For visiting today I want to welcome you my name is Kyle who
serves as the lead pastor as you find your seat we're going to be
in first Corinthians 15 this morning.
First Corinthians chapter 15 title for the sermon today is If
Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised.
So when Paul comes to the 15th chapter here of First
Corinthians, he's addressing the greatest reality in all of
scripture, which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It's the greatest reality in all of Scripture.
Everything rises or falls upon this truth.
If Christ has not been raised, then Christianity absolutely
collapses. It's a meaningless religion.
But if Christ is risen and he is risen, then everything changes.
Amen. Everything changes.
So last week in verses one through 11, as we were looking
at chapter 15, Paul laid out the facts and it was just what I
called white hot gospel, right? I mean, it's, it was just right
with the gospel. It was really timely.
It's one of those sermons, as a preacher, you wish you could
preach every week, right? But he laid out the facts, and
what he said was that Christ died for our sins, that he was
buried, and that he rose on the third day according to the
Scriptures. And when he references the
Scriptures, he's referencing past prophecies that these
things are coming true. They have come true in Christ
that he was he died first sins, he was buried, He rose on the
third day that this was witnessed by hundreds.
It was witnessed by the apostles themselves.
It was witnessed by Paul who was later called.
But beginning in verse 12, where we'll be today, Paul moves from
this historical certainty of the resurrection that it is true to
its theological necessity. All right, it's a historical
certainty. Was last week theological
necessity this week we have to have the doctrine of the
resurrection. It's essential.
So apparently there are some within the Corinthian church who
were saying something to the effect of there is no
resurrection of the dead. They didn't deny that Jesus rose
necessarily, but they denied that believers would rise.
They denied that there would be any any past life hope all
right. To them resurrection was either
unnecessary or impossible. A brief reflection of grief.
Greek philosophy shows us that they despised the physical and
they prized the eternal. So much of Greek philosophy is
about the spiritual nature of a man and denies any of the
benefits of the physical nature of man.
So Paul's answer here flies in the face of that.
It's both pastoral and powerful. He he argues that if you deny
the resurrection of believers, then you destroy the gospel
itself. So I would agree, Christianity
without the resurrection is empty.
Christianity without the resurrection has no meaning for
us. He's going to say that much,
that we are of all people to be pitied.
But Christianity with a risen Christ, well, that's
unstoppable. That that transcends cultures.
It transcends time. You and I sit here today as
Christians, many of us, because the faithfulness of those
initial ones who were called to go and preach the Gospel, Amen.
And so we stand on the shoulders of a historic faith, a faith
that's rooted in the resurrection.
So Paul's argument unfolds today in this passage in three
movements, begins with the logical, It moves to the
theological, and then finally to the practical.
Why do these things matter so much?
What does it mean for our life today?
And so if you're able bodied, would you please stand to your
feet? First Corinthians 1512 through
34. When I'm finished reading the
passage, I'll say this is the word of the Lord and you can
respond, thanks be to God. I'll try to remember this week.
Verse 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the
dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the
dead? But if there is no resurrection
of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in
vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be
misrepresenting God because we testified about God that He
raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the
dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised,
not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.
Then also those who then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in
this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the
resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all dies, so also
in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own
order. Christ the firstfruits then at
his coming those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God the
Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and
power. For He must reign until he has
put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed
is death. For God has put all things in
subjection under his feet. But when it says all things are
put in subjection, it is plain that He is expected accepted,
Who put all things in subjection under Him.
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son Himself will
also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under
him, that God may be All in all. Otherwise, what do people mean
by being baptized on behalf of the dead?
If the dead were not raised at all, why are people being
baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger?
Every hour I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have
in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day.
But what do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with the
beast at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let
us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals.
Wake up from your drunken stupor as is right, and do not go on
sinning, for some have no knowledge of God.
I say this to your shame. This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we open our
Bibles now to 1st Corinthians 15 where we see one of the most
important truths of our faith, the doctrine of the resurrection
God. It is my hope that you would use
this text to strengthen our faith in Christ, to strengthen
our faith in you, Father, to strengthen our faith in the
spirits, that we would see this as a central truth, not some
third way issue, but a central truth.
Father, to what we say we believe about Christ.
Lord, we thank you that we hold this truth that you have raised
Christ from the dead, and so too will we who are in Christ be
raised. And Father, I ask that you would
open our hearts and minds to hear your word today, to
understand it, to believe it, and to live it out with all
faith and faithfulness. It's in the name of Christ to
ask these things. Amen.
You may be seated.
Our world runs on what if questions, right?
Our world runs on what if questions.
We buy insurance because what if all right, what if there's a
tornado that blows our house down?
What if there's a flood? What if what if my life is taken
from me early? How will my family be taken care
of, all right? What if questions.
We check the weather before we go on a trip because what if,
what if it's really cold? What if it's really hot?
What if it's raining or if it's snowing, right?
We need to know those answers. We save money for retirement
because what if, all right? What if we get the end to the
end of our working career and we have nothing to live on?
We'll become a drain to our children and their children,
right? What if we have nothing to leave
our children and their children? All right, so.
But in First Corinthians 15, Paul raises really the most
important what if question. Right.
What if Christ has not been raised?
Now that question shakes the very foundation of the Christian
faith, because if Christ has not been raised, if Jesus is still
in the tomb, then everything else collapses.
Our faith is worthless, our sins remain unforgiven.
And just based on last week, we know what it means to stand
before God as one who has been unforgiven.
Our future is hopeless, and our message to the world is
meaningless. All.
Right. But Paul doesn't leave us in
that despair. He's just asking the question,
what if Christ has not been raised from the dead?
What Paul does is he walks us through the logical consequences
if Christ has not been raised. And then he lifts our eyes to
this glorious reality that Christ has been raised.
So here's the main point. If you're taking notes, you can
write this down. Because Christ has been raised
from the dead, our faith, forgiveness, future, and
faithfulness all stand secure. Because Christ has been raised
from the dead, our faith, forgiveness, future, and
faithfulness all stand secure. As you're writing that, I'm just
going to show you how Paul's going to reveal this to us in
three movements. The first place is going to take
us is if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is empty.
We're going to see that in verses 12 through 19 where Paul
shows us that without resurrection the entire gospel
collapses. Second place is going to take us
is because Christ has been raised, then our future is
certain. And verses 20 through 28.
So Christ's resurrection guarantees our own resurrection
and ensures his victory over death at the end of all things.
And then the final movement we'll see is because Christ has
been raised, our lives have meaning.
Our lives have a purpose in verses 29 through 34, where we
see that the resurrection shapes how we live, it shapes how we
suffer, and it shapes how we endure today.
So Paul doesn't just want to prove that Jesus rose.
Much of that was last week, right?
He died, he was buried. He rose again on the third day.
According to the Scriptures. He's proven the point.
We'll walk through some of that, but he's proven the point in the
previous verses. What Paul's doing here is he
wants to show why this doctrine matters right now, why it
matters for the Corinthians and for us.
It's not an abstract theology. He's right.
It's not some Picasso painting that's really difficult to
figure out at times. Well, it's very clear, all
right. It's the heartbeat of Christian
hope. The resurrection is the
heartbeat of Christian hope. So let's walk through the
passage together. So let's see how the
resurrection changes everything. Point #1 If Christ has not been
raised, our faith is empty. Verses 12 through 19, verse 12
all writes. Now if Christ is proclaimed as
raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no
resurrection of the dead? But if there's no resurrection
of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, that our preaching is in
vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be
misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He
raised Christ, whom He did not raise.
If it is true that the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and
you are still in your sins, then those also who have fallen
asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in
this life only, we are of all people to be pitied, right?
So Paul begins with this devastating question in verse
12. Now if Christ has proclaimed as
raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead? What Paul wants to show is this
isn't a hypothetical issue. Some of the people in the church
have been influenced by Greek philosophy that viewed the body
as a prison for the soul. They wanted a Christianity that
was spiritual but not physical. A gospel that can that comforted
the mind but didn't demand a bodily future.
Right. But Paul shows that such
thinking collapses in on itself. In verse 12, we see this denial
that undermines the gospel, right?
If you deny the resurrection in general, you deny the
resurrection of Christ in particular, right?
You, you can't have it both ways.
If dead men don't rise in Christ, then Jesus didn't rise
either. And if Jesus didn't rise, then
Christianity becomes a lie, all right.
Paul's reasoning flows from this union with Christ, another one
of the great doctrines of Scripture.
If you're curious about your union with Christ, Ephesians 1
is so helpful. Right.
But what is true of Christ becomes true of all who are in
him. That's essentially what it means
when we talk about our union with Christ.
What is true of Christ becomes true of all who are in him.
So to deny bodily resurrection is to deny that union, and to
deny that union would sever the lifeline of salvation itself.
It's like cutting down a tree and expecting the branches to
live as the tree lays on the ground.
If the root dies, then everything connected to it must
die also. So too, if Christ is not raised,
every hope that grows from him Withers.
It will die. So as Christians, what this
means for us is that we must be aware of any teaching that
spiritualizes Christianity and empties it of its supernatural
and physical power. Faith in a dead Christ is no
faith at all. And verses 13 through 15, Paul
takes us through this logical collapse that follows.
I love reading this argument because it's instructive to us
as Christians about how we should reason with others
according to the faith. There's a lot of if then
statements, right? He's drawing conclusions through
asking questions. He's helping reveal the flaw in
the doctrine so that he can rightly teach sound doctrine.
So Paul reasons, if Christ has not been raised and our
preaching is in vain, and more than that, your own faith is in
vain, right? If Christ is still dead, the
apostles are liars. They didn't witness his
resurrection. They're lying, right?
If Christ is still dead, then the Bible is false, right?
If the resurrection doctrine is not true, then how can we
believe anything else? And more than that, all the
other doctrines depend upon a resurrected Christ.
If Christ is not risen, then the gospel becomes fiction.
It's nothing more than a fairy tale.
So the resurrection vindicates the divine identity of Jesus
Christ as the Son of God. Romans 1/3 through 4.
Paul makes this very argument as he opens the book.
There he says Jesus Christ was descended from David according
to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power
according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection
from the dead. So without it, right, without
the resurrection, his death accomplishes nothing eternal.
If Jesus Christ didn't rise, then the promise might look
good, but there's no power to it.
There's no hope for those who are dead in their trespasses and
sins. If Christ is not risen, you see,
your faith is only as good as the object of it.
And if Christ is not alive, prayer and worship become empty,
right? But if Christ lives, then every
act of faith reverberates in heaven.
Every act of faith becomes meaningful for eternity.
In 16 through 19, Paul shows the spiritual ruin that results from
denying the resurrection. He says, For if the dead are not
raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not
been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your
sins, then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished. They haven't gained eternal
life. They've perished, right?
You're still in your sins. When you die, you will perish.
You see, without resurrection, the cross doesn't save, it
fails. The resurrection is the Father's
Amen to the sons. It is finished.
Romans 425 declares He was delivered up for our trespasses
and raised for our justification.
The resurrection is proof of the acceptance of the payments.
The empty tomb is the divine receipt that's stamped paid in
full. So if you picture a man who's
paid off his mortgage, but he never receives this letter of
release, he's forever uncertain whether or not he's still in
debt, right? The resurrection is God's signed
release. It's proof that the debt is gone
forever. If Christ is not risen, then not
only are you still in your sins, but every Christian funeral is a
cruel deception, right? Those asleep in Christ would
have simply perished. We cannot preach the hope of
heaven at funerals if Christ is not risen.
But because he lives, grief is mingled with hope.
We grieve as those who have hope.
Hope in what? Hope in the resurrection?
Hope that Christ has defeated death, right?
We bury our dead and expectation.
We don't bury them in despair, we bury our dead and expectation
that we will see them again. If they're in Christ, and we're
in Christ, we will see them again.
Amen. They will be raised.
And if in Christ we have hope in this life only, as Paul writes,
then we are of all people most to be pitied.
The second place Paul takes us to in verses 20 through 28 is
because Christ has been raised, our future is certain, brothers
and sisters, our future is certain.
Verse 20 burst forth in triumph, right?
He's asking all these questions. He's dealing with this false
doctrine, this false teaching, this false understanding, and as
he's dealt with it, he burst forth with triumph.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Praise God. Paul's, in fact, is emphatic.
He's saying, in fact, he's saying now as a reality itself.
Now Christ is risen. He's been raised from the dead.
Against every doubt. He declares the resurrection not
as a metaphor, but as a fact of history and the foundation of
all eternity. In verse 20 we get Christ the
first fruits. He calls Christ the first
fruits. In verse 20 he says, But if in
fact, I'm sorry, but in fact Christ has been raised from the
dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
So calling Christ the first fruits ties resurrection hope to
this Old Testament or to the Old Testament harvest festivals.
You can see some of those in Leviticus 23.
There we see that the first sheaf of grain offered to God
guaranteed the rest of the crop was coming.
So Christ's resurrection is the first installment of the final
harvest. It'll be the resurrection of all
who belong to him. He's the first fruits of that.
Amen. He's the one who secures it for
us. Now, this image shows for us
both continuity and guarantee. All right?
It's the same kind of life that what we see is that the same
kind of life that burst forth in Christ's glorified body will one
day burst forth in our glorified bodies, which is where Ephesians
15 is going to take us next week.
The grave is not a permanent loss, brothers and sisters.
It's a waiting field ready for harvest.
When you stand beside a believer's grave, you need to
understand you're standing on future farmland.
Resurrection is not wishful thinking.
It's the promised harvest of the risen Christ.
When our family goes to our daughter's graveside and we
stand there and we reflect, or we sing, or we read Scripture,
or we sit in silence. The one truth, but the one truth
that keeps me going, it keeps my wife and my sons going, is that
Winnie will rise on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The same is true for your loved ones who are in Christ.
The same is true for you if you were in Christ.
Without that hope and the Lord graciously preserving me and our
family, I would not be standing here right now.
There's no way that that doctrine sustains in the midst
of death. It it keeps us near to God when
we wrestle with the brevity of life, when we wrestle with what
we might think the unfairness of an early death.
But that doctrine is not some some false hope.
That doctrine is tied to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We gather on the Lord's Day
because the Lord's Day marks the first day of the week.
Do you know what happened on the first day of the week after
Christ's death? He rose again.
And so we gather on the Lord's Day to commemorate the Lord's
rising from the grave. Why do we commemorate the Lord's
rising from the grave? Because everything that we
believe about Christ hinges on his resurrection.
And so we gather to worship him. We gather to have our hearts
strengthened and renewed by the truths of Scripture and the
songs we sing, the prayers we pray.
As we've received the Lord's Supper, as we observe A baptism,
as we hear the Word preached, we're reminded of great truth.
And that sustains us in this life.
We know that we're destined for a heavenly homeland.
We know that. And so we need this.
We need Sundays, we need worship, we need the gathering
of the Saints. We need to encourage one
another. You see, in the South, it's easy
to think that Sunday is just simply something we do
culturally. And to be honest, I'm grateful,
I really am grateful that many people are raised in the South
thinking that at least Sunday, I'm saying at least at least
Sunday. Going to church is a cultural
thing, but it's so much more. It's a real truth, It's a deep
reality, and it transforms our lives, changes everything about
who we are. In verses 21 through 22, Paul
shows us that we have received death through Adam.
Here he's talking about the idea of federal headship.
And you receive life through Christ as your new head.
All right, he says. For as by one man or by a man.
Sorry, I was quoting Romans 5. Therefore, as by a man came,
death by a man also came. Also the resurrection of the
debt. For as in Adam all die, so also
in Christ shall all be made alive.
So here Paul anchors resurrection in this
representative headship. Humanity's story is written in
two men, the first Adam and the second Adam.
The first Adam brought death. The second Adam, which is Jesus
Christ, brings life. The first man's sin brought
decay. The second man's obedience
brought restoration. This is covenant theology in
miniature, the doctrine of union and representation.
You are either in Adam or in Christ.
There is no middle ground. No one stands alone.
You are either in Adam or in or in Christ.
The resurrection of Christ reverses the curse of Eden that
Adam incurred and inaugurates the new creation in Christ.
We become new creations in Christ and so all creation will
be renewed on the day of His return in verse 20.
Well, So what that means for us is that if you are in Christ,
death can touch you, but it cannot keep you, right?
The same power, Ephesians, one tells us this, that the same
power that raised Christ from the dead will raise us.
It resides in US, which is the Spirit of God.
And so your union with Christ is stronger than the grip of the
grave. Death is the doorway into
eternity for the believer. Death is the doorway into
eternal life, I should say, for the believer.
Right? And verse 23 we get the order of
how this resurrection will come, Paul writes, but each in his own
order. Christ the firstfruits, then at
his coming those who belong to Christ.
So Paul sets resurrection in sequence for us.
The Greek word here for order means rank or military order.
Christ rose 1st and so He leads the procession.
Amen. He's the King of kings who will
March out in front of his resurrected ones.
When He returns, all who belong to him will follow.
Pulse teaching rules out any confusion, Any confusion about
timing or scope, right? The resurrection of believers is
not happening piece meal, right? It will occur at His visible
bodily return. You don't need to fear missing
your resurrection, brothers and sisters, or the rapture for that
matter. You don't need to fear missing
your resurrection. It's scheduled in God's perfect
order, it's guaranteed by Christ victory, and it's synchronized
with His return. The the the end and the reign
are revealed in verses 24 through 26.
Then comes the end when he delivers the Kingdom to God the
Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and
power. For he must reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
So now Paul's looking forward, right?
If Christ hasn't been raised and we are of all pity to be or
we've all people to be pitied. Christ has been raised and so
you 2 will rise again. You will rise with him if you
were in Christ. And then the next movement of
this that we see is that there's going to be a consummation of
Christ reign. Paul looks forward to this
consummation of the reign of Christ, the word end here.
Then comes the end. It's Taylor's.
It means completion. Then comes the completion.
It's it's not a termination, right?
So often we think of because we watch movies and they might say
at the end of the end or the credits roll and we know that's
the end of the movie. That's the termination of its
duration. But for the believer, the end is
the completion. It's the entryway into all
things eternal. It's the fulfillment of God's
redemptive plan. You see, Christ is reigning now.
He's raining right now. He's not waiting to rain.
He it's not that he will rain when he returns.
No, He's raining right now from heaven.
He, his resurrection, enthroned him as King.
Psalm 110, one tells us this. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at
my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
Ephesians 120 and 22 tell us this.
The ongoing subjugation of his enemies is happening even as the
gospel spreads. Do you understand this?
The being fruitful and multiplying and exercising
dominion on the earth and subduing all of creation is
happening as the gospel spreads to new human hearts, right?
Sometimes in your own home, as your children come to believe,
as family members come to believe, right.
Sometimes in your own city, as friends, neighbors come to
believe the gospel message. You see the rule of Christ
moving across the earth. The Lord is reigning from
heaven. He is subjugating all things.
But death remains the final foe, and its destruction is
guaranteed because the tomb is empty.
Brothers and sisters. When Jesus died, I have no doubt
that Satan and all his demons rejoiced.
I have no doubt that everyone on the earth at the time who hated
Christ rejoiced this movement. Maybe they even mocked him as
he's cried out. It is finished.
Maybe, they said, you're right, it is finished.
It looked like defeat, but on that third day, up from the
grave, he rose. And when he rose, the full
message came through. Death is defeated, brothers and
sisters. When death feels powerful,
remember it is already a conquered enemy.
When death feels power powerful, remember that it's been
conquered by Christ's resurrection.
Christ reigns even now, and the day is coming when the grave
will lose its final power. Those who are in Christ will be
raised. In verses 27 through 28 we see
the sons final submission. Paul writes there for God has
put all things in subjection under his feet.
But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain
that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.
So he's saying God is the exception to this, the Father is
the exception to this. When all things are subjected to
him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put
all things in subjection under him, that God may be All in all.
Now Paul is carefully guarding the glory of the Father.
He is carefully guarding the unity of the Trinity.
The Son's submission here is not inferiority.
He's not inferior, no, the Son's submission here is the
consummation of his mediatorial work, that Christ is our
mediator. Once redemption is complete,
then the Son will hand the fully restored Kingdom to the Father,
and divine harmony will fill the cosmos, brothers and sisters.
So what Paul is writing here is doxological, meaning it's
praise. He's describing glory to the
Father and to the Son. He's rejoicing in the truth.
It's not hierarchical, right? The the Son's mission to redeem
and to restore will have achieved its goal.
He's he's exercising doxology here.
And Paul says then the triune God will be All in all, meaning
his rule, his glory, his presence will permeate all
things. So resurrection is not only
personal, it's cosmic. It's it's not just about you,
it's about the entire universe and all that's in it.
The risen Christ is not just saving souls, He's restoring the
universe. Every corner of creation will
one day reflect the Father's glory.
Habakkuk 214 says that the knowledge of God and his glory
will cover the earth as the water covers the seas.
So Paul's vision in verses 20 through 28 stretches from Christ
empty tomb to the universe's final restoration That day that
we see in Revelation. I believe it's chapter 21 where
Christ says, behold, I'm making all things new because Christ
lives. The entire created order is
moving toward renewal. We, we live in this time where
we want to say all the time that things are just getting worse.
Things are getting worse. Do you not think that Christians
in the 1500s felt like things were getting worse as the
Christian religion, the Protestant religion, was
normally nearly snuffed out? Do you not think that there have
been great movements across history where Christians felt
like this has to be the very worst it can be?
Instead, what we observe is the cyclical nature.
I'm an all millennialist, OK, so this is showing up here.
But what we observe is a cyclical nature where things get
bad. The gospel goes forward in
darkness, all right, post tenebrous luxe light after
darkness cry of the Reformation and then people get comfortable
in their sins again. It reads a lot like judges.
Generations rise up that neither no Christ nor no God nor fear
him. They do all that their heart
desires. And then what?
God has a remnant for himself, a people, a holy nation, a royal
priesthood of people set apart for his very own possession.
First Peter 2. And those people boldly,
courageously proclaim the good news, and people believe it.
Our nation, our world, is experiencing in many ways
terrible persecution and yet great revival.
People coming to the faith. There are more young men, more
young men between the ages of like 18 to 25 in church in
America now than any generation previously.
Why? But because they see the truth
that's being proclaimed, they're believing it.
They're searching. And I'm not saying all those men
are saved. I'm just saying they're, they're
searching in the right places. But one day Christ will return
and the universe will be finally restored in the new heavens and
new earth, because he lives the entire created order, as I said
among the goes, heading toward moving toward renewal.
And that certainty anchors us in hope.
I'm not afraid to raise sons in the world today.
Not at all, not one bit. I I wish that the Lord would
grant me more sons to raise, more daughters to raise.
Why? So that we can send them out as
a force for good. A medieval so that we can raise
them to love the Lord, to fear Him above all else, to exercise
wisdom, to love their neighbor, to see Christ save their souls.
So they go and raise families who do the same so that
generations may be impacted for His glory and the good of man.
That's not to say I think my sons will go be world changers
in the sense that, you know, if you grew up in youth groups
around the time I did, everything was about becoming a
world changer. And what you find as you become
an adult is that you're not offered many opportunities that
look like world changing opportunities.
And what you find also is that this aligns with the very
ordinary life that God gives to his people.
You become husbands and fathers and wives and mothers.
You serve the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul
and strength. You teach your children to do
the same. And so you become a world
changer in that way. It's really refreshing that not
all of us have to be Billy Graham or Francis Schaeffer or
John Piper, RC Sprole or John MacArthur or Martin Luther or
John Calvin, right? The Lord grants especially, you
know, some people receive 10 talents, some receive 5, some
receive one, right? So God certainly calls men up.
Charlie Kirk was one of these men and and he gives them a
great task and he calls them to extraordinary things.
But for the most of us, life looks pretty normal.
And I'm telling you, that's how God transforms the world.
It's people, regular people, believing in resurrection hope,
preaching it, living it, sharing it, and carrying it out until
death do they part this earth. A kind of hope.
That hope anchors us, the certainty of Christ's
resurrection, the certainty that Christ will return and we will
be raised with him. That kind of hope cannot be
shaken by death and decay and doubt.
It just can't. I'm getting very practical, and
I jumped ahead of Paul. Paul's very practical in the
next section #3 because Christ has been raised, our lives have
meaning. So hold on to what we were just
talking about and dwell on it as we talk through these things.
Verses 29 through 34, Paul writes otherwise.
What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead?
If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on
their behalf? Why are we in danger?
Every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride
in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day.
What do I gain? If, humanly speaking, I fought
with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let
us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals.
Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not
go on sinning, for some have no knowledge of God.
And I say this to your shame. So Paul's proven the necessity
and the certainty of the resurrection.
The necessity is that if Christ is not raised, then our
preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.
The certainty of it is that He has been raised, and so too will
we rise with Him. He's subjugating all things now,
and one day all those things will be put under His feet and
he'll give those things to the Father and the great
consummation, and we will be with God eternally.
So he's shown the necessity, shown the certainty of the
resurrection. Now he turns to the practical
impact. Why does this matter, Corinth,
for your life today? What?
What's the big deal about the doctrine of the resurrection?
What difference does resurrection truth make for
daily living? Everything.
It makes every difference. That's what Paul says.
He's saying it makes every difference.
If Christ has been raised, then what do we do?
How do we live what we endure for him?
All of these things will carry eternal weight.
Verse 29, you see the confusion of the Corinthians.
Otherwise, Paul says what people mean by being baptized on behalf
of the dead. If the dead are not raised at
all, why are people being baptized on their behalf?
Now, I'll admit to you this verse has puzzled interpreters
for a long time. Paul doesn't explain the
practice in detail, but he's not endorsing the practice either.
This isn't some command, you know, some new sacrament for the
church to adhere to. The point of his argument is
simple and rhetorical. Why would anyone participate in
a practice that assumes resurrection if they actually
deny it? So the Corinthians apparently
held some sort of inconsistent theology.
We've seen that very it's very prevalent throughout the book of
First Corinthians. But here's another one right?
Some denied resurrection while still practicing those rights
that assumed it, and so Paul's just exposing the contradiction
here. Even your rituals, even the
things you're doing, admit that death is not the end, right?
Paul's not teaching baptism for the dead as a legitimate
Christian practice. Scripture elsewhere refutes this
idea. He's simply using their
inconsistency as evidence that belief and resurrection is
unavoidable if one holds to the gospel.
Right. So Romans 6, Paul lays out very,
very, very, very clearly that our baptism depicts our
resurrection in Christ. We are buried with him in
baptism, and we're raised to walk in the newness of life.
So Paul's logic presses home a question for us.
Do our practices match our profession?
We can claim to believe in eternal life, but do your
choices reveal that you actually believe in eternal life?
Does the use of your time reveal that you believe in eternal
life? Does your pursuits of holiness
prove that you believe in eternal life?
Does your endurance in trials, your endurance in suffering,
prove that you believe in eternal life?
Do those things actually reflect resurrection hope?
Right. And so Paul gets into this daily
risk for the gospel in verses 30 through 32.
Why are we in danger? Every hour?
I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ
Jesus our Lord. I die every day.
You may ride in your margin.
What I think is the great plea of the disciples, the great
prayer of the disciple. Galatians 224.
I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me in the life I now live in the flesh.
I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me. I saw a mantra of brothers and
sisters. So Paul's turning from the
Corinthians inconsistency to his own integrity as an example.
For thou follow me as I follow Christ, imitate me as I imitate
Christ. His daily suffering for Christ
makes no sense. No sense if there's no
resurrection. Why?
Why would you endure the things that Paul's endured if there's
no resurrection? Every risk he's taken, every
beating he's incurred, every imprisonments, all of those
things are fueled by the certainty that Christ had
conquered death. Philippians, one right?
You've been coming on Sunday nights.
You might remember this, Paul writes there for to me, to live
is Christ, but to die is gain. He says it's my great
expectation and hope that whether by life or by death,
Christ will be glorified or exalted in my body.
He's writing that from prison, where he thinks maybe I don't
get out of here alive. To live is Christ.
To die is gain. To live as Christ means I get to
go on proclaiming Christ. I get to go on exalting Christ.
I get to go on encouraging the brothers and sisters in the
Lord. I get to go on planting churches
and strengthening the churches that have been planted.
I get to go on in the mission. But to die, that's great gain.
Why? Because I'm saved finally from
this suffering. I'm saved finally from the from
the the fear of death, the doubt, the worry about what will
happen tomorrow, what will happen today.
I'm saved finally, and I'm granted eternal life with
Christ. It's great gain that certainty
in the resurrection has fueled everything that Paul has
endured. Faith in the resurrection
produces courageous perseverance.
It stiffens your spine. It strengthens your heart.
It helps you to overcome temptation and sin.
It helps you to to want to work through the marriage failures.
It helps you to want to work through the parenting issues.
It helps you to want to reconcile with brothers and
sisters in the Lord who have failed you or you have failed
them and bones you to proclaim the gospel in your life.
The resurrection hope grounds everything that we do.
It's a certainty for us. It gives a courageous
perseverance. Only a living Savior can sustain
dying Saints. Paul says I die every day.
He means that his life was 1 long martyrdom.
Today, not my will, but your will be done, O Lord.
Today, Not my Kingdom come, but your Kingdom come on earth as it
is in heaven. O Lord, see what I'm saying?
He's giving himself to the Lord every day.
It's a daily surrender to the cost of following Jesus.
He says. What do I gain if humanly
speaking, I fought with the beast at Ephesus?
Some people like to assert that there's no name calling in the
Scriptures. Oh, there's name calling,
brothers and sisters. It's referencing the fierce
opposition that he faced. Why should I have endured such
hardship if there's no resurrection?
Why not just say, you know what, I'm going to go home.
Why not be like the Israelites who say, Moses, could you please
just take us back to Egypt? We were far better as slaves.
All right. But the one who says I die daily
to my desires, I die daily to my wants, I die daily to those
things. That person goes on courageously
to serve the Lord. In the early church, there's a
man named Polycarp of Smyrna. Now Polycarp was asked to
renounce Christ. He was demanded actually that he
renounce Christ. If he wasn't going to renounce
Christ, he was told, we will kill you.
When threatened with death, you got to hear Polycarps answer.
When threatened with death, Polycarp said 80 and six years.
What a way to speak. 80 and six years I have served him and he
has done me no wrong. How then can I blasphemy my King
who saved me? You see, that kind of faith
makes no sense apart from resurrection certainty.
The resurrection gives meaning to every risk that you take for
Christ. It gives meaning to your
sacrifices. They're not wasted.
Every moment of obedience, every unseen act of faithfulness,
every hardship that's endured in His name will be vindicated,
brothers and sisters, on resurrection morning.
It will be not. Maybe it will be.
And so Paul reveals this folly of earthly living without
resurrection, hope. And 32 B.
He says if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die. He's quoting Isaiah 2213, and
he's exposing this logical conclusion of unbelief.
If you don't believe that Christ is going to raise you, then go
be a hedonist of the highest order.
Eat, drink, die, serve yourself. Withhold nothing from yourself
that your heart desires. If there is no resurrection,
Paul is saying, then pleasure is the only purpose left.
You should enjoy every moment to its fullest, not worrying about
sin, not worrying about holiness, not worrying about a
God who will judge you on that last day.
You should go do whatever you want.
Is that not the creed of a Christless world?
That without Christian hope we should just eat and drink and
die? You should live for today,
because tomorrow the grave winds.
This is hedonism at its core, brothers and sisters.
It's the natural religion of unbelief.
Without resurrection, sin makes sense.
If If there's no resurrection, then sin makes sense.
Holiness makes no sense. Without eternal life, self
indulgence becomes very logical. And so that's why you can look
at a world that's deceived and you can have pity on them
because they're so deceived in the thinking that life has no
meaning, that they'll give themselves to whatever their
heart desires, whatever their flesh craves.
There's no understanding of sin. There's no understanding of
holiness. There's no understanding of a
holy God that we've rebelled against.
And we will stand before one day.
And so they eat and drink and die.
Our culture preaches the same message in a modern form.
Yolo, the old school. But the idea that you only live
once. But every Christian knows
better, or the should. Every Christian should know
better because of the resurrection.
We don't live once, we live forever.
Death cannot hold us. And so that truth should shape
every decision, from how we spend money, to how we pursue
purity to how we pursue our purpose.
It shapes everything. And so Paul then reveals the
moral danger of false teaching in the next verses.
Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts or ruins
good morals. Wake up, he says, from your
drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.
So Paul now exposes the moral fallout of false doctrine.
You see, there's a price to pay when we get the gospel wrong.
There's a price to pay when we ignore the gospel altogether.
It's not just that the person pays the price.
It's that society around them pays the price.
Their families pay the price. Their children pay the price.
Their spouses pay the price. Their neighbors and coworkers
pay the price. Wrong beliefs lead to wrong
living. While Paul writes a whole letter
to Titus, and the point of the letter to Titus is that sound
doctrine leads to sound lives, The The denial of resurrection
isn't just a theological mistake.
It's pronouncing moral decay. It's producing moral decay in
the church. When we read the phrase bad
company, it's it's not just about the friendships you keep.
Well, that's important. What Paul's exposing here is
that it's about fellowship with error.
The core of the Corinthian church is in error.
That bad company is producing A moral corruptness.
In chapter 5, we have a man who is sleeping with his stepmother,
and the church is tolerating it, ignoring it, giving approval to
it. That's moral corruption,
brothers and sisters. When the Church tolerates
teaching that dole's eternal realities, then holiness begins
to die. A ship, right?
A ship that drifts 1°, 1° off course ends up miles away from
its destination over time. Well, the same is true for the
church. Drifting 1° from truth leads to
ruin over time. And so Paul is saying here,
guard your mind, guard your heart.
Proverbs 423 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it
flow the springs of life. Doctrine matters because your
life will always follow your theology, your life will always
follow what you believe. So Paul's encouraging them, Stay
anchored in the gospel of the risen Christ, or you're going to
slowly drift toward the moral sleep that he's warning them
about. In verse 34 B, we see the shame
of spiritual apathy, for some have no knowledge of God.
I say this to your shame. So Paul ends the section.
I mean, it's there's a lot of encouragement here, but he ends
the section not with comfort, but with confrontation.
There were people in the church who claimed to know Christ but
lived as though the resurrection were fiction.
To deny the resurrection is not a small error.
It's a denial of the character of God himself, the God who says
Matthew 2232, we read this, not the God of the dead, but of the
living. It's like God describes himself
in the Scriptures, that he's not the God of the dead, he's the
God of the living. It's possible.
So I talked about some of the benefits of a cultural
Christianity. Here's some of the negative
effects. It's possible to attend church,
to sing the songs, to listen to the Word, preach, even to nod
your head in agreement at times, and still live as though
eternity isn't real. And so Paul's call here
literally wake up. Wake up from your drunken stupor
as is right. His call is to live as a
resurrection people, a people who are awake of people who are
alerts, of people who are holy and a people who are hopeful,
and a world that sleeps in sin. We are called to be alert,
awake. And so Paul's closing warning
here shows that resurrection truth is not only something to
believe, it's something to live. Every decision, every hardship,
every act of obedience finds its meaning in this.
Christ has been raised. And without that truth we drift.
But with it, we stay the course, and we endure.
Friend, if you have not trusted Christ to be risen, to be the
one who defeated death, hell and the grave, to be your Lord, then
you need to understand what Paul's words mean for you.
The resurrection that gives believers hope also guarantees
that you will one day stand before the living judge.
The Bible says in Acts 1731 God has fixed the day on which he
will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he
has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by
raising him from the dead. So the resurrection is not just
proof of life after death, it's proof of judgment after death.
If Christ has not been raised, then sin wins, there is no
justice. But because he has been raised,
sin will be judged, and every wrong will be made right.
And so the empty tomb declares 2 things for US1 grace, that in
great grace God has put His Son forward on our behalf.
They crucified Him, bearing the weight of the sin of all those
who will call upon His name for salvation.
And He rose again, showing that the IT is finished, was paid in
full. But the second thing it reveals
to us is a warning. There is grace for all who
repent, believe, and there's a warning of judgment for all who
continue in unbelief. So if you remain outside of
Christ, Paul uses the word implore.
I'm going to implore you today, urge you today to not leave the
same way you can. The risen Savior offers you full
forgiveness today. He offers you redemption of
life. He offers you a new name, a new
creation. He's conquered the grave so that
you might share His life and not face Him in His wrath.
Turn from your sin and come to Him and know that is Romans 10
tells us whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Brothers and sisters of Christ has not been raised and this
preaching is useless. If Christ has not been raised,
then faith is empty, it's vain. If Christ has not been raised,
then sin still reigns. If Christ has not been raised,
then the dead are lost. If Christ has not been raised,
then brother or sister, you are of most people to be pitied.
But because Christ has been raised, your faith is secure.
Because Christ has been raised, your sins are forgiven.
Because Christ has been raised, your future is certain.
Because Christ has been raised, your lives are meaningful.
The resurrection isn't just a doctrine to affirm, it's a
reality to live by. It changes how we face death.
It changes how we suffer. It changes how we work.
It changes how we worship. It changes literally everything
about our lives. So, believer, would you live as
one who knows that Christ has risen Indeed, believe with
confidence that your faith is not in vain.
Endure with courage because your suffering is not in vain.
Serve with joy because your labor is not in vain.
Stand with hope because death has lost its sting.
Christ is risen, and because he lives, so too will we.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word. We.
Praise you, praise you for these truths of the.
Resurrection for all that. It means that Christ was raised
and the because Christ was raised, He resides in heaven
where all things are being put into subjugation under His feet.
And we will. Share eternity with him as a Co
heir. To glory, but before.
That day because Christ has been raised.
It transforms everything about our lives.
Now we can believe with confidence we can endure.
With courage we can serve. With joy, we can stand with hope
and so. We praise you for these truths.
And Father, I beg you. I beg you to.
Save. Anyone here today who?
Doesn't know you as their Lord would.
You save them. From their sins.
Would you convict them of their sins?
Would you draw them to repentance and faith?
Would you grant them new life? Let the old things.
Passed away and all things become new.
Would you convince them of these?
Truths of your Scripture today. Just as you did for all of us in
here. Who do call on the?
Name of the Lord. Our lives were once marred by
sin, marked by transgression and rebellion.
And yet graciously, mercifully, lovingly, you have saved us out
of the pit of hell. You've granted us life in
Christ. So we don't hold these truths as
those who think we're better. Than those around.
Us who don't know them, but we hold these truths with sympathy
and a. Pity for those around us who?
Don't know them, so would you help us be bold and declaring
them? Would you use us Father to bring
men, women and children to Christ?
I'm going to give you a moment now there in your seat to pray
to seek the Lord as you see fits whatever from the.
Sermon may be calling you to obedience, whatever.
May be calling you to reflection and mindfulness.
Now. Meditate on those truths.
Ask the Lord to plant them deep in your hearts.
Maybe the Lord's calling you to repent and to believe.
Don't delay, repent and believe today.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the grace and the mercy and
the love. That you show sinners and Saints
alike, we thank you. That as Saints of God, you.
Are sanctifying. Us by your.
Spirit, you're convicting us of sin.
You're challenging the way. That we think the way that we
act, the things we say, you're calling us into further
obedience to. Christ.
You've not left us to ourselves to make a ruin of all this.
No, You graciously guide us each and every day because you love
us. You love us, and it's astounding
that a perfectly holy just God could love people like us who
are unfaithful so frequently. But we praise you for it.
Psalm 100. Verse 5 says the Lord is good.
And His faithfulness endures to every generation.
So we here, here, so here we sit, representing our
generation. And we too can.
Testify that you are good and that you are faithful.
We love you. Amen.