I can tell, Christianity is the only religion, certainly the only major religion in the world that lays a credible claim to the resurrection of its founder.

And as I thought about that, it astounded me. Satan, the enemy of the gospel, the enemy of Christ, the enemy of men's souls, is busy counterfeiting so many different elements of the Christian faith that you can't imagine that he wouldn't counterfeit this one as well. And the only explanation I have is, frankly, that God has not allowed him to do that. Do you know any religion in the world that claims that its founder rose from the dead, even if it's a claim that cannot be substantiated?

I can't think of one. But Jesus Christ, we could call him the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ died a cruel death upon the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of his people, but he rose triumphant from the grave and lives evermore. What a unique doctrine. And the resurrection of Christ is also an essential doctrine. It is essential to the gospel.

As we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul condensing the gospel into almost its smallest irreducible parts, because there's a whole lot more you can say about the gospel than what he said in this short definition. But he said, this is the gospel, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again from the dead, according to the scriptures. Evidently, you do not have the full gospel message if you do not include the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is essential to the gospel. It is essential to salvation. It is essential to the Christian faith. And because that is such an important doctrine, today I'm going to do something that I rarely do, and I hope it'll work.

My usual style is to pick a text, maybe a verse or two or three, and examine that one text very, very carefully. Today we're going to look at this doctrine in survey form, tracing it literally from the Old Testament to the New, from the beginning to the end. We're going to be looking at a lot of scripture, and I hope you have your Bibles with you, because you need to be able to turn and follow, at least on some of these things that we look at. But since Paul told us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is according to the scriptures, and generally when you find that statement in the New Testament, it is clearly referring to the Old Testament scriptures, we want to at least look at where in the Old Testament do we find this doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And if you've looked for that before, you realize it is not easily found, but it is found. And so we begin our survey this morning with what I've called Old Testament intimation. The scriptures in the Old Testament intimate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And there are several places. I will call first your attention to the one that we looked at last Sunday morning in our study in Hebrews chapter 11, namely the restoration of Isaac when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice him upon the altar. And Abraham obeyed God, an amazing, amazing example of God honoring faith.

He did not doubt, he did not hesitate, he did not question, though there were many, many reasons to question that command. Nevertheless, he went obediently to the place that God commanded him to go to, and he prepared the sacrifice and built an altar, laid the wood, bound his son, put him on the altar, raised his knife to plunge it into him, and then the voice said, stop, stop, Abraham, don't kill your son, substitute instead the ram that's in the thicket in his place. And we would read that in the Old Testament and might not catch the strong reference, the strong link between what happened to Isaac and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but thankfully the New Testament scriptures in Hebrews 11 give us that link, do they not? And so you remember from last Sunday how that in Hebrews chapter 11, I'm going to have to find it here, in verses 17 through 19 we have these words, Hebrews 11, 17, By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. And it's that last part that we looked at last Sunday and realized that an awful lot of Bible scholars link that to the statement in John, chapter 8, where Jesus said, Abraham saw my day and was glad, and see in that reference to the restoration of Isaac, who in the mind of Abraham was dead.

He'd already committed himself to following the orders that were given to him. He was putting him to death. He assumed that God would raise him from the dead because he didn't know how else God could keep his promise about raising up a great seed from Abraham through Isaac without raising Isaac from the dead. But in Abraham's mind he sacrificed his son.

He was totally willing to do it and God intervened and as it were gave him back life from the dead in typology. But Jesus said Abraham saw my day and was glad and links that to Christ and we think therefore to the resurrection of Christ from the Old Testament scriptures in typology, an intimation of Christ's resurrection in Genesis chapter 22. Or we could consider the statement of Job.

I think we heard our choir singing it this morning. In Job chapter 19 in verses 25 and 26 we read this. Job said for I know that my redeemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth and after my skin is destroyed this I know that in my flesh I shall see God. Now the clearest part of that reference is to the resurrection of Job. Though I die nevertheless I know that in my flesh I shall see God.

A resurrection of Job from the dead. But that follows his statement about the redeemer living. Now the part that's missing in Job is a reference to Christ's death prior to his living again. But once again I think we can see an intimation there in the Old Testament scriptures of the resurrection of Christ. Or we can find a pretty strong intimation in that great gospel chapter of Isaiah 53.

I've told you about the man of Jewish birth who hearing that read accused the person reading it to him of reading the New Testament scriptures. He said nope that's not New Testament that's Old Testament that's Isaiah. But this we read in Isaiah 53 verses 8 and 9 about the death of Christ. He was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked.

But then we read in verses 10 and 11 yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief when you God make his soul an offering for sin he Christ shall see his seed obviously spiritual seed. His children multitudes millions and millions he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days. He was cut off from the land of the living but now God is going to prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied all these spiritual seed he's going to see them and take great satisfaction in them. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. In hindsight as New Testament believers we can look back at Isaiah 53 and say well that's obviously a reference to the resurrection of Christ. To Old Testament saints that might not have been so crystal clear but it certainly is a strong intimation. How do you explain one who is cut off in death and yet his late days are prolonged? That's a paradox.

How does that happen? It is a suggestion at least of the resurrection of Christ from the dead but the clearest one perhaps of all is found in Psalm 16. In this text that we'll look at next in verse 10 of Psalm 16 is quoted several times in the New Testament to demonstrate that the Old Testament scriptures foretold the resurrection of Christ.

It was taught in the Hebrew Scriptures and here's what David says in Psalm 16 verse 10. For you, that is Lord God, will not leave my soul in Sheol or the grave nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption, the corruption of death as the body decays in the grave. You will not leave my soul in Sheol. You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. At first glance that seems to be David speaking of himself but it just really doesn't work when you think of David. David is saying that someone will not remain in the grave after having been put in the grave.

Someone will not see corruption after having died and being placed in the place of corruption. And obviously this cannot be David himself as the New Testament apostles themselves said. They said listen this isn't David, David the king, David the father of Solomon. It's not that David because his grave, his tombstone, his burial place is with us to this day.

We know where he was buried. It cannot be David himself. Well then who is it? Obviously the one we call David's greater son, the Messiah. He will not have his body left in Sheol, the grave.

He is the one whom God will not allow to see corruption. And therefore in the Old Testament the references to the resurrection are not crystal clear but there are strong intimations of it and we perhaps could have looked at others but we move on. But it is also noteworthy that believers were expected to extract the truth of the resurrection from these Old Testament scriptures. Isn't that what Christ says to the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24? As he is talking with them as if he's a stranger they don't know who he is and he acts like he doesn't know what's gone on in Jerusalem by the death of Jesus. But these two disciples of Jesus on the road to Emmaus say even though we saw him crucified on the cross and we know he was buried in the tomb we have this strange report of some of the women who've been to the tomb and found it empty. And that report has come to us from the apostles that the tomb is empty and we are truly perplexed. They said and certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said but him they did not see and here's what Jesus says in response to that. O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets, Old Testament prophets, have spoken.

Ought not the Christ who have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Christ chided them mildly for failing to extract from the Old Testament scriptures even though in many ways we look at these and say well it's not crystal clear it's intimations but Christ chided them for not extracting from the Old Testament scriptures the prophecy, the doctrine that Jesus Christ must rise from the dead. That tells me that understanding the scriptures requires diligence. If you're a Sunday morning only Christian and don't read your Bible at home and that's all the exposing you have to the word of God you're not going to be a very good student of God's word.

If you are an Easter and Christmas only person who comes to church then and neglects Christian things the rest of the year you're not going to understand much truth from the Bible because even if you are a every time the doors open kind of Christian and are reading your Bible every day at home you're still going to have to struggle and study seriously to come up with some of these truths in the scripture. Many things lie right on the surface you can't miss them even a child can understand them but many things are hidden deep down like gems in a mine and they have to be digged out at great labor and therefore we should give ourselves to the word of God. We should be regular in the preaching and teaching of God's word. We should be regular in the reading of God's word. We should be regularly meditating upon the word of God because understanding scripture requires two things.

It requires diligence. Some things you can't get without diligence and in addition to that it requires divine illumination. Some things you will never understand apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God to your mind. And so on the diligence part you can apply yourself to the scriptures.

On the illumination part you pray. You cast yourself upon the grace of God. You ask him to open the scriptures, to open your mind to understand them so that you can understand these great truths. Old Testament intimation. But secondly we will consider briefly messianic revelation. When Christ came, as the Old Testament foretold that God would send a savior, a messiah, when Christ came he himself declared to many people the doctrine of his resurrection from the dead. And you can find that throughout all the gospels and I decided to limit myself to just a few references in the Gospel of Matthew because there's too many others to be able to consider at this time. But let's look at a few of these in Matthew starting in Matthew chapter 12. In Matthew 12 the Jews Christ is speaking to, that is the religious leaders, and they are asking for a sign, verse 38. Matthew 12, 38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered saying, Teacher we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. But no longer. He won't be there four days.

Three days. Jonah in the belly of the fish, they all knew that in their Old Testament Scriptures. But that was an illustration, a picture. Jonah's episode with the fish was a very real historical event, but nevertheless it taught a truth and Christ makes the link here. That was designed to illustrate something even greater than the rescue of Jonah from the whale, which is quite amazing, but here's something even more amazing. Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and then up from the grave he arose.

He's coming out. Matthew 16. Christ is making clear the doctrine of his resurrection. Matthew 16, verse 21.

From that time Jesus began to show to his disciples, now not the religious Jews but his own apostles, began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, but he doesn't stop there, and be raised the third day. No fogginess there. That's crystal clear.

No intimation there. That's a clear declaration, isn't it? He's going to die and he's going to be raised from the dead, or to put it more accurately, Jesus speaking in the first person says, I will be killed and I will rise from the dead. Hear ye, hear ye, disciples of Christ.

There's more to that account, but I'll move on for the sake of time. Matthew 27. This one is quite interesting.

They're all interesting, but this one is quite intriguing to me. Now Christ has been crucified and they're getting ready to take him down from the cross and they actually have taken him down and put him in the tomb. And we read in verse 27 of Matthew 27.

No, I need to go on beyond that. On to verse 63. Verse 62, on the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate saying, Sir, we remember while he was alive how that deceiver said, after three days I will rise. Isn't it amazing that the enemies of Christ seemed more willing to believe that statement than the disciples did? We remember his saying that, the disciples seemed to forget. Therefore command that the tomb be made secure and so forth. So Christ declared the truth of his resurrection, not just to the disciples, but to others, and it was pretty widely known that he declared that he would rise from the dead. And sure enough, we read in that account of the women going to the empty tomb, going to the tomb and finding it empty, we read verse 5 of Matthew 28, But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, and then this, for he has risen as he said.

Again, just a little mild rebuke. You didn't forget, did you, that he said this? You're not perplexed that the tomb is empty, are you? You're not wondering what has happened, are you? He is not here, for he has risen as he said. Didn't you hear him? Don't you remember?

Don't you believe him? Jesus, the Messiah, proclaimed his own resurrection, that's messianic revelation. Number three, apostolic declaration, all from the book of Acts. And wow, I don't know if I can look at all of these 12 passages that I have selected that show that the apostles considered the resurrection of Christ an essential part of the gospel, and we have so many references here to their preaching the gospel, including the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, starting with Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. Verse 23, Acts 2, Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. Peter's sermon at Pentecost included the doctrine of Christ's resurrection.

And it goes on, another sermon in the temple in chapter 3, verse 14. But you, he says to the multitude, a large multitude that he's preaching to here, but you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the prince of life, verse 15, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. We know that he was raised from the dead. We saw him, we walked with him, we ate with him, we touched him. We know that he was raised from the dead. And this disturbed the Jews greatly.

Look at chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captains of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Would they have been just as disturbed if they'd only preached the death of Christ on the cross?

I don't know. He doesn't say that wouldn't have disturbed them. But there was something about declaring that Jesus rose from the dead that particularly irritated them. But Peter preached it anyway. Peter now called before the Sanhedrin and demanded to give an account for what he's doing here. He says in verse 10 of Acts 4, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole.

The man that they had healed at the gate, beautiful of the temple. Chapter 5, verse 30, Peter preaching to the Sanhedrin. Verse 29, but Peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men. They'd been commanded not to preach anymore in the name of Christ, but he says we can't do that.

We've got to obey God. But then verse 30, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God exalted to his own right hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. You killed him.

God raised him from the dead and subsequently took him to heaven, to the throne of God, to the ultimate exaltation. Well, that's Peter. How about Paul? The first part of Acts records primarily the ministry of Peter. The second half of Acts records primarily the ministry of Paul and so now we look at Paul.

Moving on to chapter 13. Oh, I skipped Peter's sermon to Cornelius and I did skip it so I'll keep skipping. But when Peter was called to preach the gospel to Cornelius, our brother who was here, Mark Webb from Bible Conference, made a point of emphasizing that an angel came to Cornelius to tell him to get Peter to preach to him the gospel. Why didn't the angel just give him the gospel?

Because God has ordained that the gospel shall be proclaimed by human messengers. So the angel said, fetch Peter and he'll give you the gospel and Peter did preach to him the gospel including the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in Acts 10 verse 40. But now we move on to Paul. Paul's sermon to Antioch-Pasidia chapter 13 of Acts and verse 30 verse 29. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. You see how almost inseparable is the message of the cross to the message of the empty tomb, the risen Christ.

It just goes together again and again and again. Acts 17, Paul is at Thessalonica. And what do we read in Acts 17 verses 1 and 2? Now when they had passed through Epiphilas and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the scriptures explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. And the only conclusion therefore is that Jesus, this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ, he's the Messiah. From the scriptures, their Old Testament scriptures, he showed that the promised Messiah would have to die.

They kind of pushed that out of mind even though it was there in their scriptures, but they didn't like to think about that. But not only did their scriptures indicate that the Messiah must die, it also indicated that he must rise from the dead. And all of this took place with Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the fulfillment of these prophecies. And his resurrection from the dead is the capstone of the gospel and the capstone of his fulfillment.

Now I could go on and on. Paul does this at Mars Hill in Athens, Acts 17, 32. Verse 31, he's giving the gospel because he has appointed a day. This is about the judgment in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead.

That's the assurance. That's the guarantee that he is the Savior and he is now Lord of all and that all will be judged by him. The resurrection is what certifies that. Verse 32, and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. Others said, we will hear you again on this matter, so Paul departed from them. Resurrection from the dead, we haven't ever heard about anybody rising from the dead.

And Paul would have said, I know until now, but now you have. And there's only one who fits this category and he is Jesus the Lord, Jesus the Messiah. Paul, before the Sanhedrin, Acts chapter 23, preaches resurrection from the dead, Acts 23. He's being examined by the Sanhedrin and it's not going very well, but Paul is a shrewd man and he says, I think I've got something I can do here. Half of these guys are Sadducees, the other half are Pharisees.

Sadducees deny the doctrine of the resurrection. Pharisees believe it, so let's just try this. Verse 6, that when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead.

I am being judged. And with that, they broke out into an argument among themselves about the doctrine of the resurrection. But Paul preached that to the Sanhedrin and he preached it before Felix in Acts 24. Acts 24, verse 15, this being so, no, verse 15, I have hope in God, which they themselves, these Jews, also accept that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Here the emphasis is not exactly on the resurrection of Jesus, but it's upon the doctrine of the resurrection. There will be a resurrection, but of course, as Paul shows us in 1 Corinthians 15, which we're getting to in just a moment, these two things are linked together. Without the resurrection of Christ, there is no resurrection of the dead.

And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ clearly did not rise from the dead. So Paul preaches that before Felix. In fact, we see it more clearly in verse 21.

Unless it is for this one statement which I cried out standing among them concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am being judged by you this day. And then finally, in Acts 26, we're coming to the end of this long list, Paul preached the resurrection before Festus. Acts 26, verse 6. And when he had remained among them, this is Festus, remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought.

When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, while he answered for himself, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I offended in anything at all? And then it goes on, and finally in verse 23. So the next day when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp and had entered the auditorium, with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus' command, Paul was brought in, and he declares the doctrine of the resurrection.

I'm tracing it down, and I must stop at this point. So, what do we have about the doctrine of resurrection? Number one, Old Testament intimation.

Intimated clearly enough that at least God's people should be able to discern it there. Number two, messianic declaration. When Jesus the Messiah came, he said in no uncertain terms, clearly without any possibility of misunderstanding, that he would rise from the dead, even though he proclaimed it that clearly, not everybody understood it and believed it.

But number three, apostolic declaration. The apostles and others who proclaimed the gospel in that early first century almost inevitably included the doctrine of resurrection, and particularly Christ's resurrection, as part of their gospel message. And now we conclude where we began in 1 Corinthians 15.

We've come full circle. Back to 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter. And it's clear that Paul is answering a question from the Corinthians directed to him in relation to some who were teaching that the doctrine of resurrection is a myth. The doctrine of resurrection is a misunderstanding. That the resurrection that is being spoken of is the resurrection of the Spirit, is the resurrection to life when one believes on Jesus Christ, but not an actual resurrection of bodies from the grave. Paul is dealing with this, this whole doctrine of resurrection, but it's all tied to Christ's resurrection. And as we've already seen, he begins by telling us that the doctrine of Christ's resurrection is an integral part of the gospel. That's verses two and following.

I delivered unto you that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. Verse four, that he was buried and he rose from the dead, according to the scriptures. And then he goes and lists a whole multitude of people who saw him after he was raised from the dead, including 500 at one time. This is no delusion of one or two individuals who think they're seeing something that they're not really seeing.

This is so certifiable that 500 people at one time all saw him and heard him after his resurrection. And so Paul is showing us, showing them and showing us, that the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, and indeed the doctrine of the resurrection of those who trust in Christ, is a fundamental of the Christian faith. We sometimes sort out among all the doctrine that is taught in the Bible as to what doctrines are fundamentals and what doctrines are non-essentials. Not that there's any truth that's not essential, but what doctrines must all people believe to be a true Christian? There's some doctrines we can differ on, such as baptism.

I have many beloved pedobaptist friends who believe in sprinkling infants. I insist that they are wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, but they're still my beloved brothers because that is not a fundamental of the faith. It is important, but it's not a fundamental of the faith. You can get that wrong and still go to heaven, but what Paul is telling us here in 1 Corinthians 15 is you can't deny the resurrection of Christ or even the doctrine of resurrection and go to heaven. It's a fundamental of the faith.

You either believe this or you go to hell. The gospel, which must be believed for salvation, is Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Now, let's trace a few statements in 1 Corinthians 15 about this.

The doctrine, verse 12. Now if Christ is preached, as he was, we just showed you how the apostles preached Christ. If Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? See, there's the denial of resurrection that some are proclaiming to the Corinthian believers. And I say it doesn't seem like they were specifically denying the resurrection of Jesus, but they were denying that believers will be raised from the dead. How do some among you say that there is no resurrection, no doctrine of resurrection, no future resurrection for believers? For, or but, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

He's linking these two things inseparably. If there is no truth to the claim that believers will someday be raised from the dead, because there is no such thing as a resurrection, then Jesus didn't rise either. Because if there's one exception, then you can't deny the other possibilities, can you? If Jesus rose from the dead, then how can you say that it's impossible for people to rise from the dead? He's proof that it's not impossible. In fact, he's proof that it will occur just as he said. He who said he would rise from the dead also said he would raise to life those who believe in him.

And they are inseparably linked. If he rose from the dead, then all believers shall rise from the dead at the second coming of Christ. And if there is no resurrection from the dead, if that's a misunderstanding, then Jesus didn't rise from the dead. And if that's true, verse 14, if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, just empty words.

And your faith is also empty, you're believing something which is not true. Yes, verse 15, and we are found, we apostles, are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God. We have declared to you that God raised Jesus, or raised up Christ, whom, if this denial is true, he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. You see how all this is linked together? And he continues in his vein until we come to verse 20.

Here's the conclusion of the whole matter. But now, Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. And the first fruits, of course, in the Old Testament were the initial offering at the beginning of the harvest, which would be given to God, with the expectation and promise that a fuller harvest would follow. If the first fruits are presented to God, we can be certain that the rest will follow. If Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, he's the first fruits of resurrections. And if he was raised from the dead, then we can be certain, certain, certain, certain, certain, that those who believe in Jesus will also be raised from the dead.

That's the reality. Well, then what are we to make from all of this of the resurrection of Christ? Let me give you six short statements in conclusion. Concerning the resurrection of Christ, number one, it is true. That claim is true. Believe it.

Number two, it is essential. It's not only true, but you must believe it. Therefore, include it in your faith, in what you believe, to call yourself a Christian, in what you believe with the hope of salvation. You must believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Include that doctrine. It's not just enough to believe that he died on the cross. It is also necessary that you believe that he rose from the grave. It is essential. Number three, it is powerful.

I don't have to tell you that. What power it took to raise a dead man to life. It took the same power that it took to create the universe. But God is omnipotent. And if he created a universe, why do you think it would be difficult for him to raise a person back to life from the dead? People who have doubts about the doctrine of the resurrection, who have trouble believing in the resurrection of Christ or in the resurrection of believers as promised, or in many of the miracles in the Bible, at the root of all of this is a lack of either understanding or faith in the God of the Bible as he presents himself to be. If the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, if the God of Scripture, if the God of the Bible has done what he says he has done, then why would you have any question, any problem believing that he can multiply the loaves and fishes and feed thousands, that he can turn water into wine, that he can raise Lazarus from the dead, that he can raise himself from the dead? Why would you have any trouble believing that if you believe in the God who the Scriptures present to us? If you have trouble with that, the problem is your God is too small. And therefore he is not God at all.

Because there aren't many gods, but there are many different concepts about God, and there are even people who call themselves Christians, but they have a small, small God that they evidently think is not able to do things like that. Folks, you're going to have to rise above that. You say, well, I believe in God. Good.

Congratulations. You have now reached the level of demons. Now go beyond that. Believe what else the Bible says about God and what he has done. It is a powerful message. Number four, it is encouraging. Jesus Christ rose from the grave. What could be more encouraging than that?

Embrace that truth. He rose from the dead, therefore there is life after death. He rose from the dead, therefore your loved ones who have died in Jesus will be raised from the dead. We will be reunited with them someday. Number five, the resurrection of Christ is needed, disseminated in your gospel witnessing, disseminated in your worldwide missions.

This message needs to be heard. And number six, it is celebrated. That's what we're doing this morning. We're celebrating this great and glorious doctrine that the grave is empty. Jesus Christ arose from the dead, up from the grave he arose with a mighty conquest o'er his foes.

He is living today in heaven in his glorified body. He is coming again to claim his saints and to raise from the dead all those who have trusted in Jesus. Jesus Christ is risen indeed, shall we pray. Father, thank you for this glorious truth.

Seal it to every heart. Cause doubters to doubt no more. Cause unbelievers to come in repentance and faith to the foot of the cross where Jesus died and bled for the sins of those who trust in him. May they come to the empty tomb where Jesus Christ no longer lives, because he is risen from the dead. Help us all to celebrate this great truth, we pray. Amen.