Beloved radio, friends, we greet you in the precious and the worthy name of our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome you to the meditation of God's precious word once again. We continue that important subject, which we are considering from the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty-two and verse forty-two. One of the greatest questions that any human heart could ever be asked. And the question comes from the very heart and through the very lips of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Though he spoke the words to his enemies of that day, nevertheless they have a proper application for every one of us today. This is the question that he asked. What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? My beloved, may I request, by God's grace and for end in His precious name, what do you think of Christ? Does He ever enter into your thoughts? Have you ever considered who He is, together with what He is? By these studies which we are following, we're seeking to present some of the great revelations from the Word of God regarding His blessed person. They surely give to us the impression and the conclusion he must be, and he is, the greatest person in the universe. We have touched upon his pre-existence as being taught in and from and through the precious Word of God. We know from the Word of God that the one who came to the earth to be your Savior and mine pre-existed in a bygone eternity, the one who forever and continually is in the bosom of his father. We cannot fathom that pre-existent creation, but God knows, by divine revelation through his word, and by the Spirit inspiring the book, he has given to us precious truth relative to the pre-existence of his son. Then we have followed on and considered the incarnation of that blessed one. He who was very God, and in the very form of God, became flesh, took upon him our humanity. And may I be reminded with you the purpose of that wonderful stoop to take humanity into his own glorious divine being was to bring redemption for the human race. Paul as well stated in First Timothy chapter one, verse fifteen, that Christ Jesus came into the world. to save sinners. Surely that was the purpose of his incarnation. Then we have also touched on the wonderful fact, the amazing truth regarding its atoning death. My beloved, so contrary to all other human beings who have come into this world and who do still come into this world, shall we not say you and I come into this world to live but he came expressly to die. The consummation of that life of his was that he might give himself upon the cross to be the sacrifice for our sins, and in that atoning death put sin away from a holy God with such satisfaction that God is now able to justify, to clear, and to forgive, every believing sinner who comes in repentance and faith to his beloved Son and accept the virtue of his atoning death. Today we follow another great revelation concerning him, very important, and that is relative to his resurrection. For the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ must be and is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity. It is one of the basic bulwarks of the Christian faith. We turn to the epistle of Paul written to the Corinthians. We would like to read verses three and four in our opening remarks, where we find that even in the declaration of the gospel which Paul gives to us here, the resurrection is included. Here are the words of the dear apostle. Verse three, chapter fifteen of first Corinthians. For I deliver it unto you, first of all, that which I also receive. How that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. Beloved, we say very concretely and firmly, the very Scripture that we have read denotes three facts. regarding our blessed Savior. First is death, second is burial, and third is resurrection. This is the message of the Gospel. The beloved Apostle Paul preached it. His companions and the apostles with him and others, they preached not only the death and the burial, but the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And today it is a fundamental teaching of Christianity. But will you follow with me in the Epistle of Corinthians, this fifteen chapter? And may I point out some facts by which Paul seeks to prove the resurrection of Christ certainly supports the doctrine and the teaching of Christianity. Paul seeks to prove that everything pertaining to Christ and pertaining to Christianity either stands or falls. with this teaching of the resurrection. If Christ was not raised from the dead, no verse fourteen, if you have your Bible, Paul's saying, if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain. Without the truth of the resurrection, there could be no preaching. Without the truth of the resurrection, all kinds of preaching would be in vain. Oh, beloved, the solid truth of the resurrection of Christ gives power to the message of the gospel, and the preaching is not in vain. But know the second thing that Paul declares, if Christ be not risen, then your faith is in vain. Yes, my beloved friend, you and I, we must have, and we do have, a living Savior to trust. He did rise again from the monster dead. But if he had not, then... What good would it be to put our trust in a person who was already dead and not alive? And then as you follow on with me, may I go further down as we find in verse eighteen the apostle continuing to say, If Christ be not risen, then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. Will you particularly think for a moment regarding what Paul has written in these words? They touch a very solemn as well as a precious truth regarding those of our loved ones, and you and I may have loved ones who have been taken away in death, who have gone to be with Christ, fallen asleep in Jesus, as the Word of God expresses it. Paul says in this eighteenth verse, If Christ has not risen, they have fallen asleep. and they'll perish. Ah, beloved, may I say, the blessed fact of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from among the dead gives the assurance to every believer who has a loved one who has gone to be with Christ. They will meet again. Were it not so? What's the use of preaching? Oh, may I quote the words of Paul as he well wrote them in the Epistle of Titus chapter two in verse thirteen. where he expresses the confident and the great hope of a Christian, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of God tells expressly in Ephesians chapter two that those who are without Christ and without God in this world, they have no hope. No hope. No hope. But not so the believer. Thank God for the precious fact, the Christian believer as a hope. But may I refer to the fact again? The beloved Apostle Paul is stating, Were it not so, those who have already died in Christ, they would perish. What a joy, can I say it personally, with a thrill of joy in my own soul from experience. One of the loved ones that has gone to be with Christ, because my Savior rose again. I know we shall meet again. Oh, the joy of knowing. Christ is risen, the first Jerusalem among the dead, and he certainly will bring out of the grave at his blessed coming, those who are lying within the body, corruptible, though in the body within the grave. They will come out again with glorious bodies. But then may I conclude what Paul says too? In verse nineteen. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Now, beloved friend, I want to raise the question. It is the question we are seeking to emphasize. What think ye of Christ? And here in the conclusion of Paul's recital to this verse, the nineteenth verse of chapter fifteen of the first epistles of the Corinthians, if our hope in Christ only covers this life, then we've got nothing more, nothing beyond it, and we would be, of all men, most miserable. May I frankly state, I would be the most miserable person if it were not for the blessed hope that I have in Christ. And that blessed hope is so confidently mine, because my Savior who died and who was buried rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Oh, my beloved, the importance of the resurrection. Think it through, my friend. Do you have any loved one who has gone to be with Christ, a Christian relative, very near or perhaps distant, or friend or neighbor that you confidently believe died as a Christian? Then may I ask you the question, do you expect to see them again? Have you the confidence that you will meet them again? Not unless you believe in the Lord Jesus. For if we believe that Christ died and rose again. Then we know them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him when he comes. My friend, think it through. What you think of Christ, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Have you trusted him for your Savior, giving you that confident hope? You can and will meet those who have gone to be with Christ before you. Oh, beloved, may the question penetrate. What think ye of Christ? Father, we thank thee for our Savior, not only dead, buried, but thank God risen in his precious name. Amen.