When I was about 13 years old, three of my grandparents died within a year or so of each other, and that deeply bothered me. And what bothered me about their deaths, apart from missing them, was that I just didn't know what had happened to them, where they went. Where did they go after death? Where did they depart to? They were here one minute, and now they were gone. Did they go to heaven? Did they go to hell? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? These were the kinds of questions I was asking as an unsaved, hurting 13-year-old. And sadly, nobody that I knew at that time had any satisfying answers because All they were able to give me were their personal opinions and their views. And no one was able to give me any reliable information with any credible authority to back it up as to what happens after death. And that's true of most people when it comes to thinking about death. They simply have no clue. But only speculations. Only theories. theories as to what happens to a person after they die. And yet, since all of us are going to die, there is no issue of greater importance. There's no question of anything that's more significant that we could possibly ask than what happens to us, what happens to us after this life is over and we pass into eternity. So due to the gravity of such a question, we need to have answers that are more than human opinions, more than human guesswork. Well, tonight, as we continue our study of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, we are going to get answers to the question many have asked about what happens after death. Because tonight, as you know, we are embarking upon a very meaningful journey through 1 Corinthians chapter which is entirely devoted to the doctrine of the resurrection. Here's how one Bible teacher explained 1 Corinthians 15 and its significance. He said, we now come to consider Paul's massive treatment or treatise on the truth of resurrection. It is majestic, extensive, informative, explanatory, and revelatory. There's nothing elsewhere in the Scripture to compare with it. It reveals yet again the Apostle's masterly logic, clear thinking, and profound expression under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In it, he combines history and prophecy, the true and the false gospel, death and the triumph of resurrection, the wonder of the resurrection body, and the revelation of a mystery, the triumph of life over death, so that death, as Paul said in verse 54, is swallowed up in victory. Now interestingly, the resurrection is the only issue in Paul's entire letter to the Corinthians in which he had to correct them over a theological matter, over a doctrinal matter. If you think back, if you've been here through the series on 1 Corinthians and think back to all the other problems the apostle has dealt with for 14 chapters with this church, you'll recall that all of their problems, all of them related to either the Corinthians' outward behavior or their inner attitudes, but not over bad theology. Not over bad theology. With all of their problems, and there were plenty, they were actually a church with generally sound doctrine. They believed the truth. It was living out the truth that they had difficulty with. However, the one exception to this was the doctrine of the resurrection. When it came to the resurrection, the Corinthians needed correction. Why? Because what they believed about the resurrection of the human body was simply wrong. It was even heretical. even heretical. You see, while the Corinthians believed in Christ's resurrection, because along with our Lord's death and burial, His resurrection is an essential part of the gospel message that no one can be saved without believing. What they didn't believe was that after death their bodies Their bodies were going to be raised from the dead. And folks, that's really the crux of the problem that Paul is addressing in chapter You see, the Corinthians were totally inconsistent in what they believed about the resurrection, in that while they believed that the body of Jesus was raised from the dead, they denied that their bodies would be raised from the dead. And the Apostle Paul specifically spells out this inconsistency. He points it out to them. He calls them on it in verse 12, where he writes, 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? In other words, if you believe that Christ's body was raised from the dead, then why don't you believe that your bodies will be raised from the dead as well? So this really was the root problem that Paul is addressing here in this chapter. So the question for us then is, why? Why was there even a problem in the first place? Why did they have this inconsistency? What was the issue here? Why did the Corinthians hold to the view that their bodies would not be raised from the dead? Well, there's a very definite reason for this, a reason why they didn't believe their bodies would be resurrected. And Paul understood exactly what the reason was. Listen closely. It was because the Corinthians allowed pagan Greek thought and philosophy to infiltrate and to influence their thinking and their theology. You see, while Greek philosophy of that day believed in the immortality of the soul, meaning that their soul, that unseen immaterial part of us, They believed that after death, their soul lived on throughout eternity. However, they rejected the belief that their physical body would be resurrected and continue to live on into eternity. Their soul, they said yes, but not their body. And the Corinthians, who were Greek by culture and background, were so prone to allowing pagan thinking to influence their behavior and their beliefs. So when it came to this, they readily embraced, at least some of them, embraced this heretical view of the resurrection. John MacArthur in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, he spells out exactly what the ancient Greeks believed and why they rejected the resurrection of the human body. This is insightful, so listen closely. This is important. He said a basic tenet of much ancient Greek philosophy was dualism, a concept generally attributed to Plato. Dualism considered everything spiritual to be intrinsically good and everything physical to be intrinsically evil. To anyone holding that view, the idea of a resurrected body was repugnant. For them, the very reason for going to an afterlife was to escape all things physical. They considered the body a tomb or a corpse to which in this life their souls were shackled. For those Greeks, their bodies were the last things they would want to take along to the next life. They believed in the immortality of the soul, but strongly opposed the idea of a resurrection of the body. As Paul had experienced when he preached Remember, he preached to the philosophers at Athens and the Areopagus. He preached this. Now, when they heard, this is what Luke is telling us from Acts 17.32. Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer. MacArthur continues, the typical view of dualism was expressed by Seneca, who said, when the day shall come, when shall part this mixture of divine and human here where I found it, I will leave my body and myself I will give back to the gods." So he spoke of a separation between soul and body. Now, in addition to the Greek thinking that influenced the Corinthians in their view of the resurrection, it is very possible that in addition to that, that some of the Jewish members of this church also rejected the belief in the human body being raised from the dead. In spite of the fact that the Old Testament clearly taught the resurrection of the body, we know that the Sadducees, one of the Jewish sects of the first century, we know that they rejected the doctrine of the resurrection along with a number of other important doctrines. so that we know that there were Jewish people at that time who did not believe in the resurrection of the human body. And perhaps, perhaps some of them were members of the Corinthian assembly. In any case, the Corinthians were wrong They were in error about the doctrine of the resurrection, and so this issue needed to be addressed, it needed to be corrected, it needed to be carefully explained to them, and that's exactly what Paul does for the next 58 verses. However, before the apostle ever directly deals with the fact that the bodies of believers will be raised after death, he first He first lays the foundation for this truth by emphasizing one thing, and that is that Jesus was resurrected. You see, his argument for the resurrection of our body is simply this. If Jesus in his human body was raised from the dead, then we will be raised from the dead too. It's very logical, it's reasonable, it's right. And so Paul spends the first 11 verses of this chapter talking only about Christ's resurrection and nothing more, nothing else. And what he does in these 11 verses is he presents a number of arguments to prove the resurrection of Christ. Now, tonight we're going to look at three of those arguments. As I said a few minutes ago, the Corinthians, they already believed that Jesus was raised from the dead. So, you might wonder, why would Paul give them any arguments proving that Jesus was raised from the dead when they already believed it? Why would he argue for something they already believed? Well, this I think is the key. He doesn't give them arguments to convince them of this truth or to persuade them that Jesus was raised from the dead. He's giving these arguments, note this, for the purpose of helping their belief in Christ's resurrection to grow, to develop into something they held to with a deep conviction. In other words, Paul wants to strengthen their certainty of this truth. He wants to increase their confidence, their assurance that Jesus really was raised from the dead. He wants their faith in this fact to be one of unwavering certitude. And he does all of this in order to build his case, which is that if we know with certainty that Jesus was raised from the dead, then we can be certain that we will be raised from the dead too. Now, like the Corinthians, I would assume that most of you, if not all of you who are here tonight, believe in Christ's resurrection. You don't need any convincing of it. But what you do need, and what all of us need, is a deepening of faith, a deepening of assurance in this truth that Jesus was really raised from the dead. You need to not simply believe it as another New Testament doctrine, You need to be absolutely convinced of it. It needs to grip your hearts. It needs to be a living truth and a living reality in our lives. You need to be resolute and firm in your belief to the point that it would be a conviction you would die for. that Jesus was literally raised from the dead, and that's because, as I said, more than simply a biblical doctrine, the doctrine of the resurrection is the very heart and soul of our faith. Let me put it this way. Without the resurrection of Christ, there is no faith. There's no Christianity. We have no relationship with God. We have no hope of ever going to heaven when we die. Without the resurrection of Jesus, everything about our faith is simply wishful thinking. That's how important the resurrection is. In fact, the Apostle Paul put it this way in verse 17 of this chapter. He said, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You're still in your sins. There's no forgiveness. His cross meant nothing if he wasn't raised from the dead. It was John Locke, an 18th century British philosopher, who recognized the same truth and Locke expressed it in these words. He said, our Savior's resurrection is truly of great importance in Christianity. So great that his being or not being the Messiah stands or falls on it. He's right. And so, out to strengthen, out to deepen, out to reinforce the Corinthians belief in the resurrection. Paul starts by giving the first proof right at the beginning of the chapter that Jesus was raised from the dead. The first proof is this. the Corinthians' own salvation. The Corinthian salvation. We begin at verse 1 and then a little bit into verse 2. Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved. Having just finished teaching the Corinthians about spiritual gifts, specifically, the spiritual gifts of prophecy or preaching and tongues, Paul now turns his attention to the doctrine of the resurrection. He has turned a corner. It's a new topic. And he begins by telling the Corinthians that the message of the gospel, which he is about to spell out to them in just a few moments, in just a few verses, He's telling them it's the same gospel message that he preached to them the first time he came to their city as recorded for us in the book of Acts chapter 18. In other words, Paul is telling them that the gospel that he initially preached to them, it's the same gospel he's about to mention once again to them. And as we'll see, the reason he's going to bring up the Gospel to them is because one of the essential elements of the Gospel message is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, notice once again what he tells them in verse 1 and then the beginning of verse 2 about what happened to them when they first heard him preach the Gospel. Concerning this, he says, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved. Paul reminds them that when he first came to their city and preached the gospel to them, he said, first of all, you received it. You received it, meaning they believed it. They welcomed the truth into their lives. They embraced it. They accepted what Paul had to tell them about Jesus. They received it. And now, as a result of having received the gospel in the past, he said, you presently stand. And I take it what he means by this is they now have been given a standing before God in the sense that they are justified, which means that they are declared legally righteous. And therefore, they are secure so that they will never lose this salvation. And in addition to having received the gospel so that they now have this proper standing before God, Paul tells them that they are saved. Meaning that they are continuing to be saved or delivered or rescued from the power of sin and condemnation that sin brings. Now this, folks, this is indeed good news. And Paul is simply affirming that when they heard the gospel from him, which he will say in a moment includes, as I said, the truth of the resurrection, they were saved. And the reason he is reminding them of this is because, note this, their salvation Their salvation proves that Christ was raised from the dead, not simply because, well, they believe it to be true, but because their salvation, their deliverance from paganism testifies, testifies to the fact that it was the resurrected Christ who saved and who transformed them. That's the point that Paul is making. See, the fact that one believes that Jesus was raised from the dead doesn't make it true just because you believe it. People believe all kinds of things that are simply not true. They're false. What demonstrates the validity of Christ's resurrection is that He, the risen Christ, has the power to change wicked sinners into new creatures who are saved and sanctified. That is to say, the proof that Christ was raised from the dead, it was the Corinthians' own salvation. That of being brought out of spiritual darkness, spiritual death, dead paganism into a living relationship with God. It's the same thing with us. One of the great evidences for Christianity being true is that when Christ saves someone, He changes them in the same direction. There's a desire to turn away from sin. There's a desire to move towards holiness. He doesn't simply change us and we're on our own. Every single true Christian has a lifestyle of changes, new ambitions, new desires, new goals. New things that interest them. Things that they turn from. That's evidence of Christ's resurrection because He's the one changing us. Now think back to what Paul said about how some of the Corinthians, how they lived prior to their salvation. and how the gospel totally transformed them. I call your attention to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 through 11. He said, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate. nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." He's talking about people whose lifestyle is this. This kind of behavior. Now notice verse 11. Such were some of you, he tells the Corinthians. This is your background, he's telling them. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God. He's telling them that their lives have been transformed and the only way they could have been transformed is by the risen Christ doing it. And as I said a few moments ago, and such were some of you, the gospel's changed you. It's changed me. So that our transformed lives testifies to the power of the gospel and therefore to the power of Christ's resurrection. The fact that Jesus has saved you that he's changed you, your heart is different, your life is different. It proves that he was raised from the dead. It proves, folks, that he is alive. Concerning the transforming power... of Christ, one Bible teacher put it this way, said, the point of the first two verses is that the Corinthian believers were themselves living evidences that this doctrine was true. The fact that they came out of the spiritual blindness and deadness of Judaism or paganism and into the light, into the light and the life of Christ testified to the power of the gospel and therefore to the power of the resurrection. So the Corinthians, their own salvation, proved that Jesus was raised from the dead. There is simply no other way to explain their conversion and the conversion of every single Christian other than the power of the gospel, which includes the power of Christ's resurrection. However, and it's a big however, while reminding the Corinthians of their salvation as proof of Christ being raised from the dead, Paul went on to add an important qualification in verse 2. He did it in the form of a conditional clause. Here's what Paul said as you read the verse. If, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. Now what Paul means by this isn't that a true believer can ever lose their salvation. Rather, this is a warning to those in the Corinthian church who failed to keep holding on to and believing the truths of the gospel, and specifically the truth of the resurrection of Christ. If they don't hold on to this, if they reject it, Paul is saying, you weren't saved in the first place. What the apostle is telling them is that if they rejected the gospel, then it proved that they were never saved. Though they initially claimed to believe it. Their hearts were never changed. You see, those who are truly saved, those who are converted, not only prove that their salvation is genuine by their ongoing obedience to God's Word, but those who are truly saved prove that their salvation is genuine by their ongoing belief in sound doctrine. Sound doctrine. The doctrine, specifically the message of the gospel. They don't bend on that. They're not flexible about that. It's non-negotiable. For anyone to reject Christ's resurrection and to simply believe in a crucified Jesus who wasn't raised from the dead is to reject the gospel. And by doing this, they reveal. They reveal that they were never saved in the first place because true believers continue in the faith. In his book on 1 Corinthians Bible teacher, Ray Stedman, he records the following conversation he had with a young man who told him that he wanted to quit the faith. Ray Stedman was a pastor out in California. He writes this, he said, a young man once came to me and said, I'm tired of being a Christian, I'm fed up with it, I've tried my best and nothing seems to work, so I'm going to quit. I said, I think it's a good idea. Why don't you just do that? Why don't you give it up? He seemed shocked. I think he had expected me to talk him out of this decision. What do you mean, he asked? Well, I replied, you said you were going to quit and I think it's a good idea. Why don't you stop trying to be a Christian and go ahead and live the way you like? Forget what the Bible says. Just have a good time doing whatever you want to do. There was a look of horror on his face. You know I can't do that, he said. Yes, I know, I said. I just wanted to make sure you knew it, too. A wise pastor. Now, the reason that this young man that he couldn't quit following Christ and believing in the message of the Gospels, because even with all of his struggles, and I would assume that he was in a lot of ups and downs in his life, he was a true believer. And true believers always persevere in the faith. They may have their ups and downs, they have their bumps in the road, but they continue to believe the Gospel, regardless of how difficult and challenging their life might be. And so the first proof Paul gives for Jesus being raised from the dead is the Corinthian salvation. And having given this, Paul moves on to give a second proof that Jesus was raised from the dead, which is the resurrection of Christ was divinely revealed to him, him being Paul. The beginning of verse 3. For I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received. having just reminded them of the Gospel message that he preached to them the very first time he was in Corinth, Acts chapter 18, by which they were saved, Paul now tells them that his message wasn't made up by him. He didn't invent it. It was revealed to him by the Lord. What a great truth that is. Paul tells them that the message of the Gospel, which he delivered to them, was of first importance, meaning it is the highest priority. It is of utmost importance since it is this message and this message alone that saves people and it is this message that He received. And what he means by receive this message is that it was Jesus himself who personally gave this message to Paul. And then Paul delivered it faithfully to the Corinthians. And this is exactly what the Apostle said in Galatians chapter 1. Listen to these words. Paul is defending himself as a genuine apostle. And he says in Galatians 1 verses 11 and 12, For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. It was the Lord himself who told Paul the message of the gospel. Paul spent three years in Arabia, maybe it was then, maybe it was on the road to Damascus, maybe it was some other time we're not aware of, but Jesus told Paul all about the resurrection. See, Paul didn't invent the gospel. He didn't go to Jerusalem and sit down with some other apostles and say, explain things to me. He didn't go to a conference. He didn't read a book on this. He received it directly from Jesus Christ, and then he passed it on faithfully to others, and that includes the Corinthians. Listen, you and I know that Jesus rose from the dead because the Word of God, which is God's revelation to man, tells us that he rose from the dead. The doctrine of Christ's resurrection isn't something that people got together one day and made up. There's no church council that said, let's come up with this very important doctrine. It is divine revelation. Jesus told Paul about it, and Paul has told us about it in his God-breathed letters. But having told the Corinthians that they can be certain that Jesus rose from the dead because of their own salvation and because it is divinely revealed truth, Paul now gives a third proof that Jesus was raised from the dead, and that is because, and this is so critical, the Scriptures declare his resurrection. Verses 3 and 4. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, What did you receive, Paul? That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Not only did Jesus tell Paul about his resurrection, but here the Apostle tells us that the Old Testament Scriptures, that's what he's talking about, the Old Testament Scriptures predicted Christ's death and burial and resurrection. All throughout the Old Testament, folks, God gave prophetic statements that the Messiah, the coming Messiah, would suffer and die and then be raised from the dead. This was all in the Scriptures. It began with Genesis 22 and the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac and acknowledging to his son that God himself would provide the lamb for the sacrifice. This was a prophetic statement that God would provide the Messiah as the ultimate and perfect lamb who would die a sacrificial substitutionary death. Later, in Psalm 16, verse 10, David testified to the coming resurrection of the Messiah when King David said, For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay. Now years later, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stated that David was not referring to himself, but rather to the Messiah, to Christ, that God had promised to raise him from the dead and not let his body, the Messiah's body, decay in the ground or in the cave. And it was David who clearly predicted Messiah's death, his burial, his resurrection in Psalm 22, where he gave a very graphic description of one dying by way of crucifixion and then being raised back to life. We also read of Messiah's death and resurrection in that great prophetic chapter in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 53. Listen to what we read in Isaiah 53, verses 7 through 10. Remember, this is written 700 years before Jesus appeared in human form. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living. That's his death. He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. Now watch this. But the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Not only do these verses tell us that the Messiah will die, but in verse 10 we read that he will live again. Because the only way this dead Messiah would see his spiritual offspring is if his days were prolonged by being raised from the dead. It's speaking of the resurrection. Listen, these verses are just a small sampling of the many places in the Scriptures where God spoke of Messiah's death and resurrection. even though many Jewish people were simply unaware of these prophecies, so that instead of expecting a suffering Messiah who would be raised back to life, they anticipated a kingly Messiah, a reigning, conquering Messiah. And we read about this, which was very typical of the Jewish people back then, in Luke chapter 24. We read about two Jewish men who thought exactly like this. It's a lengthy passage, but it's important. Starting in verse 13. And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. And he said to them, what are these words that you're exchanging with one another as you're walking? And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who is a prophet mighty indeed, and word, and the sight of God, and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it's the third day since these things happened, but also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said. But him they did not see, and he said to them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." Don't you wish you could have been there to hear that Bible study? Now what we read here is that in order to enlighten these two ignorant Jewish men, beginning with the first few books of the Old Testament, the books written by Moses, and then going through the various prophets, Jesus explained to these men the many prophecies about Him in the Old Testament Scriptures. Even Jonah being a picture of Him. Jonah being in the belly of the whale those three days and nights, and then Jesus. being just like that in the earth. Now, going back to 1 Corinthians 15, the point that Paul is making in telling us that the Old Testament Scriptures predicted Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, is that the resurrection of Jesus is an essential part of the gospel message, and that to dismiss it is to dismiss the message of salvation. Now, listen closely. In these two verses, in verses 3 and 4, Paul names three elements of the gospel. And they're all centered around Christ's sacrificial death, predicted in the Old Testament. First element is that Christ not only died, but Paul says he died for our sins, meaning he died in our place. He died as our substitute, just as the scriptures said he would. Second, he was buried. And you might wonder, well, why would Paul even mention this? Well, of course he was buried. Well, Paul mentions this because the burial authenticates that Christ's death was genuine, that it was real. He really died, so he was buried. He really expired, so he was buried. His life was really terminated, so he was buried. And third, He was raised on the third day in a glorified, resurrected body, just as the Scriptures predicted. You see, He wasn't simply restored. Our Lord was not simply restored to the same mortal body He had prior to His death. He now had a new body, a glorified, resurrected body that will never die. Folks, this is the heart of the gospel message. If you wonder, well, what am I supposed to tell somebody about Christ when I witness to them, this is it. This is it. You might expand on it, I assume you would, but this is the heart of it. You explain to them that they're sinners, we're all sinners, and that their sin has separated them from God because He's holy. But that Christ died for sinners as the substitute sin-bearer, then that God the Father was satisfied with His sacrificial death, and He proved that He was satisfied by raising Him from the dead three days later. And that if they believe this, if they place their trust in Jesus for their salvation, then they will be saved from the penalty of sin and divine condemnation. That is the gospel message in a nutshell. This is the message of the gospel. This is what people need to know. They need to know they're sinners. They need to know God is holy and just, and therefore He must punish sin. They need to know that Christ, the God-man, was punished in the place of sinners. And then He rose from the dead, offering salvation to all who placed their trust in Him. That's what we share with people. You can elaborate, you can expand, but this is the core message. It's simply a conclusive fact that Jesus rose from the dead. The salvation of all believers, all of us who know Christ, proves it. Jesus personally also revealing the truth about His resurrection to Paul proves it. And the Old Testament Scriptures, the prophecies declaring His resurrection, proves it. This ought to strengthen your faith. This ought to strengthen your faith, your belief, your conviction that Jesus rose from the dead. It ought to give you that unwavering, resolute conviction that your faith is based on solid truth, not wishful thinking. Your Lord, your Savior was and is a real man. He's the God-man, but He's a real man who really died, was really buried, and was really raised from the dead. Listen, no other religious leader in all of history has ever risen from the dead but Jesus. Muhammad died at age 61. He remains dead. Buddha died at age 80. He remains dead. Confucius died at either, we're not sure, either 71 or 72, and he remains dead. But Jesus died at age 33, but rose again three days later. Your Lord lives. And if you have never trusted Him as your Savior, your Lord personally, then know that He is alive. And because He is alive, His arms are outstretched to you, inviting you, welcoming you to come to Him for salvation. Won't you come? If you've never trusted Christ, May you do so tonight. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this passage of scripture. So wonderful, so deep, so profound, so logical. Lord, I pray for each one here who knows you to be deepened in their conviction that Jesus rose from the dead. Because if you rose, Lord, then we'll rise too. And I pray, Lord, that you'll help us to think through these issues, to see that this is not something we've just stumbled upon and we believe it, and it's just simply blind faith. No, it's faith based on solid evidence. I pray that you'll give us that deepening conviction, Lord, that unwavering conviction that we would die for this. Lord, and I pray for those who may have never trusted the Savior. I pray that you'll open their hearts to the gospel, that they'll see their need for Christ, that they'll see themselves as lost sinners who need not a Savior, but the Savior. Lord, thank you for rising from the dead. Thank you for being alive now. Thank you for being here. And I pray in weeks to come that you will unfold to us the great truths from 1 Corinthians 15 that would thrill our hearts and strengthen our faith. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.