Why The Resurrection Matters (1 Corinthians 15:12-34) | Ray Galea

Good morning everybody. >> Lovely to see your faces. Lovely to see the room so packed.

And warm welcome to those online and in the family room and overflow. Uh we're all here together one way or another. Uh my name is Ray, one of the pastors here.

If we here for the first time, a special welcome to you. Uh I want to give you an update on my wife's breast cancer progress. um after eight K she's had 10 chemo treatments but after the eighth one there was a scan and the scan had indicated that the fast growing cancer had shrunk by 70%.

Isn't that good news? So thank God for his healing hand but I thank God for your prayers that have really lifted us up. So why don't we go to prayer with that in mind?

Oh father in heaven we thank you. Thank you for reducing Sandy's cancer. for my brothers and sisters here and at Creekide who have and online who have prayed and fasted for her healing.

I want to say thank you Lord for the doctors, the nurses and all who make the medical system in the UAE run so well. Mindful too Lord that there are those who may have received not so good results this last week, this last month. And we would we bring them before you, Lord.

People we know uh who are here today who may have been given a diagnosis from a doctor that isn't good. And we pray, Lord, be with them, restore them, heal them. We pray this in Jesus' wonderful name.

Amen. Christianity stands or falls on one fact that Christ rose bodily from the dead and so will we if you're in Christ that is if you're in Christ growing up as a Maltese Catholic was kind of expected that uh the boys serve as an alter boy at church and I did for about eight years and I remember helping the priest out on masses on Sundays, but occasionally I would help out at a funeral. So, by the time I got to 9 years of age, I'd been to quite a a lot of funerals.

And, you know, I I rocked up one sun one one Wednesday to uh help the priest out at this funeral. But instead of a long brown coffin in the hearse, there was a coffin about this big, about a meter long. It was white and uh kind of took me back and I I couldn't process it.

And I said to the priest, I said, "What's this? " And he said, "A 2-year-old boy had sadly died because of a hole in his heart. " And I thought, "Whoa, he that boy was seven years younger than me.

" I was nine. And I thought I thought death was for old people like in their 20s and 30s cuz you know when you're nine, you think that's old. And I realized death actually this boy was younger than me.

Death was for me. And I realized I had an enemy and that enemy had a name and his name was death. And that he would cast a shadow over my life as he cast a shadow over your life.

And uh it was a defining moment. I don't know the moment that the you began to understood that reality unless you're still suppressing it because we're all enslaved to the fear of death says the Bible until we become Christians. Who here has been to a funeral?

I know not everyone has, but like just as a show of hands, who here has actually attended a funeral? Okay, a lot have. I would say a lot still haven't for various reasons.

What goes through your mind when you attend a funeral? I guess there's the obviously the grief of those whom you've loved. But the thing about death is funerals don't lie.

That is to say, we're reminded of our own death. that our days are numbered. We have each an expiry date.

Death has a way of making a fool out of the lot of us because no matter what we've done, it all seems to come to nothing. And death is the great leveler. Um whether you drive a Ferrari and live on the palm or whether you go by the metro and live with six other people, uh the reality is we end up in exactly the same place.

But the good news that uh 1 Corinthians 15 began with was that which was of first importance says Paul was that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that's where our forgiveness is achieved that he was buried so like he was really dead and on the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures and then to confirm that appeared to many people including some including a group of up to 500 people. And so that gospel message has at its heart the wonderful news that our last enemy, death, has been defeated. That's why it's good news.

And the Apostle Paul preached that message. The Corinthians believed it and were saved for as long as they held on to that message. But some in the church surprisingly were teaching that there is no resurrection from the dead.

Think what's going on there? And it's a bit unclear to work out what they meant by that. Did they mean that Christ rose from the dead and no one else is going to?

Or did they mean that Christ uh Christ rose and we will rise, but we will rise spiritually, not with resurrected bodies? Either way, it wasn't good news. And so today's talk, this passage that we're looking at today that was beautifully read out for us really has two points.

If death won, Christ lost six implications. If Christ won, then death has lost six implications. It's kind of like Paul is running the logic out.

We got to follow the logic. So the first half of this talk sounds like I don't believe in the resurrection of the dead. Not true.

I'm just teaching the Bible. And there's a logic that he's running out. And the logic is this.

Firstly, if death has won, then Christ has lost. And this is what's going to flow. Here are the six things.

A, if death won, then Christ was not raised to life. Okay? If there is no resurrection, then not even Christ.

You can't have it both ways. Look at verse 13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, as some of you were saying, he says, then not even Christ has been raised.

Follow the logic. If there's no resurrection of the dead in the future, then Christ wasn't raised 2,000 years ago. Which means that the Christian story is tied up with a Jesus who is dead and buried in Jerusalem.

Case closed. Story is over. There is no Christian Christianity.

You know, I don't know if you realize this. Jesus is the only leader of a world religion that claims to have resurrected from the dead. None of the others do.

It's what is unique to us that we have already experienced demonstration of the resurrection and it's already happened. B. If Christ won, then preaching is powerless.

Sorry. If death won, if death won, we're going down the negative story, right? If death won, then preaching is powerless, which means you could have slept in this morning.

Verse 14. And if Christ has not been raised from uh has not been raised our preaching that is he specifically think of the preaching of the apostles our preaching is useless and so is your faith. The proclamation of the apostles is simply declared to be empty powerless.

His words my words are words that just fall to the ground. In other words, what I'm doing right now is wasting your time. Now, you might have thought that anyway, but now I'm only if Christ didn't rise from the dead.

See, if dead if death won, then the apostles are liars. So, more than useless liars. Look at verse 15.

More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. The apostles, if there was no resurrection from the dead, if Christ didn't rise from the dead, then the apostles are bonefaced, shameless liars.

Why? Because they went round intentionally seeking to declare that they had seen, touched, heard, embraced, and even eaten with the resurrected Lord Jesus. as evidence of that resurrection.

That's a claim that they made. And if that didn't happen, they're liars. And if they're liars, you're in serious trouble.

And so am I. D. If death one, your faith is useless and you're not forgiven.

And neither am I. Which means we're all on a roller coaster to hell. That is if death did if death won.

Verse 17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, empty, and you are still in your sins. That is, if your faith is an in in an empty promise, an empty gospel, then you will die in your sins.

And then E, if death one, those believers who you love, who've already died in Christ, where are they? They're in hell. You ever been to a funeral uh where a Christian funeral where there's believers who believe in the Bible, the person who died believed in Christ.

I still remember the first Christian funeral. That's how I would do it. force first funeral where there were born again believers involved let me put it that way early 20s and his name was Fred he was about 55 57 died leaving three kids behind there was a a lot of reasons to feel sad but there was this strange joy that I never experienced in a funeral before and the joy was this certainty that Fred was away from the body but at home with the Lord you know to live as Christ to die is gain this this upfront confidence that he was with the Lord and that on the last day he will be given a resurrected body or would he?

Verse 18, if Christ has not been raised then those who have fallen asleep died in Christ are lost, gone. that friend, that family member who died trusting in Jesus, they've perished forever. That's what he's saying.

He's see he's pushing the logic. Uh on I have a series of prayer cards on different days. And on my Monday prayer card, one of one of the things I've done in the last year to honor those in my life who uh God used to love me, who have passed away, I have a list of 15 people who were close to me, most of whom are believers who have died.

I don't pray for them but I remember them and I thank God for loving me through them. So I have for example Michael my friend who died in his early 20s. He was murdered in Agra in India.

Uh I have Rapunzel. She was Filipino. She never got to celebrate her second wedding anniversary in her late 20s.

There was Julie who's Syrian. She died in her late 30s as a mother of three. There was my dear friend Shane who died as you're probably thinking it's dangerous to be know me you know I've got but when you get older this is what happens Shane who's Italian died at 42 is a dear friend of mine and he left behind six children at the age of 42 and I thank God for loving me through each of them but you know if Christ didn't rise from the dead they may live on in my memories but I am never going to see them again if there is no resurrections.

All of our relationships are temporary. You may have heard of that tragic accident of the Indian family from Kerala two weeks ago early Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi. Oh my goodness.

Untold grief. Four bo four young boys died in a car crash with the nanny in one accident. One sad tragic accident.

I'm really thankful the rulers to took very good care in comforting them in their grief. I'm so thankful to God for that. But such untold grief.

Now, I don't know their faith story, but what I know is this. If there's no resurrection from the dead, that would make that tragedy that much more worse because they would never see each other again. Do you see how much is at stake?

whether there is a resurrection from the dead and whether Jesus rose from the dead. We're talking serious serious issues here. And then finally, Paul says, uh, F, if death one, Christians, we Christians are the most pathetic humans.

It's a funny kind of an argument this one. Look what he says in verse, um, 19. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, that is, you know, there's no eternal life.

He just makes us feel good here. We are of all people most to be pied. He's basically saying the world has the right if there's no resurrection from the dead, the world has the right to look at us and to feel sorry for us.

you pathetic, weak, useless, uh, I don't know what else, you know, dumb people that you would live your life on this myth. Lots at stake. Philip Adams is a an Australian uh, writer uh, a very clever writer, but a very cynical anti-Christian.

And he said this, but he he's speaking he's really speaking the words of Paul really. If there's no resurrection, he says, "Miracles like the resurrection are the desperate fantasies of people who cannot face their loneliness. " That's what he thinks of you and me.

That miracles like the resurrection are the desperate fantasies of people who cannot face their loneliness. Friends, no resurrection means no forgiveness, no future, no hope. It's like it all goes.

We don't you don't become a Christian because oh, it makes me feel good. It gives me a purpose in life. It helps me, you know, get through the difficult times of life.

You know, if if that's what you want, go and do meditation and smoke some drugs. That's not why we're Christians. We're Christians because of the fact that it is true.

If it is not true, don't waste your time. We become Christians based on evidence. That's what sets Christianity.

It's a it's a evidentialbased faith. There were many eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ after he had died. He had appeared to them.

They had seen him, touched him, held him, ate with him, heard him. These witnesses are reliable. You know why we know where they're reliable?

A because there were many of them. And B, because they were prepared to suffer and die for their testimony. And no one chooses to die for something they know is a lie.

If death won, then Christ's lost. But if Christ is one, then death is lost and everything changes. And all of a sudden, now we're going to see six implications.

So that's the second big point. If Christ won, then death has been defeated, trampled. Amen.

>> Oh yes. and your enemy who shadows you has been disarmed and set free from or you've been set free from your enslavement to his fear. So here are the six things that run out of Christ has won.

Firstly, if Christ six implications, if Christ won, then Christ's victory began at his resurrection. The good news is the Messiah did not stay dead, which is exactly what was promised and predicted. Verse 20, but Christ has been raised from the dead.

Okay, now he's going down the other end. Firstly, he went down the if if if if there is no resurrection of the dead, that's a dead end. If Christ did rise from the dead, here we go.

The reason why the gospel is good news is because on the third day, the Messiah rose and for the first time in the history of the world, death has been defeated. You understand that? Now, under the ministry of Elijah and Elisha and in the ministry of Jesus, dead people were brought back to life.

But they weren't resurrections. They were resuscitations because every one of them would have to go back to death again. There was going to be another funeral waiting for them.

That's not what we're talking about. The resurrection of Jesus was different. It was in a class of its own.

It was what you have been promised because Christ ro the Messiah rose from the dead never to die again. That's the game changer. That's what makes death defeated on that first Easter Sunday.

And what happened to Jesus? Guess what? It's going to happen to you.

B. If Christ won what? we live.

That is if you're a lover and follower of Jesus, no longer enslaved to the fear of death. The sting has been taken out. Verse 20, but Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

So Jesus resurrection is described as first fruits. That's the language from agriculture, from farming. Uh I think you know that I grew up on a farm.

We were vegetable farmers and I hated it. My dad loved I hated it. And so I remember we'd get you know there'd be a a fresh cop of crop of cucumbers, right?

And you know cucumbers you you you we did the first pick and if it was especially it was a good pick. My dad was glad and I was sad. Why?

Because he and I both knew more were coming. Next week there's going to be more cucumbers. Week after that more cucumbers.

More more cuc. And that's why Jesus says his resurrection is the first fruits. That there's more to come.

He's not the exception to the rule. He's the first of many, the first fruits. Now, the question is, how does Jesus resurrection guarantee your resurrection?

I mean, my resurre I mean, I get that the eternal sinless son of God's going to, you know, he rose from the dead. God raised him from the dead. No problem there.

But why would he want to raise me from the dead given the life I've lived? Now to answer that, he takes a step back and gives us the big picture. But before we go into that, I just want to I want you to turn to the person next to you and I want you to think about this question.

Who apart from Jesus has made a big impact in the history of the world? Let's think together. So go to the person next to you.

Who are some of the people that have made the greatest impact in the history of the world that for good or for evil that have impacted the lives of people? Off you go. Excuse me.

Who are the great ones? Good or bad? Okay, just put up your hand to avoid chaos.

There's no right or wrong answer in this one. Just throw out some names to me. Just put up your hand first, though.

Give me a Give me a great one, good or bad, from history that's made an impact and changed the lives of people. Okay. >> Sorry, you have to put your hand up yet.

>> So, Nelson Mandela, he's popped up a few times. What a great man he was. Yes.

Mother Teresa. >> Mother Theresa. Now, she has popped up at every service at Creekide.

That's it. Yeah. >> Good choice.

Who else? >> Yes, that's right. Exactly right.

So, you would say that he's in history has affected the lives of many people. Yeah. >> Who else?

Sorry. Put your hand up. You need to put your hand up.

Yep. Madam Cur. Whoa.

Okay. Pasteurization. Okay.

Right. Let's let's rock and roll here. Yeah.

No, seriously. You know, just the whole understanding of bacteria, right? Like, think about that.

That's actually prolonged life massively. I don't know if Madam Cur No, she was X-rays, wasn't she? Anyway, I'm showing my ignorance.

What am I? Stick with the Bible, Raymond. Leave science to the scientists.

Now, you're all you've all raised good people uh you know, people who have made a difference. Absolutely. But really, there's only been two people who've ever made a difference in the history of the world.

And everyone else is a footnote. The first one was Adam and the second one was Christ, the second Adam. And I'll tell you why.

Because uh what Paul is doing here, remember he's answering the question, why does the resurrection of Jesus affect the fact that guarantee that I and you are going to rise from the dead. And it's this what Paul does is he takes us into the past with Adam, but he takes us into the future with Christ. See, this is this is the point I want to expound.

If Christ won, then Adam was undone. You see, Adam basically flushed the world down the toilet. Christ completely reversed the damage that he has done.

Look at verse 21. For since death came through a man, who's that? >> Adam.

>> The resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. Who's that? >> Christ.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all were made alive. Here are the two game changers, two men, the head of kind of two humanities really, two destinies, two families. Adam in the Garden of Eden rebelled against God and as a result of his sin brought death not only into his life and into the life of his family, but as the head of humanity, that death sentence found itself like a cancer spreading into every human being.

That's why it's not just old people or sick people who die like that 2-year-old boy in that coffin. He too died and those poor kids in that tragic accident in Abu Dhabi. It's the the effect of Adam has basically spread as the head of human humanity infected every human.

But secondly, Christ in his obedience not only dealt with our sin but rose again and has defeated death and his resurrection life has now brought life to every believer in him. You see the complete undoing of Adam damage. Now you're born in Adam, okay?

You're you are united to Adam by virtue of being a human. He's the head of the human race. But to be part of Christ's family, you must be reborn.

And that's a choice that I pray today you will make if you've not made it. You are born in Adam. You must be reborn in Christ.

You must choose to leave to being just simply a child of Adam into being a child of Christ. If you belong to Christ, you you share his future, not just his forgiveness. Uh it's not going to be like a dream I once had early 20s.

I'm at my own funeral. Maybe I was a teenager. I think I was actually a teenager.

I was at my own funeral and my family and friends were there and I was really enjoying my own funeral. People were saying nice things about you know how people say nice things about you at your funeral but you're not there to enjoy it. Well, in my own funeral I'm there conscious and I'm aware of what's going on and you know people are saying nice things and it's lovely.

you know, right up until the end as I'm being lowered into the ground, I could see my family and friends walk away from me. And it was the seeing their backs as they left me, abandoned me into death. That's when the sting of death hit me in that dream.

And what we're being told here is that's how it's not going to be for you. That our future is tied up with Jesus, the Messiah, the second Adam. So that when you see Jesus after he rises from the dead, he becomes a picture of your future.

For your life is bound up with him. When we discover when the when the women and the apostles went to the grave and then notice the stone was removed and the tomb was empty because death has been defeated. That's your future.

When the angels announce he is risen, he is not here. That's your future. When the apostle Paul says that your body will be transformed into the likeness of the body of the resurrected Lord Jesus, you have a picture of what it will be for you as you see Jesus after his resurrected states appearing.

So it's a body. It's a real body. I mean Jesus says, "Come touch me.

See a ghost does not have flesh and blood that you see like fully human and yet not like ours. not broken, glorified. And next week, uh, Dave Ferman is coming to preach from, uh, Redeemer Church, and he'll be expounding the nature of the glorified body in detail.

But for now, if you want a picture of your future, just go to the Gospels and just watch the resurrection appearances because that's you. That's Jesus and it's you. And when Jesus rose from the dead, it set off a set of chain of events that climaxes with God being all in all.

D. Because if Christ won, friends, the future is fixed, clear, and certain. Forget horoscopes.

Waste of time. The future's been worked out. Nothing's going to stop God.

Look at verse 23. But each in turn Christ the first fruits that's the resurrection then when he comes the second coming of Christ those who belong to him that's us then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the father after he has destroyed all dominion authority and power including demons there for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet and then the last enemy to be destroyed is >> that sucker is going now. I love watching YouTube clips on dominoes.

Here's a we got a little clip here. You know, I love I've love watching them being set up and then knocked over, especially when you get 10,000 of them in a room. I could never do that.

I could never set that. Life's too short. But I just I've always liked the effect of it.

In a way, that's the picture of this passage that Christ what we've got here. Christ's resurrection sets off a set of dominoes, set of events that are going to be knocked over. Firstly, first domino is captured in this slide.

The the f I want to stay here for a while. Here are the here are the four big dominoes that are captured in this passage. Firstly, Christ is raised from the dead.

Okay? Death at that moment 2,000 years ago was defeated. Not destroyed because we each going to have our we each owe God a death, right?

Not destroyed, but defeated. Second do domino, Christ return. We're not left as orphans.

God's not going to abandon you to a broken body in a broken world. He's not going to do that to you. He loves you.

Psalm 110, which is quoted here, basically says that God is placing all his enemy at the feet of Jesus. Starting with Satan who'll be cast into the pit along with the you know the reason why God created hell firstly was for the devil and his angels that will be dealt with once and for all when Jesus returns all who reject Christ will be shut out from the presence of God. You don't want that as a future friends.

You don't want a Christless eternity. And then thirdly, death itself will be defeated. That's a third domino.

Sorry, it won't be defeated. It will be destroyed. You see, God is not going to allow another rerun of sin and death as it happened in the Garden of Eden in the new creation.

There is no place for death in the new heaven and in the new earth. Amen. >> You're not going to have, you know, when we've been there 10,000 years, you don't have to look over your shoulder to see the shadow of death lurking, waiting to take you out, gone, destroyed, never to return.

And then fourthly, as a result, God will be all in all. Job done, salvation achieved. Jesus will then hand over the kingdom to his father.

Look what it says in verse 28. A most unusual verse, verse 28. When he has done this, then the son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him so that God may be all in all.

Isn't that interesting? Once God has placed all his enemies at the feet of Jesus, Jesus' job as the Messiah in ushering the kingdom has been achieved. 10 out of 10, job done.

God's people saved. God's enemies destroyed. God's kingdom established.

Jesus hands over as the son to his father the work that he has done. And he would lead us in worship of the father in submissive worship to the father as he did for all eternity. See how your story, your little story is part of a big story.

A story that envelops the father, the son and the holy spirit and god will be all and all and his kingdom will come and nothing and no one will stop it. Ah come up with whatever theory you like about life after death. It means absolutely nothing.

This is the truth my friends and what it means is it's not just about there and then if Christ won how we live now matters. For example, uh e suffering for Christ is worth it. If if Christ's won, suffering for Christ is always always worth it.

See, you're not afraid to die if you know you're going to not die in your sin. You're not afraid to die if you know you're not going to stay dead. Verse.

Look, I'm not saying we're not afraid of how we die. No one wants a long drawn out painful experience. That's slightly different.

We're talking about the reality of death itself here. Verse 30. And as for us, says Paul, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?

I face death every day. Yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus, probably dealing with false teachers and sorry, people who wanted to have him killed.

I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? The crowds when he was in Ephesus preaching the gospel, the crowds often wanted to take him out, right? They often wanted to kill him.

But he knew that if he's the body that they try to kill is the body that will be raised from the dead, then he was prepared to die for that Christ who was going to raise him from the dead. Because in the hands of Jesus, death, that final enemy becomes just a little nap from which to wake up from. See, knowing Jesus has won and death has lost.

Oh my goodness, it changes everything. you don't quite cling to life in quite the same way. You know, people often say, you know, the most important thing in life is your health.

No, it's not. Health is very important, but it's not the most important thing. Not by a long shot.

You know, when Sandy and I, we were praying, as many of you were, for her healing, we had great confidence that God could powerfully heal her because he was all powerful, all good. He would do more than we can ever ask or imagine. and he promised to hear and answer our prayers.

But, and I know this may disappoint some of you, uh, we had no promise from the Lord that he would heal her. I had no specific promise that he would heal her. Our greatest hope wasn't her physical healing.

Our greatest hope was her full healing in her resurrected body on the last day. It was our greatest comfort. And what that meant was we were prepared for God to answer our prayers.

Your will be done. Might have been yes, might have been no, might have been not yet. So I want to say it is good and right we pray expectantly when we pray for people to be healed.

But there is way too little focus on the full healing of the resurrected body and the last day for the new creation. Way we got to keep our eyes on that. That is how you endure suffering well.

Not claiming promises you don't have by claiming the promises that you do have. And what resurrection life means is that all of a sudden now if Christ won life has purpose and meaning is good news friends now that Christianity gives you purpose and meaning that's not the gospel it's the fruit of the gospel. Verse 32 again Paul does it kind of he says it negatively.

If the dead are not raised, if we want to go down that road, then he quotes Isaiah 22. He says, "Well, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. " If if death wins, if death had won and Christ didn't defeat him on the third day, and this is it, well then pursue pleasure, friends, because this is all that there is.

And death will make a mockery of you. There is no reason to be good if there is no resurrection from the dead because there's nothing to look forward to. Death completely, if death wins, it has completely rendered absolutely everything as meaningless.

That is why I say unapologetically though people get annoyed when I say it. I would not be faithful to my wife if Christ did not rise from the dead. He is the reason why I am faithful.

People at Creekide thought I was looking for an excuse to have an affair. But that wasn't the point of what I was trying to say. They missed the point.

The point is this. Um I'm not looking for an excuse to sin. I'm simply saying there is no sin if death wins because there is no judgment.

There is no purpose. What you do doesn't matter. There is no right and wrong.

But if Christ rose from the dead, oh my goodness, everything changes. You see, my holiness, your holiness hinges not on your feelings, not even on your conscience, not on your culture expectation or your church culture. It hinges on one fact that on the third day on that Easter Sunday, death was defeated.

The Messiah is alive and you are going to rise from the dead with glorified bodies and you're going to stand before the judgment seat of the living Lord Jesus who is going to have to whom you have to going to give an account to for what you did in the body. Ah, now there's a reason to do what is right because there's going to be a final review of what I've done which doesn't mean I'm not going to be forgiven for my sins. But what it means is all those times I did the right thing will be remembered.

They will be echoed on into eternity. It's not all going to fall to the ground. Life has meaning that our choices have value in them.

Isn't that good news? I think it's good news. Isn't that good news?

Amen. >> Amen. And that's why Paul ends with the warning.

The warning that the wrong influence destroys hope and holiness. The this is how Paul puts it in verse 33 actually quotes a Greek writer. He says, "Do not be misled.

Bad company corrupts good character. You hang with the wrong people. " That is, you allow the wrong influences into your head like there is no resurrection of the dead.

It will mess with you. Come back to your senses as you ought and stop sinning. For there are some who are ignorant of God.

I say this to your shame. There are those who are saying there's no resurrection from the dead and that has a knock-on effect that affects absolutely everything. See, the world loves to come up with ideas about life after death.

They say no to the resurrection, but they always want life after death. So, you go to funeral. I don't know how many funerals I've been to in my life.

And um you know, again, I only I only know of Western funerals, right? Particularly in Australia, but they run something like this. You know, at a certain point there's two or three people who start giving a eulogy, telling the story about the person who died, and they kind of give you the idea that the person was too good to die.

Reality is the person's dead, so I think God had other opinions. And then the and then and then the false hope always comes in, you know, the the hope that the person will live on in our memories. But the thing is, those who carry the memories will themselves die till finally no one will be alive to remember them.

And what good would it do anyway? You're dead. Even if they do remember you, you're not there to enjoy it.

And then what I love is is that people who have no sense of the resurrection, have no real sense of, you know, God consciousness, they they basically say, you know, um they pull a rabbit out of the hat at a funeral and they say, you know, I'm really sure that my loved one is looking down from heaven right now. Why would you think that? There's absolutely no, if you say no to the resurrection, there is absolutely no evidence that there's life after death.

It's time to face the hard facts once and for all. Stop ignoring the the truth. Stop pretending.

You can't wish death away. It doesn't work like that. Either death has won or Christ has won.

They're your only choices. And you have to decide. Will you turn to the one who died for your sins and provided you with full forgiveness, who was truly buried, dead and buried, then on the third day rose again and to confirm that appear to many and promises to rise again and offices in his return to raise you from the dead and assign you with a glorified body fit for a new heaven and a new earth?

Or will you die in your sins, face judgment alone and unprepared? Or a life that has no purpose, no meaning, no value because death is the end. They're your only choices.

Which is it to be? You know, we say tomorrow's not promised to anyone. And that accident two weeks ago was such a stark reminder of that.

I beg you, do not let the sun set without taking the hand of the Messiah and enter into his kingdom with the promise of life, being liberated from enslavement to the fear of death with the promised guarantee that you will rise with a glorified body where there's no more for a creation where the new creation where there's no more crying or grief. grief or pain, no more death because Jesus has declared, "I am making all things new. " Amen.

>> Amen. Let's pray. Let us pause for a moment.

Let us ponder the future, our own mortality and death. our glorified body at the resurrection. Our presence in the new creation as we stand before the presence of God himself in all his glory.

Father in heaven, we thank you for sending your precious dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to defeat death, who gave us hope and life and full forgiveness, who came to liberate us from our enslavement to the fear of death that mocks us. We praise you for letting us know the future that it is clear and certain that you God will be all in all and knowing that Jesus has defeated death. Lord, we thank you that it changes absolutely everything.

That we will all appear before the judgment seat of the living Lord Jesus because what we do in the body does matter to you. That we have the reason for living a holy life with purpose and meaning. that our choices do matter because you are alive.

And may today be the day where some of us here choose Jesus as their Lord and in so doing choose life. This is our prayer in Jesus wonderful name. And all of God's people said, >> "Amen.

" Friends, he is risen and so will you.