Dedicated To The Men of God Who Preach the Word of God As It Is To Men As They Are

"Preach The Word"

If Jesus Had Not Risen

Text: 1 Cor.15:14-20

Introduction:
We would be in sad shape and those who have died would be without hope if Jesus has not arisen from the dead.  But thank God, we learn from His own testimony (Rev.1:18) and the testimony of many others in the New Testa-
ment that Jesus is surely alive.   Acts 1:3 declares, "To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Though we know He is risen, lets look at a hypothetical situation.  What if He had not risen?   Look at the last verse of our text passage and see the words, "But now is Christ risen from the dead."

If He did not rise, though He did, what then?

I.    Our Preaching Would Be Useless (v. 14a)

II.   Our Faith Would Be Meaningless (v. 14b)

III.  Our Message Would Be Deceptive (v. 15a)

IV.  Our Salvation Would Be Unreliable (v. 17)

V.   Our Loved Ones Would Be Unraiseable (v. 18)

VI.  Our Lives Would Be Miserable (v. 19)

Conclusion:
Thank God He is alive and well.  Our hopes concerning the future will not be dashed and destroyed for He lives.  Since He did rise our preaching means something, our faith has meaning,  our message is true, our salvation is sure, our saved loved ones will be raised, and our lives should be full of joy rather than misery.

Sermon By Dr. Tom Walker
Founder of the Preacher's Corner Internet Ministry

Site created by Tom Walker