Don’t Forget – Jesus is Alive!

0:361 Corinthians 15, verse 1. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

1:21Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to. Me, for I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

1:51Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. This is God's word. You may be seated. My wife and I have legendary memories. And by legendary, I mean it's legendary, our inability to remember anything. I want to give you just a few examples to paint the picture for you. About 10 years ago, we were going to visit my parents up in Dallas, and one of the primary purposes of this visit was for me to go and play golf with my dad. When we got to Hearn, I realized that we had not packed my golf clubs.

2:32A few years ago, we went to Colorado for a retreat. The year before, we had a terrible experience flying. If you've ever been on one of those flights into the mountains where the weather is real iffy, it'll make you reconsider the whole thing. So we decided we would drive, so we drove up to Colorado. We had a wonderful week. We kind of stayed in this beautiful resort, and we pretty much moved into this room. And on the way back, we got about two or three hours from Vail, and I realized, oh, half my clothes are still in those drawers.

3:03A few years ago, we moved into a new house. We had been unpacking things for a few days, and we really needed to get out. And so we thought, let's go take a walk around the neighborhood. So we went for a walk around the neighborhood, and after a few minutes, we realized, oh, the one key that we have is in the locked house that we don't even technically own. So far, I have never left a child, so at least there's that.

3:32Not on a long trip, anyway. The running joke in our house is that one of us will look at the other one and say, hey, remind me to whatever. You know, turn on the oven, turn off the oven, turn on the alarm, whatever. And then both of us will just start laughing hysterically. Because there's no way either one of us is ever going to remember to do that. Well, friends, I hope you aren't as forgetful as we are. But the reality is that all of us struggle with remembering some of the most important things in life. We need reminders. And in that sense, we're no different from anyone else.

4:06The Corinthians needed reminders. They needed a reminder about what the most important thing was, the gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically his resurrection. And so today we're going to take a look at 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 11, and we're going to be reminded about Jesus and His resurrection and what that means for our lives today. Now, before we jump into the passage, I think it's important for us to consider who the author is. Of this book.

4:31In the first century, no one persecuted Jesus' followers with as much passion and zeal as Saul of Tarsus, the man we would come to know as the Apostle Paul. At one point in the book of Acts, he is giving his testimony, the story of how he came to faith in Jesus. And look at what he says in Acts 22. He says, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamelal according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

5:05I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. So this was Saul's manner of life. He was persecuting these men and women who were following Jesus. He thought they were all heretics. He thought they were all teaching a false doctrine, and he wanted it rooted out. But on his way to Damascus, the Lord Jesus, the risen Jesus, appeared to him and his life was forever changed.

5:47He went from persecuting Christians to being the greatest missionary the world has ever known. Now around AD 50, Paul traveled to a large city named Corinth. He preached the gospel there and established a church. Church, and he stayed there about 18 months. He left, and about a year later, he wrote a series of letters to the Corinthians to answer questions that they were asking and to help them work through some problems. And chief among those problems was forgetfulness.

6:16And so Paul says here at the outset of this section: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you. Now, you may have a better memory than me, or even a better memory than most people. But all of us are forgetful when it comes to the truth of the gospel. There are actually dozens of verses in the Old Testament and the New Testament highlighting our forgetfulness, the forgetfulness of God's people. And Psalm 106 is one of the best examples. Look at Psalm 106:7.

6:50Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works. They did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea at the Red Sea. Look at verse 13. But they soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel. Look at verses 21 and 22. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

7:22Now, I want you to think about this for a moment. Most of us think to ourselves, if I saw something amazing, if God Would just perform a miracle in my life, I would never doubt him again. These men and women saw God lay out the ten plagues on the nation of Egypt, miraculous things. They saw God provide manna from heaven and feed them in the desert. Twice God provided water from a rock. And they saw the Red Sea part in two, and the people passed through it as on dry land. And these same people then, these very same people, not long after that, completely forgot God, completely forgot his good works. And so all throughout Scripture, we have reminder after reminder about the work that God has done. Look at 1 Chronicles 16. Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

8:31When Jesus was eating the Last Supper with the disciples, look at what Luke 22 says. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And many years later, at the very end of the Apostle Paul's life, he would write this to the Philippians. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. For you.

9:02You see, Paul and Peter, all of the rest of the New Testament authors wrote the same things again and again to remind the people of God of his wonderful works. And these are just a small sampling of all the verses showing how forgetful we are and how desperately we need reminders of the good work that God has done in Christ. And so Paul writes to remind the Corinthians of the gospel. Now, that's a word many of us have heard our entire lives.

9:29If you grew up in the church, you're familiar with the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the message that they contain. Even if you did not grow up in the church, you've probably heard that word before. And so I want to take a minute thinking about what it means and pulling it apart. Well, first, friends, the word gospel means good news. That's what it means, good news. And both words are important to consider. First, the gospel is news. It's not advice.

10:00It's not advice. Many people believe the message of Christianity is that if you try hard enough to be a good person, if you do more good deeds than bad deeds, if you attend religious services once in a while, then God will forgive your sin. He will accept you. But friends, all of that is advice. That's not news. It is good advice to try to be a good person. It is good to be a good person. Good advice to try to do more good things than bad things. It's good advice to try to do some religious works. Those are all good pieces of advice. But none of those things are news. News is not something that you do. News is reporting something that has been done. And that's the first important point about the gospel: it is news and not advice. Secondly, the gospel is good news, not bad news. It's good news, not bad news. This is an absolutely critical point. Because if you talk to most people today, even people who call themselves Christians, and you ask them what the gospel is, you will get bad news, not good news. And here's what I mean. If the message of Christianity is try your hardest to be a good person, I've already done that.

11:26I've already tried hard. You've already tried hard. We're not setting out to be bad people. If the message of Christianity is try hard to be a good person, well, I've tried that. And the problem is I know lots of people who are better than me. More generous, less selfish, more compassionate. We all know the inner thoughts that we have. We all know the bitterness, the resentment that we're tempted toward, the lust, all of the things that go on inside of us. We've tried hard to be a good person, but we haven't been good enough.

12:00Even by our own standards, if the message is do more good things than bad things, how do I ever know if I've ever done enough good things to make up for my bad things? And we're aware, even as people living in this world, that good things don't make up for bad things. If someone is arrested and taken to court for committing a crime, that man, that woman, can promise the judge all day that they will do good deeds for what they have done. And don't get me wrong, it's a good thing to try to make amends. But if you consider when a crime is committed, especially if a crime is committed against you or me, there is no amount of good things that can make that bad thing go away. Nothing that anyone can ever do is going to erase what has been done. How much more would that be true with a holy and righteous God? We know that to be true even in our own world. And friends, if the message is do religious works, how do I ever know if I've done enough? How do I ever know that I've been sincere enough in my religious devotion to have my sins forgiven because of my religious works? You see, friends, many people completely misunderstand the very nature of the Christian message. It's news, it's not advice, and it's good news, not bad news. The news of what Jesus has done, not news about what we must do.

13:30Corinthians had received the good news of Jesus Christ. They were standing firm in it. And as Paul says here in the second verse, they were being saved by it. As long as they continued to hold fast in faith, they would be saved by it. So now let's examine what the good news is. Join me in verse 3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

14:05Now, notice here that Paul says that the gospel is a message of first importance. It's not to say that other messages are not important. The Bible is all important. It's important to know what the Bible teaches about baptism. It is important to know what the Bible teaches about spiritual gifts. It's important to know what the Bible says about the second coming of Christ. Those things are all important. But there is one message of first importance, and that's the good news of Jesus. And so it's critical that we understand what that is. And now he moves to the content of the gospel. First, he says, Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.

14:49See, many people look at Jesus' death and they see a failure. But far from being a failure, Jesus' death was a crucial component. Of God's perfect plan to save his people. Hundreds of years before Jesus died, there were many prophecies written, like Isaiah 53. Look at these words penned by Isaiah. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

15:36Now, friends, it is true that Jesus' death was an example of sacrificial love. It absolutely was an example of sacrificial love, but that is by no means the primary purpose of his death. The primary purpose of Jesus' death was to serve as a substitutionary atonement, a sacrifice that would be offered in our place and for our sins. Now, many people today would think to themselves, I don't need anyone to die for me. I don't want anyone to die for me.

16:12But friends, the word is clear that apart from blood being shed, there is no forgiveness for sins. You see, the Bible teaches that because everyone has sinned, everyone must die. God is a holy and righteous. Righteous God. He can't let any sin go unpunished. And so, what the gospel tells us is that no sin will go unpunished. Either every single person will bear the weight of their own sin before God, or the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Himself, will bear it in their place for them. That's the good news of the gospel. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, when animals were sacrificed, they were not earning forgiveness for God's people. Rather, like Hebrews 9 and 10 teach us, they were a reminder of sin every year. It was a reminder that we deserve to die and that we need to have blood shed if we expect to be forgiven. So, when Jesus died on the cross, God was pouring out his wrath onto Jesus instead of us. When Jesus died on the cross, his blood was being poured out. Sin was paid for for all those who trust in him. And so, Paul says it's critical to understand the content of the gospel, and we must first understand that Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. And then, secondly, Paul says that Jesus was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

17:46Now, again, many people today say, I can maybe believe that Jesus died for me, but I can't believe that he rose from the dead. Well, we have to understand that the wages of sin is death. And so, if Jesus did not rise, he did not conquer death or its ultimate cause, sin. This is exactly what Paul goes on to argue in the rest of the chapter. Look on the screen behind me. He says, Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

19:05And so, friends, Paul is logical and he's clear. You don't have to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. But if Jesus did not rise from the dead, it is not possible for our sins to be forgiven. Because only through his resurrection did he defeat sin and death. Only through his resurrection could he be the Savior that we needed. But thank God. Jesus did rise from the dead. And we know that in the same way that we know about every other historical event in history, because reliable eyewitnesses told us. Join me now in verse 5.

19:49He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. So in this section, Paul highlights these witnesses, sometimes an individual, sometimes a group, sometimes a large group of people. And first, he notes that Jesus appeared to Cephas. That's the name that Jesus gave to Peter. It means rock. He notes that he first appeared to Peter, and that's significant especially because of what happened prior to Jesus' arrest and crucifixion. Look on the screen in Matthew 26.

20:34Jesus said to him, Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Peter said to him, Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. But as most of us know, Peter did deny, even knowing Jesus, three times. And after that rooster crowed, he went out and wept bitterly. But when Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to Peter and he restored him. He said, Peter, I still love you. I forgive you. I accept you.

21:18And Peter is a reminder to all of us that no matter how badly we've sinned, no matter how often we've sinned, Jesus is still willing to receive every person who comes to him in repentant faith. Every single person. You have never sinned too greatly. You have never sinned too much. That is the consistent message of the scripture. Next, Paul says that Jesus appeared to the 12 disciples. Now, remember, it wasn't just Peter who said, I'll never deny you. I'm willing to die with you. It was all of the disciples, and all of them ran away from their Lord and their friend.

22:02And even after Jesus appeared to them, not all of them believed. One of the disciples was named Thomas. We know him as doubting Thomas, unfortunately. And I want to remind you about this scene in John chapter 20. Look on the screen. Now, Thomas, one of the twelve, called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see him, See in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.

22:43Now, I want you to consider this quote from the book I was talking about earlier, Ray's. This is Jonathan Dodson and Brad Watson. Thomas critics will be quick to point out his stubborn insistence that he not only see, but also touch Christ, and not just his body, but his wounds as well. Obstinate skeptic. But aren't you glad there was someone there who valued proof? Someone who knew that the wounds couldn't be faked? I am. If you doubt the resurrection, you are in good company. Jesus understands your doubts and he welcomes them.

23:27He didn't just appear to the 12, he also appeared to the apostle James. Now, James was a unique individual because he was the half-brother of the Lord Jesus. And if you know anything about Jesus' family, it's not like they were promoting his ministry and that they believed that he was the Messiah the whole time. Far from it. Time and again, you find his family in the Gospels coming to him and saying, You are crazy. What are you doing going around preaching and doing all of this healing? This needs to stop. You need to come home. James did not believe until Jesus. Jesus, after his death and burial, appeared to him.

24:05And it wasn't just James. It was more than 500 men at once, Paul says, most of whom were still alive at the time that he penned the letter. You see, friends, Christianity is not what some people call blind faith. It is based on evidence, just like everything else that we believe. Now, you might examine the evidence for yourself and think, I don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead. That's fine. But let's not pretend that there is no good evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. There is an abundance of evidence. And quite frankly, we believe things that have been reported in history that were reported by far less people and far less reliable witnesses than those who testified that Jesus had risen from the dead. These men had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Nearly every single one of them was killed, killed for saying, I believe Jesus rose from the dead. They didn't become wealthy by doing this. They didn't become popular by doing this. Nearly every one of the disciples, most of these early believers, were slaughtered, either by the Roman government or by the Jewish leadership for saying Jesus rose from the dead. Nothing to gain, everything to lose. And yet they held fast to this testimony that he certainly was alive.

25:39Now, if you still have a hard time believing it, I don't blame you because Saul of Tarsus still had a hard time believing it. Look at verse 8. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

26:26Now remember, Saul was traveling to Damascus to bring these Christians back to Jerusalem for trial and most certainly death. But on the way, the risen Jesus appeared to this man and asked him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So closely does Jesus identify with his people that when people persecute Christians, Jesus asks the question, why are you persecuting me? Saul's life was forever changed. Shortly after this experience, he was baptized, and from then on, He would be known as Paul. And Paul lived with a sense of gratitude that never weakened throughout the course of his life and ministry. He considered himself the least of all the apostles. He said that he was unworthy to be called a messenger because he persecuted Jesus and his followers. But, friends, that is the testimony of all of us. Every Christian believes, as Paul says here, that he or she is unworthy of the grace of God. We did not do anything to deserve the grace of God. Instead, we also were rebels against him. We also were sinners. We didn't do anything to earn his favor. His grace was a gift. His mercy was a gift. His forgiveness was a gift.

27:47And Paul recognizes that he is what he is because of the grace of God. You see, Paul could not change his past, but God changed his future. And the same is true with you and me. I can't change my past. The sinful things that I did, the crimes I committed, I can't change those things. But when I encountered Jesus through the Word of God and through the church, he changed me. And I'm not who I was. By the grace of God, I am what I am. And the same is true for every believer. See, you may look back on your life and You may have been even worse than Paul in some ways. You may have been living for yourself. You may have been using others. You may have sinned. You may have committed crimes. You may have mocked God and just entirely lived for your own pleasure and glory. You may have even been worse than Paul. But understand that God is glorified when He takes the weak and foolish things of the world to proclaim the riches and the glory of His grace. That way, none of us can look at ourselves or point to another human being and say, Wow, I'm a special person or that person is special. Instead, we look at God and we say, How abundant is His grace, how great is His mercy to people like you and me. All of the glory goes to Him. And God used Paul mightily. The great persecutor of Christians would go on to become the greatest missionary the world has ever known. He worked hard at telling other people the good news of Jesus, so hard that He's able to say He worked harder than all of the other apostles, men who also worked hard and gave their lives to tell others about Jesus. But that's what the gospel does: it transforms us, and we are turned into messengers who live to tell others of the good news of Jesus because we want to see their lives changed as our lives have been changed. No longer is the primary motivation, our own glory, It is the glory of God.

30:03And so, friends, maybe on this Easter Sunday, you came in already as one who believed in Jesus. And like the Corinthians, you just needed to be reminded of the good news. You know, every one of us needs to be reminded of the good news. That's why we need one another. That's why the local church is so important. And so, if you're here today and you consider yourself a Christian, but you're not connected meaningfully to a local church, then let me encourage you, let me challenge you to join a healthy local church, new life, or another church in our area. Because all of us are prone to forget the good news of Jesus. All of us, in times of trial and circumstances that are beyond our control, we're tempted to forget that he's alive, that he's all-powerful, that he's gracious and good. We need one another.

31:00And friends, maybe you came in today and you realize that you're not yet a believer in Jesus. You may have attended worship services your entire life. Attending on Christmas and Easter may be a tradition for you, but nothing more than that. Maybe today you recognize for the first time that you know the story. You know some facts about Jesus, but you've never turned from sin and trusted in Jesus alone for free. Forgiveness. Friends, remember, the gospel is not good advice. I am not here, no Christian is here to tell you that the message of Easter is that you need to try harder to live a better life.

31:46Rather, we are here to testify to you that we are not good enough, that we cannot be good enough, and that you can't either. Our only hope for salvation, our only hope for forgiveness is Jesus and His perfect life, His death in our place, and His resurrection from the dead. And so, friends, as we meditate on 1 Corinthians 15 this morning, let's not forget Jesus is alive. Let's pray. Father, of all the great struggles that we have in this life, forgetting the truth is one of our greatest.

32:33I think about how many times that I've gone through really hard trials, difficult financial trials, health trials, trials with my family, friends, people I care a lot about. And in many of those instances, I haven't lived as though Jesus was alive. As though if he had the power to conquer sin and death, what can he not conquer in my life? What is he insufficient for? And I know that I'm not alone in that. I know that most of us, if not all of us, struggle to remember the fundamental truths.

33:21And so, God, we come before you this morning as forgetful people who need a fresh reminder that Jesus is alive. God, I pray this morning for every Christian who's here. I pray that we would set our hearts and our minds, all of our hope, on the resurrection of Jesus. As Paul says, if he didn't rise from the dead, then what are we doing all of this for? We're still in our sin. So let's eat and drink because tomorrow we die.

33:58But thank God, Jesus is alive. And Lord, I pray for those who came in this morning, maybe not even knowing where they were at. But through the Word, you've spoken to them, and they see that they need a Savior, that they can't save themselves. And I pray that they would not put their hope in trying harder to do better, that they wouldn't put their hope in coming to church services more often, but that they would put their hope in Jesus. The only one who can save them.

34:33God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for each other. And we thank you for Easter Sunday that we get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It's in His name we pray. Amen.