#Easter #salvation #Resurrection #Miracle #Jesus #bibleteaching #history #christianity #christian #HarrySmith #rapture #harpazo #God #doctrine #ChartridgeMissionChurch #chesham #thefriendliestfellowship
Harry Smith enters the Chartridge pulpit with a rousing Easter message. His sermon is filled with joy and hope, utilising well-known hymns to highlight key aspects of the resurrection story. Harry is a very popular preacher at many churches, and you'll not want to miss his latest visit to Chartridge Mission Church. Enjoy a Happy Easter!
Harry Smith Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeLtfVhcCUFsgphZCMlFYF_n_HmHtL12B
Chartridge Mission Church was founded in 1844 and remains in the village of Chartridge, just outside Chesham, in the picturesque Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, England, UK. We are a friendly fellowship and would love you to visit us in person.
Join us for our Sunday service at 18:00, followed by refreshments. Our Church is wheelchair friendly, with an accessible toilet.
Chartridge Mission Church, Chapel Lane, Chartridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2TH
www.Chartridge.UK
Support our work at Chartridge Mission Church:
Donations via Stewardship.org.uk: https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20005300
Cheques can be made payable to Chartridge Mission Church and sent to the above address for the attention of Pastor Barry Kempson.
Filmed on Sunday, 20th April 2025.
Join us for our Sunday service at 18:00.
www.Chartridge.UK
The Friendliest Fellowship.
Harry Smith enters the Chartridge pulpit with a rousing Easter message. His sermon is filled with joy and hope, utilising well-known hymns to highlight key aspects of the resurrection story. Harry is a very popular preacher at many churches, and you'll not want to miss his latest visit to Chartridge Mission Church. Enjoy a Happy Easter!
Harry Smith Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeLtfVhcCUFsgphZCMlFYF_n_HmHtL12B
Chartridge Mission Church was founded in 1844 and remains in the village of Chartridge, just outside Chesham, in the picturesque Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, England, UK. We are a friendly fellowship and would love you to visit us in person.
Join us for our Sunday service at 18:00, followed by refreshments. Our Church is wheelchair friendly, with an accessible toilet.
Chartridge Mission Church, Chapel Lane, Chartridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2TH
www.Chartridge.UK
Support our work at Chartridge Mission Church:
Donations via Stewardship.org.uk: https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20005300
Cheques can be made payable to Chartridge Mission Church and sent to the above address for the attention of Pastor Barry Kempson.
Filmed on Sunday, 20th April 2025.
Join us for our Sunday service at 18:00.
www.Chartridge.UK
The Friendliest Fellowship.
Category
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LearningTranscript
00:00Christ is risen, hallelujah, risen our victorious faith.
00:10Sing in his praises, hallelujah, Christ is risen from the dead.
00:22Well, welcome to our evening service on this, the perhaps we would say prime day,
00:33the prime Lord's Day of the year, the day when we remember the Lord Jesus and his resurrection from the dead.
00:42And of course, Christ is risen. And as we say, Christ is risen, he is risen indeed.
00:49Indeed. And it's on that basis. And as we're going to see, as we look through a very familiar passage today,
00:57just how Paul argues for that in a passage, which I guess is familiar to most of us
01:04and probably familiar to many who are watching on online, wherever you happen to be.
01:10And I trust that the Lord will speak to us and not just remind us,
01:16but give us something new that will go out here like those two disciples on the Emmaus Road on Resurrection morning,
01:24that will go out with spiritual heartburn and knowing that we've been with Jesus.
01:32The reading this evening is from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 15, beginning at verse 1.
01:39And I'm reading from the English Standard Version.
01:43The Resurrection of Christ.
01:46Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
01:54and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
02:02For I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received,
02:08that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
02:12that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
02:18and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
02:23Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time,
02:26most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
02:30Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
02:36Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
02:41For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle,
02:46because I persecuted the church of God.
02:50But by the grace of God I am what I am,
02:53and his grace towards me was not in vain.
02:56On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them,
03:00though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
03:05Whether then it was I or they,
03:08so we preach, and so you believed.
03:10Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,
03:15how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
03:19But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
03:22then not even Christ has been raised.
03:25And if Christ has not been raised,
03:27then our preaching is in vain,
03:29and your faith is in vain.
03:31We are even found to be misrepresenting God,
03:34because we testified about God that he raised Christ,
03:38whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
03:43For if the dead are not raised,
03:44not even Christ has been raised.
03:47And if Christ has not been raised,
03:49your faith is futile,
03:51and you are still in your sins.
03:54Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
03:57If in Christ we have hope in this life only,
04:01we are of all people most to be pitied.
04:05But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,
04:09the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
04:12For as by a man came death,
04:15by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
04:19For as in Adam all die,
04:21so also in Christ shall all be made alive,
04:25but each in his own order.
04:27Christ the firstfruits,
04:29then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
04:32Then comes the end,
04:34when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father
04:36after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
04:41For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
04:45The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
04:49This is the word of the Lord.
04:52Easter is always a busy time,
04:53and for us it's been busier than usual.
04:55But on Good Friday morning,
04:58I was asked to conduct the service at St. Albans United Reformed Church,
05:02and we did it as more of a reflection.
05:05So the folks sat in a couple of circles,
05:09or semi-circles,
05:10and I started off by asking them the question,
05:15why did Jesus die?
05:17If somebody asked you,
05:18somebody asked you a neighbour,
05:19a work colleague,
05:21a member of the family,
05:22why did Jesus die?
05:24What would you say?
05:25Because we were travelling back a while back now,
05:30and from a church in Chalfont St. Giles,
05:34and at one o'clock we put Radio 4 on,
05:37and you got the news,
05:38and after that you had a series,
05:40I don't know if any of you heard any of it,
05:42the Archbishop's interviews are asked,
05:46and basically what the Archbishop Justin Welby was doing
05:49was taking well-known characters and celebrities,
05:53and basically talking to them,
05:55especially if they had some kind of religious background,
05:58and talking to them about that,
06:01and inviting them to ask him questions.
06:05And it was just as we arrived back home,
06:08or as we were approaching home,
06:10that John Cleese,
06:11who happened to be the celebrity on that week,
06:15he said,
06:16Archbishop, can I ask you a question?
06:18He said,
06:19I've never understood.
06:20Since Jesus was a good man,
06:22since Jesus went about doing good,
06:25and healing the sick,
06:26and being kind to everybody,
06:29and giving some of the best teaching,
06:31like the Sermon on the Mount,
06:33and so on,
06:33that we've had,
06:34why did they take him and crucify him?
06:39And I kind of sat up and thought,
06:41this is your chance.
06:43You've got thousands,
06:44tens of thousands,
06:45maybe hundreds of thousands or more,
06:47listening to this.
06:49Here's your opportunity
06:51to just in a few sentences,
06:53just tell the gospel.
06:54And the tragedy is,
06:57he didn't mention sin.
06:59He didn't mention anything about eternal life,
07:02that he died that we might be forgiven.
07:05It was all at the social level,
07:07of migrants,
07:09and refugees,
07:10and whatever else.
07:12And I tell you,
07:12I always wanted to thump the car radio,
07:16because it was so,
07:18I said to Christine,
07:19I said,
07:19what I would give,
07:21to have had that opportunity,
07:23and for somebody to have asked me,
07:24and I guess it's the same for any of you,
07:26and many of you,
07:27watching wherever you're watching,
07:28around the world,
07:30opportunity to tell the story.
07:33And then we looked at one of my favourite old hymns,
07:36and Easter hymns,
07:38which many of you will know.
07:40And maybe remember from childhood,
07:41it was written by Cecil Francis Alexander,
07:44who wrote many children's hymns,
07:47and this was written as a children's hymn,
07:50as were hymns such as,
07:53All Things Bright and Beautiful,
07:54and it's,
07:55There is a Green Hill,
07:57Far Away.
07:58And it was written in fairly simple,
08:01easy to remember language.
08:04But of course,
08:06the truths in it are profound.
08:08And it answered really,
08:09for children and for all of us,
08:11the question,
08:12why did Jesus die?
08:15The historicity,
08:16there's a Green Hill,
08:17Far Away,
08:17outside the city wall.
08:19It's interesting that it hasn't been updated,
08:22to modern English today.
08:25But outside Jerusalem,
08:26of course,
08:27outside the city wall of Jerusalem,
08:29where the dear Lord was crucified,
08:31fact,
08:31who died to save us all.
08:36People often say,
08:37well, how do you know that's true,
08:38and how is it relevant?
08:40There's more documented history
08:42about the life and death of Christ
08:45than there is about Julius Caesar,
08:48or many of the greats we think of,
08:51of history.
08:52Josephus, the Jewish historian,
08:54Tacitus, the Roman historian,
08:55in particular,
08:57testified,
08:58wrote down,
09:00that yes,
09:00there was a man called Jesus,
09:02who they called the Christ,
09:04who they crucified,
09:05and who came from the dead.
09:09But this was a question,
09:10we may not know,
09:11we cannot tell what pains he had to bear,
09:14but we believe it was for us
09:16he hung and suffered there.
09:18Then why did Jesus die?
09:19He died that we might be forgiven.
09:25He died to make us good,
09:28that we might go at last to heaven,
09:30saved by his precious blood.
09:31In that, you've got justification,
09:34your sins written out,
09:36justification, legal term,
09:38God looking at his son,
09:40looking at his perfect life and perfect death,
09:43his sacrifice,
09:44and accepting that
09:46as the substitutionary payment
09:49for all who trust in him.
09:52God says,
09:53not guilty.
09:55It's a one-off.
09:56When you're born again,
09:57when you're converted,
09:58when you come to faith,
09:59repentance and faith in Christ,
10:01God says,
10:01not guilty.
10:03You're just
10:04before him.
10:05But then he died
10:07to make us good.
10:09That's a simplistic way
10:10of talking about
10:11the next stage.
10:13You've been saved.
10:15You've been justified.
10:16You've been declared
10:17not guilty
10:18in the sight of God.
10:21You've been saved
10:22from the penalty
10:24of sin.
10:27But then, secondly,
10:28we're being saved.
10:30And this is the biblical doctrine
10:31of sanctification.
10:32It begins at conversion
10:33and it ends
10:35when we pass
10:36through the grave
10:37when we die
10:38or when the Lord Jesus returns.
10:40Whichever comes first.
10:42Sanctification.
10:43The process
10:44where the Holy Spirit
10:45works in us
10:46to conform us
10:48to the image of Christ.
10:49To make us good.
10:51Not perfect.
10:52Never in this life.
10:54But all our sins,
10:57past, present and future.
10:59Covered by the blood of Jesus.
11:02So we've been saved
11:03from the penalty of sin.
11:06We're being saved
11:07from the practice
11:08and power of sin.
11:09But then the Bible
11:10also talks about
11:12have been saved
11:13and will be saved,
11:14rather, future.
11:15That's when the Lord returns.
11:18Or that's when we die
11:19and we go to be with him.
11:20And that's when
11:21we'll be perfectly conformed
11:23to the image of Christ.
11:25There'll be no more pain,
11:26no more suffering,
11:28no more sorrow,
11:29no more tears,
11:29because there'll be
11:30no more Satan.
11:31So there'll be
11:32no more sin
11:33and there'll be
11:34no consequences
11:34and wages of sin.
11:36There'll be no more death
11:37for those who trust in Christ.
11:39And that's why
11:40we get so excited,
11:41particularly at this time.
11:43But of course,
11:43every time we have communion,
11:45we break bread
11:46around the Lord's table.
11:47We're particularly,
11:48the Lord said,
11:49do this in remembrance of me.
11:51We forget
11:52or we become familiar.
11:53And that's why we do it
11:54as often as you do.
11:55It's to remind us
11:56because we forget
11:58the great cost.
11:59We forget what happened
12:00on Good Friday.
12:04But Paul now,
12:05in this great resurrection chapter,
12:07he goes around
12:09and he's talking
12:10to these Christians.
12:12Many of you are familiar
12:13with 1 Corinthians,
12:14we'll know jolly well.
12:15It was written by Paul
12:16to a church
12:18which he had founded.
12:19But a church
12:20which has had major problems
12:21and written in response
12:22to letters,
12:23to news that came to him
12:25of these issues,
12:26factions and all kinds of issues.
12:28And the first half
12:29of the letter
12:29or more
12:30is dealing with
12:32answering these questions
12:33and dealing with the issues.
12:36But now he comes here
12:38in this great chapter.
12:39Now I would remind you,
12:41brothers,
12:42of the gospel
12:43I preached to you.
12:45He's saying remind.
12:46He's not saying
12:46you don't know it.
12:47He's not saying
12:47you haven't heard it.
12:48You're brothers.
12:49You've been born again.
12:51That's generic,
12:52of course.
12:52That is brothers
12:53and sisters.
12:54That's all
12:55who have come to faith
12:56through the preaching
12:57of the gospel
12:58in Corinth.
12:59But just as the Lord
13:00Jesus said,
13:01do this in remembrance
13:02of me.
13:03We do it because we forget.
13:05To remind us
13:06and today in particular,
13:08Easter Sunday,
13:09around the world
13:10is a day when
13:11we're reminded
13:12and we rejoice
13:13in the cost
13:15but that the cross
13:16is empty.
13:17We haven't got a cross
13:18in here
13:18but URC churches,
13:21Methodist churches,
13:22most of the
13:22confessional churches
13:24I preach in,
13:25they have usually
13:26a big cross
13:26inside the building
13:27at the front
13:28and often one
13:29on the outside,
13:30an empty cross.
13:31Sadly,
13:32so many folk
13:32don't really understand
13:34or have forgotten
13:35and it's good
13:36to remind them.
13:37What we find
13:37in so many
13:38of these churches
13:39is people
13:40who were brought up
13:41in the church
13:41under the sound
13:42of the gospel
13:43who know the old hymns
13:45and they're reminded
13:47and they say,
13:48this is good.
13:49You're reminding us
13:50of what we learned
13:51when we were young.
13:51The Lord has his people
13:53even in so many churches
13:54that we might think of
13:55as having dead leadership
13:58nationally and locally.
14:00Don't write them off.
14:02Pray that the Lord
14:03will move mightily
14:05amongst these folk.
14:07But it's pointing out
14:08why is the symbol
14:10of the Christian church,
14:11the Protestant church,
14:12an empty cross?
14:14Because God accepted
14:17his sacrifice
14:17and raised him
14:19from the dead.
14:22Our hymn goes on
14:23to say there was
14:24no other good enough
14:25to pay the price of sin.
14:27We've all sinned.
14:29We've inherited
14:30a sinful nature
14:31from Adam.
14:31We don't sin.
14:32We don't become sinners
14:33because we sin.
14:35We sin because by nature
14:38we're born under sin.
14:41And only the Son of God,
14:43only the one
14:43who could have
14:44no human father,
14:46he had to be
14:47100% God.
14:49But he had a human mother
14:51because he had to be
14:51100% human.
14:53It's a mystery
14:54that our finite brains
14:55cannot understand
14:56how one plus one
14:58equals one.
14:59The God man.
15:01It was God
15:02in flesh
15:03on that cross.
15:05And because he was sinless,
15:07he could
15:08substitute for sinners.
15:09but because
15:11he was born
15:12of a woman
15:12under the law,
15:14he could be
15:14our representative,
15:16our substitute.
15:17That's the great wonder
15:18of the gospel.
15:20He died.
15:21Why?
15:22That we might be justified,
15:23that we might be sanctified,
15:25forgiven,
15:26and made good.
15:27That we might
15:28go at last
15:29to heaven
15:29saved by
15:30his precious blood.
15:31No other.
15:32Only he could unlock
15:33the gate of heaven
15:34and let us in.
15:36And then
15:36Cecil Alexander,
15:38she gets to her last verse,
15:39she says,
15:40Oh dearly, dearly,
15:41has he loved.
15:42We must love
15:43him too.
15:46Brothers and sisters,
15:47do you love
15:48the Lord Jesus?
15:50And continue
15:51to love the Lord Jesus.
15:53I love the hymn
15:54that has the verse,
15:55Lord,
15:56it is my chief complaint
15:57that my love
15:58so weak and faint,
16:00yet I love thee
16:02and adore.
16:03Oh for grace.
16:06God's power
16:07and God's enabling
16:08to love
16:10you
16:11more.
16:12And Paul now then
16:13comes here
16:14and he says,
16:15I'm reminding of you this.
16:16He says,
16:17it's the gospel
16:17I preach to you.
16:18There's only one gospel.
16:20The gospel.
16:21Literally the good message.
16:23The good news.
16:25We need good news
16:26in this world.
16:27We need good news.
16:29We need to pray
16:30that the Lord
16:31will thrust out workers
16:32into the harvest field
16:34as we commanded to do.
16:36As Jesus said,
16:36pray the Lord of the harvest
16:37to not send out.
16:39In the original,
16:40it's to thrust out,
16:41almost force out workers
16:43into the harvest field
16:44because it's ripe
16:47for harvest.
16:49Oh how we need to pray
16:50that the Lord
16:51will raise up
16:52godly leaders
16:53in our churches,
16:55godly leaders
16:55in society
16:56and in government
16:57that we might
16:59become again
17:00known as a Christian nation.
17:03A nation
17:03under God,
17:05under his commandments,
17:06living according
17:07to the maker's
17:08handbook,
17:09the maker's instructions
17:10and living peaceably
17:12and being blessed
17:13as we see churches
17:14not empty and filling
17:15but churches
17:17being planted
17:18as in the Reformation,
17:20as in the
17:21Great Awakening
17:22and so on.
17:23And
17:24the days
17:25in the 19th century
17:26when we sent out
17:26missionaries around the world
17:28with this good news.
17:29No, says Paul,
17:31this is the gospel,
17:32there's only one gospel,
17:33writing to the Galatians
17:34in chapter 1.
17:35He says,
17:35how can you be wandering
17:36from it
17:37as if there's another gospel?
17:39There is no other gospel.
17:41There's only the news
17:42because it's the only good news,
17:44the good message
17:45that is effective
17:46for this world,
17:48for this life
17:48and
17:49for the life to come.
17:51He says,
17:52you are being saved.
17:54You are being
17:55sanctified.
18:00You are being
18:01saved from the practice
18:02and penalty of sin
18:03as
18:05God works in you
18:06by his Spirit
18:07to make you more like his Son,
18:09more ready
18:09to be glorified.
18:13The future
18:14state
18:15and tense
18:16of salvation.
18:18But there's a condition.
18:20The Bible has conditions.
18:22We're at,
18:22and I say the church
18:23and so many people
18:24and professing people
18:25are apt to take promises.
18:28I don't know if
18:29many of you are familiar
18:30with the old promise boxes.
18:33People used to,
18:34years ago,
18:34used to like to have
18:35a promise box
18:36and each day
18:37they'd open it
18:39and they'd take a promise out.
18:40The kind of thing
18:40you'd stick on your fridge magnet
18:42and stick on your fridge.
18:43And there are always
18:44the positive things
18:45but there's always
18:46a condition in Scripture
18:47and we need to look
18:48at the ifs,
18:49the conditions
18:50that God gives.
18:51And here,
18:52if you hold fast,
18:53to the word
18:54I preach to you.
18:57If,
18:58we have to remain
18:59steadfast,
19:02no compromise.
19:03God's word,
19:04it's relevant,
19:06it's true yesterday,
19:07today,
19:07forever,
19:08as Christ is.
19:09That's our foundation.
19:11Sadly,
19:12so many churches
19:13say,
19:13how do we get
19:14the young people?
19:15How do we appeal
19:16to a world
19:16where people
19:18don't want to go to church?
19:20Where our children
19:21are not taught
19:22in school
19:22the fundamentals
19:24of Christianity?
19:25They're not,
19:26we don't often have
19:27Christian assemblies
19:28and if we do,
19:29they're not the assemblies
19:30we were brought up with
19:31where you had
19:32a Christian hymn,
19:33you had a Bible reading,
19:35you had Christian prayers
19:36and people knew
19:38and recited
19:39the,
19:40I call it
19:41the disciples' prayer
19:42but the Lord's prayer
19:43as people call it.
19:45There's ignorance,
19:46we have a generation now
19:47of growing up
19:49of functional pagans
19:51in the West
19:52and in this land.
19:54So Paul says here,
19:56hold fast to the word,
19:57the word of God.
19:58It's the word of life.
20:00It's the preaching
20:01of Christ
20:02that brings
20:03saving faith.
20:05He says,
20:05if you don't,
20:08if you wander,
20:09if you compromise,
20:11if you let it slip,
20:12then you've believed
20:13in vain.
20:15If you wander
20:16off from the truth
20:17of the word,
20:18your salvation
20:19is void.
20:20It's not genuine.
20:22Then he says,
20:23I delivered to you
20:23as of first importance.
20:25He says,
20:25this is the most
20:25important thing.
20:26He said,
20:26I've been talking to you
20:28about lots of things.
20:28I've been correcting
20:30lots of the issues
20:30you've got
20:31that I was told about.
20:32But this is the most
20:34important thing
20:34I want to tell you
20:35and remind you,
20:37that Christ died
20:38for our sins
20:39in accordance
20:40with the scriptures.
20:43On Good Friday
20:44at that church
20:44in St. Organs,
20:45we also read
20:46and referred back
20:48to Isaiah 53.
20:51Very interesting
20:51to have people
20:53saying after them,
20:54particularly the lady
20:55who read that scripture,
20:56who said afterwards,
20:59she said,
20:59as I read it
21:00and I studied it,
21:01she said,
21:01I had no idea
21:02that that was
21:03in the Old Testament.
21:05And as you pointed out,
21:06that was a description
21:07of the crucifixion
21:09of the cross
21:09and what was happening
21:11there,
21:11God's plan,
21:12God's purpose
21:13and fulfilled
21:15in his son.
21:18No,
21:19Paul was referring here,
21:20of course,
21:20to the Old Testament scriptures.
21:22They all speak
21:23about Christ
21:24on the Emmaus road
21:25on that resurrection morning.
21:26Jesus said
21:27to the two disciples
21:28who were forlorn
21:29and despondent,
21:30who said,
21:31all hope's gone.
21:32We had hoped,
21:35but he's dead.
21:37He's been crucified.
21:38They didn't know.
21:38They didn't know
21:39who they were with.
21:40They didn't.
21:41They missed it.
21:42And he went through
21:42all the scriptures
21:43showing them himself.
21:46They all point forward
21:48to Christ,
21:49the Messiah,
21:50God's anointed prophet,
21:51priest and king.
21:53And so he says,
21:55and what do the scriptures
21:56state?
21:57That he died
21:58for our sins,
22:00that he was buried
22:01and that he was raised
22:03on the third day
22:04in accordance
22:05with the scriptures.
22:06That's the day
22:06we remember
22:07particularly today.
22:09The day
22:10when
22:10the tomb
22:12was empty,
22:12the stone
22:13was rolled away
22:14and the risen
22:16Christ
22:17prior to his
22:19ascension
22:2040 days later
22:21was seen by many.
22:23And Paul goes on
22:23to say this.
22:24He says,
22:25he appeared to Cephas,
22:26to Peter,
22:27then to the 12.
22:29Then he appeared
22:29to more than 500 brothers
22:30at one time,
22:32largely up in Galilee
22:33in the north,
22:34many of whom
22:35are still alive,
22:37though some have
22:37fallen asleep.
22:38The technical term,
22:39of course,
22:39for Christians,
22:40believers,
22:41who die.
22:42What's he saying?
22:44Don't just take
22:45my word for it.
22:47Most of this 500
22:48or more than 500,
22:49they're still alive.
22:50You can go and ask them.
22:51You can have an eyewitness
22:52testimony from them
22:54that he appeared to them
22:55that they saw him.
22:59Paul, of course,
23:00as Saul,
23:00saw him on the Damascus road.
23:03They saw him.
23:04He says,
23:05there are plenty
23:06of eyewitnesses
23:07who will tell you
23:08the same testimony,
23:10that it is true,
23:11that it is real.
23:12He appeared to James,
23:13he appeared to all
23:13the apostles.
23:15And then here you see
23:16the humility of Paul.
23:18Paul, who writing
23:18to Timothy,
23:19described himself
23:20as the chief of sinners.
23:22Paul didn't need anyone
23:23to tell him
23:24that he was a sinner.
23:26That he says,
23:27I persecuted,
23:28I persecuted
23:29the church of God.
23:32I persecuted
23:33God's people.
23:35But God's grace,
23:37God's unmerited favour,
23:39if God gave me
23:39what I deserved,
23:40I'd have been wiped out
23:41there and then.
23:43But you see,
23:43that's the wonder
23:44of the gospel.
23:45It's not anything we do.
23:47It's not anything,
23:48any merit we have.
23:50It's like the old spiritual.
23:51If religion were a thing
23:52that money could buy,
23:53the rich would live
23:54and the poor
23:56would die.
23:58No.
24:00God's grace,
24:01God sovereignly
24:02sets his love
24:03upon the loveless,
24:05those who are enemies.
24:07And that's you and me.
24:08Remember the Lord Jesus said,
24:09he who is forgiven much
24:11loves much.
24:12The problem,
24:13I guess,
24:14for many of us is
24:15we don't realise
24:18because we haven't had
24:19a dramatic conversion
24:20from a major life of sin.
24:22We haven't had lives of crime.
24:24We haven't been drug dealers
24:26or we haven't been in prison
24:27or we haven't been thieves
24:28or whatever.
24:30And we're apt
24:31not to,
24:33therefore,
24:33really love
24:34and appreciate.
24:35Whereas somebody
24:36who knows
24:37that they're a sinner,
24:38who knows
24:39that they deserve judgment,
24:41generally is much more conscious
24:42of the change
24:44and that dramatic change.
24:46No,
24:47Paul knew that.
24:49But by the grace of God
24:50I what I am.
24:51And he says,
24:51his grace to me
24:52wasn't in vain.
24:53Then notice,
24:54he didn't just sit back.
24:56He said,
24:56I worked harder
24:57than any of them.
24:59But it wasn't I
25:00but the grace of God
25:00that's with me.
25:02Paul,
25:03of course,
25:03speaks to the Ephesians,
25:05I believe it is,
25:06where he says,
25:07I work,
25:09I effort.
25:09It might be Colossians.
25:10It's Ephesians or Colossians
25:11where he talks about
25:13I work,
25:14I labour.
25:15The word is,
25:16I labour to the point of exhaustion
25:17with all the energy
25:19that he mightily
25:20works in me.
25:23We work out,
25:24we live out our salvation,
25:25salvation,
25:26Philippians 2,
25:27with fear and trembling.
25:28We are responsible
25:29to labour for the Lord
25:32and to work for him
25:34and to be fruitful.
25:36But it's his,
25:37he works in us
25:38to give the will,
25:40the desire
25:40and the power,
25:42the enabling.
25:43And Paul says
25:44he gives all,
25:45you see,
25:45he's not taking any glory
25:46for himself.
25:47He could have said,
25:47look,
25:47I've worked harder
25:48than the others,
25:49I've had more suffering,
25:50I've been beaten
25:51and scourged more,
25:52I've been imprisoned,
25:53I've been shipwrecked,
25:55I've been falsely accused.
25:57No, he didn't.
25:59He says,
26:00I give all the glory to God.
26:03It was him,
26:04not me,
26:05but it's the grace of God
26:06working through me.
26:08But then he goes on to say,
26:10and here now he turns it round,
26:13and he says,
26:14a lot of these people doubted,
26:16the Sadducees, of course,
26:18denied that there was
26:20a resurrection.
26:21And he says,
26:22how can you say
26:22there's no resurrection?
26:23Because if nobody's risen
26:25from the dead,
26:25verse 13 there,
26:27then not even Christ
26:28has been raised.
26:29And then he gives this list,
26:32this list of,
26:33and he says,
26:33well, okay,
26:34what are the consequences?
26:35Just suppose for a moment
26:37that those who deny resurrection
26:39say that Christ's not been
26:41raised from the dead,
26:42then what are the consequences?
26:43Number one,
26:45our preaching is in vain.
26:47I'm wasting my time.
26:50I was wasting my time
26:51this morning down in Stroud.
26:52I was wasting my time
26:53on Good Friday
26:53in St. Albans
26:55because what's the point?
26:57And those of you who preach
26:58and those of you who witness
27:00in whatever way
27:01and testify,
27:02you're wasting your time
27:03because it's a false message.
27:06It's a false hope.
27:08He says,
27:09our preaching is vain
27:10and the consequence of that
27:11is your faith is in vain.
27:14As he's going on to say,
27:15you have no salvation.
27:17You have no hope.
27:18You're hopeless.
27:20We're even found
27:21to be misrepresenting God
27:24because we testified about God
27:27that he raised Christ,
27:28whom he didn't raise
27:29if it's true
27:30that the dead are not raised.
27:32You see his argument here.
27:33Paul the lawyer,
27:34his legal closely knit
27:39and closely tied argument
27:40and his logic.
27:42He's saying,
27:42look,
27:42if there's no resurrection,
27:44then you die
27:45and that's it.
27:46Then Christ didn't rise.
27:48Nobody does.
27:50The whole thing is futile.
27:52Your faith is futile.
27:54We're misrepresenting God.
27:56We're telling lies about him.
27:57We're saying Christ
27:58was raised from the dead.
27:59We're saying there's life
27:59for others in him
28:01and that's just not true.
28:03He says,
28:04if the dead aren't raised,
28:07not even Christ has been raised,
28:08and if Christ has not been raised,
28:10your faith is futile.
28:14It's rubbish.
28:18It's pie in the sky,
28:19as some sceptics like to say.
28:21Pie in the sky when you die.
28:24But it's not.
28:25He says,
28:26if the dead aren't not raised
28:27and if Christ has not been raised,
28:28your faith is futile
28:29and this is the key.
28:31Having said earlier,
28:33this is the main message.
28:34This is the crux of it.
28:36This is the nub of it
28:37that Christ died
28:38for our sins.
28:42Remember that the angel
28:43in Matthew 1.21
28:44said to Joseph
28:46when he was concerned,
28:48more than concerned,
28:50when he found out
28:50that his fiancée was pregnant
28:53and they hadn't been engaged
28:57in premarital sex,
28:59that she was pregnant
28:59and what was he going to do about it?
29:03And the angel came to him
29:04and told him
29:04and that the conception
29:07was of the Holy Ghost.
29:09But,
29:10verse 21,
29:11you shall call his name Jesus.
29:13Why?
29:14For he shall save his people
29:16from their sins.
29:18Penalty,
29:19power,
29:20and,
29:21in the future,
29:22presence.
29:24And,
29:25his name Jesus
29:26means God saves.
29:29The New Testament version
29:30of Joshua,
29:31God will save.
29:33Jesus came to save.
29:35To lay down his life
29:36for his sheep.
29:38To seek and save
29:40the lost.
29:41And so,
29:41Paul says here,
29:42if it's not true,
29:44if he's still dead,
29:46then,
29:47you're still in your sins.
29:50In other words,
29:51you're still under God's wrath
29:53and you're still going to have
29:54to eternally pay
29:55the penalty
29:56of your sin.
29:59But,
30:00he says,
30:01and he goes on,
30:02then those who have fallen asleep,
30:04those who have died
30:05in faith,
30:06in Christ,
30:07Paul's favourite word,
30:09expression,
30:09for a believer,
30:11united to Christ,
30:12in other epistles,
30:14he talks about
30:14being united with Christ
30:15in his death,
30:17baptised,
30:18not a water baptism now,
30:19but that represents
30:20baptism,
30:22union with Christ
30:23in his death,
30:24with his burial,
30:25and his resurrection
30:26to a new life.
30:27He says,
30:28but you're still
30:29in your sins.
30:30You're not forgiven.
30:32As Cecil Alexander said,
30:35he died,
30:36and of course he was raised,
30:37that we might go
30:38at last to heaven.
30:40But if you're still
30:40in your sins,
30:41you're still under God's
30:42eternal condemnation.
30:44And what's the consequence?
30:47If in Christ
30:48we have hope
30:49in this life only,
30:51we are of all most
30:53people,
30:53most to be pitied.
30:55He's saying we're pathetic.
30:57People would rightly pity us.
31:00Poor,
31:00deluded,
31:02simpletons,
31:03who are believing a lie,
31:05who are hoping
31:06an inner false hope.
31:08The joy of today
31:09in particular,
31:10the great joy
31:11of the resurrection,
31:12wherever you are
31:13in the world,
31:14is that Christ
31:15is alive,
31:15that he is risen,
31:18that God
31:19has raised him
31:20from the dead.
31:21And Paul goes on,
31:22verse 20,
31:23to say,
31:23but,
31:24I always say to people,
31:26underline,
31:26take note of the buts
31:27in Scripture.
31:29It's where you have
31:29the contrast.
31:30Paul now has had
31:31his argument,
31:31what if?
31:33But now he's saying
31:33that's hypothetical.
31:35That's not the fact.
31:36The fact is,
31:37it's the opposite
31:38of all this.
31:40Christ has been
31:41raised from the dead.
31:43The first fruit
31:44of those
31:44who had fallen asleep.
31:46Particularly towards
31:47the end of 1 Thessalonians,
31:49the early church there,
31:50the unbelievers
31:51were concerned
31:52about believers
31:54who had died,
31:56who had fallen asleep.
31:57And Paul here
31:58returns to that
31:59and he says,
32:01Christ's the first fruit.
32:02What does the first fruit
32:04represent?
32:05The first pickings,
32:06the first fruit
32:07of the harvest.
32:09If the first fruit's there
32:10and it's good,
32:10you know you're going
32:11to have a good harvest
32:12to follow.
32:14Christ was the first
32:15and we,
32:18those of us
32:19who trust in Christ,
32:20those who are united
32:21in Christ,
32:23whose sins
32:23have been forgiven,
32:25who have been,
32:27have received
32:28propitiation,
32:30are no longer
32:31under God's wrath.
32:32We're no longer enemies
32:33but we've been adopted
32:34into his family
32:35as his sons
32:36and as his children.
32:38We're no longer enemies
32:40but we have peace
32:41with God.
32:42Being justified
32:43by faith,
32:45we have peace
32:46with God
32:46through Christ Jesus,
32:48our Lord.
32:49And Paul says
32:50there,
32:51the fact
32:52that Christ
32:53has risen,
32:55then all those
32:56who are in Christ
32:57are going to rise
32:58to be with him
33:00for eternity.
33:02And then you have
33:03the great,
33:04the first imputation.
33:06He goes back
33:06to Genesis.
33:08He goes back
33:08to the beginning
33:09of Genesis.
33:09I hope wherever
33:10you are watching
33:11this around the world,
33:13you don't write off
33:14the first few chapters
33:16of Genesis
33:17and think of them
33:19as just as allegory,
33:20as a simplistic story
33:21for simple people
33:22of yesteryear,
33:23thousands of years ago,
33:24and that actually
33:26creation didn't happen
33:28and that God
33:29didn't call
33:31everything into
33:32being
33:34by the word
33:35of his power
33:36over a six-day period
33:38as taught clearly
33:39in the scriptures
33:40and affirmed
33:41throughout the scriptures.
33:43And Paul does it here
33:44as he does again
33:46at length
33:46in Romans 5.
33:48As in Adam,
33:49and here you've got it there,
33:51as in Adam
33:52all die.
33:54He was our representative.
33:56What Adam did,
33:57his sin,
33:59is imputed,
34:00reckoned
34:00to each one of us.
34:03So,
34:04Christ,
34:04the firstfruits,
34:05at his coming,
34:06those who belong
34:07to Christ
34:07will be made alive.
34:11Alive spiritually,
34:12eternally,
34:15at his coming.
34:17And then he says,
34:17Christ at the end
34:18is going to deliver
34:19the kingdom
34:19to his Father.
34:21He'll have destroyed
34:22every rule,
34:23every authority,
34:24every power.
34:26The powers of this world.
34:28The powers of the unseen world.
34:31The God of this world,
34:32Satan.
34:33The powers in the principalities
34:35and the powers.
34:36Unseen by us,
34:37but we see the effects.
34:39They're destroyed.
34:41When Christ shouted
34:42Tetelestai on the cross,
34:44Satan was defeated.
34:46Satan's final end
34:48was secured.
34:49Christ had conquered death,
34:52conquered the wages of sin,
34:54the penalty of sin
34:55for those who he represented
34:57on the cross.
35:00And so we have this great,
35:03you have this great thing.
35:04Paul says,
35:05this is it.
35:07Christ now.
35:08Everything's going to be
35:09subjected to him
35:10that God may be all in all.
35:12This is the wonder of this day.
35:14This is the wonder
35:15of the resurrection.
35:16Let us never get too familiar.
35:19Let us be reminded
35:20as Paul did.
35:21And let us go out
35:22from this place tonight
35:23or wherever and whenever
35:24around the world.
35:25You watch this
35:26and you pick this up.
35:28I can't see you.
35:29You can see me.
35:31I don't know who you are.
35:33But I just pray
35:34that the Lord
35:35will open your hearts
35:36and minds.
35:36If you already know him,
35:38maybe you're in situations
35:39where you have known
35:40persecution and deprivation
35:42on account of the gospel.
35:44Maybe you're in situations
35:45where being a Christian
35:46is hard.
35:48You're being a Christian
35:49in an alien society,
35:51a world where
35:51you're not respected,
35:54totally the opposite
35:54and you're disadvantaged
35:56in all kinds of ways
35:57because of that.
35:59Take cheer.
36:00Be comforted.
36:01Be reminded as Paul
36:03is, gird up your loins.
36:05Thank the Lord.
36:06Praise him.
36:07Worship him
36:08for the salvation
36:09that's found
36:10in Christ.
36:12And if you don't know,
36:14you can't say
36:15at the moment
36:16that you know
36:17that when Jesus died
36:18on the cross,
36:19he was your sin-bearer.
36:21He died in your place.
36:24And therefore,
36:25you're saying,
36:27I hope
36:27when I die
36:28I'm going to heaven.
36:30I hope
36:30that I'm going,
36:32that I'm forgiven.
36:33Then you can know,
36:34you can come to know
36:35Christ for yourself
36:36by confessing your sin
36:39by saying,
36:40Lord Jesus,
36:40I believe
36:41that you did die
36:43and you died for sinners
36:44and I'm a sinner
36:45and you died in my place
36:46and that if I confess my sin
36:48and acknowledge that
36:49and if I believe
36:50and trust
36:51in that,
36:53not myself,
36:54for my salvation,
36:56whatever befalls me
36:58in this life
36:58that I know
37:00that I'm going to rise,
37:01I'm going to be resurrected
37:03and I'm going to be with him
37:04in heaven
37:05in bliss
37:06that I can't even imagine
37:08for all time,
37:10for eternity,
37:11then my prayer.
37:13And the prayer of the folk here
37:15is that
37:15that is what happens
37:17to you.
37:18That you'll be able
37:19to look back
37:19to this Easter maybe
37:21and say,
37:22this was the time
37:23when I was dead.
37:26I recognised I was dead
37:27and under God's judgement
37:28and I received,
37:30I was justified,
37:31God declared me not guilty
37:32on the basis of faith
37:34in his son.
37:36May the Lord bless you all.
37:38Amen.
37:38Christ is risen,
37:42hallelujah,
37:44risen of victorious faith.
37:49Sing His praises,
37:52hallelujah,
37:55Christ is risen
37:57from the dead.
38:01Amen.
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