(1 Cor 15:13 NIV) If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
(1 Cor 15:14 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
(1 Cor 15:15 NIV) More 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.
(1 Cor 15:16 NIV) For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
(1 Cor 15:17 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
(1 Cor 15:18 NIV) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
(1 Cor 15:19 NIV) If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
(1 Cor 15:20 NIV) But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
A movie depicts an eight-year-old boy who is haunted by a dark secret: He is visited by ghosts. This boy is terrified by threatening visitations from those with unresolved problems who appear from the shadows. He is too young to understand his purpose and too terrified to tell anyone about his torment, except a child psychologist.
Another movie goes back to 1719 BC where
the resurrected mummy of an Egyptian high priest Imhotep goes around killing people so that he can once again have a complete body in order to resurrect his lover from the dead.
We could go on and list all the movies which were produced in the last few years and have dealt with spiritual themes of death and ghosts and resurrections.
People in general have a natural curiosity regarding death and dying and this interest naturally comes out in our literature, our movies and the like. A well-known lament says, “The only things in life that are inevitable are death and taxes.” This inborn curiosity towards death comes as a result of being subject to the commonly held perception that all of us are going to shake hands with death one day. Hebrews 9:27 says that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment…”
The purpose for this message is to bring to your consideration the question, “What are you going to do when the lights go out?” In other words, are you ready for death when it comes? Are you ready to die? Are you prepared to meet your Maker? The television series Cops has for its theme, “Bad boys, what are you going to do when they come for you?” For the balance of this message I want you to consider the question, “What are you going to do when death comes for you?”
No one likes to talk about death. No one likes to prepare for death. I still don’t like getting calls from people who are trying to sell me cemetery plots even though Debbie and I bought and paid for ours more than more than a decade ago.
The question we will consider today is, “What Are You Going To Do When the Lights Go Out?” What are you going to do when you close your eyes for the last time and the ultimate question gets answered, “What happens to you after you die?”
Some people resolve to put this question out of their minds until they are forced to deal with it. However, some never get around to preparing for death. For some death comes as a surprise and it is too late for last minute preparations. No one is never ready for death; but it is one thing to be ready and another thing to be prepared.
This week the Columbine High School tragedy was reflected upon. I wonder whether those students and the teacher who were murdered were prepared. They may not have been ready for death but were they prepared for death?
I can’t help but wonder,
if the police officer whose squad car was rammed by the suspect he was pursuing was prepared.
Were the 130 passengers who died on the Philippine airliner prepared?
On Easter Sunday many come to church expecting to hear a message on life. After all, Easter occurs during the time of the year when the flowers are blooming and the color is returning to our lawns and the leaves are returning to the trees. The smell of life is in the air, not death.
People who have spent all winter in the seclusion of their homes are now coming out. The sound of lawn mowers and weed whackers can be heard. People are out playing their music while they wash their cars. Children are roller skating and riding their bikes again. There is laughter in the air!
Why talk about death at a time when we should be preoccupied with life? Because in order to appreciate life, one has to spend a few moments contemplating death.
The Bible speaks of death and life in the same breath. It has to. In order for it to make a point about life it has to contrast it with death. When it makes a point about death it does so in order that we might have a thirst for life.
The Bible doesn’t sugar-coat the reality of death.
Our modern day funeral services sugar-coat the reality of death. We dress up the bodies of the dead as though they were going to a party. Some people look better dead than they did when they were alive.
The Bible doesn’t do a makeover on the reality of death. When Jesus talked to His disciples about the death of their friend Lazarus He used metaphoric language referring to death as sleep. But when he noticed that His disciples weren’t understanding what He was talking about He was straight forward with them:
(John 11:11 NIV) After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
(John 11:12 NIV) His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
(John 11:13 NIV) Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
(John 11:14 NIV) So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
In our text, the Apostle Paul speaks plainly and straight forward about death as well. He does so because he doesn’t want his readers to miss his point about the resurrection.
(1 Cor 15:3 NIV) For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
(1 Cor 15:4 NIV) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
If you never heard the Gospel (Gospel meaning “good news”) you have just heard it. The Gospel or good news is that “Christ died for our sins, he was buried and three days later He rose from the dead.”
One important aspect of this Gospel is the resurrection. It is important because as Paul says in verse 14, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”
In other words, you cannot say you believe in Jesus Christ and not believe in the resurrection.
The Muslims say they believe in Jesus. The Koran mentions Jesus 93 times. Although it generally has a positive attitude toward Jesus, it forcefully denies the fact that He is God, and it also vehemently denies His crucifixion and His resurrection.
(1 Cor 15:14 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
If Christ has not been raised from the dead then why are we here? If Christ has not been raised then I am a fool for preaching about him and you are a fool for listening. If Christ is not raised then we don’t need to be concerned when the lights go out…or maybe we need to be greatly concerned.
(1 Cor 15:15 NIV) More 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.
Paul says that if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead then we are liars. You know how we say, “God is good; all the time; All the time, God is good!” How can God be “good” if He didn’t raise up his Son from the dead?
If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead then every time we talk about God and His grace we are deceiving ourselves.
Every time we mention His mercy we are spouting lies.
Every time we speak of His love we are blowing hot air.
(1 Cor 15:16 NIV) For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
(1 Cor 15:17 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Paul is making an important point here. All through the Bible we see God’s hatred of sin. In the beginning in the Garden we see how sin ruined the intimate relationship and fellowship that Adam and Eve had with their loving Creator.
Throughout the Bible we see how God had to deal with sin in the lives of His people.
Because God is holy He cannot wink at sin.
Sin has to be punished.
God cannot let us get away with doing evil anymore than a loving parent would let his or her child get away with doing bad things.
When we discipline our children for doing bad we give them time out or spank them as is done in the Brooks’ home. But this is how I deal with it from a human perspective. What does an eternal God do about sin that has eternal consequences? He comes up with an eternal solution.
The solution was for God to take our punishment upon Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
(2 Cor 5:21 NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Heavenly Court decreed the punishment for sin is death and that all of us were sinners and deserved to die. Jesus stepped up and said, “I will bear their punishment myself; I will die for their sins.”
God the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice was the resurrection. The resurrection was God’s stamp of approval of His Son’s offering of Himself for our sins.
Paul says in Acts 17:31 that “God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him (Jesus) from the dead.”
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, those who call on Him in faith, turning away from their sin, are given eternal life. If it wasn’t for the resurrection faith is futile and we who have trusted in Christ are still in our sins.
Next Paul speaks to the issue of those who have died in Christ.
(1 Cor 15:18 NIV) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
Paul is saying, if there is no resurrection then those who have died in Christ are lost. Many today have some notion of going to heaven but haven’t believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You may have heard stories of people having “near-death experiences.” These are stories of people being pronounced “clinically” dead and while dead they somehow left their bodies and were aware of their surroundings. I took some time and read through several of these accounts and would like to share with you one that in my opinion summarizes all the others.
This account was sent in by a man who had a very high fever and felt that he had died and then come back to life:
At first I saw light streaming in the square, with bits of darkness. The impression was of immense speed and three dimensions, not like a flat TV image. The light was brilliant.
Then I saw a beautiful landscape. Two trees in a foreground, a large meadow, then a forest of trees in the background. Also, it was very brilliantly lit, brighter than anything imaginable. The trees were not evergreen. Definitely leafed, with big trunks. Not a California tree. Not a Georgia straight pine. I can see that image in my mind very clearly, and I cannot identify the picture.
I had two overall feelings after the incident. The first was that I should not have been there in the first place, and the second was that I had to be gotten back before I recognized anything. Note: there were no voices or angels or anything telling me this.
The whole experience has actually been very positive in my life. For a few seconds, I saw the other side. It has changed me.
A tremendous increase in my religious testimony, and my desire to go back there as a family.
I do not fear death at all any more. I have seen it. I've been there. I fear pain. I fear leaving my wife and children so young, but I do not fear death. I know at one point I will look forward to going back.
So many things that were of importance to me before just aren't. Almost everything around me now is trivial. Material stuff is just junk. It all disappears.
I don't live in fear. "What if I do that?" I now know that life is really short. Each day is a gift, and I am now living on borrowed time and it can end at any instant. I am now determined to live life fully and passionately, not just exist.
I think I am a much better father now that I have seen the eternities. All those ideas I had about what I should be doing and how annoying Rachel was and how things should be structured have kind of faded. It's all just being the way it goes by itself now. I am doing things with alienated extended family relations that I could not have not done before. It has made me much more complete as a person.
I can't remember who, but somebody once said that seeing the other side for one minute is worth several readings of the Bible, or something like that. Well, it's a true statement. I learned a whole lot.
Death is definitely one of the most under-rated experiences in life. I now know. I've been there and done that. No, I didn't see a chorus of angels or even Uncle Walter. No, I don't have magic powers or anything like that as a result. But, I have been transformed into a MUCH happier and better person.
This so-called “near-death experience” is a vivid example of how the devil has deceived people for centuries. I am not doubting as to whether people in an unconscious state are experiencing these things. What I am disputing is whether these people are really dead. What I am discovering is how these experiences have drawn many people away from God and the Bible, and has made them bow down to the altar of a god of their own imagination.
The Scriptures proclaim loud and clear that once the spirit has left the body, the body is dead, and that the spirit cannot return to this earthly body until the final resurrection when our Lord returns. Then it will not be this body as we know it but a resurrection body created by God just for this purpose. (Isa 26:14; Jas 2:26; Eccl. 9:5; Job 7:9; 14:10-12; Eccl. 8:8)
According to the Bible there are no “Night of the Living Dead type zombies, no vampires and no such things as ghosts.
Well, how do we respond when we hear about these near-death experiences? What are we to think? I like the answer given by Pastor Chuck Bayard of the First Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Clover, South Carolina:
I believe that such experiences are easily explained without there having been an out of body experience. Have you ever watched a computer terminal during a brownout, or a television just before the power went off? When the power to an electronic device begins to decline, everything appears normal for a moment. However, just before the power level declines to the point where any operation of the device can be sustained, it reaches a point where weird things happen on the screen. The human brain is an electronic device. When deprived of the things needed to sustain it, or when subjected to great shock (physical or chemical) weird things happen. I am not surprised that someone who has been close to death where the brain has begun to shut itself down would have had paranormal mental experiences during this time of shock or depravity.
Priests, medicine men, and other religious leaders (including Christians and Jews) have often fasted for long periods of time in order to have clearer vision. Are they seeing spiritual things more clearly, or is the brain beginning to shut down? Can God use such times to speak more clearly to a person, than when their mind is running full steam ahead with the things of this life? God can do what He wants, how He wants, when He wants, and where He wants; He is God.
When such an experience does not contradict Scripture, I see no harm. Can these experiences be from God? I do not know, but, God knows. I do know from Scripture that the experience is in the body. As noted above the Scriptures are clear that once the spirit (soul and spirit are synonyms) leaves the body, the body is dead and will not live again. This does not deny the Scriptural accounts of people being raised from the dead. God is God and can do whatever He desires. These were supernatural events and are very scarce through the centuries of Scriptural history. Whereas, these out of body experiences are very commonplace, especially during the last century.
The Bible says that we are living in the last days. We are 2000 years closer to the return of Christ then when Jesus first promised He would return. I believe that Satan has intensified his efforts to deceive men, women, boys and girls away from the truth of Scripture and attacking the resurrection of Christ from the dead is part of his strategy.
Belief in the resurrection of Christ from the dead is part of the salvation equation:
(Rom 10:9 NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
(Rom 10:10 NIV) For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Paul teaches that it is not enough to believe that Jesus existed, you must believe that He is the risen Savior! And if Christ is not raised you and I who trusted Him are still in our sins.
Next Paul speaks on the topic of how in the resurrection there is hope for a future existence after this life.
(1 Cor 15:19 NIV) If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
At the battle of Knoxville in East Tennessee there was a little drummer boy. In that battle he was shot in his right arm so that it had to be amputated. After the amputation, and as soon as he came from under the influence of the chloroform, he raised the stump of his arm, severed just above the elbow, and, looking at it, he began to cry. Turning with tearful eyes and trembling voice, he said to the hospital steward:
"Steward, where is my arm? I want my arm."
"Why, Willie, boy," said the kind-hearted steward, "your arm is out yonder with a whole pile of legs and arms that have been taken off others today. You can't see your arm anymore. Don't cry."
"But, steward, I want my arm," and he began crying again. He cried so much that an appeal was made to the chief surgeon so that he might quiet the lad. When the surgeon saw what was going on he asked the steward to go find and get the little severed arm, or this boy would worry himself into a fever. So the steward went and found the arm, and, having washed it and bound the shattered elbow in a napkin, brought it to the little patient.
With his left hand he took the bit of right arm by the wrist and after looking at it for a while, he handed it back to the steward, saying, "Take it away, steward." As the steward passed out of the hospital tent door, Willie lifted himself onto his elbow and, with his hands to his lips, blew a kiss to the departing arm. With a shining face he said:
"Good-bye old arm, good-bye. I drummed with you as best I could while I had you; but now good-bye, good-bye, I’ll see you again in the resurrection."
You see, Willie was a Sunday school boy and a young Christian, who had been well taught and he believed in the resurrection of the body. That arm will be changed!
Why is there so much unrest today? Why are people popping over-the-counter pills and other medication like it was candy? Why is the crime rate so high and sexual promiscuity is at an all time high? It is because many people are hoping in this life alone and many don’t know what they are going to do when the lights go out?
I believe that God allows trials and suffering in this life in order that we might long for the next life.
Paul writes in verse 15 of our text, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
Imagine all the people who come into this world disabled or sometime during life they get injured or come down with a disease that disfigures them. For these people to go through life and then just to die—what kind of life is that?
Imagine those who are born impoverished.
Imagine those who all their lives are subjected to hardships and abuse. To go through life and then to die with no promise and hope for a better future---what misery.
This is why I like the promises in Scripture which speaks of life after death:
(Rom 8:18 NIV) I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
(2 Cor 4:15 NASB) For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
(2 Cor 4:16 NASB) Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
(2 Cor 4:17 NASB) For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
(2 Cor 4:18 NASB) while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
(1 Cor 15:51 NIV) Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--
(1 Cor 15:52 NIV) in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
(1 Cor 15:53 NIV) For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
(1 Cor 15:54 NIV) When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
(1 Cor 15:55 NIV) "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
(1 Cor 15:56 NIV) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
(1 Cor 15:57 NIV) But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
These promises are only possible because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And Paul concludes this set of remarks in verse 20 of our text saying, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
What are you going to do when the lights go out?
Perhaps you are one of those who is banking on death being the end of existence. When the lights go out, they just go out. Total annihilation—you cease to exist.
Most people don’t need the Bible to tell them that they were created to live forever. I think that most people can sense that they are spiritual, eternal beings. Try for a moment to imagine “non-existence.”
Most religions of the world teach that there is some kind of existence after one dies.
Perhaps you are one of those who don’t care one way or the other about death. You don’t care because you really don’t know. Some people think that ignorance relieves them of responsibility. The court systems of this nation will tell you that “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Why should God be any different?
Maybe you do care about life after death and thought that you were going to heaven when you die. You thought going to heaven was based on how well you conducted yourself in this life. You’ve loved your neighbor as yourself, you were baptized, attended church and did other good deeds as well.
Now you hear by way of this message that heaven is granted only to those who trust in Jesus Christ and believe that he was raised from the dead. You want to be assured of where you are going when the lights go out.
In reality the lights never go out for the believer.
When a follower of Jesus Christ closes his or her eyes in death, they simultaneously open to the glorious light of Heaven.
When a follower of Jesus Christ closes his eyes in death, he awakens to the glorious light that proceeds from the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
John writes of his glorious vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven in Revelation 21:23 that “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
The chorus of a song we used to sing years ago goes:
We'll walk in the light, beautiful light,
Come where the dewdrops of mercy are bright;
Shine all around us by day and by night,
Jesus the light of the world.
When a follower of Jesus Christ closes his or her eyes in death, they will open them to pure glory!
On the other hand, those who die without Christ, the Bible says they go to outer darkness. In Mark 9:43 Jesus calls this place “hell” and says it is a place where “the fire never goes out.” In Mark 9:48 Jesus says it is where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
In Matthew 22:13, Jesus describes eternity without Christ as “the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Will you be ready when the lights go out? No one is truly ready to die. But if you do, do you know where you will spend eternity?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead assures eternal life to whosoever calls on His Name, turning away from their sin.
