He is risen. Are you sure? Are you really sure? But what if? But what if? You know, the what if has gotten a lot of people in trouble.

Our president recently had to make a major decision. And that was last night. And we’re still wondering, in a sense, what if we were to bomb those sites? I heard one man this morning as I just walked by the TV and going to my car to come to church. And one man said, but what if we don’t or didn’t? What would it be? So what if? What if you’re wrong? What if we are wrong? What are we gonna do? You know, the Bible’s full of doubts.

In the Gospel of John chapter 11, there was Mary and Martha at the death of Lazarus. And they were kind of doubting some things. And Lord, if you would have been here, our brother would not have died. And what did Jesus say? I am the resurrection and the life. But what if? What if he isn’t? Well, I’m kind of fearful. We need to find out. Well, there is a gospel that talks about it. So let’s go just to read the account, which I think is going to be necessary for tonight’s message.

And I really think that the gospel of Luke would be the best place to go because it even starts off where Luke then writes and he talks about that he is writing, and ministers of the word they deliver to us. It seemed good to me, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very beginning, to write to you an orderly account, O most excellent Theophilus, that you may know, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you have been instructed. And there’s a lot of instructions on the resurrection. He is risen. He is risen indeed. So if we go to the gospel of Luke and we go to chapter 24 where we read that account. Well, let’s just we can’t read the whole account because Luke was giving us a lot of a lot of information. But Luke chapter 24, the gospel of Luke 24. So we’re in the New Testament time, first century.

Luke writes a letter, personal letter to Theophilus, which then was recognized by the early church as authoritative. And he says, I even wrote these things so that you would have a I know so, you would have a no so salvation, you would have certainty in the things that have been written and the testimonies that you have heard. And now we come to the point that Jesus has died.

And in chapter 24, it begins. Now, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they certain other women with them came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. Well, that didn’t talk much about the certainty of their faith, but they came to kind of maybe finish off what they didn’t have time to do in the preparation of the body. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining apparel. Then they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth. And they said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? Well, what if they were just having a vision or they were scared or they were full of overcome with sorrow? He is not here, but he is risen.

Now that is a clear declarative statement. But what if it’s not true? Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee saying, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again? Oh, so Jesus even taught about His resurrection. He taught about it several times. And now we have this declaration by Luke, a doctor who knows when a person’s dead and when they’re alive in the same book that we read. And we also hear the accounts of other and other gospels about Lazarus being raised from the dead. But he wasn’t really dead. But what if he was just kind of a stupor, went into hibernation or something? What if? Well, we go on. And they remembered his words, and they returned to the tomb and told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest.

Now it was 11, not 12, because Judas is already dead. And it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales. You know, this isn’t real. And they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping down, and he saw the linen clothes lying in themselves. And he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. That’s a statement of fact. And now behold, two of them were traveling the same day to a village called Emmaus. And we know that account. Now they said, if you remember the account, they had a long way to walk. And he talked to them, says, What are you talking about? And one of them said, who was Cleopas, answered and said to him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? And you did not know the things which have happened in these days. And he said to them, What thing?

Well, they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people and how the chief priest and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and they crucified him. But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. And indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things have happened. Yes. And certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. when they did not find his body and they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels and said to him that he was alive.

You know, women, this is in a day and age when the testimony of two women equaled the testimony of one man. Interesting. And the certain of those who were with us went to the tomb, and they found it just as the women had said. But he did not see, but him they did not see. And he said to them, O foolish ones, who of heart believe, and all the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things and entered into his glory? And then he opened up the scriptures concerning himself, and then they compelled him, he ate, and then he disappeared, and they said, wow, our hearts burn within us. But what if they were deceived by some magician and it wasn’t real? You know, they just weren’t really sure. Well, even one of the 11, if we go to another account, Thomas. I won’t believe, lest I put my hand in his side, my fingers in the holes of his hands. I don’t think. But what if? I don’t think it’s real. And then he appeared and he did it, but you know, that was, of course, they just really wanted to, they were hoping that it was right.

Then there’s, of course, Matthew chapter 28, verses 11 through 17, when the soldiers, who should have been put to death for allowing someone to steal the body of the Lord, if that’s what happened, That’s what they told him. Just tell everybody that his disciples came and stole the body. Yeah. And when they asked the question, what if just say, no, that’s what happened. There’s no real resurrection. And the greatest lie ever told. Or you become, you know, a little bit further in church history. And we have the writings of Luke, but you know, if if he did not rise from the dead, then Luke was a big fat liar. And that makes the scriptures the scriptures non authoritative. And our presupposition that the Bible is holy, inerrant, sufficient and all things without error and everything that is true and authoritative. And we just throw that all out.

So how do we really know that just what we sang and what we believe is really true? And then of course those who became professing themselves to be wise they became fools and neo-orthodoxy and and so forth within church history. Well yeah there is a resurrection but it’s allegorical or It’s really it was a spiritual resurrection. Every time someone does a nice deed in the name of Jesus, he has been resurrected. Oh, isn’t that a nice thought? Or it becomes something about the fact that, you know, he really wasn’t dead anyways. You know, he died too fast. They didn’t have to break his legs. Yeah, but they pierced his side. You know, they always quote just the verses they want. He wasn’t really dead and in three days he had enough strength and you know, because there’s just plenty of fluids and everything around that he could have been drinking, you know, that he could have revived himself. No.

And they make up, I said, well, he wasn’t really dead. And then he came out of the tube. But then how did he roll? And it doesn’t stack up. But then you have the Passover plots of all these ideas of things that they just say he wasn’t really dead. Or you have others that at least are honest in their unbelief, but they’re dead wrong in the reality. And that is, follow the science. Resurrection doesn’t really happen. Well it did to Lazarus, but of course they would believe that he probably wasn’t all the way dead either. But his sisters seemed to believe it, so much so they thought he was stinking by the time Jesus raised him. And so, but what if? There’s the doubts. Could it really be real? The historical evidence. If I could only see him. If only they could fully prove that shroud of Turin Then I would believe. What if? Well, let me just say that if the doctrine of the resurrection is not true, we are all in big trouble.

And that is going to be the main thrust of First Corinthians, Chapter 15. Would you take your Bibles and turn there with me, if you would? First Corinthians, Chapter 15. John MacArthur, by the way, I have a lengthy quote here, but it’s just all so good, I couldn’t just write down some of it. Concerning the opening of this chapter and concerning the doctrine of election. This is what he said Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body So the truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of the gospel truth the resurrection is the pivot on which all Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter.

Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside other human philosophies and religious speculation. The resurrection is the focal point of every other truth. Christ taught his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things, reject be rejected, and the elders and the chief priests and the scribes be killed, and after three days, rise again. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. Believe in me, you shall live even if he dies. The first two sermons he preached after Pentecost and his resurrection, so much of the New Testament and the New Testament Christianity is locked into this whole idea of the resurrection.

He goes on to say, John Locke, an 18th century preacher, said, Our Savior’s resurrection is truly the greatest important doctrine in Christianity. So great that his being or not being the Messiah stands or falls with it. Last Sunday night, we heard a great sermon from Pastor Ryan McKean, and it talked about and he talked about in that in that passage about due loss, that we are bond servants or we are slaves to Christ and how important that all is. And he kept quoting a passage of scripture. And it becomes extremely important. And that is. made me think about a comment that R.C. Sproul had mentioned once in class, and I think he did so in maybe some Ligonier conferences, when he was asked, what is the largest or the most important thing facing the church today? And without really having to spend much time thinking about it, he said, the most important challenge facing the church today is this. Getting the gospel right. You got to get the gospel right. And according to the scriptures.

You don’t have the gospel without the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is risen. It is important that we get that right. It is essential. Because last week, as Pastor Ryan was preaching, Romans 10, he quoted part of the verse, but not all of it. And I said, told him, I thanked him so that, but it would be the takeoff for mine. Romans 10, nine and 10 says this, that if, that if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus or Jesus is Lord, and that makes us the slaves. You got to get lordship right. But the rest of the verse says what? That if you confess your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart. That God hath raised him from the dead. You will be saved.

The heart of the gospel, as John MacArthur put it, the heart of what it takes to pump through the veins, spiritually speaking, of a true believer is the resurrection of Christ. Brethren, our Savior is alive. Muhammad is dead. Buddha is dead. Joseph Smith is dead. Jesus is alive. And so this is something that becomes so important that we get it and we get it right. It doesn’t make any difference if we have the shroud of Turin. You know, really, I don’t care. And I’m enough of a scientist, and I have a degree in science, that even if they said it was dated right and everything, I don’t know that I believe them anymore. Carbon dating has a margin of error. The gospel doesn’t. There is no margin of error in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So brethren, we must get the gospel right.

Now as we come to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it is the longest passage, theologically speaking, concerning the resurrection. in any other place of the Bible. So that’s where I want us to spend this weekend, Lord willing, next Sunday night, going through this particular passage. And he basically divides up the whole passage into overall two sections, what if, so then. And it’s going to be what if and so then. In other words, He’s gonna prove the reality and the truth, the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is real. So what? What then does that mean?

And to get the gospel right, we have to get it right. Now, 1 Corinthians is a letter of the Apostle Paul to the Church of Corinth, and they had a lot of problems. I always find it interesting those who want to say, I want to be a local New Testament church and we want to be just like the church at Corinth. Yeah, we don’t want that. We really don’t want that. We want to take what God and what the Apostle Paul in writing to that church, what he wanted them to be, because they had some kind of major problems. It’s in First Corinthians that Paul is answering a series of questions that they had sent him.

For example, in 1 Corinthians, if I’m not mistaken, it’s chapter 7, where he says this, Now concerning of the things of which you wrote to me, And then he talks about different things, whether it be marriage, divorce, church discipline. There’s all kinds of things. Speaking in tongues, those things that were there. Just because they were doing it, the problem there was they weren’t even doing it right in the first century when they were supposed to be doing it. And so the Church of Corinth had a lot of problems, but they knew that. And so they had an apostle and they wrote him a letter with a bunch of questions. And 1 Corinthians is this letter to tell us some of those answers.

But then we get to chapter 15. changes a little bit because and between 7 and 14, he covers a bunch of very practical and generally speaking, moral issues that confront the church. When it gets to chapter 15, this is the first theological issue that had come up with the church. Now, I’m going to give away a little bit that in this particular one, it is going to be Chapter 15 is about the gospel. So it says in chapter 1, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel. So we know that the theme of this is going to be the gospel, which I preach to you. So you said, well, let’s review some of the things I’ve been teaching you about the gospel, which you received. And throughout the throughout first Corinthians, he does refer to them as brethren.

So it just shows how messed up brethren can get in a local church, which is OK. because it keeps preachers employed and we need your money. Just kidding. At least the last part about the money. So which you received and in which you stand. So they had received the gospel and they said that they believed the gospel by which also you are saved. You can’t be saved without the gospel and the gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. If you hold fast that word, which I preach to you, unless you have believed in vain. And that was the issue he wanted. You’re giving me some evidence. As a church and his brethren, and you’ve received it, you received our preaching and you stand in these things, but you’re wavering on this, but you’re kind of letting the what if What if Jesus did not raise from the dead?

Now we know that because he goes on in verse 12, which is all the further we’re gonna get tonight, maybe, is this. Now, after he goes through what we’re gonna look at, he says, now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, and that is what Paul preached, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? error had crept in. What if there is no resurrection? So then he goes on and he explains, well, what if? And he says, this is what happens if you don’t have the resurrection. And then he’s going to say in verse 12, this is what gets preachers really pumped. It’s the beginning of verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Praise be unto God.

The resurrection is real. We preached it. Even when he goes on in verse three of chapter 15, he tells them this is the gospel. This is what we preached. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. That’s reality. Christ died. When we sang, it’s been a while since we sang this song. The first one that we sang was the Getty song. And when it got to that one point, I started choking up. I always do. But that, it started getting me. Because it explains in a very artistic way that Christ died for our sins. And he was buried. He was entombed is what the Greek there means. He was buried. And that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures, according to the scriptures. That is also to say, according to just as he said.

Because you see, it’s important that we get it, that we believe firmly Christ rose from the dead. Not just because Luke wrote about it, although he did, but he also told us this is true, and that’s why I read that account in the Gospel of Luke. because even they had to be reminded, you remember he used to teach you guys, he would be arrested, he would be killed, and on the third day he arose from the dead, he would rise from the dead, just as he said. This either, you gotta take the whole kit and caboodle, or none of this makes sense. Jesus is not the son of God. if he did not rise on the third day. That’s how important this doctrine is. He then could not die for sinners. And there’s a whole sense of logic of the gospel that the Apostle Paul is going to open up for us to answer the question, but what if? What if he has not risen from the dead?

So he’s answering the question now of the gospel, the importance of the gospel, and we have the gospel confession of the resurrection in these verses. He’s going to answer this question in the first 12 verses. Did it really happen? Really? Really? How would you know? Well, let’s take a look at it. He said this is the gospel which he received, which he preached, and that he was buried. He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And now verse five, there’s a logic to how we know this is true. There is a historicity, it is a historical account, and it’s provable. So what is that? Well, he was seen by Cephas. So people saw him.

Now, if you do just have one or two. Nah, you know, maybe they just thought they saw him. It was somebody. I saw someone today, I’m not gonna say who this was, but I saw someone today that I said, boy, you could totally just, you know, be shocked if it wasn’t true that that was so-and-so’s brother or sister. And found out it wasn’t anything, it was an in-law. And, you know, just by looking. Looks can be deceiving. And he says, well, first of all, he was seen by Cephas. Then he was seen by the 12. And that would be the reference to how they all came. And he saw him in the upper room. And after that, he was seen by over 500. We don’t know exactly when that is in reference to. Some think it is right after the resurrection. Others want to push it all the way to, to the day of Pentecost or the day of the day of Ascension. And it says he was seen over 500 brethren at once.

Now, you might say, OK, that yeah. How did you personally interview all of them? Well, notice what it says. He identifies him even more. He was seen of over 500 of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. So in the span of time, he was seen by 500. Some people have died even of that group, but we got a lot of those people today. So now you’ve got not just the 11 and not so forth, but these people have seen him. Let me also say one of the proofs is that if it were true, that is the disciples came and stole the body of the Lord Jesus, then why were they willing to die and suffer, suffer so much persecution and die for a lie of their own making? That doesn’t make sense. So he was seen of 500. After that he was seen by James.

Now there’s, I think, two. Apostles that would carry the name of James and some people believe it was one or the other of those. John MacArthur said that he said, well, I just kind of believe that this was James’s half-brother. And I have to confess, I’m gonna go that route too. I think it was James’s half-brother who became, who was very skeptical and apparently was not a believer while Jesus was alive. But then afterwards by Acts chapter 15, he’s a main player. And so it’s, probably would point out that this is James, the half brother of our Lord. But he was seeing of James. You see what he’s doing here. He’s building and building and building the number of witnesses. This isn’t the fly by night, fanciful story of some women followers. But this is men, women, his followers, a big group. And even a family member that didn’t accept him, if we’re right on that. And then by all the apostles, but then notice how he then goes, he says, then, last of all, he was seen by me. So he says, basically, you gotta call all these people liars, and you gotta call me a liar. And yet you’re writing to me to answer all these questions. As by one born out of due time.

Now, We would normally think of, and I think I’ve always kind of leaned towards the idea that he was born out of time because we all have that thing about who took Judas’s place, Matthias or Paul and all of that. As I’ve kind of studied this out a little bit more, I would say probably the casting of the lots was a okay, good thing, and that he was considered the replacement. And Paul, by using this word, one born out of due time, that means one born before he was supposed to be born. or he was, he came at a wrong time. It’s actually the word that they used in the first century for a preemie or actually even for an aborted baby. He said, I was a fetus that came at an odd time. And it is supposed to be in a sense, self-derogatory because notice what he says, for I am the least of the apostles. who am not worthy to be called an apostle. And then he’s gonna give the personal testimony to these Corinthian, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. In other words, this truth has changed me, and that’s where he’s gonna head this.

Not only do we have public testimony of those who saw the risen Christ, I’ve seen him, and guess what? He has changed my life. I was nothing but a corpse of a baby born not at the right time. And the grace of God has made me a new man. And it came not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach. And you believed. And what did we preach? He died. He was buried and he rose again just as he said and these people have seen it. It’s a historical fact and it’s changed me. Okay. So that adds some oomph to our faith. And we can say, OK, we have the testimony. If we don’t have the resurrection, the scriptures, all the prophecies concerning Christ and the Old Testament, the teachings of the Lord Jesus, the historical accounts of all the gospels, they all are in error.

The reality of having any power in this truth, it means nothing. But there’s even more than that, because now, as he said, this is the gospel book that we preached. Then he changes it. Does it really matter? Yeah, it really does. Because if you don’t believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it has a disastrous effect. We are in big trouble. And from verses 12 to 19 is a second division of this. He’s established the fact this is real. The resurrection has happened. But what if it didn’t? Okay, now he starts off with a clear statement. Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, that’s what we’ve preached. And I’ve just proven to you how this is a good thing. Then how do some of you say that there’s no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no erection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

So he’s following just simple A equals B and B equals C so therefore C equals A. Very, very simple. And now, but what if? And if Christ is not risen, then? and look at on down at verse 15. If in fact the dead do not rise, verse 16. For if the dead do not rise, verse 17. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is vain, verse 19. If in this life only. So he said, what if? He’s making up a series of if questions and he’s gonna answer them. And it started back in verse 13. But if there is no erection of the dead, then Christ isn’t risen.

Now, he says that if you don’t believe in the resurrection, then Christ is still dead. Christ is not risen. And if he’s not risen, then our preaching about him being risen is empty. That is, it’s hollow. I was reading in a commentary by Lenski, who is a Lutheran, and old-time Lutheran, Missouri Senate, excellent Greek man, and he just said, it’s empty, kind of like a nut without a kernel. And then he went on, he said, so you’re a nut if you don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. I go, well, that kind of applies. I like that phraseology. If there is no resurrection, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is like an empty nut, and your faith is also empty.

So you’re an empty nut if you don’t believe in the resurrection. So we’ve got Christ is not risen, our preaching is vain, and it results from preaching is ultimately gonna be empty and vain. You know, you people are, and he’s gonna go on and then say how pitiful you all are, because you’re here tonight listening to me preach. So our preaching, our faith is empty, Yes, if we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. You see, he wants to make sure they don’t get that. The resurrection, he is risen. Amen. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. It’s that simple. And some of you are saying that.

Well, what do we do with that? And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, it’s empty. What is the object of your faith? A man you’ve never met, a man you’ve never seen, based upon a testimony that’s not true, from a bunch of people that are a bunch of liars and empty heads, they’re nuts. Does it begin to sound like how the world looks at Christians anymore today? And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. But that means something else. You’re still in your sin. Because you see, if Christ didn’t rise from the dead, but he said he was going to and he didn’t, then he’s a liar. And if Christ is a liar, he can’t be the son of God, the spotless lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. And if he can’t do that, then guess what? You’re still in your sin. Now Christians are kind of people that, well, you know, I kind of want to believe that I don’t have to worry about the penalty of my sin. The wages of sin is?

So that’s kind of a pretty bad thing. And so, you know, your faith is futile. It is empty. You’re a bunch of nut heads that are empty. And you’re still in your sin. I don’t know about you, And sometimes the burden of the knowledge of sin and you know the whole struggle of Romans chapter 7 that what I don’t want to do I do and that what I want to do I don’t do. There’s a struggle. But praise be unto God who gives us the victory. My empty feudal faith. Christ the risen savior. He is the proof that There is forgiveness when you come to the foot of the cross and you look and then you believe and the fact that he rose from the dead just as he said. That we are not false witnesses.

And it says again, verse 16, for if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile and you’re still in your sins. Then he goes to the juggler vein. Then also those who have fallen asleep, and that is a euphemism for those who have called themselves Christians and have died. Those who have fallen asleep in Christ, guess what? Yeah, they died in their sins because Christ didn’t rise from the dead and there was no forgiveness of sins. There was no atonement. They’ve died in the sin. And guess what? Mommy and daddy or whoever was in your life that knew Christ and you had the hope of reuniting or seeing them again or just the comfort that, you know, rest in peace and all of that.

That is a joke. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ, they’ve perished. Guess what? You thought they were in heaven. They’ve perished, they’ve gone into either nothingness, nonexistence, or if they are, if you do believe in an eternal judgment, they’re in hell right now. You thought they went to heaven. They didn’t because Jesus, the only savior, you know, there’s one name given among men whereby we must be saved. It’s of a risen person, not a person who died and was a liar. They perished. If in this life only you have hope in Christ. You’re to be pitied. You poor souls.

So you see his logic as he goes through that. That we are to be pitied. The dead ones are gone. You’re still in your sins. We are false witnesses. Preaching is vain. Because Christ is not risen. However. But now. That’s the conjunction where he says now you can put that juxtaposed to this. Christ is risen from the dead. That is the heart of the gospel. Yeah, we’re slaves, but we’re slaves to a living Savior, to a living Lord. That’s why Paul in Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 made that, that if you you know, confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart. I mean, honestly, as you self-inspect and look to your inner being, do you really believe Jesus is alive today? Do you really think that in three days, he came out of the tomb, just as he said? That historical account, Luke writing to Theophilus, so you can know the certainty. Brethren, there’s a nice help in this and I have found it very helpful to give advice to different believers sometimes who may sometimes doubt whether they are really born again. And this is one of those tests. Do you really believe Jesus rose from the dead? Just curse God and die. Just say it’s all a joke. No! Yeah, they’re pretty good evidence that you’re really born again. Satan doesn’t. Satan knows it’s true, but he’s not committed himself to that with an affirmation.

My brethren, he is risen. Do you believe it? Let’s stand and close tonight in prayer. If that’s not a truth that you’re willing to stake your eternity on, we need to talk. Because there is nothing more certain that Jesus rose from the dead, just as he said. Now, it’s gonna have some other impact. He goes on and says, now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. And then he’s gonna go on and even talk about what our bodies are gonna be like. And then the ultimate goal, the crescendo of the passage, therefore, my beloved brethren, Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain. Anything you do for Christ is in vain if he is not risen from the dead.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, dismiss us with your grace resting upon us. May we understand and know that the resurrection of Christ has taken away the sting of death because he took it all in our behalf, and that we need to be well grounded in the truth, the historical truth, and all the spiritual realities that come with it, that he rose on the third day just as he said. Father, may this truth encourage us May it give us strength throughout this week as we look at the uncertainties of the world, but there are things that we can know for certain, and this is one of them. We praise you in Jesus’ name, amen.