INTRO.- No gas means no driving or less driving.
"The average national price of a gallon of gas hit an all-time record high of $3.28 this week. Meaning that wherever you’re going this summer, it might be cheaper to mail your car."
Letterman said, "Gas prices, aren’t they crazy? It’s so expensive that rats are carpooling in from New Jersey."
"There was a sign at the station near my house that said, ’We take Visa, Mastercard, Discover Card, and American Express.’ After I filled up with gas they took my Visa, Master Card, my Discover Card, and my American Express."
Jay Leno said, "They said on the news tonight that if gas prices get any higher, we could see something totally unprecedented here in California. People actually walking."
"As you know, the government takes 40 percent of what you make. The other 60 percent, of course, taken by the gas stations."
"Even if gas prices fall, consumers will continue to be gouged at the pump. The only thing that we can be sure rises faster that the price of gasoline is the skyrocketing profits of oil companies."
"A pedestrian is someone who thought there were a couple of gallons left in the tank."
This gas situation is getting beyond being funny, don’t you think? Do you realize what could happen to us if gas prices keep going up? We won’t be driving anywhere. We’ll be walking or riding bikes like they do in many foreign countries.
ILL.- I saw people being interviewed somewhere in the US where prices were much higher than in AR. One guy was driving a Pontiac GTO. He said he was going to "mothball" his car because of gas prices.
ILL.- CLEVELAND — Ricardo Caraballo was having a familiar American experience at the filling station the other day, groaning as the pump clicked up, up, up. By the time he finished it read $505, and his tank was only half full. A few years ago, “$500 would have kept me rolling for two weeks,” he said. “Now, I’ll be lucky to make it three days.”
ILL.- I saw a survey on the internet that asked the question: Which concerns you more? Gas Prices? Home Depreciation? 69% gas prices over 31% home depreciation.
Brothers and sisters, we may heading for serious trouble! Do you realize what else will happen if our gas prices keep rising? It means that the prices of our food and everything else will go higher and higher!
But listen, our hope for a better future is not in finding oil in America! Our hope for a better life is not in electing the right President for our country!
There is something far worse than running out of fuel in our country. I realize that some people don’t think anything could be worse than that, but there is something worse. AND HERE IT IS!
I Cor. 15:12-19 12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."
If there is no resurrection from the dead that’s the worse thing that could happen to all of us! If there is no resurrection there is no hope at all! No hope for a better here and now and no hope for ANY there and then! NO HOPE FOR ETERNAL LIFE!
PROP.- Note what Paul said. If there is no resurrection from the dead then what?
1- Then preaching is useless
2- Then faith is futile
3- Then sin controls
4- Then Christ is dead
I. IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTIOIN THEN PREACHING IS USELESS
14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless.
ILL.- A man told his boss that he was called to be a preacher so he resigned his job. But he was back in two weeks, asking for his old job back. The boss said, "I thought you were called by God to preach." The man said, "Yes, but that was before the Lord heard me preach."
I think preaching is useless most of the time anyway. How could that be? I say this because we are pretty good listeners but poor doers! We are not good responders to God’s Word. We often say nothing and do nothing. We may not even hear what is being preached and even when we do, we do nothing about it. WE ARE NOT VERY GOOD DOERS OF THE WORD!
Rick Warren’s church, the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA, runs around 25,000 or more every weekend in six different services. And they are doing more than many churches.
Joel Osteen’s church, the Lakewood Church in Houston, TX,runs over 40,000 every weekend in seven services, I believe. They may have even more people than 40,000. It’s probably the largest church in America.
The Southeast Christian Church of Louisville, KY, grew from 135 to over 18,000 in 40 years with Bob Russell as their Sr. Minister. They’ve had near 30,000 for some Easter services. And there are a host of other churches across the U.S. that run anywhere from 10 to 20,000 in attendance, BUT IT ALL MEANS NOTHING!
It all means nothing if we hear but do not do! And it all means nothing if there is no resurrection from the dead! All preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ is useless if there is no resurrection!
II. IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION THEN FAITH IS FUTILE
14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.
ILL.- A pastor at a frontier church ended a stirring sermon with, "All those who want to go to heaven, put up your hands! Everybody enthusiastically raised their hands.... everybody except a grizzled old cowboy who had been slouching against the door post at the back of the room.
All heads turned as he sauntered up to the front, spurs jangling and said, "Preacher, that was too easy. How do you know if these folks are serious? I can guarantee to prove who really means it and who don’t!"
The preacher said, "Ok, stranger, go ahead and put the faith of these good people to the test. Ask them anything you want." At that, the cowpoke pulled his twin six-shooters, turned to the audience and said, "Alright... who wants to go heaven... raise your hands!"
Our faith in the Lord should make a difference in our lives, that is, in what we do, how we live, and our giving. Huh? Yes, giving is a matter of faith. We live in a time when many people claim to be followers of Christ but they don’t give back to God, not even one penny. Why don’t they give? I THINK IT’S A LACK OF FAITH.
Has the Lord not given everything to us in the first place? Jobs, houses, cars, TV’s, you name it. Are not all these gifts from God? Yes, but what if we don’t give back to God? It’s a sign that our faith is very weak and that we don’t trust God to care for us in the future.
However, faith says, "I not only believe in the Lord, I also trust the Lord to take care of me materially. He has in the past and He will in the future." THAT’S LIVING BY FAITH.
But brothers and sisters, all the faith in the world will means nothing if there is no resurrection from the dead!
III. IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION THEN SIN CONTROLS
17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Or sin is still in control.
ILL.- One preacher announced there were 726 different sins. What happened when he did that? He was hounded for that list of sins by people who thought they were missing out on something!
Some days it does seem like sin controls, like sin gets the upper hand. True? True for me. And true for you. Everyone gets hounded by some kind of sin.
Do you remember the story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15?
Luke 15:11-12 "11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, ’Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them."
And do you remember what happened to that young prodigal son?
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
And what would you call his sin? SINS OF THE FLESH? Yes, indeed. He indulged himself with, in a sense, wine, women and song. But the prodigal son wasn’t the only sinner in this story. There was the elder or older brother. What did he do that was so wrong? He never left home. He never wasted any money in wild living. So what he did that was so sinful? HE WAS TOTALLY SELF-RIGHTEOUS AND INDIGNANT! He saw himself as being holier than thou or holier than his younger brother. And he was angry.
His sin was the sin of the disposition and often, the sins of the disposition are far worse than the other. Why? Because they are harder to overcome. They are harder to repent from.
What’s your big sin? Whatever your sin is, it means nothing if there is no resurrection from the dead. Go ahead, indulge yourself! Do whatever you want!
BUT IF THERE IS A RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD THEN WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE! So you might want to think twice about indulging yourself!
IV. IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION THEN CHRIST IS DEAD
ILL.- "Do you believe in life after death?", a boss asked one of his employees. "Yes, sir," the new recruit replied. "Well, then, that makes everything just fine," the boss went on. "After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother’s funeral, she stopped in to see you."
ILL.- A singing group called The Resurrection was scheduled to sing at a church. When a big snowstorm postponed the performance, the pastor changed the outside sign to read, "The Resurrection is postponed."
What if the resurrection was postponed? No, worse! What if there was no resurrection?
13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. If there is no resurrection from the dead then everyone who has passed away is dead and gone, AND even Christ did not rise from the dead. Even He is dead and gone.
ILL.- Mark Twain became very weary and depressed. Shortly before his death, he wrote, "A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle;...they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; ...those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. It (the release) comes at last--the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them--and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence, a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever."
Sounds pretty sad, doesn’t it? And death can be pretty sad for many people.
ILL.- I remember going to the funeral home when a lady went to see her deceased husband’s body after he passed away suddenly. I stood at the back of that chapel as she peered into the coffin at her deceased husband. She suddenly broke down and starting weeping and wailing loudly. Finally, in desperation she said, "Would somebody please pray?"
She didn’t know what to do except to ask for prayer. I don’t she and her husband had gone to church much, if at all. But she was grabbing for whatever she could to find some help and hope.
I Cor. 15:20 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
Matt. 28:5-6 "The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."
ILL.- Raymond Lindquist said: Easter is to our faith what water is to the ocean, what stone is to the mountain, what blood is to your body. It is the first and final word in the dictionary of God. It says that Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Brothers and sisters, we either believe the Biblical record or we don’t!
CONCLUSION--------------------------------------
ILL.- Professional golfer Paul Azinger was diagnosed with cancer at age 33. He had just won a PGA championship and had ten tournament victories to his credit. He wrote, " A genuine feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me even harder. I’m going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live.’
Then he remembered something that Larry Moody, who teaches a Bible study on the tour, had said to him. "Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living."
Azinger recovered with chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour. He’s done pretty well. He’s earned nearly $14.5 million in his career. But that bout with cancer deepened his perspective. He wrote, "I’ve made a lot of money since I’ve been on the tour, and I’ve won a lot of tournaments, but that happiness is always temporary. The only way you will ever have true contentment is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me and I don’t have problems, but I feel like I’ve found the answer to the six-foot hole." And Jesus is the only answer to that six-foot hole. Believe it. Live it.
