"Resurrections" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

you know there are some holidays that um bible christians feel a little conflicted about i think most of us would be in agreement that halloween doesn't fit very well with the the christian motif um we we look at christmas and think you know the um the idea sharing gifts very important we recognize that the date was probably not accurate but one thing we can be fairly certain about is that the time of the passover the time of the crucifixion and the resurrection of jesus we know just about when that was because we know it lined up with the the new moon and the time of the passover moon and this is that time of year when jesus gave his life and rose again you know we're living in an interesting time of history because approximately 6 000 years of time has passed or nearly passed from the creation to the present we don't know the exact date we do know that right now we're living between 2 000 years it's a little more than 2 000 years from jesus birth it's not quite 2 000 years to his death so if you could go back 2000 years jesus would be alive see what i'm saying we're right in that time where we're 2 000 years from his life between his his birth and his death michelangelo was very frustrated because he didn't get to choose all the time what he wanted to paint or to sculpt it was dictated to him by the church and they would commission different works of art when he did the sistine chapel they told him what to do and i think when he did his statue of david others commissioned that and he took the church to task at one point as well as some of the other artists there in italy and venice and he said why do you always paint jesus in his weakness in his death in his suffering he said why don't we spend more time painting jesus and depicting jesus in his resurrection because everywhere he went he saw the churches jesus was always on the cross and that's important but he said we're forgetting the rest of the story and he used to become exasperated he said we need to show jesus triumphant and you know if it wasn't for the theme of the resurrection the cross would be a very pitiful event it's only because it didn't end at the cross that the christian message has any meaning and that's why today our title for our message is not just the resurrection but resurrections because we're going to talk about some of the resurrections in the bible now i am fascinated with the principle the miracle of a metamorphosis where you've got this caterpillar worm-like creature evolution has no way of explaining how this little grub some of them are fuzzy some are colorful how it can eat ferociously and it multiplies its size thousands of times in a very short period of time then it goes through this process where it turns into a chrysalis and its cells break down into a virtual soup they reassemble themselves in this creature that originated crawling around as a pliable worm it then emerges as a delicate creature with antenna and large compound eyes and delicate legs and aerodynamic design and wings and it suddenly knows how to fly you know there is no explanation among evolutionists what in the scheme of evolution would necessitate a creature to be able to go through that kind of a metamorphosis this transition from a worm to a butterfly it's even a mystery how a mosquito goes from a larva to fly many creatures do this it's unexplainable there's some things we can't explain we can't explain how a cell that might be dead could come back to life again because we can't do it we think it can't happen but let me just remind you that if you could take somebody who lived 2000 years ago and bring them to the future and show them your smartphone would they not think that you were demon possessed or at least a witch how would you explain to them how not only audio is coming through the air from the other side of the planet with barely a second and a half delay but images as well could somehow go through the air how would you explain that well we know now that there's actually scientific reasons for these things working but just because we can't explain the resurrection doesn't mean god can't do it the lord knows how to do all things now when we talk about resurrections there's actually about a dozen resurrections in the bible i'm going to look at them with you quickly then i want what i'd like to do is i would like to go to the chapter that was in our memory verse our scripture reading that comes from first corinthians 15 there's no chapter in the bible that spends more time specifically talking about the resurrection than first corinthians 15 but before we do i just want to remind you that resurrections can be found all the way through the bible if you begin reading in first corinthians 15 it tells us in verses 3 and 4 that jesus rose from the dead as was prophesied so the resurrection of jesus is an event that was prophesied just a few examples of that psalm 16 verse 10 you will not leave my soul in sheol that means the grave or hell nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption he would be in the grave but not long enough to decompose and jesus rose before three days were complete you've also got the example of types of the resurrection in the story of daniel who seemed like he was under a definite death sentence yet he came out alive and shadrach meshach and abednego went to the fiery furnace and they emerged alive the nation of israel looked like it was destroyed and conquered and yet it kept coming back sort of a type of the resurrection but jesus gave us one of the best examples when he said in matthew chapter 12 as jonah was three days and three nights no wait i want to start before that no sign will be given to this generation but the sign of jonah for as jonah was assigned to the ninevites as jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights so the son of man would be in the heart of the earth now i just combined luke and matthew luke says jonah would be assigned to the ninevites matthew 12 three days three nights but jesus said this would be a sign of the son of man jonah definitely looked like he was dead when he went to the bottom of the ocean and how many people you know get swallowed by a sea monster and come out three days later and are still be able to work and have a ministry and so jesus said this would be a sign so you know it was foretold even christ himself they said what sign do you give us and that's found in john 2 19. he said destroy this temple and in three days i'll raise it up and they said oh this temple took 46 years to build and it says well he wasn't speaking of the jewish temple he was speaking of what his body several times christ told the disciples it's in all the gospels matthew 16 21 and from that time jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to jerusalem suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and rise the third day in fact he said that so often mary picked it up and jesus said she came to anoint me before my burial his enemies picked up on it they put a guard at the tomb because they went to pilate and said sir this deceiver said after three days i'll rise so it was clearly prophesied by jesus that he would rise again but strange when he did rise the first report came from the women the disciples didn't believe and then they got another report from mary and not in that order they still didn't believe and they struggled believing it but there are about a dozen resurrections in the bible and i'd like to look quickly at some of them with you who knows what's the first resurrection in the bible moses now it tells us about moses death this is something you do through a little deductive study deuteronomy 34 and he the lord buried him in a valley in the land of moab opposite beth pior but no one knows of his grave to this day talk about an interesting funeral service i i've been invited to participate or conduct some funeral services of some people that were just i had tremendous respect for and uh boy but if i could have the lord do my funeral that'd be wonderful who did moses funeral god buried him you don't find that anywhere else but he didn't stay buried because you read in jude book of jude verse 9 is only one chapter yet michael the archangel in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of moses why are they disputing because jesus is coming to raise him he dared not bring against them a reviling accusation but said the lord rebuked you how do you know that pastor doug because you read in matthew 17 3 behold moses and elijah appeared to jesus on the mount of transfiguration talking with him so we know moses died we read about something about the contest over his body and then moses appears very much alive talking to jesus moses was resurrected now it's not in the bible but there's a jewish tradition called the assumption of moses where they say moses was raised three days after he was buried before he should see corruption and so we think that's of course an accurate tradition believe it or not some traditions are true so moses is the first now as near as we can tell the second resurrection is the widow of zarephath's son elijah during the famine went to stay with a widow she had a son and at some point he became ill he died and she was of course brokenhearted and she said um have you come man of god to bring my sin to my remembrance and he said to her give me your son so he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed and then he cried out to the lord and said oh lord my god have you also brought tragedy on the widow with whom i lodged by killing her son and he stretched him out himself out upon the child three times and cried out to the lord and said oh my god i pray let this child's soul come back into him elijah was a persistent prayer when he prayed for reign he prayed seven times when he prayed for this child he prayed three times when he prayed for revival he prayed seven years no i'm sorry three and a half years for the when the rain finally came then the lord heard the voice of elijah and the soul of the child came back to him and he revived now two people are called the law and the prophets two people appear to jesus on the mountain who are they moses and elijah first resurrection moses and moses is raised and he ends up never dying again some people that were raised ended up nine again moses when he was raised he went on to glory and the next one is by elijah it's interesting how many people fasted 40 days and 40 nights moses elijah jesus i could go on there's a lot more there about moses and elijah next resurrection is the successor of elijah known as elisha and you can read that something similar happened elisha was staying with a woman she's known as the woman of shunam a shunamite woman she was not an israelite just as elijah was staying with a woman of tyre and her son dies now this is a son of promise she didn't have any children she was barren and elisha prayed for her and she got pregnant she had this baby and everything was great and one day he's out in the field working with his father and he suddenly cries out and says my head my head the father just thought that he was you know too hot took him back to his mother had the servants taken back and she held him and he died she ran and she got elisha and said i didn't ask you for a child this child came from the lord it was a blessing you gave me and now he's gone i told you don't get my heart all excited so that i fall in love with this child then you take him away you can imagine her anguish so she fetches elisha he comes into the house second kings 4 32. elisha comes in the house and there was the child lying dead on his bed another upper room he went in therefore and shut the door behind the two of them and he prayed to the lord and he went up and he lay on the child and this is interesting you know it says elijah stretched himself on the child here elisha put his mouth on his mouth some have said maybe this was some form of artificial resuscitation his eyes on his eyes his hands on his hands and he stretched himself out on the child and the flesh of the child became warm it's almost like he exuded his own life into the child he returned and walked back and forth in the house maybe praying for faith and again he went up and he stretched himself out and the child sneezed seven times i've never come up with a good answer for that you let me know what your theories are but you see seven it means something in the bible child sneezed seven times and he opened his eyes that's why they say in hebrew gesundheit that means you're blessed because an evil spirit has just left you is what the theory used to be so that's the um the second of the yeah the third resurrection then fourth resurrection has to do with elisha also now elisha actually resurrected somebody after he died that's right they buried elisha and he was in the cemetery and the men of israel were bringing someone out another man who had died assumingly premature all wrapped up ready to be buried and before they could get the grave prepared they saw moabite raiders were coming towards them they they would go rampaging through the country and pillage and and they weren't prepared to fight and they said well we need to do something with the body well we can't just leave it here they said look there's a lid on the grave of elisha let's take the lid off drop them in there we'll come back later so they pull the lid off they drop the man down and he hits the bones of elisha and he yelps and he stands back up and comes back to life now wouldn't you like to have the kind of relationship with the lord that you can not only perform miracles when you're alive but you can even perform them when you're dead that's what happens when you have a double portion of elijah's spirit so this was the next resurrection that was resurrection four and then you have the widow of name now i'm jumping over to the new testament luke chapter 7 verse 11 and this is where jesus resurrects a boy who's on his way to be buried and it happened that the day after he went into a city called nain and many of the disciples went with him and a large crowd and he came near the gates of the city and behold a dead man was being carried out the only son of his mother and she was a widow all of her dependence was on this young man he's not a child he's older but he's a young man based on the the greek here now there's this convergence of two parades so jesus is coming with a great multitude of disciples and then there's this multitude coming out of the city with a funeral procession one is a procession of life because jesus is leading the van the other is a procession of death and they collide and one is to such sadness you've got this mother who's lost her son and jesus is the father about to give his son and so what happens and when the lord saw her he had compassion on her and said do not weep then he came you know how often the lord told people to cheer up before he performed the miracle it's like it requires faith first and then he came and he touched the open coffin and those who carried him stood still he told him to stop and he said young man i say to you arise so he who was dead sat up and began to speak and you wonder what he said what am i doing here and he jesus presented him to his mother then fear came upon all and a glorified god seeing a great prophet has risen up among us and god has visited his people why did they say a great prophet had come because resurrections don't happen every day do you would you agree a resurrection is a miracle then you go to the next one resurrection number six is the daughter of jarius or jarius depends on how you say it darius darius luke 8 41 and behold there came a man named jarius and he was the ruler of the synagogue and he fell down at jesus feet and he begged him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about 12 years of age and she was dying but as he went the multitudes thronged him and along the way in this story you remember another woman who had been bleeding 12 years reached out and touched jesus go to verse 49 and while he was still speaking someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house and they said to him your daughter is dead do not trouble the teacher in other words it's too late now because she's died you know we all figure that where there's life there's hope but once a person's died typically there's no more hope and what did jesus say he said do not be afraid he tells the father only believe and she will be made well don't stop believing and when he came into the house he permitted no one to go in except peter james and john then the father and mother of the girl now all mourned and wept for her but he said do not weep she is not dead but she's sleeping and they ridiculed him knowing that she was dead but he put them all outside and took her by the hand why did he put them all outside they didn't believe he would take with him those that had faith faith is contagious and so is unbelief she's not dead she's sleeping now do christians die or should they go to sleep uh yeah i know what you mean yeah by the world standard we would be declared dead in a hospital but in god's standard are christians really dead how did jesus refer to lazarus how do you refer to the girl and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake and so if you're christian should you be afraid of death well you might want to avoid it know it's like if you're standing by a river with a bunch of people someone who doesn't know how to swim is going to be very nervous about standing too close to the edge because they know if i fall in it's curtains i'm going to get washed downstream and drown but if you're a good swimmer you're not nearly as worried about standing by the edge you may not want to get wet but you're not really worried about it because you know if i fall in i'll just swim to the other side right so if you're a believer you may not you know try to rush into death we're naturally wired to try to avoid it but you're not worried about it because you have faith that through christ you can get to the other side that's why the resurrections in the bible are so important is because it's not the end you know there's a verse i'm going to jump to in the book of hebrews it it talks about the fear hebrews 2 verse 14 in as much then as children have partaken of flesh and blood he himself jesus likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death that is the devil and release those who through fear of death were in bondage all their life how many people do you know out there that are in bondage to fear when does jesus release them from the fear when they're resurrected or no through the death of christ we are now released from the fear of death we don't have to be in that bondage there are people that are so afraid they have panic attacks they're so afraid of death they're so afraid of the end are you afraid of going to sleep at night well i know maybe some of you are i'm more afraid i can't go to sleep i'd love being able to go to sleep and so for a christian that fear of death is destroyed how could peter sleep on death row in that prison in acts chapter 12. he's about to be executed and he went to sleep i couldn't sleep between two guards no matter what peter went to sleep why he wasn't afraid of death anymore peter or paul rather before he dies he spends all of his time trying to encourage others and he said i fought a good fight i finished the course i've kept the faith hereafter i know the lord is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the righteous judge will give me on that day and not to me alone but to all of them that love is appearing said i know whom i believed in he wasn't afraid now why because he believed that jesus rose and because jesus rose we don't have to be afraid all right back to our countdown so we did the widow of name we did darius's daughter and then you've got the big one in john chapter 11 lazarus now you know the resurrections that jesus performed each one sequentially is bigger than the one before you've got a girl that goes to sleep and they say well she just just died a few hours ago and he raises her then you've got a boy who's been dead long enough that he's actually wrapped up and on his way to be buried and then jesus raises him then you've got someone lazarus who's been dead for four days and jesus raises him and then you've got jesus death who'd not only been dead for several days but his body is disfigured he's been speared and he's been badly beaten and wounded and then he comes back to life and of course the greatest resurrection is when jesus comes they each kind of mount in in power and you know the story in john 19 mary and martha said lord if you'd been here he wouldn't have died and he said don't be afraid take away the stone verse 39 john 11 39 martha the sister of him who was dead said lord let's be practical now it's not going to be pretty i'm paraphrasing by this time there's a bad smell for he's been dead for four days these bodies are what you call this word's going to come up again later corruptable that's another way of saying they decompose you know when you're alive your body stays vital but as soon as your heart stops beating your cells begin to die they start turning back into the elements of the earth and along the way it it's not pretty paul talks about corruption in just a few minutes that's why it says that would not suffer his soul jesus to see corruption he wouldn't be left in the grave to decompose ashes to ashes dust to dust jesus said to her did i not tell you jesus is talking to martha that if you would believe you notice that common thread that goes throughout the resurrections he said if you would believe you would see the glory of god then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying and jesus lifted up his eyes and said father i thank you that you've heard me and i know that you always hear me but because the people who are standing by i said this that they may believe that you sent me now when he said these things he cried with a loud voice lazarus come forth i heard one person say the reason jesus specified lazarus come forth is because if he hadn't said that every grave in the cemetery would have opened up if jesus suggests it's come forth and he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was also wrapped with a cloth and jesus said loose him and let him go amazing resurrection a matter of fact right after lazarus resurrection the religious leaders wanted to kill jesus why because this was the strongest evidence that he was the son of god that he could do this thing and they were so afraid they not only wanted to kill jesus they wanted to kill lazarus because he was a living testimony of the power of god and then you get to of course the resurrection of jesus himself john 20 verse 14 through 18. he comes the women come to the tomb mary magdalene is there and there's an interesting sequence mary leaves for her she gets there the stone is rolled away she goes to tell others and she encounters the other women that were on their way she returns back to them they finally look in the tomb they see two angels that say he's not dead but he's alive they leave mary goes and tells james and they run from jerusalem back she follows them back to the tomb they look inside they don't see anything no angels all they see is the clothes are still folded peter rather and john they leave mary then is staying at the tomb she doesn't know where else to go she said you know this is the last place i saw him and i'm going to stay here kind of interesting most of us would weep if person was found in their grave mary's weeping because he's not in the grave you think that'd be reason to rejoice and jesus is standing by her as she cries woman why are you weeping who are you seeking she's supposing him to be the gardener said sir if you've carried him away and i always like to remind people he technically was the gardener the lord planted a garden eastward in eden sir if you've carried him away tell me where you've laid him and i'll take him away you just listen to the devotion of mary i mean you know jesus i think was a a robust carpenter and here she's a slight woman and she says i'll take care of his body just tell me figured maybe you know he was buried in a rich man's tomb he'd been evicted he didn't have enough money or something and the romans took him away finally she hears jesus say mary and she recognizes that voice because that voice had cast seven devils out of her before she had heard it she is so excited to see him alive she runs and throws herself at his feet and grabs him by the ankles and he says mary do not cling to me for i've not yet ascended to my father this is why we know the thief could not be with jesus in paradise the same friday afternoon jesus had not yet gone to paradise do not cling to me for i have not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say to them i am ascending to my father and to your father to my god and to your god and so he gives this message of the resurrection to mary well that's good news by the way is mary the only one that has that message or did jesus give us that message too did jesus ascend to the father is he still there in interceding for us before the father the enthusiasm that mary felt of telling others jesus was alive how much should that be diminished now or is it still good news i mean doesn't that make all the difference in the world i've got friends that are buddhists bless their heart there's some wonderful things that they believe and teach i've got friends that are hindus i'm glad when i go to india i can find vegetarian food i've got some friends that are worship their ancestors in in china there's you know great that you respect your elders not that important that they're dead when you respect them but uh you know there's good things that can be said for many religions a lot of people i understand that by 2050 there will be more muslims in the world at present trends than christians if christians don't have a revival just by the biological growth but there's a difference between christianity and buddhism and hinduism and islam you know the difference is it's a resurrection muslim muhammad didn't claim to rise abraham didn't rise father of the jews buddha didn't rise the only thing that makes a difference for the christian is the resurrection that we serve a living god that's why it was such good news the angel said he's not here but he's risen now there's another resurrection this is number nine the saints were resurrected after the crucifixion when there was an earthquake and jesus died on the cross many of the graves of them that slept around jerusalem were shaken open and it says after his resurrection they came out of their graves they appeared to people in the city and they ascended to heaven we don't know exactly who they were we enjoy speculating nathan and i were talking last night and said it could have been the thief i mean he could have been one of them we don't know probably not my mind but it could have been jeremiah john the baptist could have been one of them but it says it was a local resurrection we're not sure john was buried in jerusalem might have been it doesn't say and so some of the patriarchs and kings that lived in jerusalem came out of their graves and ascended to heaven with jesus sort of a first fruits trophy that he took to heaven with him that's found in matthew 27 that's the ninth resurrection tenth resurrection new testament who knows tabitha another name dorcas peter arose and he went with them peter was in joppa they brought him with them to lydia and all the widows stood by weeping and showing the coats and the garments which dork is made you can just see him look and say oh she made this for me and just they're crying thinking about all the wonderful things she has done and peter put them all out why that's what jesus did if they don't believe and he knelt down that bible has a lot to say about that and he prayed and turning to the body he said he did just what jesus did tabitha arise and she opened her eyes and when she saw peter she sat up and he gave her his hand he was a gentleman lifted her up and when he called the saints and the widows he presented her alive and it was known throughout all of joppa and many believed in the lord now why does the lord raise some and not others well evidently many believed in the lord the lord saw that this was going to be a great opportunity for faith now i've heard mission stories you know some of them are hard to substantiate but i've heard some people that i really felt were credible that told me stories of what they saw to be resurrections that happened in the mission field and it did a lot to soften the hearts of some of the pagans against the gospel and they became believers you also had this happen with paul in um acts 20 19. paul's preaching too long and there sat in a window a certain young man named eutychus being fallen into a deep sleep and paul was long preaching he sank down with sleep and he fell from the third loft and was taken up dead it doesn't say that he got knocked out it says he was dead now why doesn't anyone you know when you go through the new testament you'll meet people that are named tabitha and you'll meet people named peter james and john i've never met anyone that named their son eutychus any of you know eutychus maybe it's just the idea of this fellow you know you don't sleep in a window like that it's bad luck do not paul went down and fell on him and embracing him said trouble not yourselves for his life is in him paul embraced him like elijah and elisha did and when therefore he was come up again and they had broken bread and eaten and talked a long while they were not just a little comforted luke often says that as an extreme he says there was no small stir among the soldiers what had become a peter and luke says they were not a little comforted you know what that means i mean how do you feel when you think so a young man has died how do you think paul would feel if he thought i preached so long someone died he had to raise him up they were not a little comforted now the 12th resurrection is a little harder to prove but i think there's support for it acts 14 and it says there came there certain jews from antioch and iconium who persuaded the people and having stoned paul it's said the same way all the other stonings in the bible are it's like stone to death you know when someone says the penalty was stoning that meant the penalty was what death having stoned paul they drew him out of the city supposing he had been dead how be it as the disciples stood round about him what do you think they were doing when they were standing around about him i hope they were praying he rose up and came into the city and the next day he departed with barnabas to derby that's i think a miracle and he you know i can't prove that he was dead because we don't have a doctor's note but you can't prove he wasn't because you don't have a doctor's note either and so i think that may be a dozen resurrections in the bible now with that i want you to go with me now to first corinthians 15 and we're going to wrap up by reading this together won't read every verse first corinthians 15 start with verse 3. find your bibles first corinthians 15 verse 3 for i delivered to you first of all that which i also received that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures it was all foretold and that he was seen of cephas that's peter and the twelve after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part are still with us to the presence some have fallen asleep what does he mean by fallen asleep many of those in galilee who had followed jesus jesus told them before he ascended to heaven he said i'll meet you in galilee remember he saw them at the river there was some mountain where he met them there as well and many of them saw him alive so they needed wit i mean you know if one person comes to you and they say you're never going to believe what i saw i saw a dead person rise what would you what's your reaction come on oh very interesting pardon me i got an appointment i got to go you don't want to hang around that person if two people come to you and they say this person was dead we know they were dead and now they're alive you think two people are crazy probably right come on wouldn't you if 500 people say we know this person was dead the soldiers wanted to prove he was dead they opened his side and they drained his bodily fluids out he was buried he was cold he was totally dead and we saw him alive now you know in the mouth of two or three witnesses ought to have some effect in the mouth of 500 witnesses at what point do you believe do you believe when jesus says it in his word after that he was seen by over 500 brethren at one time the greater part remained to this day some have fallen asleep after that he was seen by james the brother of the lord then by all the apostles last of all he was seen by me also as one born out of due season for i'm the least of the apostles and i'm not worthy to be called the apostle because i persecuted the church jump down to verse 12. now if christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead now what paul is dealing with in first corinthians first current the corinthian church had several challenges and some started to say well that resurrection is a spiritual resurrection it's not a literal resurrection and it shouldn't get you all excited because jesus didn't literally rise they say one of a couple things they say he rised in spirit because his message goes on he lives through his words they started to spiritualize it and then there are some who still say today he never was really dead he swooned on the cross he took a narcotic that made him impervious to the nails and even the spear that just barely pricked his side this is what the some of the skeptics say and that they came the disciples stole away the body they're repeating the lie that was circulated by the priests to the soldiers but paul says i'm having this problem in the corinthian church and they're doubting the reality of the resurrection he's saying if you're going to doubt the reality of the resurrection service is dismissed what are we doing here if there's no resurrection i mean we can call this a club we can call it a social event but it loses its meaning as a christian church with hope for the future because the resurrection is what gives it all its meaning i don't want to be depressing but if you didn't know i hate to be the one to tell you we are all on a conveyor belt towards the grave and our world is filled with a series of lives overlapped for a little while and it almost seems cool that by the time we've lived long enough to figure out what's going on and how to stay out of trouble time's up unless you can take that knowledge to another life and what makes it all have meaning and purpose is because christ died and rose again death is not the end this is not it matter of fact this is the smallest part of it it's important because this life is where you make your decision for the one that lasts forever let me read on now if christ has preached that he has not been raised from the dead or that he's been raised from the dead how do some among you say that there's no resurrection of the dead verse 13 first corinthians 15 13 but if there is no resurrection of the dead then christ is not risen and if christ is not risen then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty yes and we are found false witnesses of god because we have testified of god that he raised up christ paul said i saw him whom he did not raise up in fact the dead don't rise in other words if christ wasn't raised and the dead don't rise and if the dead don't rise then christ is not risen he's trying to just bring around this circular reasoning and if christ has not risen your faith is futile you're still in your sins what was it that makes us not in our sins what was the seal that jesus you know if you make a transaction with somebody and they put down the product and you put down your money transactions not complete when they pick up your money then you got a transaction they have taken possession of what was yours when jesus died it wasn't totally complete but when the father rose him he accepted his life as complete to pay the sacrifice you see what i'm saying and so it makes all the difference in the world not only if there's a future life but whether you're forgiven in this life has to do it depends and hinges on the resurrection and those who've fallen and sleep in christ have perished verse 19 if in this life only we have hope in christ we are of all men most pitiable but now christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep and the word firstfruits there is not talking about sequence because we just read a lot of others that were raised before first fruits also means the most valuable of you're supposed to give your best as your first fruit first also means priority for by man came death through adam by man also came the resurrection of the dead for as in adam all die because we're all related to adam and he lost the access to the tree of life we all die even so in christ the second adam shall all be made alive i'm sort of teaching and paraphrasing as i go but each one in his own order oh first corinthians 15 23 don't miss this when does the resurrection happen do people die and go right to heaven and listen to what paul says if you want to know what the order is but each one in his own order christ the firstfruits afterward those who are at i'm sorry afterward those who are christ at his coming so when do they rise the lord shall descend from heaven with a shout at his coming jump down to verse 29 otherwise what will they do who are baptized for the dead if the dead do not rise at all why then are they baptized for the dead all right will you give me a minute to explain this people have said what in the world was god were the corinthians baptizing people for the dead you know there's at least one major denomination the mormons that baptize for the dead and there's that's just fraught with all kinds of theological problems because it's appointed unto man once to die after this the judgment the idea that you could burn candles and say prayers for someone who's died and changed their reward after they've died it flies in the face of everything else the bible teaches once a person has died their destiny is sealed and i know some people might struggle with this but if you're going to pray for someone pray for them when they're alive if you're going to pray for the resurrection pray for that and give them another chance but once a person dies to be baptized in behalf of someone else who never made the choice it doesn't work that way it's like getting married on behalf of someone else people have to make their own decision so what does this verse mean it's confusing because of the way it was punctuated you realize does everyone understand here there was no punctuation in the original greek translators have to figure out how do we break up the sentence and punctuate it makes all the difference in the world let me read this to you again the way i think it should be punctuated and we're in first corinthians 15 29 and you might want to mark this in your bible because someone will ask you about it otherwise what will they do who are baptized comma for the dead comma if the dead do not rise comma or do not rise at all comma why then are they baptized question mark for the dead question mark see what he's saying for the dead if the dead do not rise at all why then are they baptized for the dead see what he's saying he's making it a question or why are people getting baptized if you don't believe in the resurrection what's the purpose of getting baptized are you getting baptized for the dead he's not endorsing baptism for the dead but if the dead stay dead what good is it does that make sense see so just the punctuation there can make a difference go to verse 35. we're going to keep moving here but someone will say how are the dead rays that's a good question and with what body do they come foolish ones what you sow is not made alive unless it dies and what you sow you do not sow that body that shall be mere grain perhaps wheat or some other grain but god gives it a body as he pleases and to each seed its own body you know when you want corn you don't plant an ear of corn you plant a dried up shriveled seed of corn and it does not look like the stalk that's going to come out of the ground one thing is dried and lifeless and dead you know i've got a few amazing facts about seeds that are pretty incredible ancient seeds how many of you heard about they found a date seed at masada 2000 years old well they found several of them i've been to masada years ago and it's a fortress king herod built down near the dead sea they found some date seeds that are over 2000 years old from an extinct judean date and they planted several of them one of them uh sprouted they've been nurturing it they call it the methuselah tree there's actually two trees called the methuselah tree one is this date palm in israel right now have you heard about that before two thousand year old seed they found seeds in the pyramids that they planted they grew there was a wed a red wheat that's hard to say three times fast red wheat and they planted it and it came back again but some of the oldest seeds there are three thousand-year-old seeds that they found in the burrows of these um ground squirrels in the arctic of siberia and they've planted these arctic lupines and they've sprouted again they've actually got some that are 5000 years old that were found in they estimate the seeds are 5000 years old some delicate orchids that were found in the lemming burrows again in the the tundra ancient seeds that sprouted do you know you can take a seed most things when they seem to go into some form of hibernation are still breathing very slowly you ever heard of a lung fish they got these big fish they're kind of primal looking creatures there in africa they still don't know how they separated evenly between africa australia and south america but you can find these lung fishes fresh water fish when their lakes or rivers dry up they burrow themselves into the mud they secrete this mucus that creates a membrane all around them they leave one little hole in it somehow and they can stay there for three years and put their body into this estimation where it just doesn't do anything they slow the system down where it's imperceptible that there's any life and they get rain and it's like the fish is a seed they get wet and it sort of wakes them back up again and they come back to life but not with seed see they they're those lung fish they still are breathing very slightly to keep their tissues alive they need the gases but you can take a seed you can freeze it you can send it to space you can put it in a vacuum some of them you can put them through a fire there's no evidence that there's life in it but you put it in the right environment the sun the light shines on it the water the moisture the nutrients and a miracle happens we still don't know how to reproduce that miracle we can manipulate the miracle of the seed with our science but we can't create a seed you can give a chemist all the ingredients he could possibly request give him a laboratory with the best equipment and say make a seed he can't make it and what's really amazing is those seeds know what they're supposed to be that corn seed is not going to come up with an olive and the wheat seed is not going to come up barley they somehow have stored all of their information and most of the seed is not the information most of the seed is the food or the fat that the seed needs when it first sprouts until its roots get the nourishment it's amazing it's a miracle we're surrounded by these miracles that we can't explain of life so when god tells us the dead can live again why do we struggle with that you know why because it's a rare very rare it's in the bible it didn't happen we've got a lot of witnesses paul goes on all flesh is not the same flesh there's one kind of flesh of men another flesh of animals another fish he's talking about the creation differences here another of birds there's heavenly bodies and earthly bodies in the glory of the terrestrial and the glory of the celestial are different from one another there's the glory of the sun and the glory of the moon another glory of the stars they all differ from one another in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead the body is sown in corruption but it's raised in incorruption a glorified body spiritual body it's sown in dishonor it is raised in glory it's sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body there's a natural body and there's a spiritual body we will get the kind of bodies adam and eve had before sin they had physical real bodies but they lived in the spiritual dimension as well jumping to verse 49 and as we have borne the image of the man of dust adam we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man jesus now this i say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god those bodies that you're wearing right now they don't go to heaven which is fine with me i don't want mine i wanted you know when i was younger i would have thought about it but no now i know i don't want mine i want i want a new one these bodies don't inherit the kingdom of god neither does corruption inherit incorruption behold i tell you a mystery he's admitting it is a mystery we'll not all sleep but will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible in this talking about the dead in christ and we will be changed for this corruptable must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruption is put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the same that is written death is swallowed up in victory oh death where is your sting oh grave or hades where is your victory that's quote from hosea 13 14 and from isaiah 25 8. the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law we're all guilty we've all broken the law the penalty for sin is death but jesus died to save us from that penalty but thanks be to god verse 57 is the last verse but thanks be to god who gives us the victory through our lord jesus christ friends you don't need to be afraid of death this is such good news though the whole gospel will revolves around the miracle of the resurrection there are literally hundreds of verses well no there's more than a hundred i should be accurate in the new in the old testament that reference the resurrection and god is trying to give us hope because we're surrounded with so much evidence of death everything dies your car will die someday your washing machine will die your house will die your pets but we don't need to be afraid of death as christians because god has told us that this life is really the time where we're preparing for a life that doesn't end and that's why it's important for us to continue to learn and grow and do all we can in this life because you will take this experience you'll take the character that you develop into the next life and jesus is coming again now the reason that we know that we don't have to be afraid of death is because he's alive and you know it's i think it's easier sometimes when we're younger because we're surrounded with the wonder of life and we we just realized that the life the world could never happen by accident there are just so many wonderful things and so when we hear that death may look like death but it's not real that there's another life beyond it's easier to believe more young people accept jesus more young people believe the story of the resurrection we get older we get cynical we turn into corinthians paul is telling us without the resurrection there is no purpose in life and there's no purpose in our faith it all pivots on this very important truth and that's why i'm thankful for that good news friends aren't you it makes a difference also when you realize this is not the end and how we live today because he lives and because there is a resurrection we want to live our lives so that we're ready for that first resurrection amen not the second resurrection if that's your desire we're going to sing about this in our closing hymn dealing with he lives and that is going to be number 251 in your songbooks and we'd invite you to stand stand and sing along with us i think the words will also be on the screens [Music] is [Music] i hear his voice of cheer and just the time i need him he's always near he lives he lives like jesus lives today he walks with me and talks with me a long life [Music] was i know that he is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is and lift up your voice is he walks with me and talks with me you ask me [Music] i sure hope jesus is alive or i've been talking to myself for years and someone else is talking back that's what's really scary i talked to him today have you talked to him lately he's not someone you meet once a week in church but he'll says wherever you go i'm with you always because he's a living god and he wants to be your personal savior you want to serve a god like that father in heaven lord you've told us to approach you in the name of your son because he's alive and he stands before you interceding and pleading our names and we're so thankful for the promise of jesus that wherever we go to the ends of the age he is with us lord i pray that we'll always remember that we are living our lives in the sight of a living god and that our lives are naked and open to your eyes that we're never alone you'll never leave us you'll never forsake us there's nowhere we can flee from your presence because you are a living god lord i pray that you will now through the holy spirit enter every mind and heart help us to know that you're alive in our hearts we've seen this morning as we've studied the theme of the resurrection faith is very important and i pray that we'll not only believe that jesus rose that will not only believe that that you can rise us but that will believe that you can also work a miracle and give us new life new hearts and that we can be new creatures be with us that we let those lights shine in the community where we are and in our families and we thank you again for your presence be with us through this sabbath day we thank you for this time of year when we see life springing around us and we remember that you came forth victorious from the grave we pray this now in the name of your son jesus amen you may be seated god bless you and happy sabbath you

Channel: Daily Hymns

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Length: 61min 56sec (3716 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 03 2021