BUT WHAT IF??? 1
1st CORINTHIANS 15:1-19
Tonight I have one question about Life, Death
and Eternity!!
IS JESUS REALLY RISEN??
John 2:18 says:
What sign showest thou unto us,
seeing that thou doest these things??
John 2:19 Jesus said:
Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up!!
1st Corinthians is no doubt one of the greatest
chapters on the resurrection of Jesus Christ!!
Paul was writing a troubled Church this letter
And it tells of the Divisions that these
Corinthians are experiencing!
And The Immorality,
The Confusion, BUT lets not forget
The Victory!!!
The Victory in Jesus!!! AMEN
What if Christopher Columbus didn’t
make His voyage and discover America?
What if Martin Luther King had not dared
to stand on truth?
What if Jesus had not been crucified?
What if He hadn’t been laid in the tomb?
What if there hadn’t been a resurrection?
In Jesus’ Day all hope died with him
on the Cross at Calvary!!
The devil crept in with that fog of
disappointment!!
And all of the friends of Jesus wouldn’t
understanding, what had crept in!
They had heard the message that Jesus
had been tellin them!!
But they only heard only half of it!!
They only heard that Christ was defeated!!
The devil had them fogged up!!
But on that third day the fog of their
disappointment was lifted! AMEN
and the whole world received the complete
message - Jesus defeated death
Defeat became victory.
Death turned into LIFE!!!
But ask yourself this question!
What if there had been no resurrection?
If not, then Jesus would have been a liar!!
Jesus Christ predicted his resurrection on
several occasions.
But he spoke in his parables!
Like - Destroy this temple and I will raise it up
in three days!!!
But later He spoke much plainer
Matthew wrote in chap 16 vs. 21:
from that time forth began Jesus to show
unto his disciples, how that he must go
unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things
of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be KILLED, and be raised again
the third day!!
And in Matthew 12:40 Jesus said:
for as Jonah was three days in the
whale’s belly;
so shall the Son of Man
be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth!!
And in the 20th Chapter of Matthew
He predicts that he will be betrayed, by the
chief priests and unto the scribes
and shall be condemned to death!!
WHAT IF THERE HAD BEEN
NO RESURRECTION??
All of our preaching would be in vain!
Great sermons of the Apostle’s Paul,
and Peter, and Silas would
never have been!!
The great preachers and evangelists
of the ages would never have been
like Wesley and Matthew Henry
and Spurgeon and Not to mention
William Branham, and Billy Graham!
All of our faith would be in vain
and our faith would be empty
and USELESS!!!
And without faith there would be
no salvation!
And No Blessings!
And the dead would perish in Hell!
there would be no hope of Heaven!
You would be dead and deep in sin!
And Hell Bound!!!!
Mark wrote in 14:28:
But after that I am risen,
I will go before you into Galilee!!
Jesus was telling it real plain now
wasn’t He??
1st Corinthians 15:14 says:
And if Christ be not risen, then is
our preaching in vain?
Church without a Resurrection
there wouldn’t be a gospel!!
The Apostle Paul tells us:
For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received.
How that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures
And that He was buried,
and that he rose again on the third day!
According to the scriptures!!
People gospel means good news!!!
And I have a hot news flash for you
if the resurrection would have been
took out of the gospel,
we’re left with sad news,
and it sure ain’t good news!!!
Without the resurrection
we would only have about half a
Gospel!!!!
And guess what I’ve got
another hot news flash for ya’s
half a gospel is no gospel at all!!
Our Faith is groundless without a resurrection.
and that would make our faith un-real
1st Corinthians 15:14, says:
and your faith is also in vain!!!
VS 17 says: And if Christ be not raised
your faith is vain, ye are
yet in your sins!!!
Faith in a dead Savior is quite pathetic
don’t you think???
If you were running from a murderer
would you want to run into a house full
of people, that would give you some help,
Or would you rather run into a
grave yard full of dead people??
I don’t think many people would
answer the grave yard how bout you?
If Jesus Christ didn’t rise from the tomb
then He has no power to save us from sin!!
AMEN
So then our faith would be what?? IN VAIN
So when we witness to sinners and try
to win them over to Jesus,
we are spreading a lie!! AMEN
If there were no resurrection then
there would be no hope of
the future!!
VS 18 says:
Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished!!
When Christ arose it made us a guarantee
of the future resurrection
of His people!!
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians
at Thessalonica who had lost relatives
and friends, But I would not have you
to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep
that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have not hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so
them which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him
And He closed saying
wherefore comfort one another with these
words.
If Christ is not risen, there is no comfort,
We suffer for nothing
If in this life only we have hope in Christ
we are of all men most miserable
Paul said if Christ is not risen
then we are of all men most miserable!
He’s talking about everybody in the world!
If Christ isn’t risen, why bother to go to church
Or why pay your tithes
or why bother serving someone who don’t exist
or why witness to someone about Jesus?
But guess what Jesus was really telling
the truth when He predicted he would
rise from the dead...... After All,
He is the Son of God!!!
And now that He is risen from the dead
We can shout Victory: He is ALIVE!!
No more What If’s
Now everything has meaning!!!
Our Gospel preaching is all true!
Faith is a for sure thing!
We have Salvation back among us!
Sins are forgiven!
The record is all clear now!
The burdens are lifted!
Christians go to heaven now!
and the Hot News Flash is
Jesus Christ is risen!!!
Turn with me to 1st Corinthians 15:51-58
People we can Thank God for Giving us
the Victory - Victory in Jesus Christ
The Victory over death
Victory over sin
Victory over the law
and Victory over the grave
PRAISE GOD
Way to often today we get to tangled
up in everyday life
and sometimes we forget our main
objective in this life!
we are to praise God in all things
Continuously thank Him
for what He’s done for us!!!
People if Jesus didn’t rise from the tomb,
We wouldn’t be any different than any
other religion. We wouldn’t be no different
that Buddha and no better than mohammed,
or Hindu, or any other religious cult!!
But think about this,
where religion ends, that’s where Christianity
begins, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ!!
I didn’t come here tonight to give you a
motivational speech.
But if you’ve listened to the word of God
you should’ve received something more
powerful than anything in this world1
and more powerful than any enemy
That you could imagine!!
Tonight you may feel something going on
in your heart.
That’s not anything that I’ve done folks
That’s the power of the holy spirit dealing
with you.
He’s touching you and reminding you that
you need our risen Savior Jesus in your heart!
The book of Romans says:
Whosoever shall call upon the name of
The Lord shall be saved!
People I urge you to latch on to this
word that God has sent you tonight!!
It will change your life if you’ll let it!!
Jesus said:
I am the way, the truth, and the life
No man cometh unto the Father
But by me!
If you’re under attack from the enemy
and you don’t know where to turn,
Turn to God’s word!!!
Psalms 119:105 says:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path!!!
Won’t you come tonight and let Jesus
have what’s left of your life?
God will put a hunger in you for His Word!
How hopeless you must be,
and how miserable you are,
if you don’t have Jesus in your heart!
The Bible says
For the wages of sin is death
but the gift of God is eternal life!!
You have a choice tonight
Where you can spend eternity
you can spend it in a beautiful place
called Heaven, that Jesus has gone to
prepare for us
or you can spend it in Hell
There will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth!!!
In my Fathers house are many mansions!!!
If you’re struggling in your Christian walk
tonight, Jesus will take you back!!!
He’ll make your life all fresh and new again!
The blood that flowed down from his brow,
where the crown of thorns were put,
was bled for you and for me!
His hands and feet were nailed to
that cross for you and for me!
The spear in his side was for
our sins people!!
That’s where the power is,
in His precious Blood!!!
If you’ve never made a real commitment
to God tonight,
then Today is your Day!!!
Don’t live your life without having
eternity in mind!
You’re gonna spend it somewhere
and there’s no in between!!!
Won’t you listen to your heart tonight?
And Let Jesus In!
I promise you won’t go wrong
if you’ll just make that first step tonight!
That first step for Jesus!!
The Holy Spirit will make the
rest for you!!!!
He took that first step for you
That step to die on the cross!!!
Won’t you come to Jesus tonight??
