Psalm 49 KJV 1900

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.

¹ Hear this, all ye people; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

² Both low and high, Rich and poor, together.

³ My mouth shall speak of wisdom; And the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

⁴ I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

⁵ Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

⁶ They that trust in their wealth, And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

⁷ None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him:

⁸ (For the redemption of their soul is precious, And it ceaseth for ever:)

⁹ That he should still live for ever, And not see corruption.

¹⁰ For he seeth that wise men die, Likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, And leave their wealth to others.

¹¹ Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, And their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names.

¹² Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This their way is their folly: Yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.

¹⁴ Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

¹⁵ But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: For he shall receive me. Selah.

¹⁶ Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, When the glory of his house is increased;

¹⁷ For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: His glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸ Though while he lived he blessed his soul: And men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.

¹⁹ He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light.

²⁰ Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish.

1 Samuel 20:3 KJV 1900

³ And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

Ecclesiastes 2:12–23 KJV 1900

¹² And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.

¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

¹⁵ Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

¹⁶ For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

¹⁷ Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

¹⁸ Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

¹⁹ And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.

²⁰ Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

²¹ For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

²² For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

²³ For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

1 Corinthians 15:12–26 KJV 1900

¹² Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³ But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

¹⁴ And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

¹⁵ Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

¹⁶ For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

²⁰ But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

²¹ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

²³ But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

²⁴ Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

²⁵ For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

²⁶ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

How Then Should We Live?

2 Corinthians 5:14–17 KJV 1900

¹⁴ For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

¹⁵ And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

¹⁶ Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

1. We Should Evangelize

1 Corinthians 15:1–11

2. We Should be Willing to Suffer for Him

1 Corinthians 15:30–32

Without the resurrection:

•     there is no reason to suffer for him

2 Corinthians 1:8–10

•     we have the hope ( reasonable expectation) that he will deliver us from our suffering

Paul was speaking from experience

Paul spoke of suffering for Christ

•     from his 1st letter

Galatians 6:17 KJV 1900

¹⁷ From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

•     to his last letter

2 Timothy 2:10–12 KJV 1900

¹⁰ Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹¹ It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

¹² If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

3. We Should Have a Proper View of Life

If there is no Resurrection why not just live for yourself?

1 Corinthians 15:30

The worldly response to the resurrection:

Isaiah 22:13 KJV 1900

¹³ And behold joy and gladness, Slaying oxen, and killing sheep, Eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.

Isaiah 56:12 KJV 1900

¹² Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, And we will fill ourselves with strong drink; And to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

Luke 12:16–21 KJV 1900

¹⁶ And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

¹⁸ And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

²⁰ But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

²¹ So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

•     Has the reality of the Resurrection impacted your life?

•     How have you responded to the

•     Death

•     Burial

•     and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ?