Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

according to the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 15—our faith rests on the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to the apostle Paul, if the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not fact, we have no sermons to preach, we have nothing to base our faith on, and we are still in our sins.

The Resurrection is a fact.

Those who are not quite sure, and who do not trust the Bible’s account, can go to the library and investigate Josephus’s historical accounts.

And for those of us who do believe the Bible is an accurate account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have much to rejoice about.

Resurrection is not just New Testament theology.

Job believed in the resurrection from the grave.

In his deep pain and sorrow, he asked,

/If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes (Job 14:14)./

It was not an unusual thing for Job to cry out in his anguish.

Nor is it unusual for us to cry out in ours.

But Job shouted out through it all, /“I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth” /(Job 19:25).

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.”

Only because of the Resurrection do we have such hope.

!! A.                 Proof 1: The prophecy of David—The prophecy concerned Jesus (v.25-28).

!!! 1.                  “I foresaw the Lord always…  He is at My right hand… my heart rejoiced…”  (v.25).

!!!! a)                  David’s prophecy concerned Jesus’ daily experience or life (v.25-26).

!!!!! (1)                 /Jesus had God’s constant presence (v.25)/.

!!!!!! (a)                 Jesus always saw God before His face.

Jesus looked and kept His gaze upon God.

He thought upon God, focused His mind and attention upon God.

!!!!!! (b)                The idea is that Jesus always practiced and was always conscious of God’s presence.

!!!!!! (c)                 We ought to practice the same thing *(Exodus 33:12-17 – /see also Mark 3:13-15/)*:

*There is power in the presence of God; Moses said in Deut.4,

*"And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power," (Deuteronomy 4:37, NKJV)

*Being aware of God’s presence will involve what Isaiah said *"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”  (Isaiah 26:3, NLT)

*After they sinned, Adam and Eve ran from God* "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

(Genesis 3:8, NKJV)

*Cain* "Went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.”  (Genesis 4:16, NKJV).

*During the tribulation, there will be those who would rather die then be in His presence: *"Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;" (Revelation 6:15-16)

 

!!!!! (2)                 /Jesus rejoiced and praised God (v.26a)/.

!!!!!! (a)                 Such a consciousness of God’s presence was bound to cause rejoicing and praise:

*Listen to what the Psalmist said *"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever."

(Psalm 30:11-12)

*When we understand that the Lord is with us through all situations, we can rejoice as the Palmist did by saying, *"I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul," (Psalm 31:7)

*Do you love the salvation you have?

Are you grateful for it?

Then *"Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”“

(Psalm 40:16)

!!!!! (3)                  /Jesus rested in hope and trust /(v.26b).

!!!!!! (a)                 The phrase “shall rest” means /“shall tabernacle or pitch a tent”/.

Jesus’ flesh rested, tabernacled, pitched its tent, encamped and made its abode upon hope—the hope of conquering death, and being resurrected.

!!!!!! (b)                The hope of living forever was the basis and foundation of Jesus’ life, that for which He lived.

He focused His whole life and being upon the hope of the glorious resurrection

(i)                   Let’s see what hope Paul had *(Phil.3:7-14).*

*Listen to what Paul says about life and death *“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

(Philippians 1:21)

(ii)                 When a believer really knows Christ, he experiences power-the power of God Himself and God wants us to experience the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

(iii)                When God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, He demonstrated three things:

·         *That God has the power to conquer all the trials and temptations of life *"And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2 Corinthians 12:9, NASB95)

·         *That God has the power to give man a new life and the power to live it before Him *"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

(Romans 6:4, NASB95)

·         *God has the power to raise men from the dead* "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

(John 5:28-29)

 

!!! 2.                  “You will not leave my soul in Hades…  Nor to see corruption…”  (v.27).

!!!! a)                  Jesus’ conviction: God’s Deliverance (v.27 */see also Luke 16:19-31/*).

!!!!! (1)                 */Not left in hell (v.27a):/*

The word “leave” means to leave behind, to utterly forsake and abandon.

It is a strong word indicating a permanent state.

A soul can be utterly forsaken and abandoned and doomed permanently in hell.

*That is why Jesus said* "“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

(Matthew 10:28, NASB95)

 

!!!!! (2)                 */Not see corruption (v.27b):/*

The word “corruption” means to /decay, deteriorate, putrify, destroy, and perish/.

In no place does Christ promise a /new body/ to the unbeliever, to the unsaved and lost.

A person’s body and flesh can be destroyed forever (not annihilated).

*Paul makes this clear when he says *"For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:8)

*Speaking about Jesus, Peter said *"God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power" (Acts 2:24, NASB95)

!!!!!! (a)                 See *(1Cor.15:35-44)*.

\\ !!! 3.                  “You have made known to me the ways of life…”  (v.28).

!!!! a)                  Jesus’ revelation: The path of life—God’s presence (v.28).

!!!!! (1)                 The Hebrew original reads “the path of life.”

God revealed the /path of life/ to Christ, and Christ reveals it to us.

The path of life, the way to escape death is to live in the countenance and presence of God.

!!!!! (2)                 Note: He was full of the joy of God’s presence.

(So should we be.)

*Jesus said to Philip *“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6, NASB95)

*Psalm 16** says* "You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

(Psalm 16:11, NASB95)

*And Jesus Himself spoke about 2 paths and everyone is on one or the other *"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

(Matthew 7:13-14, NKJV)

!!!!! (3)                 See *(Psalm 1:1ff)*: the good and negative paths in this Psalm:

!!!!!! (a)                 The warning of walking the bad paths *(Prov.4:14-27).*

!!!!!! (b)                The promise of walking the good paths *(Prov.3:1-6).*

*You remember John the Baptist was *"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight *[a straight path to our hearts]*!”"

(Matthew 3:3)

*We have a choice to make, as Joshua said *"Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

(Joshua 24:15, NASB95)

 

!! B.                Proof 2: Peter’s testimony (v.29-31).

!!! 1.                  “David, he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day…”  (v.29).

!!!! a)                  David’s prophecy could not refer to David (v.29).

!!!!! (1)                 David was dead and buried.

It was even known where his grave was, on Mt.

Zion where most of Israel’s kings were buried.

!!!!! (2)                 But there is something significant about David.