The enemy of Fear Pt 2

I think one of the most difficult issues I wrestle with when it comes to love, grace and forgiveness, is when someone deceives a weaker person, taking advantage of them, especially done on an older person on a limited income! Multiply that issue 1000 times and that is how I feel when the deception was dealing with eternal issues. False teachers are a difficult group for me to love.

We are looking at the foundation of faith, which is the resurrection. We are examining the implications to us if the resurrection was a lie.

Review:

1st implication - if there is no resurrection of the dead – Christ is not the Messiah and is still in the grave!

2nd implication - Our faith is worthless; we are still in our sins!

The 3^rd implication - I am a deceived deceiver; I am leading others to believe something that is a lie and Christ is the author of that lie!!

1 Cor. 15:15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.

John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 

The 4^th implication - All the people you know that claimed to possess eternal life in Christ are dead and gone!

1 Cor. 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 

The Truth of Thessalonians is a lie:

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

The 5^th implication - We should not be denying ourselves worldly pleasures, not drugs or evil actions, because living good has its own reward, but we should have the house, the car, and other things that make life more enjoyable because this is all we have.

1 Cor. 15:19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied

I would have been living in the USA with my family, my friends, and the comforts afforded Americans. Not living in a climate that was too hot for me, where a language is spoken I don’t know and on a very limited income. Seeing my children and grandchildren every 3 years.

The So What: Life without Faith should bring fear! Do you have evidence of the resurrection? What difference does it make if you truly believe this is not the only life? How does that impact your thoughts about a worldwide pandemic?

Next: We will look at evidence of the resurrection.