20260802 1 Corinthians 15.29-34 Sunday Sermon Mike Dickmann

Pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful

for your guiding and directing, leading and helping

in the worship thus far. We come now to confess

our continuing need of you, our inabilities.

Ask you to own your word. Make it plain to us.

Enable me to proclaim all that you've given and

only all that you've given. Enable us all to

receive it. to apply it to ourselves, to better

serve and honor you in the coming days. We ask

again for the loss that you might have mercy

on some who regretting their sins. Save them,

Father. Do that which only you can do. Bring

them to yourself. We ask it in Christ's name.

Amen. Okay, we're in 1 Corinthians. Lord willing,

we'll be here for a while yet. But we come to

this little section here. It's kind of like in

the middle of it. And it's going to get real

personal. The effect that the resurrection has

on us as people, as Christians. That's what Paul's

anxious to... convey here. We as Christ's people

can either confirm the resurrection or deny the

resurrection just by the way that we're living.

No real Christian obviously is going to deny

the resurrection. But that unfortunately is not

enough. Because we have to live. We have to live

before a watching world. We have to live before

our lost family members. So the way that we live

makes a difference. It says something. It says

something about what we believe. And that's what

Paul's trying to convey here in these few verses.

So the first verse is probably the most, for

some reason, controversial verse in the whole

Bible. All kinds of interpretations and understandings

have been put forth. You can open any commentary.

If you open two of them, you'll have two different

explanations. And if you open ten of them, you'll

probably have ten different explanations. Or,

you won't have any explanation at all. Amazingly,

these Bible scholars that have written these,

they don't even deal with it. It's like it's

not in the Bible. Or they'll just say, I have

no idea what this means. So, I'm going to be

brave, I suppose. I don't know, I'm going to

give you what I think. Hopefully it's led by

the Holy Spirit. I studied this years ago, and

so I didn't have to spend hours. Trying to figure

it out because I'd already gone and been with

the Lord and gotten what I think he would have

me to know. And all I had to do again for this

is to confirm it. Ask again. Do I really know?

Do I really understand? What would you have me

to say? So here's the verse. And it's verse 29.

15. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 29. Else what shall

1 Corinthians 15:29

they do which are baptized for the dead, if the

dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized

for the dead? Now, it's obvious. It's obvious

that this is not any type of an endorsement of

being baptized for the dead. Paul would not have

written this. if that was what was going on he

would have condemned it he would have said this

you guys are missing it whatever there would

have been a word of exhortation to cut it out

stop it but there's nothing there so what does

it mean then why is it in the bible well because

as i said these people that he's referring here

these church members in corinth We're demonstrating

by their lives the truth of the resurrection.

So we have to first decide what kind of baptism

this is. Is this water baptism? Or is this a

baptism of fire? Is it a baptism of suffering?

What does water baptism symbolize? Well... If

we understand it correctly, it symbolizes death,

going under the water, and resurrection, coming

out of the water. You've all seen a number of

baptisms. You've all heard it proclaimed over

you when you were baptized. You're dying to yourself.

You're rising to Christ. With Christ, in Christ,

however. Death, burial, resurrection, it's all

even in water baptism. The elements are there.

But in Christ's use of the word in Matthew 20,

we'll begin reading in verse 17. of chapter 20

in matthew and jesus going up to jerusalem took

the twelve disciples apart in the way and said

unto them behold we go up to jerusalem and the

son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests

and unto the scribes and they shall condemn him

to death and shall deliver him to the gentiles

to mock to scourge and to crucify him and the

third day He shall rise again. Then we have this

interlude where Zebedee's mother wants Jesus

to proclaim her sons will sit on the left and

the right hand of Christ. And so Jesus then answering

in verse 22 says, But Jesus answered and said,

You know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink

of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized

with the baptism that I am baptized with? They

say unto him, We are able. And Jesus saith unto

them, You shall drink indeed of my cup, and be

baptized with the baptism that I am baptized

with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left

is not mine to give, but it shall be given to

them for whom it is prepared of my Father. Now,

you can obviously see there that Christ is talking

about his own martyrdom, his death, and his resurrection.

That's the baptism that Christ is referring to.

That's his baptism. It's a baptism of suffering.

unto death, martyrdom. And he's telling them

there that, yeah, you're going to, you said you

can, and you're going to, you're going to experience

my baptism. But it's not going to merit you anything.

It's up to the Father to give it to whom he has

prepared it for. So the point is, It's a picture

of martyrdom, the baptism, the word baptism there,

suffering and death. And Christ is telling us

that his followers are going to experience that

baptism. Obviously, not everybody does, but a

number do. So what have we got here back in 1

Corinthians 15? Well, we have something very

similar. Where he says, These folks are being

baptized for the dead, or perhaps we could say

because of the dead, or over and above the dead.

In other words, these folks are willing to follow

those who have already died for Christ. They're

familiar with martyrdom. They're familiar with

people that have been put to death for the belief

in Jesus Christ. And he's declaring. Why would

you do that if there be no resurrection? By your

life, you are confirming your steadfast belief

that death is only temporary, that there will

be a resurrection where you will be raised in

a glorious body. That's what they were doing.

That's what they were saying. You can kill this

one, but there's going to be another one to take

his place. We are willing to die. We are willing

to suffer martyrdom for Christ's sake because

of those that went before us have already died

doing exactly that. That's what I believe the

meaning of the verse is. They are willing to

demonstrate. They're dying to themselves. They

count their life nothing. giving all that they

have for Christ, even the suffering of death,

in the hope of the resurrection. Now, the rest

of these verses are going to confirm this understanding.

So, as we go through, remember that this is what

Paul is doing here. He wants you to understand

that your life has a very real meaning. Declaring

what you believe about the resurrection. What

you believe about this life. And the next. All

the remaining verses that we're going to see

here. So in verse 30 we see. And why stand we

in jeopardy every hour? I die daily. Some of

you may have that I die daily in 31. But it's

undoubtedly part of verse 30. But it's there.

Regardless of where it is. That's what Paul is

saying here. And why stand we in jeopardy every

hour? Why would we do that? Why did Paul continually

go and put his life on the line? Serving the

church. Bringing new people into the church.

Being used by God to expand the kingdom. Why?

He says. Why would I do this? Because of the

resurrection. Because this life is not it. This

life is just the beginning. This is the probationary

period. It's only a prelude to the life after.

The resurrection is real. I'm living proof that

I believe the resurrection to be a reality. I

die daily, he says. And if you're familiar with

Acts and other places where Paul discusses his

life, you know it's true. He continually went

and put his life on the line. He almost died.

Some people think that he did die in that stoning,

but I don't think so, but he was near death.

Continually. And Paul says, there's no reason

that I would do that if this life was it. If

this life was the only life, why would I attempt

to, or why would I be willing to lose it? Then

in verse 31, I protest. I should have just put

this in a different language, in a modern language.

I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in

Christ Jesus our Lord. What he's saying there

is, I'm guaranteeing you that I'm speaking the

truth here. I'm speaking just as much truth as

when I proclaim your faith in the Lord Jesus

Christ. You know, Paul was always commending

them for their strong faith in the Lord. We're

not going to look it up, but I'll give you the

references if you want to look it up for yourself.

2 Corinthians 7, verses 4 and 14. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 7:4 2 Corinthians 8:24

8, verse 24. 2 Corinthians 9, verses 3 and 4.

2 Corinthians 9:3

That's what is being expressed there by Paul.

I'm telling the truth. This is truthful now is

when I declare my love for you and your faith

in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't doubt it. Don't

doubt me in this. Or we could say, if I'm not

telling the truth here, I'm not telling the truth

about you guys either. He's linking these two

declarations together. If one is true, they are

both true, or the opposite. If he's wrong or

false in the one, he obviously could be wrong

or false in the other. That's what Paul's declaring

here. He wants them to be sure and understand

the emphasis in what he's writing and what he's

saying here. It's important. The resurrection,

it is part of the gospel. It is essential to

the gospel, as we heard again this morning in

our communion time. The resurrection proves the

payment has been accepted. We serve a living

God. We serve a living Savior. He's no longer

dead. Death could not hold him. He is alive.

He is alive. Then he goes on. If, verse 32, if

after the manner of men I have fought with beasts

at Ephesus, what advantage did it me if the dead

not rise? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow

we die. Okay, so there he is. He's laying it

right out. He's not pulling any punches. Again,

I think this is figurative language when he says

that he fought with beasts. It's not in the record.

It's not in the scriptures that he fought with

any beasts at Ephesus. But he did fight with

men who were acting as beasts. They were raging

mad, raging maniacs, wanting to tear him apart.

Just like a beast. They acted like a beast. But

regardless of that, maybe he did fight with beasts

and it's just not recorded in the scriptures.

Either way, again, he puts his life on the line

for the church, for you and me, for those contemporary

folks that he was proclaiming Christ to. He puts

it all out there. And why? What? If there's no

resurrection, why would he do this? Why would

I do this, he says. It doesn't make any sense.

It doesn't make any sense if there's no resurrection.

He's already told us. We already looked at it.

If there is no resurrection, we are of all men

most miserable, most foolish to be serving this

dead Savior who's incapable of saving us, incapable

of bringing us into eternity. It's senseless.

It makes no sense. But there is a resurrection.

Christ has arisen from the dead. So he says,

let us eat and drink. If we were putting it in

our day, we would say, let us eat and drink and

be merry. Grab all the gusto that you can. Remember

all those commercials? It's just exactly what

they said. I guess they got at least part of

it from the Bible. Because they don't believe

in any resurrection. They don't believe in any

life after death. This is all that they got.

This is all they believe in. And their sayings

and their life, what? Prove it. They prove by

the way that they live that they think this is

the only life that there is. They don't have

to tell you a thing. They're grabbing. They're

clutching. They're going after everything that

they can get their grubby hands on. They want

it all. Give me the gusto. I'm going to go out

rich. Yeah, going out. You got that part right.

Okay. Now then, he's going to give some exhortations

regarding the life. He's showing these two extremes,

maybe. The extremes of dying for Christ and the

extremes of living and grabbing for yourself

all that you can. That's really, that is an apt

description. Christians and non -Christians,

believers, non -believers, willing to sacrifice

themselves, willing to sacrifice nothing. He

lays it out there, these two groups of people.

And they show who they are by how they live.

And what does he say then in verse 33? Be not

deceived. Evil company or evil communications

corrupt good manners. Okay. This is it. Obviously,

this is where the rubber hits the road. This

is what he's telling us. Don't kid yourself.

Who you hang around with is going to have an

effect on you yourself. So I hope, I pray that

you are wise in your choice of companions. That's

what he's saying. That's what he's telling. Wake

up. Come out of your daze. Come out of la -la

land, thinking that you can just go anywhere,

do anything, hang around with anybody you want

to, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Get out of that

mindset. Who you hang around with is going to

make a difference on your life. That's what he's

saying. That's what Paul wants us to know. We've

got to be careful of who our friends are. We've

got to be careful, really, about everybody. Some

of us had good parents. Some of us had better

parents after they were converted. You have to

be careful. You can't just assume that your parents

are going to have no effect upon you. You hanging

around with your parents? Are they suitable people

to hang around with? Are they coming between

you and the church? I'm speaking from personal

experience. I'm not speaking about anybody in

particular, except for myself. When I was converted,

I had to break off with my parents. They were

a hindrance. They weren't the people that I was

going to hang around with. I wasn't going to

make my parents happy at the expense of the church.

Or at the expense of Jesus Christ. Remember this

again. There's no separation between Christ and

his people. You think you're serving Christ?

Then you've got to be serving his people. You

have to give Christ's people the same priorities

as you give to Jesus Christ. They're linked.

Christ is the head and the church is the body.

You can't serve one and not serve the other.

You've got to be careful. It's going to have

an effect on you. Do you believe? I'm going to

let it go in just a minute. Do you believe it?

Do you believe that who you hang around with

is going to affect the way you act? Do you believe

it? Well, that's what the Bible says. He doesn't

say it could happen. Maybe it'll happen. Just

be careful if you're around these wrong kind

of folks. No, I didn't say anything like that.

He says it will corrupt you. It will corrupt

the way that you live. Hanging around evil companions.

Okay. Verse 34. Awake to righteousness and sin

not. For some have not the knowledge of God.

I speak this to your shame. Okay, here's another

strong exhortation. Can you receive it? Are we

willing to take it seriously? Is it going to

have any effect upon us? When we get out of the

building, when we go our own way, is this going

to come into play? Awake! Unto righteousness

and sin not. What is it? Awake to righteousness.

In other words, live righteously. Have it on

your mind. Keep it before your face. We talk

about keeping the Lord before, and that's a good

thing. We should, but we can't separate these

things. Having our eyes and our mind fixed on

Jesus is the same as saying, I'm determined to

live righteously. I'm determined to live in the

presence of God. Do we think that way? Do we?

We do live in the presence of God. That's the

truth. But do we think about it? Does it have

any effect upon us? Do we want to act righteously

because we're actually living right there with

God? He's right there in our presence. The Holy

Spirit indwells us. What do these things do to

us? That's what Paul's asking. That's what he's

saying. Awaken to righteousness and sin not.

Remember, he went through Adam. All sinned. Adam

brought sin into the world. Adam wrecked the

world. Remember, we saw it back in verse 21.

And just as sure as Adam wrecked the world, Christ

redeemed it. You're either in Adam or you're

in Christ. Those are, again, the two choices.

You can't be in any other place. If you're still

in Adam, you're lost. If you're in Christ, you're

saved. And you're going to go on being saved.

Remember? Too much past tense saved in Christians

today. It's true that it had a beginning. It

did have a beginning in the past. But we can

only know for sure that it did have a beginning

is because it has a middle. We're being saved.

We're being saved. And we will be saved. In other

words, we will make it to heaven. We will receive

the resurrection of our bodies. That's salvation

in a biblical sense. It's not I got saved 25

years ago and I can live however I want to for

the next 25 years because I'm saved. That guy's

never been saved. He's as lost as anything. Okay,

so awaken, sin not, do righteousness. And then

he pauses and he says, some have not the knowledge

of God. What does that have to do with anything?

Why do you say that? Some have not the knowledge

of God. Everybody that he's writing to had a

knowledge of God. So that can't be what he means.

They heard the gospel. They heard about sin and

righteousness. They heard about God and creation.

He could freely quote Genesis with Adam and Romans

5. They knew about God. They knew God. Just like

I can say here, everybody here knows God. You

all do. But that's not all that he's talking

about. Knowledge to know something goes much

deeper than this nagging. That's only where it

starts. And again, I... I'm sure you've heard

this a thousand times. It all does start right

here. You've got to have received the knowledge

of God into our minds. And it has to go from

our minds into our whole being. Or the Bible

calls it the heart. If it just stops in the mind,

that's just intellectualism. That's not saving

faith. Saving faith is a knowledge of God. That's

what the scripture says. So what does he mean

by this knowledge of God? He means a personal

ongoing relationship with the Lord. Some of you

have no idea what that is. Some of you have no

idea what it is to have a personal walk with

the Lord. It's just head knowledge. And that's

what you're relying on. Or there was a time when

you did have such a relationship. But now you've

left your first love. You're no longer in love

like you were in the beginning. That's from Revelation.

One or the other, there's a problem. Are we experiencing

God in our daily lives? Do we have a knowledge

of God? Is He real in us? Has He expressed His

love for you on a personal level through the

power of the Holy Spirit? Have you experienced

any of those things? Have you ever been burdened

in prayer? Have you ever received a burden that

you couldn't put down, that you have to pray

for? That God has so burdened your heart that

you cannot not pray for whatever it is. Have

you experienced that? That's a knowledge of God.

That's a personal relationship with God. He's

trusted you with this burden. That's what I'm

saying. That's what is being implied. I'm just

saying it. He has given you a burden. He's entrusted

you with this burden, expecting you to do something

with it. To pray over this. If it's a lost person,

to make an opportunity to share the gospel. Whatever.

A burden. You can liken it to a lot of things.

We give each other burdens. We shouldn't, but

we do. Our wife gives us burdens. We give burdens

to our wife. If you're in a relationship, there

are burdens involved. That's the knowledge of

God. Some of them didn't have it. And I speak

to your shame. It's a shame. Not to have the

knowledge of God. Not to have a living relationship

with the Lord. Just have a bunch of head knowledge.

I mean, I haven't touched on, that's just one

aspect of our relationship with the Lord. You've

never received the full joy of your salvation

if you have no relationship. If it's just all

in your head, you're missing it. You're missing

the joy of God's salvation in your life. We could

go on. I mean, it's all dependent upon this very

thing. How is it that this is the last admonition

that he gives? Again, from me, this is an exhortation

and a question. Are you expecting the resurrection?

Do you expect to be raised from the dead? Do

you expect to have a lifelong, eternity -long

relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Or not?

You just slough off? Oh, I read a few verses

once or twice or four times a week. I pray occasionally.

That's enough for me. I got it covered. Well,

that's not a relationship. Try telling that to

your wife. I talked to you yesterday. That doesn't

get it. That's why. They're denying the resurrection.

They're denying. That they're longing after the

resurrection. They're denying that they're living

expectantly in the hope of the resurrection.

Because they have no knowledge of God. It doesn't

mean anything to them. So anyway, I'm here to

encourage everyone. to take these verses seriously,

to come to grips with the fact, what are you

telling the world about Jesus Christ? What opportunities

have you missed? What golden opportunities of

service have you missed because it never occurred

to you? You never thought that the way that you

were witnessing or living was going to be able

to be used by God or would ever be used by God

or whatever it is. You see, that's the relationship

between a saved man and his Lord is one of a

romantic relationship. That's what it should

be. You should be so in love with the Lord that

you at least in some manner mirror his love for

you. There's no doubt about his love for us.

We all testify to that. But how about our love

for him? That's what Paul's talking about. Are

you reciprocating the love of God to him? That's

what he wants to know. Do you really believe

in the resurrection? Are you willing to die for

it? Are you willing to, and it's really silly

in our case, are we willing to be shunned a little

bit? Are we willing to be Talked bad about. Nobody's

going to take a knife to us. And kill us. Nobody's

going to execute us. I mean. That's just the

slightest thing. What are we afraid of? I don't

know if I can talk like that. What are they going

to think? Blah blah blah. I don't know anything

about. I'm not saying that anybody here is doing

this. It's just an example. Trying to get. The

idea that we are so blessed. We've experienced

so much goodness from God. That we don't face

this kind of stuff. We're here in this great

country. Where we have absolute freedoms. Where

we have the protection of law. We should be the

most vigorous people on earth. But we're not.

So I'm asking. I'm encouraging. I'm wanting us

to serve the Lord with real conviction, vigor.

I want us to experience God as we've never experienced

Him before. I want us to be growing more and

more in love with Him. More and more in love

with each other. More and more as this Sunday

morning meeting is the highlight of the week.

More and more. Bringing things to the meeting.

Remember, we always say that there's no reason

that this meeting should ever be boring. Remember?

That's because we're all alive here. We've all

got the Spirit. God speaks to us all week long.

We can all bring something if we're willing.

We can all be used of God in one another's lives.

We were all given opportunities to pray. A lot

more people are taking advantage of that now.

Some are still not. Some just refuse to pray.

That's up to you. You stand before your Lord.

He's your master. Not me. But you know what he

thinks. Experience God. Experience the love.

Experience the assurance that he gives in a relationship.

Be open. Be reciprocal. Pour yourself out an

offering. Even though you're probably never going

to have to face death, be willing to die for

our Lord Jesus Christ. Be willing. and demonstrate

in our lives. Pour out yourself for somebody

else. Be an encourager. Be a comforter. Be a

helper. Experience God. Conrad used to say, if

you want to worship on Sunday, you've got to

wash somebody's car on Saturday. In other words,

you've got to serve. If you went through the

whole week and you never served, why do you think

you're going to be able to experience God and

worship him on Sunday? Just saying. The resurrection

is real. And the way that we live confirms or

denies the reality of the resurrection. Amen.