The site of the empty tomb on the morning of Christ's resurrection from the dead was, at first, little more than a perplexing mystery. There were questions about how the seal of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, had been broken, and how the great stone had been rolled back from the door to the tomb. Those who had been posted to guard the tomb in an effort to keep Christ's followers from stealing his body regained their consciousness on that morning only to find that the tomb was open and that the body of Jesus of Nazareth was gone. The last thing they remembered was an earthquake. and the appearance of someone in bright, shining garments. They didn't know what had happened after that time. At least one follower of the Lord believed that the gardener of that garden around that tomb had moved the body of Jesus to a different location. Even those who reported the angel's news that Jesus had risen from the dead relayed that news as school children would, who were trying to get the scoop ahead of their peers. Not all of the disciples believed those reports at first, and at least one refused to believe any report until he could verify the report with his own eyes. The idea that a dead man could of his own will come back to life and leave the place of his burial was something that many considered to be incredible. It was not that they believed it would not happen. They believed it could not happen. Such attitudes did not dissipate readily, even after many people saw the risen Christ with their own eyes. By the time the Apostle Paul was writing this epistle to the Corinthians, It was evident that there was growing skepticism even among those who professed to be followers of Christ as to whether he had actually risen from the dead or not. There were people in the church at Corinth who were reflecting what we may call the liberalism of that age when they challenged the whole idea of any future resurrection. The inspired apostle let it be known where he stood. He would not allow such skepticism to go without a powerful rebuke. He made it plain in the passage from which we have read that not just the idea of the resurrection of the body but also the whole message of the gospel was under attack. His argument was that the idea of salvation from sin and deliverance from divine punishment could not stand if those who taught against the doctrine of the resurrection were correct. His argument was that if they were correct, then Paul and all who labored with him were the most miserable and pathetic figures in the whole world. He argued that if those skeptics were correct, it would make perfect sense to follow the Epicurean model. to indulge in the gratification of every desire of the flesh. The philosophy of the world that people should eat and drink and be merry and not concern themselves about death or giving any account to God makes perfect sense if there's not going to be any resurrection. But Paul would not entertain for a single moment such a possibility. He knew the truth. He knew that Christ had risen from the dead for Paul had seen him in person. And he had seen him in such a way that he had been changed forever by the experience. That dazzling glorious sight of Christ that Paul had just outside the city of Damascus had made Paul what he was. He had been called to preach Christ. He had been called to expound and to defend the doctrine of the resurrection as foundational to Christianity. If Christ has not risen from the dead, then there is no basis on which any Christian church can operate. And I would submit that there are many churches that today go under the name of that have no basis on which they operate because they deny the resurrection. I'm most anxious today that our children and our young people get this message. I was reading or just saw in passing the other day a reference to a story that the vast majority of children and young people who have grown up in Christian churches have no clue about the real meaning of Easter. They don't know what it's about. While it is my goal that our children and young people would not grow up in this church without that knowledge, the resurrection of Christ enforces the exclusive claims of the gospel. It means that there is no other way of salvation. It means that only through the person and work of Christ can you be delivered from the curse of the law. It means that every single person who has ever lived will stand in the flesh before God to receive the judgment of God. And there is only one way to face that judgment without terror. And that is through faith in the risen Christ. So I want us to focus on the meaning of the second part of our text today. The resurrection of Christ, you see, has ramifications far beyond the day on which many commemorate it. And I always like to point out, we commemorate that great event every Lord's Day when we meet together. But here is the pledge that like Job, we too in our flesh shall behold God. So the resurrection of Christ becomes then what we may call the everlasting guarantee. I want you to think upon that theme of the everlasting guarantee this morning. Now most people here are familiar with the concept of a guarantee. Usually, when you go to buy something of significance, an appliance or a car or a house, you're concerned that there's some sort of guarantee that this thing is going to work. And if you're buying something new, that's particularly important. A guarantee, as we understand it, is the pledge of some company. that a product for which they are responsible is going to work as advertised for a certain period of time. And that if it doesn't, if it breaks down, or if it fails to do what the company claims it will do, the company will either repair the product at its expense or replace it with a new model. Now everybody knows the problem with guarantees. If the company goes bankrupt, or out of business, some judge will come along to decide if the guarantee has any continuing force. And there have been more than a few times in history, and I think there are going to be a few more times in history, when consumers have been left holding the bag, so to They have bought a product in good faith. They have relied on the guarantee that went with the product. But if the company that made it is out of business and the judge will not enforce the terms of the guarantee, there's nothing they can do about it. Well, I'm here to tell you today that the guarantee of which our text speaks will never be revoked. The person who has made the guarantee will always ensure that it is valid. And even after the history of this world has ended and the ages of eternity roll, this guarantee will hold good. Christ has become the first fruits of them that slept. His resurrection The text is telling us, is the first of many to follow that will result in his followers being made like he is, immortal. If you are a believer in Christ, you share in that guarantee. Think of all of those you have known. who have died in Christ. In your mind's eye, perhaps you can see that spot where the remains of that earthly body have been interred. Well, I tell you today, the day is coming, and it's nearer now than ever before, when those bodies of the saints possibly so long in their graves that they have dissolved to dust will emerge from their graves or from wherever they have been scattered and will appear with the glorious Christ in the power of His resurrection. That is going to be a glorious day. I don't think we can appreciate the power of that day. Now I want to ask Why would not every person clamor to be part of that prospect? Why would you not right now where you sit trust in Christ so that you can be part of that prospect? I trust if you are not in Christ today that that will be what you do even now. Our text sets before us today three powerful truths. First, death's sobering reality. We read in our text of those that slept. Who are they? They are those who died. You get some sense of that, do you not? earlier in the chapter, in the context, verse 6, after that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present. What does that mean? They're still alive, but some are fallen asleep. Obviously that means not that they have taken a nap, but that they have died. Some remain, some have died. The contrast here in our text and in the context is between death and life. The use of the metaphor of sleep to describe death is common. Not only in the scriptures, whether in the original language or in translation, but also in a broad range of literature it's very common for death to be described. under the figure of sleep. The scriptural language is very clear. The Old Testament refers to the deaths of the kings by saying that so and so slept with his fathers and was buried wherever it was he was buried. So the Old Testament uses this figure a lot. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself made use of this metaphor. You turn to the Gospel of John and to chapter 11. John 11. Let's look at verse 11. These things said he. And after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. But I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Now notice the response of the disciples. They were thoroughgoing literalists. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleepeth, he shall do well. If he is sleeping, that is good. Whatever he's bothering him, if he's able to sleep, he's going to recover. But we read in verse 13, how be it Jesus spake of his death. But they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. So they didn't get it when he used the figure of sleep, so he had to come out and say, Lazarus is dead. They didn't ask him, by the way, how he knew that. No one had come with news to that effect. They didn't ask him that. They were just taken up with this whole idea of sleep and death. Later on in the New Testament, the inspired apostle resorted to this metaphor in connection with teaching about the Second Coming. We find that in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians 4 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Why would people sorrow if somebody was just sleeping, resting? Verse 14, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep, or precede them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." So he's equating there those who are asleep in Jesus, those who are asleep in Christ, with the dead in Christ. Now what was the point that Paul was making in our text? in 1 Corinthians 15. The point he was making was that being a Christian is not going to prestall death. Now I know that there are crazy people and I can't think of any other way to describe them. People of the charismatic delusion who are going around saying if people die it's because they don't have enough faith. What utter nonsense. Christians are not going to forestall death. They do not have a magic pill to prevent death. Christians are all going to die. with the exception, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4, of that generation of Christians that will be alive on the day when Christ appears the second time. They will not die, but everyone else will. The use of the metaphor of sleep for death is not meant then to teach the pernicious doctrine common in many false religions, that after death the soul becomes totally unconscious, even for a period of many years or centuries. The doctrine of soul sleep. Various versions of that are taught in a number of cults. The Bible knows nothing about it. I don't care what the Seventh-day Adventists say or what anyone else says. The testimony of Scripture is very clear. When a believer dies, that believer's soul is immediately in the presence of Christ. To be absent from the body, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, is to be present with the Lord. That doesn't sound like unconsciousness to me. But our text is teaching that death is real. And that mortality is something with which we live every day. You may have seen the news just the other day. I forget which day it was now exactly. I think Thursday night. It might have been Wednesday night. A young man was starting a game for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was a pitcher. He was a rookie. His first full season in the major leagues and he pitched a very good game. He pitched six innings. He didn't allow any runs. His team later lost the game, but that was not his fault. His father was there that night to watch him, a young man who was 22 years old. And after that game, he went out with some of his friends and they were in a neighboring town, the city of Fullerton, and a drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into their vehicle. And out of the four people in that vehicle, two were dead at the scene. This young man, the baseball player, died at the hospital in surgery. And one person appears that he's going to survive. And just like that, death had come. without any warning. Death is something with which we live every day. Death is the consequence of sin. It is the very thing that God assured Adam and Eve would happen to them and to every one of their descendants if they disobeyed God. Our context teaches us in Adam all die. The fact that you are a descendant of Adam and you are means that you are dead. As soon as your existence began, you were as good as dead. The word for sleep in our text is an interesting one because the root is the word from which we get our English word, cemetery. Cemetery. The cemetery is the place for those who have fallen asleep. On a recent trip, my wife and I visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Been there a number of times in the past. I always enjoy going. In Gettysburg, there is a national cemetery that was dedicated just four months after the battle was fought there, and President Lincoln gave one of the addresses on that occasion, the only one that was remembered afterward. Many soldiers who died in the great battle that took place there are buried in that cemetery, Many of them, their names are known only to God. But death did not begin in Gettysburg with that battle. Because at the time of the battle there was already a cemetery there. We passed by the entrance to it. when we were driving around there the evergreen cemetery was located on a hill outside the town to the south of the town and that hill cemetery hill it was known was a strategic point in the whole battle in fact there were there was an unwritten rule that you wouldn't take cannons or other kinds of weapons into the cemetery and Before very long, cannons were being fired into the cemetery and one of the generals said that it didn't take too long for that rule to be wiped off the books. But there were people who lived and died there long before the battle was ever there. The point I'm making is that death is well known wherever people live. It is something with which you will become more and more familiar as time goes by. The longer you live in the world, the more people you will know from your life, whether family or friends or co-workers or other acquaintances who are no longer living in the world. This text confronts us with death's sobering reality. But secondly, this text confronts us with Christ's amazing victory. Because Jesus died. We must never lose sight of the truth that the apostles of Christ did not set out to prove either that Christ had died or that He had risen from the dead. That wasn't their objective. They simply announced that He had. that he had died, that he had risen from the dead. In this chapter, we have the closest approach to any kind of an argument made by any apostle for the resurrection of Christ. We have it set out in those opening verses, but I want you to see that even here, in the terms of the statements that are made, They do not make the doctrine of the resurrection the conclusion of an argument. That is, they don't set out the evidence and say, therefore, Christ rose from the dead. That is set out first. Paul's approach in the opening verses of the chapter is that everything about the death of Christ and the burial of Christ and the resurrection of Christ was according to the Scriptures. In those things, there was a perfect fulfillment of all that the Scriptures had said about the Lord. In the Old Testament, there is prophecy about how the Lord would make His grave in His death with the rich. And when He was buried, He was buried in the tomb of a rich man. A tomb that had never been used. It was a new tomb. In the Old Testament, there is prophecy as to how the body of Christ would not decay in the grave. And in the New Testament on the day of Pentecost, Peter referred to that very prophecy and he said that those words apply to Jesus himself. But notice that Paul makes the point emphatically in verse 4 that Christ rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He provides here the testimony of eyewitnesses, not as proof of the doctrine, but as the natural outflow of it. Christ rose from the dead. Now look what happened after that. Peter saw him, that's Cephas. Eventually all of the apostles saw him. As many as 500 people saw him at one time. And there were many of them still living when the apostle wrote these words. And Paul saw him. Now Christ rose from the dead physically, and since that's true, Paul's argument is we would expect that people would have seen Him. Christ didn't rise from the dead to go into hiding. He rose from the dead and showed Himself. The victory of Christ in the resurrection was a victory over all His enemies, even death itself. I love the thought that Christ tasted death for us. So he did, that's why he came as a man. But I love the thought too that Christ triumphed over death for us. Paul's statement in our text rings over the whole biblical landscape. Now is Christ risen from the dead? Now is Christ become the first fruits of them that slept. I love the statement that we encounter in the context in verse 21, since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. There is a glorious thought here. The first Adam What did he do for us? He died. And we died in him. And we die with him. When the first Adam came to die physically, he was buried. And we don't know where his grave is today because that world was buried under the waters of the great flood. We know where Adam is today. He's a redeemed soul. But listen, the second Adam came. What did the second Adam do? He died as well. But he did something that first Adam did not do. He lived again. He rose from the dead. Jesus said he had the authority to lay down his life and he had the authority to take it up again. And he did that. That's how He rose from the dead. We say that He was raised from the dead, and that's certainly true. He was raised from the dead. But as God, He took up His own life again from the dead. So that since by man came death, by man, that is, by the second Adam, came also the resurrection of the dead. Here's the victory. The amazing victory of Christ! He is alive forevermore. That leads me to the third great truth of our text. Resurrection's ironclad assurance. For we read here about this resurrection of Christ as being the first fruits of them that Now, if a Jew had heard those words, he would know immediately what they meant. Because here's the language of the Old Testament. When a harvest began to come in, the priest would be presented with a sheaf, a representation of the first things that came right in that harvest. And the owner of the field would bring that to the priest. And what would the priest do? He would take it in with an animal for sacrifice and he would wave that sheaf before the Lord. Why? To acknowledge that first the Lord had given this increase to acknowledge also that it was a sign that there were greater things to come. And then that sheaf would be burned on the altar. It was First of all, to show that it was first in terms of priority. Christ is the first fruit in that sense. He is the first to rise from the dead in such a way that he will never again die. But it's also a guarantee. Here's the guarantee that I spoke of at the outset. Here's a plan. of the fullness of the harvest that is yet to come in. Here is the guarantee that all of his people will appear with him on the day of glory. Look at that in verse 22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Notice how verse 23 controls the meaning of verse 22. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. This is the first resurrection. This is the first resurrection, a resurrection of all of Christ's people. They that are Christ's. That is coming. You see what's at stake here? If Christ has not been raised from the dead, there is no hope of any resurrection at all. If Christ has not been raised from the dead, Paul makes it plain to the Corinthians, your faith is vain. You're yet in your saints. And those that we have known who have died, they've perished. They've gone out of existence. But what does Paul say? Those possibilities all are swept away in this glorious statement. Is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept? And that glorious prospect is expounded in the closing verses of this chapter to which I direct your attention just now. Beginning at verse 51. Behold I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep That is, we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed, whether we die or whether we are alive. At the day of the coming of Christ, we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." And the Apostle made the exhortation on that basis. Let's be steadfast then, because we know that our faith is not in vain, that our work is not in vain. There is coming a day of glory. There is coming a day when the first roots himself will appear and all who are his will appear with him, marvelously transformed, made immortal to live forever in his presence. May God grant that you will be part of that number.