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Sermon Notes

Easter 26
“Good News From the Graveyard”

1 Cor 15:12-20 “12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead!”
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It’s Easter Sunday where we celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of an itinerant teacher and miracle worker named Jesus, who traveled in a small geographical area in the Middle East for around 3 years.

He was immensely popular with the common folk,
but hated by the religious leaders of His time.

At 33 years of age he was arrested, falsely tried, and sent to die by way of crucifixion,
the most torturous form of execution known to ancient man.

He was buried in a rich man’s tomb, and the Bible claims that on the third day, He was miraculously raised from the dead!
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Now, many people scoff at the idea of a resurrection—that someone could actually come back to life after death.

Dead people don’t get up again.

We all know this to be a fact.

Dead means dead.

There is nothing more sobering, final, or cruel than death.
It is the final goodbye on this earth.

All that remains following a loved one’s death are the memories of what once was.

But the Bible plainly records a total of 9 miraculous resurrections from the dead,
3 in the OT and 6 in the NT,
3 performed by Jesus,
1 by Paul,
1 by Peter,
and of course, the resurrection of Christ Himself.

The Bible says they were brought back to life, not by medical means, but supernaturally, even long after they had died.

And Jesus himself had claimed, not once, but at least four different times that he would rise from the dead.

That claim was the linchpin, the hinge upon which his entire ministry and future legacy swung!
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Now in our text, Paul lays out several hypotheticals of just how hopeless and meaningless our faith would be if we only had a DEAD JESUS.

FIRST, Paul says…

I. Our preaching would be empty

The message about Him, the gospel itself, would be empty, worthless, or “empty-handed.”

If I give you the good news gospel without the resurrection, it is an “empty-handed” gospel—-the good news is no longer all that good!

Because the core good news of Christianity literally rises or falls on the resurrection of Jesus.

If Jesus is still in the grave, Christianity is gutted of its power and stripped of its claims–it’s an “empty handed” religion!
If Jesus is still in the grave, He’s no better than any other inspirational, religious personality speckling the pages of history.
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So if Jesus is not risen, the GOSPEL about Him is EMPTY.

And not only is the GOSPEL empty, but Paul says:

II. Your faith is also empty

A faith that has no basis, no truth, no power behind it is an empty, worthless faith.

What good is placing your faith in a BRIDGE that can’t hold you up?

Or in a plane that can’t fly?

Or in an eye that can’t see?

IF Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, He’s not who He claimed to be.

He told His followers, “I will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge me and kill me. And the third day I will rise again.” (Luke 18:32-33 NKJV).

So if He didn’t come back to life on the third day He was a fraud,
and Our faith would be an empty faith!
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Then Paul goes on to say that if Jesus didn’t come back to life, not only is the MESSAGE empty, and our FAITH empty, but….

III. Our faith is also FUTILE

FUTILE and EMPTY have 2 different meanings.

While EMPTY means there’s nothing there,

FUTILE means your faith is powerless, it leads nowhere and to nothing but discouragement, disappointment, and despair.
ILLUS: it’s the hamster’s wheel where the hamster runs and runs but in the end it’s all useless and for nothing.

Faith in Christ without the resurrection leads nowhere—It is powerless to help you, to save you.
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So if Jesus is not risen from the dead,
our preaching is empty,
and our faith is empty and futile.

And worst of all, if Christ is not risen, Paul writes:

IV. You are still in your sins

Our sins can be forgiven only by faith in Him, and through the power of His blood.

But if He was not raised from the dead then He was an IMPOSTOR—and all our hopes of forgiveness through Him are in vain.

What a SAD AND HOPELESS world it would be without the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave!
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But Paul doesn’t leave us hanging with these grim hypotheticals; he says in the very next verse:

“But now Christ is risen from the dead!” (15:20 NKJV).

TESTIMONY: A number of years ago I went to the Holy Land with a church group and got to not only see the tomb, but sit in it for a few minutes alone.

It was very solemn and very, very quiet.

As I sat there it washed over my soul how that empty tomb had totally changed the world, including me, by the powerful message it brings:

That empty tomb preaches!

It said to me:

A. Because He lives, HOPE is alive!

The empty tomb of Jesus brings HOPE!

It says that my circumstances,
my bank account,
health challenges,
or personal failures can’t keep me down

Because the worst of circumstances couldn’t keep HIM down!

–Because Jesus overcame the worst that hell could throw at Him, through Him I can overcome the worst hell can throw at me!

After a failure, a defeat, a setback, an attack, a loss, a betrayal…..

Whatever knocks you down and threatens to knock you out—Because He arose, you too can get up again!

Maybe today you feel defeated,
that there is no hope for your situation,
that some mistake or setback has sealed your fate.

The risen Christ says to you today, “Because I live, you can get up again!”

Romans 8:35,37 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
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And furthermore it struck me in a whole new way that:

B. The empty tomb is the answer for an empty life!

Empty is usually a negative:

An empty Bank account, empty Marriage, empty Gas tank, empty House, empty Heart.
The EMPTY TOMB of Jesus is the only place I know where EMPTINESS is a positive!

Because the empty tomb brings:

fullness of joy, fullness of purpose,
fullness of peace, fullness of love,
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You see, without the empty tomb and the risen Savior living in your heart, there is an emptiness to life.

It is an emptiness money can’t fill,
or success,
or friends,
or a great career.

Yes, a level of satisfaction comes with those things,
but they cannot meet the deepest needs and longings of your soul.

One philosopher wrote, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart.”

St. Augustine prayed, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in You.”

The psalmist wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”–Ps 42: 1-2

Scripture says we were “…created through him and for him.”–Col 1:16

Today, that deep need can be satisfied.

Your sins can be forgiven,

And that emptiness can be filled to the brim with God’s love by accepting Christ into your life, by turning to Him!

LET’S PRAY