First Corinthians | If Christ Has Not Been Raised...

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

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.