Good morning to everyone. You can turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to read from verse 1 to verse 22. Our focus will be verses 1 through 4.
As you're turning there, if someone were to ask you, what is the gospel? There's a number of places you could go to, no doubt, in the Holy Scriptures. But I would submit that one of the better places to go that captures The essence and the content of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in verses 3 and 4 of 1 Corinthians 15, a proto-creed, if you will, in the Christian Church, in a wonderful rehearsal of what our Savior did for His people. So this is the Word of God, beginning at 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you. unless you believed in vain. 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, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
Then last of all, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. and His grace toward me was 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 so you believe. Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how does some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 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, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins.
Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, We are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Amen. Well, let's pray.
Opening Prayer
God, we thank you for this time together in the preaching of your word. We rejoice in your goodness towards us and giving us this revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world, sinners to save. We do pray that you'd help us in this act of worship, be with your people by your spirit, encouraging them in their faith. And Lord God, we pray this morning that by your spirit and through the preaching of the word that sinners in Damning unbelief who came in these doors this morning would leave singing the praises of our glorious Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, what a wonderful passage that we have here in 1 Corinthians 15, and it's a wonderful passage, but in another sense it's a very grievous passage to read, because there were some who were being stolen away unto the idea that there is no resurrection of the dead. In fact, the very occasion of the writing of this portion of 1 Corinthians is found in 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? This was going on in the Corinthian church, and so the Apostle Paul comes with this wonderful and heavy corrective in order to argue for the very certain truth that Christ is risen from the dead, and therefore there is a resurrection for those who believe in his name.
The very vital nature of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is brought forth here by the Apostle Paul. And in this bringing forth, we have a wonderful description or a wonderful definition of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Chris Ostom, on this passage, Paul uses great earnestness. For not of morals was his discourse henceforth, nor about one man's being a fornicator, another covetous, and another having his head covered, but about the very sum of all good things." That's what we have in this passage, the very sum of all good things.
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? It is herein contained. And in looking at verses 1 through 4, we're simply going to notice two things. Those two things are, first, the necessity of the gospel, and secondly, the essential content of the gospel.
So
The Necessity of the Gospel
let's look first then at the necessity of the gospel, and we're going to break this down into five things, but not take too long in doing so. So
A Sanctified Reminding
the necessity of the gospel is seen first in a sanctified reminding. As Christians, we need reminding. As the hymn says, we're prone to wander, we're prone to leave the God that we love. And the apostle, among others, the apostle though knew all too well of the necessity for a sanctified reminding.
And this, not only is this something that's needful, but it's something that's glorious as well. As we read the Psalms in our Bibles, we very often find a rehearsal of the redemptive victories of God. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercies endure forever, and then a rehearsal of what God had done for his people. But we see this sanctified reminding that brings forth the necessity of the gospel, and we see it first because we are prone to forget.
Christians are prone to forget, and C.H. Spurgeon captured this well. He's preaching here, he's touching upon the point that we can very often be found in a coldness and a languor as it pertains to reflections upon the glories of Christ. And Spurgeon preached these words, he whom we should make the abiding tenant of our memories is but a visitor therein.
The cross where one would think that memory would linger, and unmindfulness would be an unknown intruder, is desecrated by the feat of forgetfulness. Does not your conscience say that this is true? Do you not find yourselves forgetful of Jesus? Some creature steals away your heart, and you are unmindful of him upon whom your affection ought to be set.
Some earthly business engrosses your attention when you should fix your eyes steadily upon the cross. It is the incessant turmoil of the world, the constant attraction of earthly things, which takes away the soul from Christ. While memory too well preserves a poisonous weed, it suffereth the rose of Sharon to wither. Let us charge ourselves to bind a heavenly forget-me-not about our hearts, for Jesus our beloved, and whatever else let slip, let us hold fast to Him.
That's why the Apostle Paul writes here, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received. He has to preach again the gospel of Jesus Christ, which isn't, of course, a bad thing, but he has to deliver it to a people who are forgetting the very glory of it. He writes again in verse 3, For I deliver to you first of all that which you also received. Christians need a constant reminder, because we are prone to forget, yes, but also because the very gospel of Jesus Christ is the lifeblood of our Christianity.
And so a constant reminder, a constant rehearsal, a constant reflection upon the glories of Jesus Christ is for our nourishment as Christians. I fear that it could often be the case that we seek to you know, set aside the ABCs of Christianity, where God first began with us, where we first began with God, we set aside the gospel, the ABCs of Christianity, so that we can move on to 17 analogies of how to live a better life and be a better you and, you know, those sorts of things. But these very ABCs of Christianity are to grow up into words. are to grow up into sentences, are to grow up into grammar and comprehension and vocabulary. If we use the analogy of a school child, whether by a teacher or by his parents, he learns, he or she, learns their ABCs, And they don't stop there, but with the use of those ABCs, they move on to words, and the structure of sentences, and sentences, and paragraphs, and those sorts of things.
This is how the constant rehearsal of the gospel of Jesus Christ is supposed to serve. We begin there, we grow in that, and unto that day where we breathe our last breath and go into Emmanuel's land, the very lifeblood and nourishment of Christianity is seen in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The necessity of the Gospel is also seen, secondly, in the authority of apostolic witness. Now, it might not be so clear, but it is certainly to be understood here.
The authority of apostolic witness. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which you also received. Apostolic declaration underscores and underlines and emboldens, or boldens, if that's a word, the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It bears apostolic authority, and the declaration comes with the weight of apostolic proclamation of the blessed truth.
I, the Apostle Paul, declared to you by the very commission of the risen Lord, whom you are denying. Thirdly,
Faithful Handing Down of the Faith
the necessity of the gospel is seen in the faithful handing down of the faith. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received. That is a formula of the transmission of the truth of Christianity. The truth is declared. wherein the gospel is preached, and it's received by those who hear it, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, they're brought forth from the deadness of sin to life in Christ.
The importance of the gospel is seen in this faithful handing down of the truth. We've noted it before. We can trace our lineage as Christians back to the proclamation of Jesus Christ by the Apostle Paul. You know, people love to engage in genealogy, the research of our heritage familially and, you know, genealogically.
It's cool to trace back where we came from, the countries from which those whom we came from came from, if that made any sense. It's wonderful as well to research our Christian heritage. What is our profession of the blessed Christ based upon? What is or what was the seed that grew up into our inheritance of Christian faith?
It is the proclamation of the Apostle Paul preaching to those, both Jews and Gentiles, the glories of Jesus Christ.
Ground of Our Salvation
The necessity of the Gospel is also seen in the reality that it is the very ground of our salvation. Look at the text here, which I preach to you, which also you received, and in which you stand, by which also you are saved. And so the necessity of the gospel is seen in that the gospel is the very ground and reality of our salvation. That is the message by which we are saved.
At some point in your history, a Christian here this morning, you heard the gospel, perhaps you heard it over and over again, but you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the Son of God came down from heaven, assumed our humanity, lived a life of perfect obedience to the law of God, died a cursed death in our stead, rose again the third day and he brings many sons to glory and all who believe on him shall have everlasting life. It is the very ground of our salvation. This is why the Apostle Paul says this gospel is what you stand upon and by which you are saved. Now how is it the case that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
And fifthly and lastly, under the necessity of the gospel, as we see it laid out in verses 1 to 3a, we see
Foremost Position in Proclamation
the gospel, the necessity of the gospel is seen in its foremost position in Christian proclamation. Where do we see that in the text? Notice what we see in verse 3. For I delivered to you first of all that which you also received.
The language being utilized here in first of all doesn't mean that the Corinthians were the first to hear the gospel message. It's not a chronological statement because we know that the Corinthians were not the first. to hear the Gospel message, nor were they the first to hear the Gospel message from the Apostle Paul. So what does it mean? It bears the weight of, I delivered to you of first importance, of chief importance of primacy of place, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He's setting before them what is the chief, what is the utmost, what is the primary article of the Christian faith, the very doing, dying and rising again of the Son of God. Not only do we see the importance of it in its foremost position in Christian proclamation because of its own merits, its own content, its own glory, but the truths that are in back of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the very doctrine of God, the one who is most holy, most wise, most loving, forgiving transgression, iniquity, and sin. What's in back of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the very decree of God that this God, according to the counsel of His most holy will, in His timing, brings forth sinners from everlasting damnation to everlasting life, from the deadness of sin to life in Christ. And it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the very reason for the incarnation of the Son of God.
Why did the Son of God come into this lower shame? He came for the very doing and dying and rising again that He victoriously engages in for the salvation of His people.
The Essential Content of the Gospel
So secondly, that brings us now to the essential content of the Gospel. Notice what we see here. We see a threefold articulation of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, 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.
Those two verses are the gospel. So remember, as we noted at the outset, if someone was to ask you, what is the gospel? The answer is not what we do. The answer is not what we feel.
The answer is the very perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That he 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. That is the blessed gospel of Jesus Christ, our Savior. And so,
Christ's Death for Our Sins
breaking this down, let's notice first His death. The language is, I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died. The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is obviously central to the Christian faith. What a blessed thing we have in His death, in His crucifixion.
And I want to note this. I've noted this before. because this brings forth, I believe, the weight of his death and crucifixion. Some of you will remember this quote from Melito of Sardis. He's the one who said, marveling in the Lord Jesus Christ, that the one who fixed the stars in place is fixed in place upon a tree.
He also said, with regards to the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it is a terrible thing to tell, And it's a terrible thing not to tell. And so when we see in the Bible that Christ died, I want that, if you will, to ring in our ears. It's a terrible thing to tell. That is because it is the Son of God, the very Creator of all things, the very Upholder of all things by the Word of His power, who condescended to our lower shame, our lower existence, assuming our nature without sin, who goes to the cross, and the path to the cross was a terrible one, hated by his countrymen, reviled by his own people, being sought after to be murdered and cast down to the earth by wicked hands.
He's spit upon, he's bruised, he's beaten, he's nailed to a cross, and he's He's hung upon it. It's a terrible thing to tell. And yet, it's a terrible thing not to tell. Why?
Because it is the very salvation of the sons of men. To not tell of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to not tell of the death upon that Roman gibbet of execution, is to avoid, is to miss, the very lifeblood of Christianity. That the Son of God incarnated went to the cross that he might bring many sons and daughters to glory. What a glorious thing we have in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was an obedient cross death as Pastor Butler has been preaching in Philippians 2. What was the purpose of the incarnation? That the Son of God would assume the form of a bondservant coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient even unto the cross death. The Lord Jesus Christ, in obedience to his mission, comes and gives his life notice for a particular reason, that Christ died for our sins.
And so it is the blessed Christian reflection to think upon the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. A terrible thing to tell, yes, but a terrible thing not to tell, and a terrible thing not to reflect upon. The salvation wrought by Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross. What a glorious thing we have in the death of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And notice as well, listen to these words, first from Cyril of Jerusalem and then from Augustine. This is Cyril of Jerusalem, because note, that the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is not simply a historical event that took place, but there is blessed salvation that is linked to it. It's not just Christ died, it's Christ died for our sins. Adam received the sentence Cyril preached.
Cursed is the ground in thy labors. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. For this cause Jesus assumes the thorns that he may cancel the sentence. You think about that for a moment.
There was a sentence resting upon us. There was a wrath and a condemnation abiding upon us. We have all sinned and we have fallen short of the glory of God, and yet Jesus assumes the thorns that we may not, that he may cancel the sentence against us. Augustine wrote, he suffered what we deserved, that we might receive what he merited.
Christians, it's okay for you this morning to smile. Maybe not because I'm up here preaching, but because the gospel is so glorious. Smiling is not against the regular principle of worship. You can smile that Jesus Christ died for your sins.
That Jesus Christ bore the curse. That Jesus Christ took upon himself the sentence that was against us. Turn to 1 Peter for a moment. A couple passages that speak gloriously to the work of Jesus Christ in dying for our sins.
Notice in 1 Peter 2, and this is simply in the context of exhorting servants to be submissive, and notice in verse 21 of 1 Peter 2. For to this you were called, that is, suffering for the cause of Christ, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return, When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously." Now notice, "...who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." The Apostle Peter here brings forth Isaiah 53 into the foreground and is calling upon Christians to reflect upon the fact that Jesus Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree. By his stripes we are healed. What a blessed thing we have in this gospel content that Christ died for our sins.
And
Christ's Burial
notice as well, secondly, He was buried. The burial of our Lord Jesus Christ doesn't get a whole lot of airtime, I don't think, in Christian preaching, at least as much as it should. the significance of the burial of Jesus Christ, what do we have in that blessed truth? Because it's rehearsed in this proto-creed as the very definition and content of the gospel. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried.
According to the scriptures and so there's something important about the burial of our Lord Jesus Christ the first thing I believe we have in his burial is a Testification to that is a bearing witness to a testification to the reality of his death He was buried because he really did die upon Calvary's cross against the Muslims who would deny his death, or in the very least, his resurrection, but who would deny his death, against other God-haters who would deny that he really did die upon Calvary's cross. He was buried, and that is a bearing witness to the reality of his death, and so then, the reality of the bearing of the curse. If he really did die, then he really did bear the curse that was due to his people. the curse that was due for us having sinned, and having sinned flamboyantly against the God of heaven and earth. He was buried as a bearing witness to the truthfulness of his death, and so then, therefore, the blessed truthfulness of the bearing of the curse.
Secondly, it was a fulfillment of prophecy, including the Savior's own. Christ prophesied His own burial, just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. He prophesied His own burial. It is a fulfillment of this blessed part of the complex of gospel truth.
And thirdly, it is a declaration of the reversal of the curse of Adam. Listen to Henry on this particular point, Matthew Henry. In the Garden of Eden, death and the grave first received their power. And now in a garden, They are conquered, disarmed, and triumphed over.
In a garden, Christ began his passion, and from a garden he would rise and begin his exaltation. He would go on to write, come and see a burial that conquered the grave and buried it, a burial that beautified the grave and softened it for all believers. The burial that once testified to our return to dust now testifies to our union with the risen Lord. Remember that the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is not disconnected from the history and the theology connected to Adam.
Christ is the second or last Adam. The first Adam plunges humanity into sin and the consequences for sin by his fall. And the curse comes upon him, from dust you came and to dust you will return. Christ goes into the dust, but he raises victoriously from the grave. the tomb from that blessed sepulcher.
Christ raises again, but we're not there yet. The burial of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in 1 Corinthians 15, if you're still there, notice in beginning at verse 46. He's already been elaborating upon, the Apostle Paul has, the connection to Adam.
Adam juxtaposed with Christ, Christ as the one who brings life after Adam had brought death. And notice in verse 46 of 1 Corinthians 15, however, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust. And as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. And so this burial, among many other glorious things, highlights the truthfulness that the curse of Adam will not be victorious for those who are in Christ, but the second Adam being victorious in bearing the curse, this burial will lead inevitably unto the blessed reality of the resurrection, the third day.
And so there is much significance to this burial. He took our nature, Owen wrote, John Owen, our infirmities, yet without sin, that he might die. And this death, this returning to dust, he bore not as one merely dying, but as one made a curse for us. And Thomas Goodwin, he was laid in the grave, not for his own sake, but for ours, that we might know he bore not only the guilt of sin, but its consequence, corruption and descent into the earth.
And so very often, we speak of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's glorious, and that's fine. There are many creeds that leave out the burial, not for any theological reason, but just because it so happened to develop, and it's biblically literate in its presentation. Christ died, and Christ rose again the third day. Excuse me.
But obviously, death, burial follows death, and in order for one to rise, one must be buried. So the burial is assumed when we say the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the burial ought often to be reflected upon as theologically rich in a presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And
Christ's Resurrection on the Third Day
that brings us then to the fact that he rose again the third day, the blessed language of the passage, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And brethren, this language is glorious. That smile that I talked about as we move from death to burial to resurrection ought to progressively get wider and the curves of your lips ought to approach closer to your eyes as you reflect upon the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious thing that our eyes of faith can behold, that this one put to death upon Calvary's cross, a terrible thing to tell, a terrible thing not to tell, was buried in the earth and yet emerged victorious on the third day, just as he had promised.
We see in the resurrection first the demonstration and vindication of having perfectly completed the work He came to do. It punctuates that He really did obey His Father, that it really was the case that His meat was to do the will of Him who sent Him. He promised that he would go to Jerusalem by the hands of wicked men, would be put to death and crucified, and yet be raised the third day. And that is a demonstration and a vindication of his victory over death, victory over hell, victory over the grave. and the devil.
It's a demonstration that he completed the work he came to do. It is clear evidence, secondly, that our justification is real and that sin was truly paid for. The Savior remains in the grave. Well, the Savior, of course, couldn't have remained in the grave.
But a Messiah who remains in the grave and is not raised again is not one who can bring many sons to glory. That's why the Apostle Paul writes what he writes in verses 12 to 19. It's a wonderful movement from the necessity of the gospel to the certainty of the gospel in verses three, to the work of the gospel from nine through to verse 11. And then we have this logic of the gospel from verses 12 to 19.
A Messiah who remains in the grave brings no hope. A Messiah who remains in the grave brings no faith that is, or brings a faith, a believing that is vanity and is emptiness. It is hopeless, yet Christ has risen. What wonderful language we have in this word that starts verse 20, this but now.
You see, because the implication is brought in verse 19, if in this life only, a Messiah who hasn't emerged from the grave, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable, and then one of the most glorious transitions in Holy Scripture, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Pastor Butler read from Psalm 19, when the Apostle, or excuse me, Psalm 16, when the Apostle is writing here and he was, and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, that's one of the chief passages that no doubt would have been in his mind. It's on the lips of the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts, but turn with me further back in the Bible to the book of Genesis in Genesis chapter one. If the resurrection of Jesus Christ is proclaimed and promised in the Old Testament, where do we find it?
And there are multiple places that we could go, but having noted Psalm 16, having had it read at the outset of worship, let's notice one that perhaps commonly is not referred to, but one that touches upon the language that Paul uses. Notice in Genesis 1, this is the creation account. Genesis 1, verse 11. Then God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself on the earth.
And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed, according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good, and note, So the evening and the morning were the third day. The revelation of the original creation anticipates the blessed reality of the new creation.
That on the third day, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep would rise. That on the third day, the first fruits of all those who would be resurrected, Christians throughout the ages, That first fruits rises again. How do we know that this isn't just a coincidence of language? Because one might think that, okay, so it says the third day there, big deal.
It's just a coincidence. It's a number. Well, turn to the Gospel of John for a moment. Our first answer should be, well, it's the Holy Scripture, and God doesn't do things according to coincidence.
But notice in the book of John, in John chapter 12, Pastor Butler noted this in its connection to the crucifixion and resurrection when he was preaching through it. Notice in John 12 at verse 23. John 12, 23, but Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.
But if it dies, it produces much grain. You see the connection there to the first creation and the new creation that Jesus brings in his death and resurrection. On the third day, the herbs and the trees that bear fruits raised up out of the ground. And on the third day in the new creation, the Lord Jesus Christ raises from out of the ground, from out of the tomb, having victory over death, over the grave, and over the devil.
Notice the language again at verse 20 with regards to this connection. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. What a blessed thing we have in our Holy Scriptures. It's not a disconnected piece of literature.
It's not just this haphazard slapping together of documents into 66 books. But it's the mind and will of God, through the superintending of human authors throughout the ages, bringing to bear the message of the Christ, who would come into this world, sinners to save. And from the outset of Genesis, we have that blessed truth anticipated, proclaimed, in seed form, And it grows up into the blessed truth that in the fullness of the times, God sends forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. What a blessed reality we have in the life, in the death, and in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John Owen wrote, that true seed, who by falling into the ground in death brought forth a harvest of many sons to glory."
Application
What can we take from this passage? In conclusion, one of the things that we ought to note is the certainty of the resurrection, and so the certainty of our salvation. We didn't spend time on the meat and potatoes of the historical authenticity and scriptural authenticity of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But note that in closing, this is the life, death and resurrection, the life, death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is first, according to the scriptures.
So our certainty, our confidence as Christians is grounded in the inerrant, infallible and inspired authoritative word of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ really did come in the incarnation. He really did live a perfect life of obedience to the law of God in the place of all who believe in his name. He really did die upon Calvary's cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for all who believe in him.
He really was buried. He really did rise again the third day, and he really did ascend to the right hand of the majesty on high, where he intercedes for his people. Isn't that a blessed truth that the one who conquered death, the grave, and the devil, currently intercedes for you on your behalf? What a blessed thing we have in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a blessed passage we have that opens up the truth and the certainty. And as the Apostle Paul goes on to write, notice the confidence ought to be born as well in the fact that there were many eyewitnesses. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most certain and most documented and most reliable report in the history of literature and historical reporting. Notice the language that we have here in verse 5, and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, then by Paul. In other words, this isn't some sort of crazy fable born out of a cave in the Middle East by a single individual with no eyewitnesses. This isn't some whippersnapper in the plains of Utah saying that he found a golden tablet in the earth and is going to inaugurate some wacky religion. This is a religion born on the certainty of the scriptures by the will and the power and the mighty awesomeness of the triune God, testified to these events by eyewitnesses.
It is certain. It is certain for you Christians, but notice as well, it's certain for those who are here in unbelief. But if you are in unbelief, the certainty comes with the fact that Jesus will not be your savior, but your judge, unless you believe in his glorious name. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is also a testification to, a bearing witness to the fact that he will judge the wicked on that great and final day.
It's a blessed confidence for Christians. but a terror for you if you sit here in unbelief and you do not believe on the blessed Savior who came into this world, sinners to save. The world steals away your heart with its allurements. Your flesh rails against the truth. The devil assails you and seeks to steal you away so that you will not rest with the God of heaven and earth and the Christ whom he has sent.
And the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a testament to the fact that he will judge you on that great and final day and it will be righteous and it will be just to cast you into the lake of fire reserved for the devil and his angels. But what a blessed hope, what blessed glory we have in the fact that he rose again the third day and all who look to him in faith will have everlasting life. As well, we ought to reflect often upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, what is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has to do, to paraphrase Owen, with the excellence of the person of Christ and the virtue of his saving work and efficacy.
We ought to pray for the transmission of truth. We noted very briefly that there is a declaration and a preaching of the truth and a reception of the truth. What ought that cause the Christian to do? To rejoice in that, but also to pray for it, for the furtherance of the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world, that we would pray for the transmission of truth, that the dying one, the one who died, the crucified one, the buried one, the one who rose again, would be proclaimed to a multitude of sinners throughout the earth.
What a blessed message that we have in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christian, he is risen. That ought to raise our souls to high and lofty reflections upon So great a Savior, so great a God who gave us this gift of salvation. And sinner, He is risen.
So don't have him as your judge. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you have him as blessed Savior. Let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We rejoice in your goodness to us in revealing the gospel of Jesus Christ, this blessed account, this blessed truth that Jesus Christ came into this world, sinners, to save, that he did so, that he did so perfectly, that it was not an atonement of maybe or perhaps, but a definite atonement upon Calvary's cross for a multitude of people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation that he was raised again the third day after that burial into the earth and that he has ascended to your right hand where he does ever live to intercede for his people to judge his enemies as well we pray that you would help us to reflect often upon our precious Christ that we would go from this place returning in the evening having reflected upon your glory your wisdom, your holiness, and your condescending mercy in sending forth the son of your love to redeem us from our sins. Do go with us now and help us to have such minds that do not forget, so great a gospel. And we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen. Well, let's stand and sing together. Hymn 572, the Gloria Patri. 572, let's stand and sing together. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Well, please be seated. We'll have a brief time of prayer.
When the piano's finished, you're dismissed.