SPEAKER_02: 1 Corinthians 15 verses 12 through 34.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
SPEAKER_02: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
SPEAKER_02: And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.
SPEAKER_02: We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God, that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.
SPEAKER_02: For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
SPEAKER_02: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.
SPEAKER_02: Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
SPEAKER_02: If in Christ we have hope, in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
SPEAKER_02: But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_02: For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
SPEAKER_02: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
SPEAKER_02: But each in his own order.
SPEAKER_02: Christ the first fruits.
SPEAKER_02: Then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Then comes the end.
SPEAKER_02: When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
SPEAKER_02: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
SPEAKER_02: The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
SPEAKER_02: For God has put all things in subjection under his feet.
SPEAKER_02: But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.
SPEAKER_02: When all things are subjected to him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him, who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all.
SPEAKER_02: Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?
SPEAKER_02: If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
SPEAKER_02: Why are we in danger every hour?
SPEAKER_02: I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day.
SPEAKER_02: What do I gain if I, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus?
SPEAKER_02: If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
SPEAKER_02: Do not be deceived.
SPEAKER_02: Bad company ruins good morals.
SPEAKER_02: Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning, for some have no knowledge of God.
SPEAKER_02: I say this to your shame.
SPEAKER_02: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, church.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray for our service and we'll get started.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you so much for the gathering this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the unity that it brings.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray this morning as we open your word that you would allow uh allow us to leave our distractions at the door, leave the world, and there's so many things that are pulling on us in so many different directions this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Allow our minds to be clear and calm, to receive the truth of your word.
SPEAKER_01: We're reminded of the death, the burial, and the resurrection this morning, that we come to you with nothing.
SPEAKER_01: God, nothing or we have nothing to offer, but you you did everything for us, God.
SPEAKER_01: You laid down your life willingly for us, died and rose again, conquering death and sin.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray that this morning, that would be open your word, that you would speak to our brother Robert, that you would use him, that it would be a fragrant offering to you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray that we would respond to the truth of your word.
SPEAKER_01: We would not allow pride or anything to keep us from being obedient to your word, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, brothers.
SPEAKER_00: You guys can be seated.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning and welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Let me add my welcome to whoever has greeted you, either from the platform or face to face.
SPEAKER_00: It's a blessing to be here to worship with you guys this morning as we gather as the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: My name's Robert.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I have been, I've really enjoyed about living here, about being at Heartland, is this community, and I've shared this with you guys before.
SPEAKER_00: This the community of churches here, there are so many like-minded brothers, as it as when I say brothers, I mean pastors, leading faithful churches here proclaiming the good news of the gospel, that there's this camaraderie about the way that we do things.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about even when we welcome guests, one of the things that you'll hear us say is we want you to be a part of the local church.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's heartland, that's that's great.
SPEAKER_00: But if that's another Bible believing, Bible proclaiming, gospel proclaiming church, that's that's okay too.
SPEAKER_00: And that's because we're all on the same team.
SPEAKER_00: And an aspect of that that I've been blessed to participate in is um teaching at a another local body at Colonial Hills.
SPEAKER_00: For the last three years, I've taught a course on apologetics in a discipleship academy that they do.
SPEAKER_00: And this year, in prep for that course, one of the things that I did is I I kind of got on this rabbit hole of researching present-day realities about different world religions.
SPEAKER_00: And here are some numerical breakdowns I found in relation to different world religions.
SPEAKER_00: And these numbers come from 2025.
SPEAKER_00: This is from P Research.
SPEAKER_00: 2.3 billion people around the world are Christian.
SPEAKER_00: 2 billion people around the world are Muslim.
SPEAKER_00: 1.9 million, or excuse me, 1.9 billion are nuns, meaning they they adhere to no religion at all.
SPEAKER_00: 1.2 billion are Hindus, 0.3 billion are Buddhists, 0.2 billion are just a conglomeration of other religions, and 0.01 billion are Jews.
SPEAKER_00: And when I was thinking about that statistic in relation to today's sermon text, the thing that kept flooding my mind is why so many?
SPEAKER_00: Or what makes our faith, Christianity, as we refer to it, what makes it different from all those other ones I just listed, from Muslim or from Hindus or from Buddhist or from Jewish or other religions that we see on that list.
SPEAKER_00: And what I want to point out to you today is that today's sermon text highlights one of the core distinctives of our faith as followers of Jesus that we see in his gospel.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not that Jesus was a man, it's not simply that Jesus walked the earth, it's not just that Jesus died, it is that he experienced a bodily resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Without Easter, the gospel is not the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: You see, many other world religions would agree that Jesus was a man, that he was a faithful and profitable teacher, that he lived a life and that he died, but they are missing a critical, I would say more than critical, a necessary piece of truth that he raised.
SPEAKER_00: As one commentator put it, he was permanently and eternally raised from the dead, having received a body that could never die.
SPEAKER_00: And as we see in this text, without the bodily resurrection of Jesus, our faith crumbles like a house built with no foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Fair warning.
SPEAKER_00: The first half of this text is going to be fairly awkward if you don't notice that in the text, because Paul is illustrating all of these consequences in relation to if Jesus didn't rise.
SPEAKER_00: So as we work through the text, Paul is going to bluntly address verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12 sets the context for the entire sermon text.
SPEAKER_00: The Corinthians were questioning the resurrection of the dead.
SPEAKER_00: As to say, no one raises from the dead, even those with faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: There is no resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul bluntly addresses their questioning by saying, if no one raises from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to see two consequences if that is true.
SPEAKER_00: Spoiler alert, let me just say that from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: That's not true.
SPEAKER_00: But the two consequences that we see are this.
SPEAKER_00: Without Christ's resurrection, the gospel falls silent.
SPEAKER_00: And without Christ's resurrection, still sin still reigns and death still rules.
SPEAKER_00: And then we're also going to see the good news, the two realities, and the two realities are this.
SPEAKER_00: With Christ's resurrection, sin is conquered and death is dethroned.
SPEAKER_00: And with Christ's resurrection, suffering speaks, and it is not in vain.
SPEAKER_00: So let's take some time to look at the first consequence that we see in verses 13 through 16.
SPEAKER_00: You might remember last week, Pastor Dylan walked us through the beginning section of this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul so uh, with such purpose and with such intentionality and with such passion, clearly articulated the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_00: He knew the gospel message is worthless without the resurrection of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So he lays out the gospel message before he begins to address this question that he addresses in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Something we say around here often, I say it all the time, both in conversation with people and from the platform.
SPEAKER_00: We are one with Christ in his life, and we are one with Christ in his death.
SPEAKER_00: You hear us say something similar when we baptize.
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that we often say when we baptize comes straight from Romans 6, 4, and this is what it said.
SPEAKER_00: We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might be raised to walk in the newness of life.
SPEAKER_00: To walk in the newness of life.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we have this oneness with Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And because of the oneness with Christ, if Christ didn't experience a bodily resurrection, then neither will we.
SPEAKER_00: The inverse is true as well.
SPEAKER_00: If there is no bodily resurrection of man, then there was no bodily resurrection of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And if that is true, the gospel is worthless.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus is still in the tomb, there's no point for me to stand before you and to preach this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Because there would be no good news to preach.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was still in the tomb, the gospel message that we cling our life to has no foundation.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus is still in the tomb, there would be no point for Paul to write this text.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was still in the tomb, there would be no point to the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was still in the tomb, there would be no point to Acts 1.8, which says that you will receive my power, will become upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus is still in the tomb, there is no great commission.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because if Jesus is still in the tomb, there is no gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's so incredibly important for us to hold fast to the divinity of Jesus, to the bodily resurrection of Jesus, to the ascension of Jesus, where he is seated at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity is different than all those other religions I mentioned at the top of the sermon because the tomb is empty.
SPEAKER_00: One great apologetic in this sphere is to look at the life of the disciples post-Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've ever done that, but do you think that the apostles would have kept after it, kept going if the grave held their purpose?
SPEAKER_00: If the grave held Jesus, do you think the disciples would have continued to carry out the great commission they were given?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: And two simple reasons.
SPEAKER_00: One, if death would have conquered the Messiah, he wouldn't have been the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: And two, they wouldn't have been given the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_00: The Great Commission was given after the resurrection of Jesus, just before his ascension.
SPEAKER_00: You read about that in Matthew 28.
SPEAKER_00: And that how and the where of the disciples simply, just those two things, the how and the where of the disciples give evidence to the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The how they died by horrific means, even crucifixion.
SPEAKER_00: They died from Ethiopia to Rome as they took the gospel to all nations, just like they were commanded to do.
SPEAKER_00: Paul in verse 15 and 16 of today's sermon text, we are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise.
SPEAKER_00: If it is true that the dead are not raised, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ had been raised.
SPEAKER_00: The word in verse 15 that you see there in verse 15, misrepresenting in your text, if you're not reading out the ESV, one of the ways it's often translated is false witness.
SPEAKER_00: When you look at the original word there, it's pseudo-martyr, martyr referring to witness, what is being communicated in this, if Christ didn't raise from the death, then all of us who testified about Christ, all of us, even Paul himself, that's what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: All of us who testified about Christ, who gave witness, would be liars.
SPEAKER_00: This takes us to a place that can be concerning, right?
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus Christ didn't experience a bodily resurrection, then was he who he said he was?
SPEAKER_00: Was he who he said he was?
SPEAKER_00: After all, you might remember this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus declared that he would be destroyed and then he would rise up in three days.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to flip there, but John 2, 19 through 21, we see this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews then said, It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days.
SPEAKER_00: But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
SPEAKER_00: If he could raise the widow's son in Luke 7, if he could raise Jairus' daughter in Mark 5, if he could raise Lazarus after he'd been dead for over 72 hours for four days, but he couldn't raise himself, then guess what?
SPEAKER_00: He couldn't have been the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first consequence.
SPEAKER_00: The second consequence, if Jesus didn't raise us this without Christ's resurrection, still sin still reigns and death still rules.
SPEAKER_00: Paul goes on to push even harder on the Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: Push even harder.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was not who he says he was, if he was not raised from the dead, then the object of your faith ceases to be.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is foolish, is how it's phrased in verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus didn't rise, then faith is foolish.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the author and perfecter of our faith, according to God's word, is who?
SPEAKER_00: It is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you this question.
SPEAKER_00: What is something without its author?
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about whatever your favorite book is.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just use an example.
SPEAKER_00: The lion, the witch in the wardrobe would not be the lion, the witch in the wardrobe without C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis.
SPEAKER_00: Another way to illustrate this faith in something is nothing without the something existing at the level your faith tells you it exists.
SPEAKER_00: I know that's a tongue twister, but think about this way.
SPEAKER_00: I was talking to some guys in the four-year beforehand, and I told them about this illustration.
SPEAKER_00: All the faith in the world, if you walk out to your car today, all the faith in the world that you have in your car, if someone stole your wheels and put it on blocks, is not going to get you anywhere.
SPEAKER_00: A car without wheels, I don't care how much faith you have in it, isn't taking you anywhere.
SPEAKER_00: Another way to say that.
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna go to the airport today and you're gonna fly out and you get on your airplane and it has no wings, I don't care how much faith you have in that airplane, it is not getting off the ground.
SPEAKER_00: If our faith was in a man that stayed in the tomb, it would have no more significance than a man that stayed in the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: We have been saved by grace through faith.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus didn't conquer both sin and death, then there would be no grace.
SPEAKER_00: Which Paul is communicating in the statement that we see in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: You are still in your sins.
SPEAKER_00: If Christ didn't raise from the dead, you are still in your sins, which means without the resurrection, sin is on the throne of your life, and you are still dead in your trespasses and sin.
SPEAKER_00: You are spiritually lost, you are spiritually dead, and so is everyone else who fell asleep, is the language he uses here.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this way: if Jesus didn't rise, then hell would be busting at the seams.
SPEAKER_00: Let that sink in for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: There would be no one enjoying the exaltation of our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Falling asleep, as we read in verse 18, is often you refer to as physical death.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul uses that language to emphasize the reality of the redeemed person, the coming resurrection of the redeemed person.
SPEAKER_00: But without the bodily resurrection of Jesus, he's telling the Corinthians, hold up a minute.
SPEAKER_00: All those who pass before you, they're not asleep, they are dead.
SPEAKER_00: They have succumbed to the sting of sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: They're not sleeping, they're dead.
SPEAKER_00: Paul seems to take this pretty seriously.
SPEAKER_00: And as you can see in verses 12 through 19, they are not easy verses.
SPEAKER_00: They are difficult.
SPEAKER_00: They're not difficult to comprehend, they're not difficult to understand, they're not difficult to apply.
SPEAKER_00: The meaning of the text is simple.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus didn't experience the bodily resurrection, Christianity as we know it doesn't actually exist.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul is communicating to the Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus is still physically dead, another way to say that, if Jesus is still physically dead, then we are all still spiritually dead.
SPEAKER_00: Paul presented opposition to those false claims.
SPEAKER_00: But he also knew this is where I want you to make sure you don't miss this.
SPEAKER_00: He also knew that the bodily resurrection of Jesus did happen.
SPEAKER_00: He knew without a doubt that the bodily resurrection of Jesus did happen.
SPEAKER_00: And we see that in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: He goes from pointing out the consequences if Jesus didn't rise to pointing out the blessed assurance of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be clear.
SPEAKER_00: In case you haven't heard me say this yet, I want to be clear.
SPEAKER_00: The first two points of this sermon that we see in the first half of this text are if this, then that, right?
SPEAKER_00: They are purely hypothetical.
SPEAKER_00: In no way am I, or in no way is Paul claiming that Jesus didn't rise from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: They are purely hypothetical.
SPEAKER_00: We must not forget that.
SPEAKER_00: He is saying those things in response to what we see in verse 12 that some of the Corinthians, for whatever reason, were claiming or struggling with that there is a resurrection of the dead that takes place.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul addresses that bluntly.
SPEAKER_00: If there is no resurrection of the dead, there is no resurrection of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And since we are one with Christ, if there is no resurrection of Christ, then there is no hope for us, and there is no hope in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But in fact, hear that.
SPEAKER_00: But in fact, we know that Christ has been raised from the dead and that he is seated at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And we see that with Paul in verses 20 through 28.
SPEAKER_00: With Christ's resurrection, sin is conquered and death is dethroned.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord for that good news.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord that the sermon didn't end just a moment ago, and that's all we had to proclaim.
SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to that transition statement.
SPEAKER_00: I intentionally used that as my transition statement in well.
SPEAKER_00: But in fact, Paul is going from hypothetical what-ifs to absolute certainties.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection of Jesus did happen.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul makes that emphatically clear.
SPEAKER_00: Sin entered the world through one man, as we see in the text, referring to Adam, and the resurrection of the redeemed is guaranteed through one God man, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: What comfort this had to be for the Corinthians, and what comfort this should be for us.
SPEAKER_00: Every time that someone passes from this life to the next, as believers, if you've ever been to a funeral that is gospel-based, you will know this is true.
SPEAKER_00: Every time that someone passes from this life to the next, as believers, we grieve differently than those who have not been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We have a 1 Thessalonians 4 type of grief.
SPEAKER_00: We are not without hope.
SPEAKER_00: They have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just a cute phrase that Paul used.
SPEAKER_00: It is a true, eternal reality.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this from 1 Thessalonians 4.
SPEAKER_00: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead will rise first.
SPEAKER_00: Then who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
SPEAKER_00: And so we will always be with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore encourage one another with these words.
SPEAKER_00: We can look to the end and know for the redeemed that physical death is like falling asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Falling asleep.
SPEAKER_00: And one day we will always be with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there are significant present day realities for us in this text.
SPEAKER_00: And there's also these uh end times or eschatological implications right in the middle of this text.
SPEAKER_00: I wish I had time to break them all down in detail, but I want to run through the outline for you.
SPEAKER_00: Every rule and authority will be abolished.
SPEAKER_00: As a guy named Shriner puts it, demonic powers will not merely be subjucated, they will be annihilated.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is reigning right now in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Death will be destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: Those who are far from God will experience eternal torment, separated from God.
SPEAKER_00: The redeemed will experience the eternal kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: The redeemed shall grieve with hope.
SPEAKER_00: Those are all truths that we see in this text.
SPEAKER_00: Putting your faith in a risen Christ means that sin is conquered, that death is dethroned, and that your resurrection is guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00: No questions asked.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to think about it this way, too.
SPEAKER_00: This also means that the things of this life, the experiences, even the things that we find happiness in, even the things that are joyful to us are simply a prologue of what is to come.
SPEAKER_00: They aren't the end, they aren't the source.
SPEAKER_00: They are a prologue for what is to come when we are for eternity sitting in the presence of Jesus Christ, which is what Paul speaks to when he articulates with Christ's resurrection, suffering speaks and is not in vain.
SPEAKER_00: The natural tendency for us on this earth is to pity the person who experiences suffering, or to pity the person who might not have much.
SPEAKER_00: And at some level, there is an appropriateness to that, and there's nothing inherently sinful to that.
SPEAKER_00: However, I want to help you understand and to view present-day suffering through the lens of what Paul is communicating here.
SPEAKER_00: You know who we should pity the most of all, according to the gospel?
SPEAKER_00: It's not the person that doesn't have a large bank account, it's not the person that doesn't drive the nicest car.
SPEAKER_00: The person that we should pity the most are the people who do not have Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it drives me crazy when I ask somebody about a mission trip they went on and they will articulate, oh, we built this house and we did this and we gave them food.
SPEAKER_00: Did you tell them about Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you didn't, you're making them feel good on the way to hell.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15, 32 says this from our sermon text: what do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with the beast of Ephesus?
SPEAKER_00: If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He's writing from Ephesus, so he mentions Ephesus, and he mentions uh fighting with a beast to illustrate this suffering without a risen savior is in vain.
SPEAKER_00: If I am suffering, even if it means dying at the hands of beasts without Christ, that is in vain.
SPEAKER_00: And it seems strange to us in our context, because man, who in the world dies by uh the hands of beast, right?
SPEAKER_00: Or fighting with beast, but being shredded by beast by wild beast was a common form of entertainment, of death for entertainment.
SPEAKER_00: But the second part of that verse is where I really want to draw your attention.
SPEAKER_00: It says at the second part of that verse, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, without the hope of the resurrection, eat, drink, and be merry.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: That will be the fullest extent of the joy that you will ever experience.
SPEAKER_00: Heartbreaking.
SPEAKER_00: The fullest extent of joy that you will ever experience.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not joy, that's fleeting joy for those without Christ, those without the hope of the risen Savior who haven't put their faith in a risen savior.
SPEAKER_00: Their life basically is many years of the pursuit of pleasure, the pursuit of happiness, and then there's physical death and spiritual death and eternal torment.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing else.
SPEAKER_00: Devastating.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't have to be that way.
SPEAKER_00: We know from the gospel that Jesus offers us so much more.
SPEAKER_00: We say this verse often.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 10:9 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: If you put your faith in the risen Christ, sin is conquered and death is dethroned.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 14, 13 and 14.
SPEAKER_00: But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you.
SPEAKER_00: That makes no sense, but then you read the next sentence, for you will be paid at the resurrection of the just.
SPEAKER_00: Your life in Christ, and this is what we see in the latter part of this text.
SPEAKER_00: Your life in Christ means you no longer live for the temporary.
SPEAKER_00: You live for the eternal.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't hear anything else that I say this morning, hear that.
SPEAKER_00: If you are a follower of Jesus, you should no longer live for the pursuit of the temporary.
SPEAKER_00: Live for what is coming.
SPEAKER_00: It's no longer about what you get out of this life.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes more about where you're going.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, the author of this text, lived a life of suffering.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't help but bring this passage in.
SPEAKER_00: This is from a second letter to the church at Corinth, chapter 11.
SPEAKER_00: Are they servants of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: I'm a better one.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
SPEAKER_00: Five times I received at the hand of the Jews 40 lashes less one, near death.
SPEAKER_00: Three times I was beaten with rods.
SPEAKER_00: Once I was stoned.
SPEAKER_00: Three times I was shipwrecked.
SPEAKER_00: A night and a day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers from false brothers, in toil, in hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, and cold and exposure.
SPEAKER_00: And apart from other things, there's daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all churches.
SPEAKER_00: Who is weak and I am not weak?
SPEAKER_00: Who is made to fall and I am not indignant?
SPEAKER_00: Those are real sufferings.
SPEAKER_00: That's not a random list.
SPEAKER_00: Those are real sufferings that Paul actually endured.
SPEAKER_00: The brother lived a life of pursuing what is eternal, not pursuing what is temporary, even when it meant that other people around him were going to bring him harm.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to do whatever it took to keep his eyes on eternity and bring as many people with him to eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Second Corinthians 4, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is that you endured this week, you are not destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if you lost everything that was important to you this week.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody put Jesus back in the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: I mentioned this earlier.
SPEAKER_00: Enemies will be, it's not might be, and it's not maybe.
SPEAKER_00: Enemies will be defeated.
SPEAKER_00: Enemies of God will be defeated.
SPEAKER_00: The church will experience the fullness of consummation of redemption.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord Jesus Christ will be victorious.
SPEAKER_00: There's no maybe, he will be victorious.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to these passages.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 1.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, he is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him.
SPEAKER_00: Even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will well on account of him.
SPEAKER_00: Even so, amen.
SPEAKER_00: I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 2.
SPEAKER_00: So that the name of at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And finally, Revelation 21.
SPEAKER_00: And I saw no temple in the city.
SPEAKER_00: For it is the temple of the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb.
SPEAKER_00: And the city has no need, think, listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives light.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a lamp to the Lamb.
SPEAKER_00: And it's by this light the nations will walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.
SPEAKER_00: They will bring into the glory and the honor of all the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does not what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, why do we get so caught up on everything else when that day is coming?
SPEAKER_00: Where there'll be no need for sun, there'll be no need for the moon, there'll be no need for electricity or candles.
SPEAKER_00: The glory of God will provide us light.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not a follower of Jesus, you will never experience any of the joys I just read about.
SPEAKER_00: You will only experience judgment.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to experience that city that has no need for sun, no need for moon, and and that's not even the best part.
SPEAKER_00: Where Jesus is, where the glory of God gives light, respond to the gospel that I pointed out earlier in Romans 10 9.
SPEAKER_00: And here's where I'm gonna speak to believers for a second.
SPEAKER_00: I want to challenge you here.
SPEAKER_00: Paul clearly points out, he gives dangers about if Christ didn't rise, but he clearly points out the implications of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: The question I have for you is simple.
SPEAKER_00: Do you live as those implications are true?
SPEAKER_00: Do you live for the moment or do you live for eternity?
SPEAKER_00: When you're living for eternity, not only is your suffering in the path of obedience meaningful, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not only is it producing an eternal weight of glory beyond all compare that we see in his word.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about your greatest joy in this life.
SPEAKER_00: What is the thing that brings you the most joy?
SPEAKER_00: And I just kind of made my own list prepping for today.
SPEAKER_00: I thought about things when Ashley and I got married, right?
SPEAKER_00: That was a pretty happy day.
SPEAKER_00: It was really hot, but it was steaming outside, but it was a happy day for us.
SPEAKER_00: I think about the birth of Eli, right?
SPEAKER_00: After years of struggling to get pregnant, getting pregnant, and going to the store and buying every brand of pregnancy test that they have to make sure it was true.
SPEAKER_00: I have a picture of like seven pregnancy tests, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's there's happiness in that.
SPEAKER_00: There's joy in that.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the birth of Claire, the adoption of Marcus.
SPEAKER_00: I think about different sports accomplishments.
SPEAKER_00: I think about coming to Heartland.
SPEAKER_00: Think about days like yesterday when I spent the entire day with my family and with some guys running in a race, watching my kids play, playing the water and riding rollerblades and doing all their things.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the salvation of my boys.
SPEAKER_00: What joy is that?
SPEAKER_00: What happiness is that?
SPEAKER_00: But think about this: the happiness and joy of all those things, even the salvation of my kids, is nothing compared to being in the presence of the source of our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Let's be a people who live for the day when we will be in the presence of the Lord, doing everything by doing everything we can in the day, in the present day, to make disciples of DeSota County and beyond wine so we can take as many people with us to enjoy the same Savior that we have for eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Not for a moment, not for an hour, not for a day, not for a week, not even for 50 years.
SPEAKER_00: For eternity.
SPEAKER_00: We will be in the presence of our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: There is no greater joy than that.
SPEAKER_00: May we be a people that live for eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray and then we will respond.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we are so grateful for your word.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're grateful for the faithfulness of brothers like Paul.
SPEAKER_00: God, who so bluntly addresses the issues at Corinth by saying, hey, without the resurrection, there is no gospel.
SPEAKER_00: God, but at the same time so strategically pointing to the hope of eternity.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I'm grateful that as we read about it from Paul, we can see it in his words, and as we study his life, we can also see it in his life.
SPEAKER_00: God, that he wasn't somebody that lived for today or for tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: He was a person who lived with the reality and understanding that one day there will be no need for a sun, there will be no need for a moon, because the glory of God will shine.
SPEAKER_00: And he will be in the presence of the source of his salvation.
SPEAKER_00: So he committed his life to the gospel, to bring in as many people with him to eternity as possible.
SPEAKER_00: May we be a people who respond the same way that don't live for the temporary, but live for the eternal.