He Has Risen

He has Risen Amen He Has risen can we praise the Lord this morning just for a momnet and thank the Father that He raised up the Siion for as He raised the Son He shall too raise those who are in Him Amen

What if Easter didnt Exist? What if there had been no ressuresction?

This is the questions in which i Hope to ask and answer today My prayer for you is that you sit that you listen that you meditate on what I have to say not because they are from me but from God what are the implications?

Then we shall look at the greatest gift given of all time the Son for the sins of the World and that through him that the world would not be condemed but that it may be saved

LET US PRAY

Lord Jesus Holy Father in heaven we come before you as humble servants as empty vessels waiting and willing for you to pour into us to press into us that we would truley be transformed by the Power of the Holy Spirit never desiring the World but the things of the Father, Lord please open thier eye’s today Open thier ears today to hear your word to hear your truth to meditate on the implication of there not being a easter

Lord Father Help us to keep this day Holy in reverance to you For this is you day that You recieve our praise and our Worship

lord my Father thank you for giving us your son for our sin it doesnt seem like a fair trade but thank you for loving us enough to trade your only son for us that through him we might be saved so thank you Jesus

Lord be with all belivers everywhere today

all churches everywhere today let this day be a day of Holiness everywhere there be a son or daughter in Christ Please bless this day bless thiss message and bless these people here with us today in your name Jesus WE all pray and the people said Amen

___________________________________________________________--

This morning I want to take you to 1st Cor 15. and we are going to beguin to ask the question what if easter never happened?

in a momnent I want to share with you my text from my bible but before i do I want to ask you have you ever heard of harry houdini?

Houdini was a majician who died october 1926. He is known as the man who cheated death they said of Harry that he had the lives of a cat and flexability of a snake

Many times harry tempted death they tied him up threw him in a lake of water he escaped, they handcuffed him put him in a strait jacket he escaped, they dowsed him in gasoline lit him on fire locked him in a box he escaped they burrid him in a casket he escaped. But on Oct 23 1926 Harry met his match a place in which he could not escape death

Harry told his wife while laying on his death bed if there is a way I will escape I will return to you if anyone can its me, his widow left a candle burning for 10 years waiting on harry before blowing it out even hary could not escape death.

Death came for Jesus too Laid him to rest there in josephs tomb there was a large heavy stone rolled to seal the tomb so than nothing could get in or out. There were Roman Soldgers guarding that tomb, But on the third day Jesus christ Rose from the grave he defeted death, An He was Alive He is Alive indeed For He has Risen..................

Now I want to to ask yourself the question supposed that he had not risen that he like harry died like all men do then what are such implications Well.... the Apostle Paul speaks of this here in our main text so look with me at verse 12

1 Corinthians 15:12–18 NKJV

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? 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.

Not your Typical Easter Text I will admitt ............Well if you know me I dont do thing the typical way ..................... but instead what God lays on my heart

What if Easter Did not happen?

Ill admit thats a bit of a loaded question...... Much like what if you were never born...................... This question is heavy its stron and its loaded.............What if easter didnt happen this question must be concidered thought about and done carefully AS our entire Faith us built upon the face that Christ has Risen. Chrusches alll over the world throughout history exsite and existed because they believed that He Is Alive

That He has risen

So what would our Life be like if the resurrection never happened

Our Preaching would be in Vein

notice verse 14

1 Corinthians 15:14 NKJV

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

Thats a Bold Statement Empty with out power without effect

Paul says that if there was no ressurection then our message mean nothing

What is our message

That God Loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us that he would become sin so that we are made righchouss in the eyes of the father that he rose and that he is alive that we serve not dum or deaf idols but a living gos who loves us that he asended into heaven aND TOOK HIS PLACE AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER AND THAT AN Y WHO BELIVE IN HIM SHALL NOT PERRISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE

THIS IS OUR MESSAGE OF HOPE OF SALVATION

But if there was no ressurection, then our messege is without power, You see the message of jesus os to proclaim the Gospel the Good news but if there is no ressureciion there is no Good news

Think of presenting the Gospel without the ressurection what are you face with BaD NEWS

Imagine this for a moment you are sharing with someone about those causght in there sin will be thrown into the lake of fire where the worm never dies and caught up in there sin and under deep conviction they cry out to you what must i do and without hipe in the resurection you say well good luck with that

Because without Christ resurection there can be none that can be saved

Here is a example

imagine if i knoked on your door on sat afternoon and said congrtulations you have been selected as the winner of our sweepstaskes, you have just won 10 million dollars now that for many would be good news that would be so exciting and think about it after you paid off the churches debt there would even be still some for you left over Now you would be so ecited wouldnt you

The only problem is that I have no sweepstakes there is no money its all a lie and because it is the message is powerless it is worthless much like a cruel aprils fools joke

BUT OUR MESSAGE IS NOT POWERLESS FOR CHRIST HAS RISEN Paul SAYS IN ROMANS

Romans 1:16 NKJV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Our message is not powerless I am proof I have seen proof that the message of the cross does change live is does cause us to become a new creation and a powerless message could never do such a thing. I have seen men and woman broken and hopeless restored to joy and peace by the power of Christ I have seen drug and alchol addics be delivered from years of abuse and torment like then deamon pssesed in Mark 4

I have seen a many lay in this building with 2 broke legs carried out on a stretcher to be released from the hospital 20 min larer walking under the streagth and healing of Christ

I have seen marriges restored hateful people fall inlove true transformantions

This Happens By the Power that is in our message for We serve not a dead Christ but a Living one

He has risen !Amen He has risen! He is Alive! ....................................... And He is here with us today

This message is not powerless, it has the power to change lives! And it has the power to change your life as well. Have you been changed by the risen Christ?

2. Our faith would be useless: 14

Explanation

Paul continues by saying, if Easter didn’t exist, or if Christ has not risen then our “faith is in vain.” It’s the same word used twice. In other words, what good is faith if Christ hasn’t risen from the dead.

If it never really happened, then your faith is useless. If Christ is not risen then it’s all a myth and there’s no need to follow Him with your life. You can live any way you want, act any way you want, do anything you want, say anything you want and it doesn’t matter at all. You see, if Easter didn’t exist, our faith wouldn’t matter at all.

You see, I believe that in every one of us there is a desire to find something or someone we can trust. Someone who when all seems to be falling apart in our lives will be there for us. That can help us no matter how bad things get in our lives.

Illustration

*When we buy a product we want to make sure that we can count on it and trust it to work the way it is supposed to work. When you go and buy a car you are looking for reliability. A car that you know will carry you and your family safely for years to come. The car company tries to earn your trust by giving you a warrantee. The warrantee tells you how long and to what extent you can trust them and their product. Some are three years 36,000 miles, while others are 5 year 50,000 mile, some are 10 year 100,000 mile warrantees. But the problem with these warrantees is they eventually run out. You can trust them but only for a period of time. Our relationship with others is the same way. When looking for a husband or wife we look for someone who is trustworthy. Someone we can trust, someone we know who is going to be faithful to us over the course of a life time. But even in the best relationships people fail us and let us down. I believe that it is in the heart of every person and is there deepest longing to be able to completely trust someone. Someone who won’t lie to you, someone who will who won’t let you down. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead then we cannot trust him with our lives and we certainly cannot trust him with our eternity.*

Argumentation/Application

But fortunately for us, Jesus did rise from the dead. Easter does exist, it’s real not fake, it’s true, not a lie! We can trust Him with our lives and live for Him.

Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Because Christ is risen you can trust Him. You can trust Him with your life, with your family, friendships, finances and future.

3. Our salvation would be pointless: 17-18

Explanation

The Bible tells us in verse 17, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” If Easter didn’t exist, our salvation would be pointless. In fact, if Easter didn’t exist, there would be no such thing as salvation.

You see, salvation promises the forgiveness of sins. But the Bible says that if Christ is not risen we’re still in our sin, it’s not forgiven, we owe the debt ourselves.

Salvations promises a future, a resurrection one day and a home forever in heaven. But if Christ has not been raised from the dead, we can’t expect to be raised from the dead either. You see, a major part of our salvation is the forgiveness of sins and the promise of a resurrection. But if Jesus didn’t rise again, then we can’t experience this salvation at all.

Think about it like this: If Jesus did not rise from the dead we are still guilty of our sin before God. If we are stilly guilty of our sin, if we still owe a debt for our sin then we cannot have fellowship with God at all. Sin separates us from a holy God. If we are still in our sins then it means that God is holding our sins against us. To have fellowship with God our sin must be forgiven. No resurrection, no forgivness.

Argumentation

Now someone might say, “I thought Jesus paid for our sins on the cross?” And you are right. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”

But the resurrection is just as important to our salvation. Romans 4:25 says, “He was handed over on account of our transgressions, and he was raised on account of our justification.” The reason that God raised His son from the dead was twofold. It was to vindicate that Jesus was truly innocent of sin and to validate our forgiveness as a demonstration that God had received Christ’s sacrifice for our sin.

Application

Aren’t you thankful that Easter DOES exist; Christ is risen! And as a result of that, salvation is not pointless. In fact, it is absolutely essential and necessary! It’s not pointless, it IS the point of life.

4. Our life would be hopeless: 19

Explanation

Let’s be honest, we want our lives to count for something; to matter and make a difference. But if Christ has not been raised from the dead, Paul says “we are of all people most to be pitied.” Why? Because everything we’re living for is a lie and it doesn’t matter.

If Christ has not risen, if Easter doesn’t exist, then life is hopeless. And all of the things you do in this life for Him, they don’t matter at all. If Christ has not risen, I’ve wasted my life living a lie, standing before you each and every Sunday for nothing. If Christ has not risen, our life would be hopeless!

Argumentation

But Christ did rise from the dead; so instead of being pitied we should be envied. Because the life we live does matter! That is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

And because Christ rose from the dead we too should be envied because of the glorious rewards that are waiting for us in the life to come. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”

Conclusion/Illustration

*A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. As she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and asked him to come to her house to discuss some of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral service, what Scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. She requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. As the pastor prepared to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something else. “There’s one more thing, “She said excitedly. “What’s that?” said the pastor. “This is important,” the woman said. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say. The woman explained. “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, when the dishes of the main course were being cleared; someone would inevitably lean over and say, “Keep your fork.” It was my favorite part of the meal because I knew something better was coming—like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.” “So, when people see me in that casket with a fork in my hand and they ask, “What’s with the fork?” I want you to tell them: “Keep your fork. The best is yet to come!”*