Sermon Tone Analysis

Captivating Sentence

If I asked you, “Do you believe in the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead?”

Most if not all of us would answer ‘yes.’

Then, if I asked you, “Do you believe Jesus Ascended into Heaven?”

Again, without hesitation, most of us would be quick to reply, ‘yes.’

But let’s say I asked you this question: “Do you believe Jesus is 100% flesh and blood human right now, as well as Divine?”

I have found that when we are asked that question, there’s usually a pause.

Maybe we’ve never thought of the question before; maybe it’s a trick question?

When asked, most people aren’t quite sure what the right answer is . . .

CAPTIVATING STORY

Before I came to St. Luke, at Colonial Presbyterian back in Kansas City, I attended several funerals to get a better sense of how pastors lead funerals.

These were the funerals, often, of members of our church, so we are “laying to rest” Christian men and women.

At such funerals, we’ll hear people give their eulogies, and so we’ll hear, he or she “has gone into the presence of the Lord” or “he has entered into glory” or “that they are right now enjoying the splendors of heaven.”

These are all true, but there is almost no mention of the RESURRECTION of the DEAD as the Great Christian Hope.

[Alan F. Johnson]

It is a very sad thing to see that most people—including many Christians—assume that once we die, our salvation is complete.

This is what we hear at funerals so often, that at death, our souls go to be in Christ’s presence and that’s all there is.

Yes, our souls do immediately upon death enter the presence of our Savior, but this is not what the Bible describes as our ultimate hope!

No, our ultimate hope is not death and the putting down of this body of sin, but the expectation that Jesus, at the right time, will give to us our bodies again—Glorified, free of sin, and like His own body!

So as we begin our text this morning, let’s begin at this starting point: the Christian’s salvation is sure, it is guaranteed and sealed by the Holy Spirit; however, our fully completed SALVATION will not happen until we are GLORIFIED, and our GLORIFICATION will not happen until JESUS HIMSELF gives to us our Bodies Again, our NEW BODIES, FREE OF SIN, IMMORTAL, and LIKE HIS OWN.

Hardly!

MACARTHUR SERMON START

Paul is reminding the Corinthians that dead men do and shall rise from the dead.

This is not a new truth.

It is a cardinal truth in Christianity.

It is also a key truth in Judaism.

It is both in the Old and the New Testament.

As far back as the ancient book of Job in Chapter 19, in verse 26.

Job said, “Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for myself and not another though my reins be consumed within me.”

In other words, Job said though my body rots in the grave, somehow in some way, yet in my flesh, I’ll see God.

That is the belief in a bodily resurrection.

When you come into the New Testament, Jesus begins early in His ministry to promise a literal, physical, bodily resurrection.

For example, in John 5 and verse 28, “Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall here His voice and shall come forth.”

“All that are in the grave,” said Jesus, “shall hear His forth and come forth.”

In John 6:44, Jesus said, “No man can come to me except the Father who hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day.”

In John 11:25, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life, whosoever believes in me so really never die, but have life that is eternal and everlasting.”

So Jesus promised physical resurrection.

Additionally, to the Old Testament hope and the promise of Jesus, the New Testament apostles also preached the resurrection of the dead.

In fact, it got them into trouble in Acts 4, “And as they spoke under the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came on them.

Being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from death,” or from the grave.

They were preaching physical resurrection.

This was the message of the apostle Paul.

In 2 Corinthians for example, Chapter 4 and verse 14. “Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise up us also.”

And Paul preached this repeatedly.

In Colossians 3:4, he said, “When Christ who is our life shall appear than shall ye also appear with him.”

In 1 Thessalonians, he said that the dead would come out of the graves and be united with Christ and that we who were alive and remaining should be united with Him.

In Philippians 3, he said, “Our citizenship is in heaven,” in verse 20.

And in verse 21, he said, “The Lord will change our vial bodies into glorious bodies like unto His body.”

Jesus said in John 14, that He was going away to prepare a place for us and that He would come again and receive us unto Himself.

In John 17, He prayed that we would be with Him in the presence of the Father.

So there is the statement of the Old Testament, the word of Jesus, the word of the apostles, the word of Paul to the fact that there is resurrection bodily from the grave to be with the Lord for those who are believers.

This is basic to our faith.

And I think it’s important to note that in that resurrection form we will still be ourselves.

For example, in Revelation 20, in verse 12 it says “that God called them to Him and out of the graves they came and John says I saw standing before the Lord the dead both small and great.”

What’s interesting about that is that there was still a difference in the people when they were there in the vision of the future judgment as when they were here on earth.

Some were smaller or insignificant and some where greater.

That is they maintained a personality and a personhood somewhat like that which they had in life.

We’ll be ourselves in a real way.

But in spite of the clear word of the Old Testament and in spite of the clear word of Jesus, in spite of the clear of apostolic preaching, in spite of the clear word of the apostle Paul, the Corinthians had come to the place where they were denying bodily resurrection.

They had bought the bag of Greek philosophers and you remember the Greek philosophers taught that the soul was immortal, but the body was not.

That the soul would go on forever, but the body rotted in the grave and it was good-bye forever.

So that immortality had only to bear on the spiritual.

We would live spiritually forever not in any kind of corporeal sense.

In fact, verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 15 has basically the statement these critics were making.

“Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

In other words, they were flatly saying dead men don’t rise again.

That was the statement of Greek philosophy and that was being parroted by the Corinthian church, at least a few in the church.

Now remember, Paul has already told them in the first 11 verses that that’s an impossible view for them to have.

And the reason it’s impossible is because they already believe that Jesus rose from the dead, right?

In other words, if you go back to Chapter 15 in the first few verses, Paul says, “Remember the gospel,” folks, “the gospel you received and on which you stand and by which you are saved.”

And what is the gospel?

It’s verse 3, “That Christ died according to the Scriptures.”

Verse 4, “That He was buried and that He rose again.”

In other words, he’s saying look, you already believe in resurrection.

You already believe in bodily resurrection because you’ve already accepted it, received it, stand on it, and are being saved by it.

And it’s the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Now verse 12, “If Christ is already being preached that He rose from the dead, and you’re already believing that, then how could some among you say that there’s no such thing as resurrection from the dead.”

You already believe it.

You’re already committed to it.

You’ve already been saved by that confidence and that faith.

But if there’s no resurrection then He didn’t conquer sin.

Sin conquered Him, it killed Him and kept Him dead.

There’s no reconciliation.

There’s not justification.

There’s no salvation.

There’s no life.

If Christ is still dead, then every believer is still dead in trespasses and sins and there’s no deliverance, none at all.

As long as Christ our surety was held by Satan, as long as He was held by death and not released, then the debt was never paid and we’re still liable.

But in Romans 4:25, bless God, it says “He was raised for our,” what, “justification.”

He came out of that grave.

The Bible says when you put your faith in Christ you’re united with Him.

“If He died and stayed there, we’d die and stay there too.

But if He came out of the grave so we come to walk in newness of life.”

“Only as the living Christ,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “can He be made unto us wisdom and sanctification and righteousness and redemption.”

He couldn’t keep us.

He couldn’t save us.

He couldn’t do anything for us if He wasn’t alive.

And there’s nobody else to turn because Acts 4:12 says, “salvation is in Him.”

And if He couldn’t pull it off we’re dead folks, we’re dead.

And what Jesus said to those leaders in John 8:21, “You will die in your sins,” was true of Him and of everybody else if He didn’t rise.